The Indoor Garden(er)

Open For Business

2012-01-17T12:50:00.000-05:00

Sort of. It's only slightly on the DL.

You who have followed my blog for any length of time know that I like to cook. I recently started a new blog, The House Husband, to kind of separate that hobby from my indoor/general gardening obsession--at least, online, so that it makes more sense to visit The Indoor Garden(er). The House Husband joins Bagging The Baggage and Agritate in my new series of blogs to help separate content into more digestible streams--I started feeling like The Indoor Garden(er) was too much of a random catch-all, that I had lost focus, and that I might be confusing people with the content I post under the assumption that it's going to be garden-related on the basis of the blog title, description, and general content. I can't say I've been consistent posting on any of these new locations, but I do of course intend to be. I'm still working on getting into some sort of routine after moving back to DC, but without any actual steady schedule (read: work), I've found it difficult to corral my own activities.

Part of that difficulty is the myriad choices I can make: Go freelance full-time? Try for an office job? Quit the rat race and join the food industry? I've attempted some combination of all of the above since I returned to the US in August--I've freelanced a bit, I've searched for full-time office jobs, and I spent a few months in the food industry (and technically, I'm still in it as Whisked!'s bakery assistant, but work is infrequent at the moment now that the markets are over for the season). The lack of direction has made it difficult for me, generally--it's hard to hammer something down when you're aiming at many separate nails all at once (like Whack-A-Mole, except a bit more frantic and with more life-affecting consequences).

But, eventually, the effort will yield something. I have some freelance opportunities, and I'm pursuing the food industry angle a bit more proactively now, too. I registered for the DC Grey Market on 28 January. The Grey Market is a place where unregistered food businesses can go to sell their product--shoppers buy a ticket ahead of time and acknowledge that they understand the food they'll buy at the market was prepared in a non-health-inspected kitchen or somesuch, and we vendors get the opportunity to sell our products we make in our home kitchens.

It's difficult to be a small food business in DC (probably in a lot of places, I'd imagine), but I know so many people in the area who have succeeded, and it's been something of a simmering dream of mine--I think it's actually a genetic predisposition. Everyone in my family (and, it seems, my beau's, too) has dreamed of opening some sort of food establishment. While I was a child, my dad had a crab truck for a few years--he went to the docks every weekend, bought a ton of crabs, cooked them in the truck and sold them on the side of the road. This was definitely before the lunch-food-truck craze of the past few years, but then, a half-bushel of crabs is totally not an appropriate meal for an office setting, eh?

What I'm doing, however, is slightly different--I love interacting with the customer, and I'm thinking a farmers' market would be a wonderful place to get myself into in the future. So I'm testing the Grey Market. I'm bringing a bunch of different items, to see what people are interested in and whether it seems as if I could make anything of a profit. I'm calling myself "The Experimental Oven," for various reasons: I work under a trial-and-error scientific method; I like to be creative; I'm not baking, exclusively: I have a variety of products I plan on making; I never follow a recipe exactly, even if I'm doing it for the first time; and there's always something that makes each batch of what I make special, whether I ran out of milk and had to use a substitute or whether I accidentally had the temperature at 425 instead of 325 and had to reduce the bake time. I'm going to have to become a little more consistent if I want to start selling product to customers on a regular basis, but part of the name also implies that because everything I make is small-batch artisan foods, there will be some variation from week to week as I play around with the recipes.

What I consider to be a less-complicated but also less financially thrilling is doing wholesale orders for cafes or somesuch. I have a few ins that I could surely follow to make some of my specialty scones, biscotti, or random packaged goods such as hummus, pimiento cheese, or what-have-you. But wholesale is large-batch, low-cost: I'd have to make a ton of product to make the same amount of money I might at a market, because of the resale aspect, although the steady, more-certain income has its appeal.

After I try this Grey Market thing, I have to see whether I make enough money (after ingredient costs and other expenses) to consider doing it on a regular basis. I have to take into account rent for registered commercial kitchen space, the incorporation fees for the business, transportation, vendor fees, and insurance. There are probably other large expenses I'm forgetting at the moment (perhaps a stand mixer?), but there are a lot of start-up costs and a ton of things to hammer out if this is to become a reality. At least I'll soon have a logo--I had a meeting last night with blogger/foodie/friend FoodNewsie, who designed DC State Fair's first advertising back in 2010. He's working on a logo design for The Experimental Oven. I'm a logo virgin--I've never had one, and I'm totally excited about this!

My Metro Adventure

2011-12-21T14:51:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I posted this without any text or explanation. I was using it as a quick repository to share with reporters. I was on an Orange line train (sometime before 9:39, which is when I wrote an e-mail to my beau) heading to Rosslyn for an interview when a part of a brake in the train ahead of mine hit the electrified third rail. It caused a bunch of smoke, gigantic sparks/flames, and a bit of panic in the train. Most people were pretty damn chill--it was actually fun in some ways, because we were just sitting around joking and ribbing on Metro.

There are plenty of articles from news sources out there, so I'm just going to focus on my own fun experience.

First, I'll start with transcriptions of a couple e-mails I wrote to my beau detailing a few of the more fun experiences.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 9:39 AM
Subject: Fire on my train
Message: Yay

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 10:15 AM
Subject: 40 minutes later...
Message: The train stopped. It started getting smoky. The door to the next car opened and a wryly smiling man said "The next car's on fire." We started walking toward the last car while one woman freaked out, we were all milling and joking. Then we finally decided to open the door (keep in mind that the driver has not yet contacted us, so we were unsure what to do) and walk back to L'Enfant. But four people were walking back toward the train, telling us Metro employees said to get back into the train because the air quality was too poor outside the train. So instead, we are sitting here in a smoky train inhaling all these fumes for an unknown amount of time. The driver came on the speakers and said "Help is on the way." We're like, "Um, it's been 40 minutes. Why aren't they HERE?"

And he just came back on and said that help is on the way--still. Anyway. Maybe eventually I'll get to my interview.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 10:50 AM
Subject: "If we're anywhere near a platform, we'll get you off the train."
Message: Serious? They don't know where we are???

Lol these people on the train with me are awesome. We are joking and laughing.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 11:08 AM
Subject: I just videotaped our channel 4 news live interview
Message:

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 11:25 AM
Subject: Oh no!
Message: I've been told I must take my stilettos off when I get to the ladder in 30 minutes. Damnit!

And now some photos!

Milling around wondering what to do--no word from the train conductor, emergency buttons weren't working, and we weren't sure whether it was safe to leave the train or not. Not that that stopped some people (read below).

I ended up wrangling open an emergency door (some didn't work) and tried to walk back to the platform, but I was told by returning train riders that Metro employees told them to get back on the train--the air quality was too poor in the tunnel and it was safer on the train. For 2 hours, we breathed the smoky air (some doors were open, remember?) and as we lined up to evacuate hours later, I asked why the track lights had just gone out--I was told by a fire fighter that they were operating on batteries that last only 2 hours. The electrified third rail had shorted out and the power was turned off when our train hit the other part on the rail. There was no actual danger, really, from the get-go--we should have left.

Anyway, we milled around for a while. I ate my bagel and drank my coffee. 30 or 40 minutes into the ordeal, the conductor finally came on to say that Metro was looking into what happened and that we should stay calm. Once he stopped his five-second spurt of lip-flapping, the train riders around me went up in a roar about how frustrating that was--waiting so long for any contact with Metro or our conductor, and all we got was "We're looking into what happened, stay calm"?

A little after 11, fire fighters came around to tell us they were starting to evacuate the train. I was in the last car with passengers, so it took a while. I tried taking pictures of people walking down the tunnel.

This one was a bit better.

For the number of emergency-response vehicles blocking traffic around the Smithsonian metro exit, we surely didn't have the help we would have expected down in the tunnel. I admit, the four or five fire fighters down there with us were great--they were just as frustrated with Metro as we were (they couldn't get the emergency doors open, either).

Next up, videos.

This video is an example of the awesome people in the train car with me. We were joking left and right, keeping it together without losing our composure. The set up for this joke is that Metro had already reported to news organizations that all passengers had been evacuated. We were postulating ways they'd deal with us. The most popular theory was that they would just seal up the tunnel with us inside and deny that the Orange line ever existed.

This is our live interview with News 4. When we learned that Metro was lying about us being down here, putting their spin on the incident (calling it an "obstruction" rather than an "equipment malfunction and crazy sparky-flame-smoke") and trying to look better than their actions would paint them, we called news organizations to let them know that we were, in fact, still trapped underground.

When we finally got out of the train, there were almost as many fire fighters, police officers, news crews, and Metro employees as there were train passengers. It took them 2.5 hours to get in line and find flashlights to guide us out, it seemed--we weren't told they were doing anything else.

