New Baby Succulents!

If you read last week's post, you probably have an idea of where I am going this week...  Succulents!  As I mentioned before, these lovely little plants are easy to grow and by extension, for me at least, the habit of buying and planting these is a bit addictive.  Discovering the ability to propagate succulents on my own just adds another dimension of interest.  

So allow me to show you this week's awesome -- new baby succulents!

At The Jungle, I bought a couple newbies:

Crassula marnieriana

A purple Echeveria

And a mystery succulent  (there were no tags on this plant and in my excitement, I forgot to ask)

You may also remember that makeshift baby succulent nursery I had going on with the products of my science experiment:

The goal for the week was to replant some of these propagated succulents and also fill a few pots that had become available -- one from an orchid that died and another pot-set that I got from my in-laws, originally for the purpose of growing herb seeds.  Here is a sample pot from the pot-set:

Sometimes these indoor pots are tricky -- if they have drainage holes on the bottom, then you need to put them on something so you don't make a puddle inside your house.  If they don't (as this pot-set doesn't), then it can be hard to know how much to water them.  As you can see, these pots have a little... I am not sure what to call it... shelf thing inside that you can either put rocks underneath or nothing (though some soil will fall through) with the idea that extra water collects there.  Regardless, whenever in need of something that will not be finicky with water... choose succulents!

The propagated succulents actually had a pretty extensive root system for how small the plants are.  I was surprised:

And I used a few small clay pots as well as recycled plastic pots to replant these little babies:

The largest of the propagated baby Echeveria I planted as a third plant in the pot-set, along with the purple Echeveria, and the mystery succulent:

And lastly, my new Crassula got a special place in a white textured pot which I think complements its colors and unique look perfectly:

Before you go, here's some UB40, because it's that kind of week.  xoxo!

The Pretty Pot: "Thriller Filler Spiller"

Recently, Evan asked if i might plant something nice by our front door.  Obviously, the answer was yes.  This afforded me the opportunity to buy new plants, explore the world of shade plants, and also come up with a pretty display pot.  It is an art, if you let it be one.

So how do you pick the perfect pot of plant?  First there's the pot, which I won't say much about.  You need to consider your space which affects the size, shape, and color of pot you will choose.  There are also a variety of types of pots available -- ceramic, plastic, terracotta, metal, wood...  it's a topic we can cover another day.  

Then there's the type of plant which will grow well in your pot.  What is the microclimate of the pot's location?  Sun, part sun, shade?  Is the pot one that will dry out quickly?  Is it very hot or windy?  All things that will narrow down your plant selection, and thank goodness, because I have a hard time choosing regardless.

What I really want to talk about is something that is not a new concept in the garden world:  "Thriller, Filler, Spiller"... which makes me inevitably think of Bob Marley singing "Iron, Lion, Zion" every time.  It's a cheesy name that kind of sucks, in my opinion, but I must give credit where credit is due, sort of...  I did not come up with this concept.  But really, neither did the garden world.  It's kind of like the background, middleground, and foreground in art.  In essence, you want something eye-catching and tall in the back, something fairly leafy and space-filling of medium height in the middle, and something short and ideally trailing in the front.

Enough words, let's do some pictures:

Having just been to Italy, I picked a plastic (lightweight!) pot with a Tuscan-esque design and color on a stand to bring the small plants closer to eye level.  

Then I picked my thriller, which was easy -- I have thought fuchsia plants were gorgeous since I saw them in my aunt's garden in Holland.  They do have a proclivity towards developing mites, but I am pre-armed with spray.

It was much more difficult to pick the other plants.  After more than 30min of walking back and forth at Armstrong in indecision, for the filler, I picked Variegated Helichrysum and for the spiller, I chose Muehlenbeckia.

Why?  I wanted a variety of colors and shapes of foliage.  I thought the Helichysum was a nice contrast with the silvery light green that also matched the accent color of our apartment.  Also, the Muehlenbeckia had nice small leaves in a tangle of dark green to contrast the other two plants.  

