Flower Focus: Plumeria

Oh, the lovely Plumeria!  As a flower-lover, it's hard to miss them if you visit Hawaii.  They're everywhere, and so fragrant!  Even if you somehow manage to miss the ubiquitous plumeria plants outdoors, ranging in size from small shrubs to 35ft trees, surely you will notice that these flowers are widely used to make leis as well as perfumes. 

 

As I mentioned last week, I brought a cutting back with me in the hopes of having my own plumeria plant one day soon.

As you can tell from the picture, the cutting is about 12 inches long and if all goes well, will produce pink-yellow flowers.  The plumeria flowers range in color from white with yellow centers to various shades of peach-pink with or without yellow centers. 

Here are the directions that came with the cutting:

According to the Sunset Western Garden Book, plumerias are very easy to grow from cuttings... in Hawaii.  On the mainland, it's safer to buy a plant.  But it is still possible.  The biggest obstacle is maintaining a delicate balance of sun-water such that the plant is just above dry.  In Hawaii, where it rains often and is always warm, this is quite easy!  In SoCal, it almost never rains and the air is quite dry.  Also, temperatures tend to drop quite a bit at night.  Water too much and you end up with a rotten plant.  Water too little and it dries out and dies.

Good luck, little guy.  I've planted the cutting about 3-4 inches into the ground in regular soil.  It was a bit calloused at the end before I did so, which is what is recommended to avoid rot.  You can also use rooting hormone if you have it to promote rooting.

A few interesting facts about the lovely plumeria:

• Another common name is Frangipani
• The sap is milky and quite caustic to the skin
• In Polynesian culture, a flower over the right ear means a woman is seeking a relationship.  Over the left means she is taken.
• In some parts of Asia, local beliefs state that plumeria trees shelter ghosts and demons, and as a result, plumeria are often planted in cemeteries.
• Blooming begins in the spring and continues for more than 6 months.

I bought my cutting at a fruit stand by the highway and these cutting are available widely, including at general stores on the islands.  I think that there's a higher probability for success given our Santa Monica climate.  But given their enthusiasm to sell these cuttings to anyone and everyone (at the fruit stand at least), I'm not going to get my hopes too high.  We'll see....

Meanwhile, here's a gratuitous shot of the Maui beach that I am missing at the moment.

And I leave you with a clip of some fabulous previous world cup celebrations.  I hope to see many more from Holland and USA in the next few weeks still!

The Plant Killer

I think the concept of vertical gardening is awesome.  And I have a vertical planter.  Only problem is, my vertical planter kills plants.  Very reliably.  

No matter what I try -- drought-resistant plants, watering every day, plastic baggy "invention," plant nannies and water globes -- I turn my back for a second, and we're looking at this:

or worse, this

Why?  Because the combination of heat with felt bags just dries everything right out.

My husband has started asking me regularly to throw it away.  But I think the concept of vertical gardening is so awesome and I have a vertical planter, so I refuse.  He has started getting creative and suggesting neat alternatives (like a wire lattice with air plants... Ooo, hey...).  And they are tempting.  But vertical gardening!!

Nevertheless, even I am starting to see the futility, so this year, as you know, I am trying something different...  Succulents.

I am very fond of my succulents, and these succulents are ones that I have nurtured for some time now, whether from propagated cuttings or in other pots that they have simply overgrown.

What better to overcome The Plant Killer than the (almost) unkillable succulents?  Good luck, little guys.

I should add that you may notice that the Dipladenia that I blogged about last year as a superhero plant and that is also present in the picture above of the completely dead vertical garden... save for the Dipladenia... is still alive.  Deathless Dipladenia, aka Superhero Plant, I am in awe.  Way to go.

So here's some samples of what I've put in the vertical planter:

A jade propagated newbie which started as this almost exactly one year ago--

Tiny roots

Repotted into a tiny pot

And has now turned into this, with a well-developed root system--

Has a few more leaves too!

Impressive!

I replanted the Echeveria which was nearly murdered by the rack in our kitchen window and in that process sparked this whole discovery of succulent propagation. 

That is all one plant except for the Kalanchoe propagation at far left

 In the process of unpotting and replanting it, a side branch fell off.  Oops.  But it already had a root system developing, so I planted that in another pocket as well.

Mama plant behind

The Crassula perforata branch that I had cut off and tossed into the Baby Succulent Farm, wondering if it would grow roots...  It grew roots!

And here it is, replanted with another repropagated "Kalanchoe Aurora Borealis" as well as a fuzzy succulent friend, "Kalanchoe Chocolate Soldier."

I will be quite sad if The Plant Killer kills them all, but I am taking a few measure against that:

First, instead of the usual very well-draining cactus mix, I added some potting soil (which does not drain as quickly).  The pocket on top is all potting soil and the ones on the bottom are mostly cactus mix, to account for the bottom pockets generally retaining more moisture (effect of gravity while watering).  

I have said before that the best way to kill a succulent is to over-water.  So it will be a delicate balance -- usually I water once a week rather lightly.  With these, I started with a heavy watering yesterday as you should with any plant that you have just planted, and intend to do a light watering 2-3x per week until established... and then we'll see.  And no watering with a hose to avoid excessive moisture.  That's the game plan!

I have had such success with propagating succulents that I have relegated another pot to a second Baby Succulent Farm.  Soon I will have to start giving succulents away!  There are so many!