Stink Flower Part 2

2011-12-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

My Stapelia grandiflora bloomed today! Around 11 AM, I noticed that one petal had popped out of the balloon--while doing something on the other side of the plant shelf a few minutes later, I heard a little *pop* and saw that the entire flower had blossomed.

This excites me greatly. I wonder if I can self-fertilize the bloom? I do so like to start things from seed, not that I expect any children to be very different from their parent.

Stink Blossom

2011-12-03T13:15:00.000-05:00

I have had this Stapelia (either gigantea or grandiflora) since early September and it has been in bud for a few weeks now, and it's looking about ready to burst! It's even made a couple of friends--you can see about three other buds coming along right behind the main one, and there's another starting on some new vegetative growth on the other side of the plant. Although I've had a few buds before, through various complications, I have never had a Stapelia bloom on me. I'm hopeful for this one!

Kudzu Up The Wazoo

2011-11-27T10:23:00.001-05:00

While walking around for a few hours the other week with my horticulturalist friend, we ran across this (open for a larger version):

It's an entire hillside and several trees completely covered by frost-damaged kudzu (Pueraria montana). Of course, kudzu is edible: kudzu jam, kudzu perfume, kudzu syrup, kudzu in salad, kudzu in quiche, stuffed kudzu leaves--I can think of a bajillion different uses! I wouldn't eat it, however. One never knows what's been sprayed when on these invasive plants in public areas. It's really not uncommon to eat it, I don't think--I find a ton of recipes when I search "kudzu recipes" on Google.

The kudzu was everywhere along the embankment at Walter C. Pierce Community Park, which, I have gathered, used to be a more vibrant gathering spot with a community garden and such. I like it now anyhow--I use it often to cut across Rock Creek Park. There's a dog park area, a basketball court, a playground, and a large grassy field, and it's just down the road from the parcours in Woodley Park (an outdoor fitness area that I always think might be fun to use but never get around to actually using). Walter Pierce Park is just south of the National Zoo--if you look behind the trees on the right, you can see a greenhouse structure on what I'm pretty sure is the Zoo's property.

About 15 years ago, an article was published about a group arguing with the Zoo about allowing a historic property to go untended in a successful effort to block the construction of a mulching facility. There's a sentence at the end that the hubbub group turned its attention to battle the Zoo's use of herbicide to fight the kudzu growing at the park--it's unclear whether they won that battle or not, because kudzu is so frakkin' tenacious, the Zoo's use of herbicide may not have had a real impact anyway. Fifteen years later, it seems that the historic building is still standing--as is the kudzu.

It's Schlumbergera Time

2011-11-25T16:38:00.003-05:00

The Schlumbergera NOID (I won't even try to look for an identification, but if anyone here has strong feelings about what it is, I'd be more than happy to know what I'm growing!) I got very early this year for the boy bloomed a lot this fall, although only on one side, it seems (perhaps the side that got the mid-afternoon light while on the front steps throughout the summer?). The blooms are pretty cool--not what I was really expecting, a faint, almost translucent peach colour with the bright pink stigma. And no, despite my efforts, the plant does not seem to take well to self-fertilization, unfortunately!

A Thoughtful(?) Mother

2011-11-10T17:01:00.008-05:00

The last time I was actively looking for a new job, before taking the one in Saudi Arabia, my mother sent me a few clippings of jobs, for example, at the Winchester Star, her local newspaper. Now that I'm back in the states and in the market for employment again, she's started sending clippings again--with little notes of encouragement (or evil-doer monologues revealing in great detail her nefarious plot, complete with maniacal laughter?).

I'd love to be an Arboretum Assistant (and, in fact, there was a similar position listed recently for the National Arboretum here in DC, but I think it became available in that short period between when I had decided to work in Saudi Arabia and when I decided to come back), but sorry, mom, I'm not moving out to the Virginia mountains without the boy! She'll just have to stop inside DC the next time she drives past.

A Touch Of Pink

2011-11-08T08:42:00.004-05:00

I have a bunch of leaf variegation in my plant collection, particularly red and purple, so it's a delight but not terribly surprising when a plant that lost its variegation regains it.

This, however, is something a bit different. Leaves from a Pachyphytum NOID I received as a "welcome back" cutting started rooting, and I was all like "Whoa, dude, you're pink."

The potted cutting and its excess leaves I left on top of the soil to root.

And root they did, but I didn't really expect the whole pink situation! You can even see some little nubbins of what may be growing points around the base of the leaf as well.

I've read around the Internets and seen Pachyphytum with pink roots, as well as mention of the same with Kolanchoe, although I haven't found any sort of even semiauthoritative source that describes the pigmentation and why it's useful for the plant.

A New Garden Buds

2011-10-20T13:14:00.000-04:00

That post title is totally clever. You'll see why.

After returning from Saudi Arabia and having my plants appropriated and destroyed by USDA customs officials after they tracked me down to my new locale, I basically had zero plants. Luckily, there was the Gesneriad Society chapter show and sale, where I got a bunch of cuttings and rooted plants to replenish what I had lost, and a few plant friends shipped, handed, clipped, or otherwise provided plants to me. You know who you are. You know I heart you. I think, however, my beau may try to track you down and murder you in your sleep (a period during which my fluorescent lights come on and wake him up on a fairly regular basis).

Here's a photo of the shelving unit with its new plants, fluorescent bulbs, and slightly new layout.

The shelving unit is in our living room, acting like a wall from the entryway, but it allows me to easily access both sides of the shelving unit to care for all the tiny little plants. I've only killed a few since acquiring them: something labeled "S. conspicua" that I believe could be Saintpaulia inconspicua (although that doesn't matter, 'cause it dead) and an Achimenes that may be going dormant as suggested by my horticulturalist friend who only saw it at the final stages, after the fungal hyphae withered away a little. I think I killed that one all on my own merit, but there's some green something or other--so the rhizome thing may allow me to revive it a little! I'm letting it dry out right now, and we'll see how it goes.

And here are the new buds in the new garden from an old(ish) plant!

I bought this Schlumbergera for $1 at the local Giant grocery store sometime around mid-February (I think I told my beau that it was "a nice Valentine's Day plant he so nicely told me to get for myself after the fact" or something to that effect), when it was out of bud. It's in the same horrid peat potting mix in the same pot I bought it in--because 1) I left it at the boy's, 2) I shortly thereafter started planning a relocation, and 3) I don't really need a third reason.

Anyhow, the boy put the Schlumbergera out on the stoop with his Epiprenmum aureum, Chlorophytum comosum, and my Aechmea fasciata, Alternanthera dentata, and a potted planting of Narcissus that ended up staying with him. Most of the plants thrived--he watered them, it rained, they grew. Although I don't have a photo of the Schlumbergera from the winter, I don't recall it being very large. And it's not very large now, either. I don't think it grew much if it grew at all--except for these buds I just noticed! I don't know what colour they will be, but most little end-of-chain phylloclades have a single bud on them right now. I look forward to seeing them open--and pollinating them! Not that I really need hundreds of little baby Schlumbergera running around terrorizing my Plectranthus collection, but I do like the plant-sex practice.

Growing Streptocarpus

2011-09-28T15:07:00.001-04:00

During the National Capital Area Chapter (NCAC) of The Gesneriad Society's semiannual show and sale two weeks ago, I got the chance to hear Dale Martens talk about taking care of and propagating Streptocarpus. Dale is a gesneriad hybridizer--if you see anything named with "Dale's ..." or "Heartland's ..." or "Texas ...," it might have been hybridized by her!

She was a right raucous woman--I laughed through her Streptocarpus seminar (and not like I laugh when I watch movies like "Machine Girl," but like I laugh when an intelligent, talented person presents something in a unique and engaging way).

I wrote a big long post on Petal Tones, NCAC's blog accompaniment to their monthly-ish newsletter. I'm planning on a couple more posts as well: my experience entering the show for the first time; clerking for the first time (and clerking for judges who were judging one of my own entries); and the other seminar I was able to attend, by Brian Connor on propagating gesneriads).

New Digs

2011-09-27T18:28:00.003-04:00

It has been one month and three days since I returned to the US, and I have only just set up a plant-growing area today. Oddly enough, the way it worked out, there's more space in the living room in the apartment I now share with my beau; I sold the TV last week, so I moved the "TV stand" into the kitchen to store cooking supplies, rearranged the three bicycles in the hallway, and rotated the couch and recliner so now we even have some empty floor space!

