Science experiment: The Magic Continues!

Before I say anything else, Happy (belated) birthday to my beloved sister Andrea whose birthday was this past Monday (I know, I know... I'm still getting used to these scheduled posts) and also my awesome brother-in-law Cal who celebrated Friday!  Apparently January is the month for middle children :)  Hope it was lovely!

"Smiley Riley"

So you may or may not remember the succulent experiment.  Well, it is ongoing.  To refresh your memory, here is where we started out:

Pretty cute.  Approximately 7.5 months later (those pictures were taken from a post on May 28, 2013), here is where we're at today:

I have to be honest, I thought they would grow a bit faster.... but all in all, success!  The most prolific plant has been the Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi (that tall one at the end):

But some of the Echeveria have been doing pretty well too, particularly these ones in a separate pot:

Have I mentioned I love my new camera?  Oh, I did?  I love my new camera

There are a few others with varying degrees of growth.  Interestingly, the leaf from which they sprouted is still plump on the separate pot Echeveria which has less drainage and more moisture, which makes me think that watering the plants more may be the way to stimulate better growth on the others.

Echeveria with a Kalanchoe sprout

Two Echeveria

As a side observation, my Crassula perforata in my kitchen window have doing something interesting.  Here's a view of the kitchen window situation (it's a bit of a situation... I have some cleaning up to do):

Here's a view of the succulent pot I planted on my own:

Bit of a mess.  And the Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi grew a karate-kicking side root for some reason

And the Crassula perforata grew up under a pot on the second rack, causing them to bend sideways...  And sprout roots?

How weird!  I wonder what made them think they had ground underneath.  Was it the fact they were sideways?  The fact that there was a rack below them that they could somehow feel?  The fact that because they were under something else there was less light from above? 

And how interesting that it could sprout roots while still continuous with the rest of a long piece of plant.  Peppermint and strawberries too can put down roots distant from the original plant base (runners or "stolons") to the degree that they can be very invasive (here is even a whole how-to on destroying invasive strawberries) ... something similar?  Well, I couldn't find too much information on my plant, but I did find at least one source stating that when certain types of Crassulae grow a bit, they can sprout roots from the stem which one should "consider putting in soil" (reference the Crassula "baby necklace").

Pretty fascinating.  That pot is getting a bit unruly anyway.  I definitely will be trimming down some of the stalks and making attempts at repropagation. 

If this experiment has taught me anything, it's that anyone can repropagate succulents!  It's easy!

While we're on the topic of discovery, I would like to share something I discovered this week with you:  Pickle of the month club with "indie" small producers by Mouth

Coming up with this as a Christmas present was one of my finer moments.  But even better is the fact that these pickles are really awesomely delicious (coming from the non-pickle fanatic in the relationship)!

3-4 jars per month. This month: dill spears, sweet pickles, spicy pickles, and pickled green beans. Perfect mix!

So I share this with you because it is a tried and tested gift idea.  You're welcome.  This is how you make pickles:

And here is the happy result:

Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome week!  To get a headstart, I invite you to play this song and bad-dance around your kitchen.  I will now too, so we can do it together.  Ciao!

Science experiment: Magic Succulents!

Alright, alright.  This is a science experiment!

In light of the recent discovery that not one, but TWO of my recently dismantled succulent appendages are growing new mini-plants, I have decided to conduct the following experiment:

Title: "Are succulents really magical?"

Purpose: To determine whether or not accidentally chopped off succulent leaves can truly regrow into full grown healthy plants *under my care.*  Note -- I am aware that it has been done in the history of gardening, but if I am personally able to facilitate this, it would indicate that any dummy could... This would, in my mind, make them magical.  That, and I would never have to buy a succulent again.

Hypothesis: My succulents, having grown a little tiny mini-plant already, will be able to take root and grow, grow, grow! into a succulent jungle in the designated pots (see below).

Procedure: There are four plant types involved--
1. Echeveria
2. Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi, aka "Aurora Borealis"
3. Jade plant
4. Crassula perforata

The first three have had leaves fall off recently that have been found to be turning into independent mini-plants, the last plant... I cut off a piece today from a plant that was growing too tall and threw it in there just because.  All of the plant pieces have been put into a pot with the appropriate soil and moisture, with the plan to observe what happens.

Today is Day 1!  Data, results, and conclusion to follow!

Happy gifts

I am a sucker for flowers.  I think that they are beautiful in a way that is so simple.  They are beautiful if someone is there to appreciate them or not.  They are beautiful if they are sitting in a field in the middle of nowhere, they are beautiful in a garden, and they are beautiful in a crack of a highway side lane where the seed happened to fall.  And it's simple reproducible formula (though nature does it better!):  seed + sun + water + food = flower.   I know scientifically flowers exist to attract insects/birds to spread pollen to make seeds to reproduce etc etc.  But it still feels like flowers exist just to make the world beautiful, just because.  When I'm there to see it, they feel like a gift from God to me.  I feel the same way about the ocean, each wave I caught when I used to surf, sunsets, cool cloud formations, sunrises, scented flowers, and beautiful scenery.

I will be honest, I haven't had a great couple days.  Bad days happen.  They're worse when they come in series and when you realize how blessed you are, but you still feel like you're sitting under your own personal storm cloud.  But those are the days when I go into my garden, stare at my flowers and think, gosh, how beautiful this is, and just for me.

Is that weird?  You should try it with whatever makes you happy -- keep a whole patio full of it!

Here are the happy gifts this week:

1) This is so great. My second dahlia plant has bloomed, a lovely peachy pink color.  I love it.

2) More mind-blowing succulent reproductive magic.  This time on a form of Kalanchoe I have.  How interesting that the Eccheveria grows new babies from the broken off base and the Kalenchoe produces new baby plants from the tip.

3) This is actually a birthday gift for me that we bought in Italy.  A ceramic hanging to be hung in my garden.  By an artist named Innocenti.  How Italian!  We have to figure out what type of elaborate contraption will be able to hold this heavy thing up very very securely (it was rather expensive and I love it to much to let it break).  But once we do, it will make a great garden addition.

Life is too short and full of beautiful things to feel bad for very long.  Here's to finding our happiness!