I absolutely love the fuschia so I stuck with other leafy plants so that other larger flowers wouldn't detract from the delicate look of the fuschia flowers.  But there are tons of options.  Perhaps in another pot, one could do pink impatiens with trailing ivy with a tall purple leafy plant of some sort in the back.  Here's a few examples from the web (Sources linked here: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th):

  

 


And they are all beautiful and different in style!  I have noticed that other people (at least on the interwebs) tend to plant their pots significantly tighter than mine.  How do their plants have space to grow?  Anyway, I planted this pot about 1 month ago, so it is slowly filling out beautifully.  Updated photos to follow!  And remember, next time, you want to plant a pretty pot, think "Thriller, Filler, Spiller"  (or Iron, Lion, Zion).  Happy planting!

In baby stage, welcoming guests

Oops, I did it again!

First, a word of wisdom:

On that note...

Oops, I killed a plant!

Soooo, that didn't take long.  I think the problem is too little water for a thirsty plant.  But especially since this has happened to me once before, I have decided that dill may be too fragile for my current gardening abilities (although the other plants are growing like crazy-- the parsley a little too crazy, it's crowding the lavender!  Maybe it's not me, it's you, Dill).

Oops, picked too small of a pot!

Same pot that killed my jasmine! Noooo!!

The rapid growth of my tomato plant was at first exciting.  Until it grew so tall that it started to look disproportionately large for the pot.  So I did some internet research and discovered that for indeterminate tomato plants, the minimum pot size is a 24 inch pot.  "Indeterminate" refers to tomato plants that do not produce all their tomatoes at once (most heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate).  This is in contrast to "determinate" tomato plants that do produce fruit all at once that need a pot at least 18 inches in size.  I don't think my pot is even 18 inches...

And oops, my plants are sick!

Once, a nice worker man at Armstrong Garden Center told me in response to my question regarding a serious pest problem in several of my plants that plants really should not get disease unless they are sick.  "That's mean," I thought, "my plants are not all sick."  The string of pearls succulent (with the mildew) could be a little stressed -- I just repotted it recently and it was looking a little tired beforehand.  But the parsley??  (The whitefly are the tiny little white specks.)  Hopefully it is not anything a little Neem oil cannot fix.

Here's another picture of whitefly, closeup (source from this informative site):

Actual size = 1-3mm each

I hope the whitefly do not become a problem -- last year, they got really out of control to the point that I couldn't stand next to my poor plant without feeling like I was going to inhale a swarm of them...

Well, on the upside, yes, I referenced a Britney Spears song today-- for any haters out there, I will just say she and I grew up together, not literally, and her music videos spawned a thousand late night dance routines in front of my mirror.  Mostly in college.  They were happy moments.

Arts + Crafts: Gilding terracotta pots

Well friends, this past weekend I had a one woman crafts extravaganza during which I gilded a couple terracotta pots with the ultimate plan to use them for my succulents.  It was as exciting as it is unusual for me to do crafts.  I love artsy stuff and like to think I'm alright at amateur art, but crafts I pretty much never do, both because I typically lack the patience required to get a project completed and because I hate Michael's (it is SO hard to find anything there).

Nevertheless, after seeing really cute Pinterest'd gilded pots and blogs like this and this explaining how easy it is, I had to give it a shot.  And it's not that hard!

First, you need your materials.

I bought a gilding set for $11 which included everything as except for the sponge paintbrushes which were $0.50 each, but you can just as easily buy all your supplies separately.  

Specifically, you need:

-The soon to be golden terracotta pots

-Gold Leaf

-The special adhesive called "Size" (some sources suggest Elmer's spray adhesive works too)

-Sealer (Spray sealer works too)

The kit also came with a red basecoat and "Antiquing glaze" which I ignored.

First, liberally apply adhesive to the pot.  I used two wet coats, and try to minimize bubbles.  As soon as the adhesive is applied, quickly lay a gold leaf on top.  It will cling to the pot (and everything else) like super-thin gold clingwrap.  Before I started, I wondered how I would get it to look so imperfectly perfect... turns out that was not a problem.

Adhesive

Gold leaf'd

Next, push any gold leaf still flapping in the wind down with a little brush or sponge.  This is harder than it sounds because the second your fingers or little sponge get adhesive on it, the gold leaf will stick to your fingers/sponge instead of the pot, with the result that each tappy tap rips pieces of gold leaf off your pot.  Proceed with caution.

Once you've covered your goal area (usually, top of the pot or just one side), brush off any loose pieces of gold leaf with a paper towel, and then apply sealer liberally to the gold leafed area.  While you want to cover the edges as well for a good seal, painting on the actual pot will change the color somewhat.  Two coats seems to be enough.