But this isn't about furniture placement. It's about plant placement. Unfortunately, where I wanted to put the grow shelf (which would have kept the previous living room arrangement almost undisturbed except for the "TV stand") was in the direct path of the only air-conditioning unit in the apartment. I didn't want all that air blowing directly on my plants. Where they are now isn't exactly far away from the window unit, but they don't get direct drafts that I can feel.

The top-top shelf holds one shop light that will shine on the second shelf, where seed starting will occur; the third shelf is the only one with fluorescent bulbs at the moment, so most of the plants are there, with the humidity grow chamber (a clear plastic storage tub from Target) on the fourth shelf to catch any excess rays; the fifth shelf will hold propagation material (potted-up seedlings, rooting stolons, leaf cuttings, etc.) for sharing, planting, and such. The bottom shelf has a bunch of random supplies: sphagnum, peat, vermiculite, little pots, and the like.

Soon, I'll have all the fixtures full of fluorescent T-12 tubes (on a timer from 7 AM to 7 PM) and the shelves full of fun and funky plants that are completely reasonable to grow in a basement apartment! (I'm trying this new thing whereby I grow plants that do reasonably well in my environment. It's not a new concept to me, but it's amazing how rewarding it is to see a plant thrive instead of just survive!)

Gesneriads On Broadway

2011-09-21T19:34:00.005-04:00

This past weekend was the National Capital Area Chapter of The Gesneriad Society's semiannual show and sale, the theme being "Gesneriads on Broadway." Behnke's, in Beltsville, played the most amazing host for the show (and yeah, they're also a prize sponsor for DC State Fair!).

It was a really great experience for me--I was there most of Saturday and Sunday, volunteering, hanging out, learning about gesneriads, and, of course, buying plants!

I brought three entries to be judged: a monochrome print, a terrarium, and a dish garden. The plant material came from Kyoko's plants at Al's Orchid Greenhouse two weeks before the show (seeing as how I didn't have anything good enough from Saudi Arabia [and the USDA read my blog and confiscated my plants last week, anyway, so it's a good time to have a plant show and sale--I needed to rebuild my collection]), and the photo was of Chirita 'Dreamtime' from earlier this year--grayscaled and cropped. It printed a lot less in focus than the digital version made it seem (I mean, I knew it was out of focus, but the print version was much worse).

I got a "healthy but mislabeled plants and no design concept" for my dish garden, a second-place ribbon for my photo, and a third-place ribbon for my terrarium--as well as People's Choice, which came with a $25 gift certificate to Behnke's! I plan on posting my experiences on Petal Tones, NCAC's blog version of the monthly-ish newsletter I used to co-edit, so I won't go into too much detail about it--but I have a few fun stories to share!

But let's get to the new plants:

6 Saintpaulia:
- 'Newtown Grape Suzette'
- (#)'Northern Attitude' leaf
- 'Mystic Mermaid'
- Saintpaulia confusa
- (*)NOID, normal-size rosette, purple flowers with white edging, dark green almost purplish leaves
- (*)NOID, miniature rosette, purple flowers with white edging, purplish leaves

Optimara 'Little Ottawa'

(+)Columnea colombiana

2 Streptocarpus
- 'Bristol's Moose Stash'
- 'Christmas Morning'

Achimenes 'Tiny Red'

Smithicodonia 'Heartland's Joy'

(+)Codonatanthus 'Sunset'

(+)Nematanthus 'Cheerio'

(+)Smithiantha 'Pat's Pet Donkey'

9 Chirita:
- (#)Small-leafed tight rosette-shaped Chirita from Kyoko (2 different ones)
- C. angustifolia (+)leaf and (#)plant
- 'Rachel'
- 'Gotham'
- 'Stardust' (+)leaf sections (2) and (#)leaves (4)
- C. sinensis

(#)Hoya curtisii

Sinningia defoliata

(#)Umm... A vine of some sort. From one of the artistic displays. I need to ask Jim what it is.

(#)A plant that looks like Ledebouria socialis but almost certainly isn't.

(*)Mimosa pudica

(*)Coprosma

(*)Aeonium tabuliforme (Really doesn't look like tabuliforme, but that's what the label most likely meant to say. Definitely Aeoniumish; I don't necessarily care about the species yet.)

(*)Basil

(*)Lavender

(*)Rosemary

(*)Scilla siberica (15 bulbs)

(*)Plectranthus glabratus

(*)Mum (Behnke's had a sale: spend $25, get a free mum. Mine didn't fit in Kyoko's car [what with her two free mums!], so I gave it to Barbara, who had given me the 4 Chirita 'Stardust' leaves earlier)

Key:
(*) Bought from Behnke's using gift card/coupon/and a little bit of money
(+) Received during propagation workshop
(#) Received through various means (people sharing or just walking around asking "Does anyone want this long-ass-Latin-name?" during clean-up)

Going To See A Show

2011-09-17T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm using Blogger's new iPhone app while on the train to hit the National Capital Area Chapter of The Gesneriad Society's semiannual show and sale that starts today. I entered a photo, a dish garden, and a terrarium (actually it is a glass butter dish! I was going for the "Gosh, that's cute" reaction).

I am volunteering as well--as a clerk (I will write judges' comments on the forms) and at the sales tables.

I'm looking forward to an awesome show!

Canning Like Whoa

2011-09-15T21:57:00.004-04:00

I recently started canning. It was something I always intended but never got around to. My relocation to DC and complete lack of employment has given me the chance to finally try my hand at it.

Over the past five days, I have canned (in no particular order):

Canned product	Estimated value
Peaches in syrup, 12 pints	$1.76 per = $21.12
Apple butter, 2 pints	$1.25 per = $2.50
Apple jelly, 2.5 pints	$5.12 per = $12.80
Superspicetastic habanero jelly, 2.5 pints	$4.67 per = $11.68
Superspicetastic habanero jam, 0.5 pints (the leftover after straining the juice for the jelly)	$4.67 per = $2.33
Peach marmalade, 2.5 pints	$4.96 per = $12.40
Boozy blackberry jam, 3.5 pints	$4.16 per = $14.56
Pear-ginger-lime marmalade, 2.5 pints	$4.96 per = $12.40
Roasted apple-rhubarb puree, 4 pints	$1.28 per = $5.12
Pear compote, 2.5 pints	$4.96 per = $12.40
Roasted pear-parsnip puree, 3.5 pints	$1.28 per = $4.48
Hot salsa, 3.5 pints	$1.99 per = $6.97
Dried Asian pear chunks, 3 cups	$2.33 per cup = $6.99
"Sun dried" tomatoes, 2 cups	$3.99 per cup = $7.98
Total generic value of canned products: $133.73

The estimates of most of the products come from average price per ounce from Giant grocery store's Peapod service. Prices of products from other websites are linked--pear compote and habanero jam are just kind of winged. Which pretty much means the funky-freshness and organicality of my products aren't reflected in the prices. I'd probably add a couple of bucks on top of most items, ratcheting up the market value of these products to about $160 or so, I'd wager--farmers' market value would be even higher, likely around $200.

That's not a terrible price. And I had a bunch of apples and pears that weren't used in these products.

Now let's check out the expenses:

Water bath canning kit (comes with rack, lid tightener thing, jar clamp, magnetic lid stick thing, and tongs): $35 (Target)
48 pint jars with lids and screw tops: $25 (on sale at Ace Hardware)
1 case each of peaches, pears, and apples: $100 (Black Rock Orchard)
Blackberries: $25 (on sale at Giant 'cause there were tons of moldy ones)
Ball Instant Pectin x2: $8 (Ace Hardware)
Limes, ginger, sugar, onion, bell peppers: $18 (Giant)
Tomatoes: $14 (Dupont Circle Farmers' Market)
Habaneros: $4 (Petworth Farmers' Market)

Total cost for canned products: $229

Not included in the expense report are spices (that were already available or used in cent-quantities) and the hour value of my work (about 22 hours over 4 days could add up to several hundred or several thousand dollars, depending on how much I think my time is worth). Certain items, such as the jars and water bath canning kit, will not have to be repurchased, so future expenses will not include them. Taking those out, the total is about $169 for the stuff I made. Which, I guess if you factor in the organicosity and supercoolness of the recipes, it's totally worth it to me. As long as I can buy in bulk for cheaper produce (I really took a hit on those "on sale" blackberries from the supermarket), I'd say this is a pretty good use of my money.

Now I just need to figure out what the heck to do with all of these goodies!

Success

2011-08-27T13:06:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

It has been a few days since I landed back in Washington, DC. My smuggling attempt was successful--all of the plants, cuttings, and seeds I brought made it through just fine. Now I just have to see whether they'll root. Some don't look quite happy, especially Radrumnia x Tolumnia 'Charlie' and my Dendrobium loddigesii.