Look at that teensy tiny baby succulent at the end of the leaf in the middle... Can you see it??

Meanwhile my other cuttings continue to grow (taken last week)

I love it.  Well, as you read this, I am in Las Vegas with the siblings, so I leave you with this fascinating aside (ever wonder what people would be like if born during a different generation?  Like would an Elvis born in 1983 be famous now?) ......Anyway: Elvis "Viva Las Vegas!"

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!

Hot updates

Wow, it is HOT outside!  

True confessions:  when it gets really hot, my plants start looking like this:

...which makes me depressed to look at them, which makes me not go out there as much, which results in me neglecting my plants somewhat, which just worsens the whole situation.  It's a vicious cycle.

I've told you before about my habit of rapidly cycling through hobbies.  My husband who likes to make overly confident statements predicting my actions has said both that my garden "looks like it's in its dying cycle again" and that he thinks I will likely be "moving on soon from gardening."  ...thanks for the vote of confidence.

While I admit that my garden has looked somewhat ragged recently and I have eyed other interests I am planning on getting into with my new-found free time (namely cooking: I just bought "Cooking for Geeks" and am very excited about it as it approaches cooking from a scientific point of view), I am not intending on neglecting my garden, it's in my blood, people!  I've got a little bit longer, I've got a ways to go! (what a great song!)  So yes, here's some updates...

1. I am pronouncing the heirloom tomato project over, with an overall grade of D (not F because at least it did not die immediately). This is what the tomato looks like today:

*sigh*

I plan to pull it down later this afternoon (when it cools down a bit, my goodness!).  I really wanted to hold out hope.  My parents were here last weekend and helped me prune it and taught me about tapping on the stems with flowers to help stimulate pollination.  But this problem child has looked persistently out of control, Evan has complained persistently about what an eyesore it is, and despite being over 6 feet tall with many chances to have grown tomatoes by now, it has remained barren.  

Today, Evan also received a big bag of home grown tomatoes from someone lovely at work (thanks, Janice!). 

Upon seeing how prolific other people's tomatoes are, I'm saying, better luck next time and fare thee well in tomato heaven, Great White.

2. Not all things are terrible.  Here is a photo from today of the thriller filler spiller pot that I talked about in a recent post.  It looks great!  I will say the filler and spiller look somewhat more distinguishable in real life, but next time I may choose slightly more obviously different plants.  The Muehlenbeckia in particular has grown into a spectacular tangle of delicate little round leaves and the Fuchia has a number of beautiful flowers blooming constantly.

3. Our succulent science experiment is growing well.  Even the Crassula stem that I just tossed in there has sprouted roots and curved upward at the tip.  For comparison, here is the link to that first post.

4.  Actually, all my succulents are growing well.  I love succulents.  Pictured below is my gift succulent I've talked about before.  It's grown!

Also from Janice...  thank you!

5.  And lastly, to overcome this mid-summer gardening death depression, I went shopping today and-- surprise, surprise-- bought a number of new plants which I intend to plant tomorrow.  My sister is also coming to visit the day after tomorrow and her new man is joining next week, and naturally, I want to look like the green-thumbed gardener that I sometimes think that I am. So, lots of new and interesting plants (all heat and drought resistant!).  More later, but here's a preview of an exciting plant I had never seen before:

Ptilotus Joey (with Maidenhair Fern behind it)

And that is all for today.  Stay tuned and stay cool!

The amazing and the really truly terrible

When someone says, "I have good news and bad news," which do you prefer to hear first?  I have always wanted the bad news first. I wonder if that says anything about your personality...

The Bad News

My mortal enemies have returned.

 

I hate them. I get as angry seeing these worms as Evan does when his favorite team loses (last week it was the Caps. Let's not talk about that). As aforementioned, pests tend to attack sick plants. So unfortunately it was somewhat inevitable.



It is a huge plant now in a tiny pot... like a very big lady with tiny feet (have any fellow doctors or people-observers noticed that that happens a lot?)... and it can't even stand up straight. It's so oversized for its pot that it dries out and wilts daily when it is hot.  Thus the hose.  I just leave it there now.

There are a wide variety of green worms that attack tomato plants.  The largest of which are hornworms (baby versions of future Mothra), the smallest of which can burrow into your ripest tomatoes undetected, leaving a bunch of difficult to see caterpillar skins and eggs inside (!!!!).  That's disgusting.  These worms are somewhere in the middle, and not one that I have yet been able to identify from my friend the internet.  What the internet does say is that solutions for "green worms on your tomato plants" include "picking them off", spraying soapy water at them, and/or using serious pesticides that are likely toxic to humans.  And praying.  

Basically, my tomato plant may be doomed.  I have been picking these worms off (or rather cutting them in half again, Godfather style) and will likely try this soapy dishwater nonsense spray, but I am also going to quarantine it tomorrow.  Let's not talk about this. It makes me sad.


The Good News!

On the upside, this is really cool. It may just blow your mind.

Remember the near death experience of my Echeverria? Well! Turns out it truly is a magical plant.

Not only has a small offshoot grown from the mother plant at the site of amputation...


But the amputated parts have also sprouted tiny new micro-plants!


Mind blown!  I will continue to follow these little plants and update you periodically.

Isn't it is nice to end on a good note? Isn't science cool? Hooray!