Once your pots have dried, celebrate with a glass of wine or a fist pump or something, because your pots are ready for planting and you, ladies and gents, have graduated to crafty lady status!

I am a crafty lady

Highlights

I love lists because even more than I like making them, I love checking things off.  Last week, I made a short list of goals, and I'm happy to say that I am making progress on the gardening front.  Here's a few highlights:

Sniffing my jasmine one last time... and then hacking it down with all the rest of my dead plants:

*sniff*

I'm sorry, plant

The biggest moth I have ever seen in my life:

Fully 3 inches long, ie, monster-sized

If only I could understand Japanese...

Going to Armstrong's Garden Center to research plants for my garden:

Another happy new pot:

Say hello to my one-eyed sunshine...

Gilding terracotta pots (whaaaat??  I did whaaaat??  Yes, I am proud of myself, more on this later):

Not perfect, but I feel like a Martha Stewart genius

Also, after calling a few more wine stores without success, I bought a wine crate online from Wine Pine which I am eagerly awaiting (picture to follow... can't wait!).  Next up, actual plants! 

Goodwiiillll

After a long break from gardening, combined with a recent stretch on night shifts, combined with self-induced stress about job interviews and questions like "what is my future?", I can't wait! to go outside into the sunshine and garden.

FINALLY, today, I had a semi-normal day off to do just that.  But before I can actually garden, I need to plan out my garden, choose what flowers to buy from one of my fat garden books, buy some new pots, pick up some wine crates from a kind soul at a wine store (because I am obsessed with the idea of planting an heirloom tomato plant surrounded by herbs in a wooden wine crate -- tell me that would not be the cutest), cut down my depressing dying jasmine plant and pull out all my other dead plants, buy new potting soil, and then, I can buy some plants and plant my garden.

*sigh*

All I managed to do today, before I got tired, was buy this pot from Goodwill:

It's alright.  It was $4.99.  It matches my other pots, and it will look cute with some basil in it.

Not quite the list of accomplishments I was hoping for from my day.  But I guess it's a start.  Upon coming home, I decided to make a more realistic set of gardening goals for the next week or so:

1. Either buy or find some wine crates.  I went to Lincoln Fine Wines two days ago, and discovered that they are happy to give out their leftover wine crates, but there are lots of other people trolling around for said crates (so there were none left).  Realistically, I will probably buy something online-- I am not a patient troller.  Here is the inspiration (taken from apartment therapy):

2. Pull out the dead plants.  Every time I eat breakfast, I am forced to look at all the plants I killed... it's time.  Out with the old, in with the new!  

3. Go slowly, and relax!  Instead of trying to plan out a whole Martha Stewart pinterest-worthy garden at once, which is kinda what I was trying to do (hey, dream big), it probably makes more sense to replenish the planters I have, instead of going nuts...  our collective bank account thanks me.

Anyway, hopefully next week, I will have more to report back.  Happy March!  Happy gardening!

Faces of root rot

Oh, how sad it is to watch your plant-child grow as you've nurtured it with sunshine, water, food and caressing of its leaves, only to one day succumb to... ROOT ROT!

Here is Jasmine as a baby:

And here is Jasmine, post root rot attack:

 

Notice the large chunks of plant that are dying.  Horrible!  And so characteristic of root rot.  Naturally, once I figured out what was going on, I indignantly asked the gardening universe, "What causes root rot??" and discovered (with the help of the internet) that in fact, I am to blame for my damaged plant-baby.  

A few things contribute:

-Overwatering

-Poorly draining pots

-Overly heavy soil

And for the science geeks (ie, myself), it's specifically frequently caused by a mold genus called  Phytophthora.  But mostly it's caused by the overwaterers who are happily, unknowingly drowning their plants.  Sadly, there is no cure-- "lethal," says Wikipedia-- and my Jasmine will probably die.  

As a side note, Jasmine has a lifetime warranty on it from Armstrong's Garden Center who will replace it in case of death (all trees and shrubs!  whaaaatt?).  I am far too proud, however, to bring in a plant that I managed to murder after only one year in my care, and instead, will probably wait for it to die-- but hopefully bloom first-- and then replace it with something awesome.