This blog will be nixed as I switch back over to The Indoor Garden(er) in the coming weeks. I'll be importing these posts to that blog and probably reformatting it to look and feel more like this one.

Repatriation

2011-08-21T03:32:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

So. It has come to this: I am returning home. Much sooner than I had anticipated. But a long-distance relationship is terribly difficult, and it is more important to me than any professional opportunity could be.

Thus, my plants are caught in a sticky situation.

Try getting a phytosanitary certificate from the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture at all, let alone during Ramadan. Not going to happen. So I am going to attempt a sneak.

These two baggies contain about 35 plants--can you believe it? Bulbs, leaf cuttings, bareroot plants--the works. I also have most of the few dozen seed packets I recently purchased (some of the ones I sowed had too few seeds to really split them up, but I can get more if I'd like).

Let's hope customs doesn't ask questions...

Pretty Plants: Adenium sp.

2011-08-07T11:36:00.002-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

Unknown Adendium sp. in the landscaping near my apartment at KAUST.

Announcing A New Blog

2011-08-03T16:25:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

In my previous life, I occasionally shared posts that were unrelated to plants. They were about volunteer events (often related to plants, or at least sustainability, which sometimes go hand in hand), travel (sometimes related to plants), food (almost always had plants in it somewhere), and my weight-loss journey and physical activities (completely unrelated to plants).

I am making a greater distinction about the content included on this blog, however. And so soon, I'm breaking away from that. But just this once. I wanted to share my new venture: my exercise log, Bagging The Baggage.

In the tumult in the past year, I reached my goal weight on Weight Watchers, then proceeded to balloon out and gain 20 pounds back while preparing for the move to and actually living in Saudi Arabia. It has been an incredible struggle to get back down to 200 pounds, and I haven't been able to stay under it (except when I had Doha-belly and could barely eat for a week), let alone reach my goal of 185 pounds again. The emotional stresses and lack of a community of support surrounding healthy eating and physical activity make it difficult for me to maintain the physique I had achieved just this past March. Then, I had a personal trainer once a week, semiregular Weight Watchers meetings, parkour bootcamps three times a week, and a whole heck of a lot of friends and acquaintances with various health- and activity-related goings-on that encouraged me to be conscious of my choices. Here, I haven't built such a structure of people in my life, and I find it difficult to maintain what I once did on a regular basis.

To encourage myself to formulate some sort of routine, I will keep a log on Bagging The Baggage of any physical activity that is more than a usual commute--gym, classes, group bicycle rides, and the like. I also plan on doing exercise videos, logs of the machines and equipment I use, and showcasing areas that I may do other exercises (for example: parkour). Hopefully, this will help keep me more accountable than just to myself--because I know that doesn't work for me.

Seed Crazy

2011-07-29T08:35:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

I came to Saudi Arabia with a few dozen plants, but I left behind more than 100 others. I'm used to having groups of different plants with various care requirements and forms, not just a few scattered plants. I have had very little problem bringing any type of plant material into Saudi Arabia via airplane, but what about through mail order? I don't think I want a live plant waiting around for inspection, so I tested out an eBay seed order. Then made a few more orders. Part of being a plant addict.

Most of the seeds I ordered are succulent-types that I think will do well here, inside or out: Stapelia, Agave, Aloe, Duvalia, and the like. Others are just for fun.

Actinidia deliciosa

Agave filifera

Agave schidigera 'Durango Delight'

Agave stricta var. rubra

Agave victoriae-reginae

Agave mix

Aloe fosteri

Aloe vaombe

Anigozanthos manglesii

Aristolochia pilosa

Aristolochia ringens

Caralluma retrospiciens

Cereus forbesii var. spiralis

Clematis hirsutissima

Cordyline australis

Dianthus barbatus 'Sooty'

Dicentra eximia

Dinteranthus vanzijlii

Dioscorea elephantipes

Drosera mix (possibly but almost certainly not including all of the following: D. aliciae, D. anglica, D. auriculata, D. binata, D. brevifolia, D. burkeana, D. burmanni, D. capensis, D. capillaris, D. coaicaulis, D. collinsiae, D. curvispata, D. deilsiana, D. filiformis, D. formosa, D. intermedia, D. natalensis, D. nidiformis, D. rotundifolia, and D. villosa [I was not about to convincingly verify the validity of some of these species names {coaicaulis, curvispata, and formosa}])

Duvalia 'Woodbridge' (I cannot confirm this name.)

Dyckia fosteriana

Dyckia marnier-lapostollei (I apparently ordered this in duplicate, from different sources. Clearly I want this one bad!)

Dyckia mix

Echeveria agavoides

Edithcolea grandis

Gibbaeum mix (possibly but not necessarily including G. album, G. comptonii, G. dispar, G. haaglenii, G. heathii, G. nuciforme, G. pubescens subsp. shandii, and G. velutinum)

Hechtia sp. 'Tehuacan' (a best guess at presentation--seed originally acquired in Tehuacan, species unknown)

Hechtia texensis

Hechtia mix (possibly but almost certainly not including all of the following: H. argentea, Hechtia sp. 'Colima,' Hechtia sp. 'El Mate,' Hechtia sp. 'Cuernavaca,' Hechtia sp. 'Miahuatlan,' Hechtia sp. 'Nizanda,' Hechtia 'Nova Oaxaca,' Hechtia sp. 'Pena Blanco,' Hechtia sp. 'Perote,' Hechtia 'Rio Zapotitlan,' Hechtia sp. 'Tehuacan,' and H. texensis [I'm not sure how to confirm these any better than with the collection site names])

Houttuynia cordata

Huernia leachii x Huernia keniensis

Huernia hystrix

Juncus filiformis

Laurus nobilis

Leuchtenbergia principis

Lycium chinense

Manfreda maculosa

Musa sikkimensis 'Manipur'

Musa sikkimensis 'Red Flash'

Ocimum basilicum 'Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil'

Passiflora edulis

Phormium tenax variegated

Phormium mix (possibly but not necessarily including P. colensoi and P. tenax)

Pittosporum tenuifolium

Mini Sinningia (unknown parentage)

Stapelia gettleffi (According to The Plant List, Stapelia gettleffii is just a synonym of Gonostemon gettleffii. But tell the rest of the world that, eh?)

Stapelia mix

Strelitzia nicolai

Viola sororia 'Freckles'

Extra seed packets in packages:

Agave colorata

Agave guiengola

Ariocarpus fissuratus (Extra information on this seed packet was provided as "var. gracilis TERLINGUA." I can't confirm the variety, but Terlingua is the town in Texas that this was probably collected from.)

Hechtia sp. 'Miahuatlan'

Standards

2011-07-22T03:30:00.004-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

Standards are different here in the Kingdom. Tiny, bulbous, shiny black insects can burrow and tunnel in your huge glass jar of chili powder; little beetley insects can camp out in unopened plastic bags of pasta from the supermarket; and plant labels can have obviously incorrect names on them.

Not that that's any different from the states, however. Exotic Angel, anyone?

But seriously, this Aloe variegata, which I purchased at Tamimi supermarket on campus for 20 riyal to remind me the one (lovingly purchased for me in New York City) I killed, is labeled as Mammillaria spinosissima, which is a cactus. I wanted to chalk it up to just being put in the incorrect pot--there are cacti available for sale right next to the mislabeld Aloe, after all. But another was labeled as Cupressus (you know, cypress!) and had a flower glued onto it. I don't necessarily expect the imported workers to know what label they're sticking on a plant or why the heck it's wrong to glue a fake flower that looks nothing like an Aloe flower (or Cupressus flower, for that matter), but someone in the operation probably should. Then again, saying that, it seems like I assume I have some sort of high ground to stand on, but the same ignorant, shady stuff happens back home, too.

It's much more common, and for some reason less offensive, to me that these fake flowers are glued to various prickly cacti. It may be because I usually don't have an inclination to buy these, anyhow. With my care habits, I usually end up rotting these babies out in weeks.

New Growth

2011-07-20T03:20:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

Many of my plants are, well, doing things. For example, the Hoya pubicalyx has been sending up new shoots and leaves since I potted it two months ago, calamity notwithstanding. But some plants I could only hope not to kill, whether I moved them internationally or not. So when they are showing signs of growth and happiness, it makes me squeal with joy.

Of particular note is my orchid Radrumnia x Tolumnia 'Charlie.' Its real name and parentage is much longer and complicated, but I named him 'Charlie' just to simplify things for me and everyone else. I purchased 'Charlie' at Al's Orchid Greenhouse back in January. It was potted in hydroton and was in bloom then--beautiful purple flowers with white markings. There were also many more leaves. I put it in hydroton when I got it here, too, but it has been losing leaves left and right. This is the first indication of new growth since I brought it to Saudi Arabia, so I'm quite happy!

