Progress in the cloner

Last night, I cleaned the cloner. All the cuttings were removed and set aside. The white top allows me to see when it's time to clean. Small areas of green algae and black mold-like spots were visible. The humid environment is ripe for the growth of mold and algae.



One of the rose cuttings has developed nice firm roots. Unfortunately, they were growing through the foam material I use to hold them in place. One snapped off while gently trying to remove it. Along with all the others, it was placed back into the cloner to grow more roots.



Two other cuttings have developed large calluses, but no visible roots. If the wood heater wasn't in use, I'd pot them up now and use a plastic bag to keep them moist. I'd rather leave them in the cloner for now to see if they will actually root. I've gotten to this stage with roses many times only to have them start to rot from above.



Christmas Day, I snipped the pods from Gomphocarpus. I've rooted a single cutting in the cloner, so I figured I had little to lose. After drying, the seeds are smaller than most milkweeds. I'm not sure if this is normal or if the seeds are not viable. I might do a paper towel test soon.



This morning, I've got to cut and split more firewood. I have three pieces left in the basement. It's currently 30 degrees and clear. The high today should reach the mid 40s. I'm going to need a lot more wood.

Christmas Day and I am alone.

Finally. When the whole clan gets together, it's a little much sometimes. I'm more accustomed, living alone, to a quieter nature than my family allows. The barking dog, the screaming nephew, the loud voices of my mother and sister, the snoring from the recliner in the corner where my dad sleeps the day away, it's just too much sometimes.

There was lots of food, some of which I brought back in Tupperware containers for the next couple of days. There were gifts, greatly appreciated because I needed or wanted them. There was a lot of rain. One and a half inches fell while I was away. The wood heater is getting fired up again to dry the water that collected in the basement from the leaking concrete walls.

When I got home, the second thing I did was to take a quiet walk through the backyard. I clipped a few butterfly bushes and stuck them where I want them to grow. I did the same thing last year with great results. I also collected the seed pods from the Gomphocarpus. Inside, lots of brown seeds were found. I hope they're viable. I'll wintersow them in a couple months. It's a host plant for the Monarch.

Tomorrow is a work day. I'm sure we won't be busy. 66 Christmas trees need to be sold at $1 each to fishermen who place them in their ponds or favorite spots in area lakes for Crappies to raise their young. I've got a couple seed trades to get out now that things are getting back to normal. Next week, I'll cut some more firewood and get it split for two coldest months ahead.

What started out as a cold Christmas has turned into a pleasant day. It's 57 degrees and cloudy. I'm beat.

The First of November

It's been raining since yesterday afternoon. I came home from work at 3pm with the idea of cleaning the basement and sorting all my containers. Instead, I took a nap. It started as a constructive staring episode thinking about things to add color to the backyard. It ended about 1am when I woke up, a full night's sleep behind me. I went back to bed about two hours later, setting most of the clocks as I went. When I got out of bed about 6am, I made coffee and headed to the basement to clean. The front half is done.

The light rack, where tender plants spend the winter, is reset and ready for later this week when temperatures will be back down into the mid 30s. The top shelf holds the cloner. The two middle racks each have two 4' light sections. The bottom and top shelves only have one light. I need new bulbs for one fixture that has sunshine bulbs rather than daylight. It produces a warmer light, but I've found the daylight bulbs are better for growing plants during the winter months. All the brugs and pineapple sage cuttings will live here until next April. Gardenia cuttings and other hardy plants will live here until the hoophouse goes up in January.



Outside, it's Sunday, 52 degrees, and soggy.



The maple by the street is almost naked. I hope to collect some leaves Monday before work.



The oak in the front yard is even further along. More mulch for the beds out back.



Tiny sparks of color still remain.



Next year's larkspur have germinated.



In the meadow, crimson clover is growing painfully slow.



Gomphocarpus still hasn't given me any seeds. There are now three pods the size of tennis balls.



Along the driveway, pineapple sage and the lavender crape myrtle provide lots of color on such a dreary day.



Tomorrow, I will be taking out the rest of the brugs. This week might give us our killing frost. It's time to put the garden to bed. Lots of things need to be moved and divided. And some fence panels that are taking up space in the basement need to be installed at the end of the driveway. I only have two. A burford holly will find a new home and the pineapple sage will be cut down. I may let nature take its course on that one. It's hard to cut back plants that are still blooming and have a slight chance of returning next year. All in all, it's been a good season.

Next year...

New life has already begun in the garden. Seedlings are popping up all over as the temperatures fall. It's 48 degrees this morning. A heavy dew covers everything. It's sunny and should remain that way all day.

Mountain Bluet, the first wintersown plant to bloom, has reseeded all over the garden. It's true, I tossed out seeds haphazardly when I collected them earlier in the year. Seems they germinated best near the stone borders.



