Hosta and ivy

 This is a new hosta plant meant for the little garden.  I'm thinking to split it out into pieces and see what happens.  It has several nice stems in the dirt already.  It is an Aureus Marginata, and I really liked the streaks on the leaves.

Also, the ivy I rescued a few months ago has been having some issues... the lower leaves keep coming off and I thought I was overwatering it.  However, I got up the courage today to repot it into three smaller pots, breaking the root mass and giving it three chances to live or die.  The soil in the big pot was really dry - not at all what I thought... maybe the terracotta pot has been getting too hot?  Just thought of that - will try to put it in a plastic pot (the two divisions already are).  If the divisions make it - I'll put them in the garden behind the hostas.

I also thought I'd try to root a piece of it and a few pieces that broke off the hosta.  We had some rooting hormone and it is worth a shot.

If they aren't rooted within two weeks of today, they are probably not going to.
Also, my bellflower seed germinated today, but no cleome.  I'll have to replant that.

Sheep Zombies, cheetos and houseplants

My big project today was to re-pot the houseplant on the left (Shefflera, umbrella plant). I got it when I started working again and by now it was in a much-too-small pot nearly the same size as the ivy next to it. It also has some yellowed leaves from low light - so I tried to give it a better spot this time. Esme loves to go to the greenhouse and I love to watch her explore there - so we went and scoped out what they had. This time of year it wasn't much. But I did buy the white pot there and went on to the big box store to get the platter under it and a new Shaun the Sheep disc that was there. That makes three discs Esme can switch off on so we don't get so sick of them. She also watches the Wallace and Gromits and any other stop-motion cartoons we have, but none except Shaun turn her into a 'zombie'

Sheep zombie in action.. err.. inaction.



She just stands there and watches until each episode is done - takes a turn about the room and as soon as the next starts she's in the same place. Scary! The sheep zombies are upon us!

And cheetos. Here she is making a big deal out of 'mmmm' cheeto. Between this and fried chicken today she's had enough junk food to last a week!




Note: I've had that ivy ever since Fargo - way back Fargo, in college. I rescued it from Hornbacher's grocery store's clearance rack for 3.99 when it was about 5 inches square or less. It looked lonely as I waited in line for the bank window there -- and it came home with me. This is a clipping, not the original plant - I lost that one and it is presumed dead. Everybody I have given clippings off of it has killed them - except this one I gave Mark long ago. He still had it sitting in a jar when I moved in here and it has been vigorous ever since. I'm thinking of making another cutting off of it to put in our upstairs here.

Pink Geranium

I have a real fondness for geraniums, have since the first batch I had raised from seed back in high school. When we were shopping for garden seeds the other day, this beautiful specimen came home with us ;o)


Click to enlarge - you can even see the little hairs on the stems in this picture.



Geraniums are one of those plants that have wonderful smelling leaves as well as flowers. They are not terribly expensive, and can be raised from seed in a moist, covered container starting in January or February. They can do well inside as a houseplant with just some good sunlight and light watering. Sometimes they can have a tendency to overflower - using up their energies all at once, but the extra flower stems can be gently pruned back without harming the plant. It is best to allow only a few flower clusters to bloom at once unless you have a very good supply of fertilized soil to the plant.

The type of Geraniums you would find being sold at plant stores are also called 'Pelargonium', to determine them from wilder cousins. Here is a wonderful site with many beautiful pictures of different breeds of geraniums. I think most of these were grown and photographed by just one guy. It's apparent some people REALLY love geraniums more than I do, but the pictures are gorgeous. Also - be sure to check out his greenhouse picture just for the sheer magnitude of it.


This one in particular looks like a little bonsai tree!
It's going to need some care and a tiny bit of pruning here and there,
but it should live for up to a year or more, producing pretty flowers and outgrowing this pot at least once.