The Streptocarpus genus and I have a rocky history. Mostly, I keep them alive long enough to get cocky and then kill them after assuming they'll do well in my standard care routine of overwatering. S. 'Crystal Ice' has survived more than any other Streptocarpus I've had the sadistic pleasure of growing, and it's rewarding me with new leaves! Originally, this plant was one crown, I think. The few months I had it in Washington, DC, it was sealed in a large food-service catering tray with a clear plastic lid, so I barely had to water it--it stayed the perfect level of moist without being wet. It grew new leaves and seemed happy. When I unrooted it to travel here, it split apart into two plantlets. Now, those plantlets are growing new leaves. They aren't under a humidity-retaining dome, but the crowns seem healthy, and new leaves equal happy plants, right? Perhaps, perhaps they'll flower? I have not had gesneriads flower for me other than various Sinningia, Saintpaulia, Episcia 'Coco,' Nautilocalyx pemphidus, and the occasional Chirita (now probably in various other genuses). That may seem like a long list, until you figure out how many gesneriads I've tried my hand at through the years. Through various mishaps, I have killed probably three times as many as I've been able to flower successfully. Hopefully, the ones that were able to survive are still doing so in the care of those I left them with.

Taking Tomatoes

2011-07-18T15:38:00.002-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

Last Thursday, a neighbour posted on the community group list offering large tomato plants, as he and his wife will be leaving campus soon. I jumped on the offer immediately and acquired this nice-looking tomato plant. It might be a roma-type. It might not. In a few weeks, after it flowers and fruits, I'll know for sure! I'm excited about this--I have tomato seedlings on the way, but it's nice to have something more established!

Sights At The Shop

2011-07-17T02:43:00.004-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

These beautiful plants were for sale at a shop in San Francisco. I remember the shop was in/near The Haight, but I don't remember the name or what street it was on. It had cool knickknacks and jewelry, as well as a bunch of really well-cared-for plants that I always thought were difficult, particularly indoors. There was a very nice metal-framed glass terrarium, as well. I think if I lived in San Francisco, this shop would be a nice special treat to go to and purchase a plant or fancy gardening accessory. Good thing I live on the other side of the world!

This small Clematis was in a pot underneath a table. I can't imagine it spends all of its time there--it's blooming like crazy!

I ran into a whole lot of Fuchsia while in San Francisco. It seems the climate there is pretty amenable to its growth. All were in bloom, and this one seemed quite happy inside the shop.

I was pretty much warned away from Masdevallia at Al's Orchid Greenhouse once--instead, I ended up getting a variegated Dendrobium loddigesii and a Sarcoglottis sceptrodes, among other plants and cuttings at various points. It may have been that particular species available at Al's that was more tricky (rotting out in a few years despite good care--something about temperature issues, I believe), but this one in San Francisco seems to be doing quite well.

I spoke with the shop owner--she says she takes care of all of the plants in the store. I only took photos of these three plants, but there were perhaps 30 or so individual species (mostly single representation, not many duplicate plants), and all looked exceedingly healthy. Most were blooming. Whoever this woman is, she sure knows how to take care of her plants!

Seeds A-Growin'

2011-07-15T02:59:00.004-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

About two weeks ago, I plants a few pots of seeds. The seeds I picked up from roadside trees, bushes, and other plants in California haven't sprouted yet. They ended up in a plastic baggie with apparently a moist paper towel and got a little fungusy. This happened after I got back to Saudi Arabia, however--I'm not sure why I did that, but I hope some of them will germinate. The other seeds were ones I collected here on campus through various means.

For example, the Adenium seed pod I tweeted about the day before leaving for a conference in Qatar. I seem to have hundreds of the fluffy seeds, but I stuck only three in some soil mix two weeks ago, and this is what they looked like yesterday (bottom left in the photo). They germinated in about a week, and they're already growing leaves! Above them are swiss chard seedlings from a seed packet I bought at the Tamimi supermarket; to the Adenium's right, there are black cherry tomato seedlings from the seed I saved weeks and weeks ago; to the top right, there are seedlings from seeds I saved from these tiny tiny tiny tomatoes, also given to me along with the black cherry tomatoes on my first weekend on campus. A few days ago, I also planted some chayote seeds and a ripe date palm fruit, which are all over campus.

I discovered chayote through a recipe post on Plant Zone, and I was delighted to find the vegetable in the grocery store here! If I can grow a vine, I'll be quite happy, because these veggies are much more expensive here than they are in North America--40 riyal per kilogram (about $5 per pound), so I paid about $10 for three of the buggers, which only made one batch of stew. It tastes like beef stew, which is a magical feat, because there are no animal products in the recipe I made (I only generally followed the one I linked to, as is a common happening in my kitchen).

Settling In

2011-07-14T14:04:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

After a calamitous plant disaster and some trial-and-error figuring out which plants might succeed out-of-doors, I think my plants are organized as appropriately as I can make them and settling in a little bit. Only a few were lost during the tragedy during the move, luckily, and most plants are now getting over the trauma and moving on.

Outdoors, I have my two Pandanus; the grey-variegated Yucca guatemalensis; the majority of my Plectranthus amboinicus; the Philodendron bipinnatifidum; the green bell pepper seedlings; Cryptanthus; cuttings of Carpobrotus chilensis I "acquired" from a beach in Ventura, California, last month; and various Sanseveria, Haworthia attenuata, Aloe 'Dorian's Black,' and Agave desmettiana planted together in two pots.

Most plants should probably be watered every day or two in this environment. There's some nice breeze to help keep them free of mildew and such, but the environment is very dry. The porch faces east, so the sun only shines on them for a few hours in the morning, but even so, some of the plants are showing signs of either heat or sun damage. I need to be a bit more careful about watering these plants more regularly (it wasn't a problem back in DC, but then, the plants were right next to my bed and much more visible). I used bottled Aquafina to water all of my plants--it's 40 cents (1.50 riyal) for a 1.5 liter bottle, so it adds up, but I don't want to test the desalinated water on my plants, no matter how hardy some of them may be.

Everything else is a few feet behind the outdoor plants, on my shelving unit that I had shipped over from DC. Yes, it only cost $100--but there was a shipment allowance, and as long as I didn't have to pay to have this shipped over, then why not bring it with me? I brought two smaller units as well, but they are in use in the kitchen, which has such shallow cabinets that they can't even fit a plate. So those are holding bulk items (spices, pasta, and other bits in glass jars; pots, pans, baking dishes; and the like).

But this shelving unit is devoted to plants. I don't have fluorescent tubes for my shop lights, so the plants only get what sun comes in through the 20-foot-tall window. You can see the Amorphophallus are doing quite well. The large corm, which I had to cut down to bring here, is maybe dormant already, but the two smaller ones are healthy and soaking up rays. The mixed succulents pot (with Stapelia gigantea, various Haworthia, a Gasteria from my horticulturalist friend at the National Arboretum, and my Cryptanthus 'Volcano') was previously outside, but it came in because I think the environment was too intense for the Haworthia.

On the right of the middle shelf, there are some white pots with seedlings in them. Those babies will be an update for later!

I have many more-focused updates in the works. I have been negligent of The Expat Garden(er), really. I still have photos from California and Doha, Qatar, for The Tourist and Plant Photography posts, as well as more Garden Reports, New Acquisitions, and a few Local Plant Profiles in the works. Those last ones may take more time than I had hoped, but hopefully they'll be interesting and informative.

Variegated Pandanus

2011-07-07T16:19:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

In my catastrophe post, I briefly introduced one of my new plants: the variegated Pandanus. Pandanus is one of those plants that I have a fondness for for many kind of backward reasons. First, the plant was introduced to me through Mr. Subjunctive on Plants Are The Strangest People. Besides the humour and excellent writing style, Mr. Subjunctive is also very informative and a great reference when trying to figure out how to take care of the latest batch of impulse buys at the local nursery or garden centre. Second, my fondness for Pandanus is for its utility and misanthropy--some species are edible, but many have spines on the leaf edges and midrib. And the things can get huge, pretty fast, too. All of these things were pluses for me--I like a plant that's dangerous, useful, fast-growing, and huge. Pandanus certainly fits that bill!

So I bought one from eBay back in January 2010, because I couldn't find one locally and the man from Hawaii offered the cheapest one I found online. When I got it, I excitedly unwrapped it from its packaging, and daintily planted the small pup in its own pot with a mix of soil that was free-draining but also water-retaining. What I've learned about it since then is that it could probably have withstood a lot less awesome soil and a lot less pampering--Pandanus is one tough cookie!