Cosmos have germinated all over too. The mountain bluet will withstand the winter. The cosmos don't stand a chance against even a light frost.



Another annual, Salvia subrotunda, has lots of babies.



I tossed out echinacea, rudbeckia, and other seeds in this area all summer. I wonder what I'll get next year. It's part of the fun, I think.



Echinacea seedlings in the crape myrtle bed out back from seeds sown almost a month ago. I scattered more seeds last week and yesterday. Some were white swan, some were plain purple.



Unknown seedling. It's popped up in clumps near the spring poppies. I don't think it's a poppy plant. Is it?



In the rose garden, a tomato was recently discovered. No fruits or blooms yet, it'll be cut down by the frost that will surely come in less than a month.



I hope my snow peas have a chance to bloom and fruit. I'll use a row cover if I have to. I love snow peas.



My hairy ball has gotten larger.



This winter will certainly see some differences in the garden. Where the old oak tree stood, sunlight now pours into the back yard and the perennial bed. Last year, the yard was still shaded this time of day. I may have to rethink some of the shade loving plants I had planned to fill a certain corner with.



More sanding in the kitchen today. I hope to get the final coat of mud on the walls and begin installing cabinets on Friday. I can't promise anything though.

Musical Plants

Nope. This isn't about the way the wind rustles through grasses or the sound two trees make rubbing against each other in the gully. This is about moving plants. This morning, the pampas grass found a new home.



I moved the stone edging too and sprayed the grass.



In a couple more weeks, this crape myrtle will be moved into that corner.



Russian sage, not doing well where I planted them near the house, have been moved to the crape myrtle bed currently occupied by coneflowers (new seedlings are up) and Icicle speedwell.



I also planted a rooted cutting of winter jasmine that a Gardenwebber was nice enough to send me this spring. She got peonies from me (and Trevor).



The pile at the end of the driveway gets smaller, then larger. I've got a month to get all this in the ground. I'm going to plant a lot of it tomorrow.



Three white crape myrtles were planted out. They were wintersown and potted up months ago.



I planted out the two blueberry bushes too. The closest one is Blueray. The furthest is Elliot. They should both reach about 6' tall and wide.



I've got tiny hairy balls.



Just because I want to remind myself this winter why I've got so many pineapple salvia cuttings in the basement under lights...



It's 72 degrees and cloudy.



No, it's 72 degrees and sunny.



In either case, it's muggy. More rain is expected the next few days. We got another 1/2" over night. Off to shower, then work. I noticed this morning that the slight limp from yesterday is gone. Let's hope it stays that way at the store.

Swelling

My leg is swollen, but not as bad as it was yesterday morning. I think laying in bed all day helped. Whenever I sat at the desk to do some work for my former boss, I propped it up on the edge of the desk. My foot fell asleep more times than I can count, but it seems to have helped.

Picture of legs with stiches and bruising.

Finally got downstairs and out into the yard for a few minutes. The mosquitoes are still swarming. We got 1/4" of rain over the past 2 days. Most of that was on Wednesday afternoon. We've got better chances today and tomorrow. It's currently 74 degrees, cloudy, and the humidity stands at 97%.

Another new rudbeckia has bloomed. This one is about 5" across.



The first moonvine flower. I missed it last night, but I smelt it. :)



My hairy balls are blooming. Gomphocarpus physocarpus - a milkweed.

Random bits

It drizzled most of the day yesterday. More rain in the forecast for today. It's 70 degrees and cloudy. The mosquitoes think they own the whole yard. We got less than 1/16" total precipitation. The soil is still dry in many parts of the yard.



I really like this variegated lantana. It finally started performing a week ago. Guess it does like the heat. I'll take cuttings this fall in case it doesn't return next spring.



Purple Althea.



White Althea. I need to remember to tag these. I plan to move the white ones to the white bed this fall.



I'm very disappointed with the white bed. It's not what I had envisioned at all. Very dry, hot, and needs constant attention. That'll change next year.



Gomphocarpus, aka Hairy Balls, is budding. I might get a few seeds. I think it's too late though.



The lavender crepe myrtle is budding too. I didn't expect blooms this year after moving it just a month or so ago.



Red Texas Star hibiscus is about a week away from blooming too. These were wintersown. I moved them into the shrub island in the back yard. They get more sun here.



What am I going to do with 16 Carolina Cherry Laurel seedlings? These things get up to 30' tall. Anyone want some? They make a great privacy hedge blocking out small skyscrapers.



Butterfly bushes, white crepe myrtles, figs, sweetshrub, and Confederate Rose. All were wintersown or grown from cuttings (figs). I'm giving away most of these to people around here. I can't use them. I'll take more fig cuttings this winter for next year's plant sale. The forsythia will be planted around the edge of the backyard this fall. I just need to clear out more of the periwinkle first.



Got plans for today. We'll see if I manage to get it all done.