So when I came upon a group of small, variegated plants with little teeth on the leaf margins and along the midrib at the campus landscapery/greenhouse, I wondered what they were. I asked the nice man who tends the plants in the greenhouse, and he said "Pandan." I swooped down, grabbed the pot of variegated Pandanus, and said "Done. It's mine." For 10 riyal! That's $2.67 US. There are many other plants I'd love to give a home to from that greenhouse.

Here is my new variegated Pandanus with the nonvariegated P. veitchii that I've had for at least a year and a half. P. veitchii would have looked better had I not chopped off half of his lower leaves and completely unrooted him for travel to Saudi Arabia, but he's doing quite well now in his new home. This photo was taken a few weeks ago, actually--P. veitchii's leaves have mostly unkinked themselves, straightening out from when I folded them to fit them into the duffel bag for the airplane.

Here's the variegated Pandanus's leaf spines. They don't look that large, but rub a piece of finger, arm, or leg up against this, and it hurts like heck!

I won't be trying these in any edible concoctions, because I'm not sure whether they are actually the edible varieties. But it's good to know I have a plant that's a potential weapon, a potential food source, and a pretty vigorous grower. It's also a bonus that these plants grow well here--I've seen lime-green-coloured Pandanus in planters around the university, as well as these variegated ones in the greenhouse. I like to believe it's a positive sign of environmental compatibility when I see plants available for sale and installed in landscapes in an area.

Pretty Plants: Aquilegia

2011-06-28T08:09:00.002-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

An Aquilegia blossom from San Francisco Botanical Garden in early June. I love these babies!

Japanese Tea Garden

2011-06-26T08:49:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, just near the San Francisco Botanical Garden, is a tiny but jam-packed with garden areas, walkways, and fun buildings. I enjoyed the waterfall, as well as the zen garden. I didn't know until I read the plaque (which I only read because someone was having wedding photos done and we stopped to watch for a minute) that zen gardens are actually meant to resemble landscapes. Rocks of various sizes signify islands, mountains, or other terrain, and the sand and small pebbles represent waves in the water. So the patterns raked into the garden is supposed to represent the flow of the ocean and such.

Now, I'm in Doha, Qatar, for the World Conference of Science Journalists. That will be excitement! My plants back in the new housing are doing fine. Not many kicked the bucket, but some of them may just have a lingering death. We will see.

I received my personal effects shipment last week, so my life has been in an upheaval getting all of that sorted through. It's amazing what I decided I thought I would need here in the Kingdom. It's also amazing what the packers thought I wanted to bring--I ended up with a heavily protected empty glass jar of instant coffee, somehow. It almost beats the steel wool (which I'm certain I never purchased--I buy the blue Brillo pads) that I found in my underwear upon my arrival in the country.

I have a few Recipe, Plant Profiles, New Acquisitions, and Garden Report posts planned (including a few Plant Deaths, I'm afraid). Keep an eye out for them in the coming days!

On The Move

2011-06-17T07:07:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

I was in California for the first two weeks of June (I know, I've only been in Saudi Arabia for a few weeks, but that trip was pre-planned and part of the hiring agreement). I was able to obtain some perlite, vermiculite, long-fiber sphagnum, and some milled peat for my plants. They'll like the mixes I make much better than the dense, water-retaining potting soil, which is all that's available here. I also, somehow, ended up with a few cuttings from various campsites in California. Most of them are currently in a broken tupperware dish with moist vermiculite--some will die, but I hope most will root!

I'll share my new plants later. This post is more about transition. It has been rough for me and my plants to have lived in the temporary sharing unit on campus. I mean, it is a nice house, but I had roommates and wasn't really able to put the plants in a prime location. Then, they had to withstand my absense--and they actually look as if they're doing much better without me, thanks to one of those nice roommates who was willing to water them once while I was away.

Except for the basil, it seems, which is the only plant showing spider mite damage. The Sinningia leucotricha is quite visibly larger; the Plectranthus amboinicus I got in trade from Mr. Subjunctive almost a year ago is doing swell, considering that they were small, unrooted cuttings just a few weeks ago; and the nubbin of my Philodendron bipinnatifidum is actually growing a leaf! The pepper seedlings are coming along, the Hippeastrum seedling bulbs are growing new leaves (after mealy bugs a few weeks after the seeds germinated, I went from about 35 seedlings to 20, and through the move, I went down to four, two of which are showing signs of life already. I call that success! Now to wait a few years and see what colour flowers I'll get.), the Amorphophallus rivieri corm (I remember debating the name of A. konjac and A. rivieri when I got my first corm via eBay, and I decided on A. konjac at the time. I think they're synonymous, but I'm keeping this one as A. rivieri so I can distinguish its origins from the two other corms I have.) I got at the last Gesneriad Society chapter meeting I attended is sending up a leaf, and everything on the other side of the nightstand (Chirita 'Dreamtime,' various Cryptanthus, Streptocarpus 'Crystal Ice,' and most of my miniature gesneriads and other terrarium plants) is looking pretty good, too (except for the Montanthes subcrassicaulis, I'm sad to report).

Other plants are doing pretty well, too! The two Pandanus (my old one and the new variegated, tooth-leafed one); my succulents and Hoya; the Episcia 'Coco,' my first gesneriad; and the special grey-variegated Yucca guatemalensis, another treasured trade plant from Mr. Subjunctive.

These photos were taken and tweeted early in the morning on 14 June, the day I arrived back to Saudi Arabia. I went to the office and left early because I was exhausted and had an apartment to move into. Temporary housing, still, but at least it's my own, not shared housing! I packed everything up, and after some complicated conversations with facilities about getting a car to move my three boxes and couple of bags, I hired a cab to move in. The box with plants ended up getting wet, so the bottom started falling out. I didn't have packing tape to seal the bottoms of the boxes, so two glass kitchen jars (some of which I'll use to make real terraria) fell out of one of the boxes. Fortunately, my coworker/new neighbour was wandering by and helped me clean up. I was starting to get frazzled, but I didn't want the same thing to happen to my plants, so I decided to take another box up to the apartment, empty it, and fold it into a tray to carry the plants on. I folded the old plant box to reinforce the bottom of the kitchen box, too.

This plant tray worked just fine until I got to my apartment, opened the door with my butt, and three days without sleep preceded by an entire week of poor sleep and physical activity caught up with me. My arms literally collapsed under the continued effort of holding up

the not-inconsiderable weight of the majority of my surviving plant collection for several minutes. My plants were strewn about the hallway like a prostitute's clothing at 3 AM, little balls of hydroton rolling away from the wreckage as if trying to escape the fate suffered by my babies.

I stood there for a few seconds. I debated having a breakdown. I wanted to just throw myself on the ground in the dirt and plant parts and throw a tantrum. But, still kind of in shock and trying to deny what had happened after all the effort I went to to keep these plants alive and get them into this country with me, I went about cleaning up the mess, trying to save plants that could be saved. I didn't have time to repot them that night, so I made sure that ones that needed to be moist would be fine for a day or two, and the others were kind of left in piles or stuck unceremoniously on top of pots inside my apartment, just so I could get the hallway cleaned up and finish moving my possessions in. It took about an hour to clean, and dirt that I can't get off is still smudged up against the wall. Learning the lesson, I took two breaks while bringing up the box with the glass jars.

Another coworker tried to put a good spin on the event when I shared my tragedy: "It was an earthquake test! You're teaching your plants an important lesson--nature is chaos." That is so very true. But in the future, I am going to try to avoid introducing excess turbulence into an already troubled system!

Starting Seeds Already

2011-06-01T13:20:00.003-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

A gardener who has found potting soil and pots available does not stop himself from purchasing the seed from the rack at the supermarket, despite the fact that the gardener has neither an idea how to garden in his new climate nor does the gardener have a permanent housing arrangement. Because a gardener has no self control.

The same couple who graciously shared their delicious organic cherry tomatoes (they didn't grow them [yet] but purchased them in a specialty shop in Jeddah) also shared a basil plant that had been grown as part of an Earth Day fundraiser. They had a few dozen left, so I didn't feel bad taking a small pot. It needs a heck of a lot more light, but it'll do here for the moment.

I'm assuming the seeds came from these packets, which are available at the superstore on campus, but I didn't ask about the seed supply. It looks like normal Italian basil, anyway, so I'm sure it's a good general-purpose herb.

These seeds (and more) were also available at the supermarket. I figured a Solanaceae plant would have the best chance of surviving and thriving in this oppressive heat, so I bought these green bell peppers and stuck them in some dirt in a small pot.

About a week later, these popped up! They're doing well (this photo is a few days old by now), and I might thin them in a few weeks. They'll start going outside in the morning as I get ready for work, then in the evening after I get home, then overnight, then all day! It might be a shock to go from dry, constantly air-conditioned bedroom with low light to humid, hot, intense sunlight on a balcony!

Temporary Housing

2011-05-30T14:20:00.004-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

Just like myself, a lot of my plants have had to withstand a transitional dwelling, with no indication of when they'll receive their permanent home. I didn't want my unrooted cuttings, leaves, or bareroot plants to die before I got out of the shared townhouse and into my permanent house--that might be months, if I'm lucky, although I'm repeatedly told "Oh, in just a few weeks, it'll only be two or three more weeks." I won't get my shipment with my grow lights, shelving units, and pots (along with other important things, such as cooking supplies and appliances) until I get into my permanent dwelling, so I didn't want to chance losing plants by waiting around.

Until I can get something more sophisticated set up in this transitionary place, a lot of my cuttings are in water bottles that I cut the top off of, filled with hydroton and potting soil, and then replaced the top snuggly to create cheap mini greenhouses.

Step 1:

Drink the water out of your 1.5 liter Aquafina water bottle with Arabic and English label. (I guess your label could have any language you want on it, because it really doesn't matter--see Step 2.)

Step 2:

Remove Arabic and English Aquafina label. Cut top of bottle off.

Step 3 and 4:

I didn't take a photo of Step 3 (because I created this mini how-to after-the-fact), but it involves placing moist hydroton (because that's all you have, remember--there's nothing else available) in a layer on the bottom of the bottle followed by a thin (about an inch or two) layer of moist unknown-quality potting soil on top of that.

Step 4 is put the plants in and replace the lid snugly around the top of the bottle's base!

See how easy it is to make a home-made, free, environmentally friendly terrarium for temporary housing of humidity-loving cuttings, leaves, and other plant vegetative propagatory bits? If you're living in a place where other supplies are available, the bottom can still be a single or double layer of hydroton, topped with perlite, topped with a moist mixture of whatever potting medium you'd grow the plant in (I like to use milled peat amended with perlite, a little vermiculite, and possibly a tiny tiny tiny bit of worm castings). Usually, this is maybe, say, 1/6 or 1/5 the height of the container, depending, but I've mostly used containers no larger than about 1 gallon.

The Raphidophora celatocaulis is really happy with this situation, as are my mini Philodendron, Nautilocalyx pemphidus, Saintpaulia 'Tiny Wood Trail,' and basically anything else that was small enough to shove together in a cut up bottle. A lot of the plants I brought with me are in two categories: succulent, or humidity-loving and easy to propagate. The second group are the ones that did well in plastic baggies with a bit of moist paper towel, so they're the ones loving the ghetto terraria. I had my Columnea schiedeana in a semihydroponic living situation with Episcia 'Coco,' but I think he prefers the more humid terrarium environment, so I stuck him in the bottle with the Saintpaulia, mini Philodendron, and the N. pemphidus. The Episcia 'Coco,' Paphiopedilum, and Dendrobium loddigesii in the semihydroponic setup get wet once or twice each day in a pot that has a reservoir in the bottom. The room I live in is always exceedingly dry because of the air conditioning, so I really don't think that's overwatering for these particular plants. I have a Rodrumnia x Tolumnia 'Charlie' (that's my name for him, because his real name is just horridly long and confusing to me) in pure hydroton, too--which is what I had originally purchased him in, so I figure he's well-adapted to it.

Almost every other plant is sharing space, too, but in either pure potting soil or various mixtures of potting soil and hydroton. For example, my Streptocarpus 'Crystal Ice' is in hydroton mixed with a bit of soil, but the Chirita 'Dreamtime,' Philodendron bipinnatifidum, and Pandanus veitchii are in pure potting soil. Some of those in pure potting soil are because I didn't find hydroton until after my first week here, but maybe they will be okay with the situation. At least, until I return from my travels with some fancy supplies that I took for granted in my previous life.

A Swift Kick In The Gut

2011-05-27T14:33:00.005-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

I started with the plant outlet in the superstore on campus; I traveled beyond to the campus landscaping greenhouse; I Googled for resources and braved the big city on the weeekend. And I suffered the most tragic challenge to life here.

I cannot find vermiculite, perlite, or sphagnum in Saudi Arabia.

In fact, I was told by a large garden centre manager that although at one point people used to import these supplies, they are expensive to get into the country and no one really bought them, so they don't import them anymore. I have a lot of plants that require good, fast-draining, sterile growing media. Although I'm used to using things prepackaged for specific purposes, I could always crush up packing peanuts or Styrofoam cups, and I know that sand can be added to potting mixes to allow more drainage and air flow. I do live in a desert, I guess. But the sand is, likely, kind of salty from the Red Sea, and it's not as grainy as, say, horticultural sand--in fact, it's quite compact, hard, fine sand. Not unlike the clay soils I know and love in Washington, DC--just much, much drier. So I'm not entirely convinced that adding it to potting soil will really help matters much.

On the optimistic side, I haven't yet looked very closely at the sand on the beach, so there may be more grainy sand there that I can wash out somehow so I can use it to ammend my potting soil. I would imagine a series of boiling the sand in a pot or just rinsing it with hot water a couple of times would be good enough (the heat of the water will help salts and other minerals dissolve and get washed away from the sand), but I don't want any of my orchids or gesneriads getting fussy with me just because I wanted to add some sand to their growing medium.

Right now, I have all of my plants in various ratios of hydroton and potting soil. Or, rather, some plants have a mix of hydroton and potting soil in various unmeasured but still slightly planned handful-style mixes. I'll have more on that later.

I will be trying to bring some of these supplies back to Saudi Arabia in my luggage after my trip to California next week. I don't need a heck of a lot, but it will make a marked difference in the success of my plants in the long term.

The First To Go

2011-05-21T12:40:00.004-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

Yes, that's right--I haven't been here even two weeks yet, and I've already killed a plant. The Aloe variegata, lovingly carted from New York City to Washington, DC, and then to Saudi Arabia, went all mushy. I had it too wet for several weeks. It was bound to rot. And it did.

There had been some moisture in the ziploc baggie I carted the plant over in. I had grouped a lot of Haworthia and other succulents in the same baggie for transit, but I had rinsed the potting soil off of some of them prior to bagging, and the small amount of moisture that clung to them went into the baggie as well. When I was able to take the plants out of the bag after my arrival, A. variegata already showed signs of rotten sogginess, so I removed another leaf or two from the base and potted it in a mix of the "German Quality Potting Soil" and hydroton instead of waiting for it to dry out and callous (I'm still waiting to find vermiculite, perlite, and all that good stuff here, but hydroton is available in abundance). Also, the "German Quality Potting Soil" holds a lot of moisture--cold moisture, at that, because of the 24/7 air conditioning. Other plants may keel over, too, but I'm hoping that most will survive.

It's a shame. Back in DC, this was a beautiful, if small, plant. Now, it's mush. Luckily, I still have the Haworthia attenuata that was similarly lovingly carted from New York City to Washington, DC, to Saudi Arabia to care for, and I intend for it to remain alive.

Black-Ish Cherry Tomatoes

2011-05-20T15:40:00.008-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

In my first weekend here, I was invited to a tea. I baked a babka (actually, I twisted a chocolate babka dough and a cinnamon babka dough together, so it was a twofer) to bring; had a lovely afternoon chatting about my new employer, gardening, and greening efforts on campus; and was offered some delicious cherry tomatoes from an organic grocer in what's-considered-to-be-nearby Jeddah.

I used some in an omelette a few days ago and more in some pasta I made this evening. I have a few more left, but those I'll probably pop right into my mouth when I want a juicy, refreshing, flavourful snack. These black cherry tomatoes are incredibly yummy, and hard to describe. Not quite smokey and deep, not only sweet and tart, kind of all of the above at the same time. I couldn't find any named varieties of black cherry tomato--they're all just called "black cherry tomato." So I squeezed out some seed to save, and I'll grow a few plants on the patio here!

Pretty Plants: Euphorbia maculata

2011-05-16T14:57:00.003-04:00

I have seen these tiny plants all over campus. They are only a few inches--some grow close to the ground, others are more erect. I believe that they could be Euphorbia maculata.

The one I chose to photograph doesn't look like all the others around it--it's erect, for one thing, and has red variegation instead of the purple spots in the center of the leaf, branching habit, and smaller leaves that seem to be more usual. There are ones nearby in the uncropped version of this photo that are growing close to the ground, have smaller leaves, and with and without purple spotting, as well as ones that are erect with the purple spotting and larger leaves. I don't know if this is variation in genetics or actual different species of Euphorbia. My favourite, however, is the one pictured above. It's cute enough that I'd grow a bunch together beneath a slender, taller plant, maybe in a tiny pot for the "Gosh that's cute" effect.

Arrival

2011-05-10T14:42:00.004-04:00

Originally posted on The Expat Garden(er)

After weeks of frantic furniture divestment, an international destination wedding, something of a sinus infection, and a 12-hour direct flight from Washington, DC, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, I would have plenty of reason to be flustered at customs upon my arrival: I was, y'know, carrying 99 different plant units into the country.

I had (still have) a phytosanitary certificate, but I didn't know whether I'd be asked for an import permit as well. But not one person even asked to look at my gym duffel bag full of bareroot plants, plant cuttings, bulbs, rhizomes, and other goodies. I feel almost cheated after all that effort I went through to get it (I ended up meeting my inspector in a parking lot of a Tex-Mex restaurant at 11:15 PM last Friday night).

My first order of business upon arrival in my temporary housing was to check the plants for stress due to excess water, excess lack of water, light deprivation, or physical damage from transportation. These are the ones I decided to give light, water, lack of water, or otherwise pay attention to a little bit to help give them a bit more chance of survival until I get my permanent housing in one to three weeks and can pot them.

This is the grocery bag full of cuttings, bareroot plants, et cetera that I don't think will need a great level of care for at least another few days. I have had a Columnea schiedeana in a baggie since 9 April already--what's another week or two for that cutting? I think the rest of these will be alright, generally, as well.

Posting Is Suspended

2011-05-09T04:10:00.000-04:00

Posting to The Indoor Garden(er) is suspended while I am living and blogging in Saudi Arabia as The Expat Garden(er). Stop on by and take a gander!

Bad Timing

2011-05-03T22:43:00.001-04:00

I just got back from five days in Nova Scotia for two friends' wedding. It was beautiful, but like a step back in time--the Crocus and such are only just now blooming, and there are only hints of green on the trees.

Upon my return, I was greeted with this inflorescence on my Haworthia limifolia. But, in just two or so days, I'll be chopping it down to get the plant inspected for a phytosanitary certificate and sent bareroot to Saudi Arabia. The flowers will not have time to fully develop, nor will I have the opportunity to try to make babies from this plant. I hope there's a next time so I can try!

Deconstructing The Indoor Garden(er)

2011-04-25T21:06:00.003-04:00

The garden is in such a state of disarray. I could use an extra few weeks to prepare myself for my upcoming move, but I don't have that kind of time. So, last night I took apart my shelving units so the movers would be able to pack them for me today--luckily, I had something of an open house yesterday, and a lot of the plants I hadn't shipped to friends elsewhere in the U.S. walked away with other people I love. There are some I'm keeping to be inspected for a phytosanitary certificate so I can take them with me to Saudi Arabia, and most of them are sitting on my windowsill right now, basking in the swampy environment that DC is famous for, because the apartment building only just turned on the air conditioning and it's crazy humid and hot on the top floor still. A little something to look forward to when I move--from what I see of weather reports, it's a lot of the same along the coast of the Red Sea.

I didn't take photos of everything I got rid of, but one visitor to the open house yesterday walked away with about three dozen plants in a box--most took only one or two, plus a few books or a lint roller. I don't get why people are so timid to take others' belonging when people say "Free! Please take it off my hands or I'll have to donate/trash it!"

But today, I posted on DC Urban Gardeners that I was giving away houseplants, seeds, fertilizer, etc., and those folks were not timid at all! Within minutes, the remains of my garden were spoken for, so for the next couple of days, I'll be meeting with area gardeners to hand over my precious babies into their care.

One of those precious babies is my Philodendron bipinnatifidum. It had two growing points, so I sawed off (yes--sawed!) one of them to take with me (it will be a long time before it gets sizable, but it's a good nugget and I think it should last until I'm able to pot it). The main growing point has a wicked-long root that I found as I moved the plant from from the top of my computer table hutch to the top of my dresser, for ease of access to visiting gardeners who may want to take it home.

Look how crazy this thing is! It's almost 10 feet long, I'd wager. It was hard to get a photo, so I took a video.

The P. bipinnatifidum grows horizontally like that because that's where the light came for it--it was about six feet away from the window, set pretty high up. If I had had it maybe on the floor, the leaves would have grown at a more-pleasing angle, but... Oh well.

Moving To Saudi Arabia

2011-04-18T08:45:00.002-04:00

I accepted an offer of employment at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology. I'll be an "English Writer" in the communications department. I fly out of DC to Saudi Arabia on 8 May. I'm still working out what this means for things I'm involved in here in DC, but I know I will attempt to maintain my garden blogging. I am working on figuring out how to ship some of my plants to Saudi Arabia. There are a few that I'd rather not give up, addict that I am. Some have sentimental value, some are truly one-of-a-kind, some may actually do better in the Kingdom (outside, possibly--indoors is air conditioned pretty much 24/7/365), and some just rock my socks! The rest? Well, I'm working on that, too, as well as divesting my other worldly goods (does anyone want a huge bedroom set?).

With changes in every aspect of my life, it seems a good opportunity to change how I blog as well. I will be mothballing The Indoor Garden(er) and blogging as The Expat Garden(er), for various reasons. You'll always be able to access your favourite posts here. I'll be taking a few weeks off before starting to post on The Expat Garden(er), at least until I get more settled. I am also thinking of becoming more regular once I return to blogging, or at least having well-defined post categories, which will give me better direction in generating content for the blog and you readers better direction about what to expect when you come by.

Local Plant Profiles will be irregular but hopefully full of depth and interesting information for people both in the Middle East and elsewhere. I envision myself stumbling upon a new-to-me plant and then trying to do research on it to figure out what it is. Maybe I can find someone in the area who is a native plant expert, or maybe a good reference book.

Plant Photography posts will probably occur with regular frequency, but text presence/amount would be irregular. I have slacked on my photographic education and exploration in the past year, and this would help me continue learning and improving. I imagine these could be photos of desert plants that may be additive to a previous local plant profile or foreshadow an upcoming profile, or plants from gardens at the university or elsewhere during my travels, or even my own plants. I'd try to make them pretty, unique, or interesting in some fashion.

New Acquisitions posts would probably very infrequent. I imagine I'd try to keep minimal (heh, restraint? Me?), because the assumption is I'm not staying in Saudi Arabia for the rest of my life, and any acquisitions would have to be shipped back (and that's just a huge hassle) or left behind (but I want them...!).

Plant Updates would be irregularly regular. That is, maybe not every week, but you can probably expect one with some frequency. This will cover how my plants are faring in their new home, whether anything interesting is going on--the same types of posts I do now labeled under "Die Pflanzenfortschreibung."

Culture Through Cooking will be recipe posts of food I'm learning how to make. I may or may not focus on regional cuisine--in DC, I tended to focus on Japanese, Korean, and baked goods. Who knows what I'd end up concocting in Saudi Arabia? My cooking has always been intermittent, with long gaps between periods of experimentation, and I usually have to plan ahead if I want to blog about a recipe I'm preparing, so I wouldn't think I would post recipes more than once every month or two.

The Tourist posts will be exactly what they sound like: posts about my travels from the region, whether to nearby towns or to other areas (even the U.S.). Every trip won't be posted, probably only those with some exceptional cultural information, food experience, or plant-related adventure. I anticipate at the very least monthly trips, so these posts would be once per month at the most.

I think this works out to be an average of two or three posts each week, possibly, during a busy month. I will not even attempt to maintain a post schedule (such as "Artsy Garden Photo Monday" and "The Tourist Tuesday"), because I know I would never be able to live up to that. It seems I anticipate about 1/3 of the posts to be Artsy Garden Photos--I hope you're all okay with that!

Perspectives

2011-04-17T18:27:00.000-04:00

When one grows more than 100 plants in a small space, it's often easy to overlook the things the plants are doing. What the plant shows to me on a regular basis isn't necessarily its true face. I have a lot of shady plants that do pretty darn interesting things on the down low--if I don't keep up in their grill, they'd go completely unnoticed!

This is how my Eucalyptus grows in the window--away from me. (Yeah, that's right, I grow Eucalyptus indoors. "HOW?", one blogger friend queried? "Not well," is my answer.)

But even though the Eucalyptus is all like "shunnnnnnn!", I noticed that it's sending up new growth!

This is the "front" end of Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender.' A nice plant, to be sure.

But the back end is like a party! Yes, Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' is the mullet of the plant world!

The Salvia elegans looks almost dead in this photo. But this was before I actually killed it.

Because when I took this photo, it had this growing hidden near the window.

This is a finger-blocked-the-flash top-down-through-the-metal-shelving-unit photo of my pineapple. I just thought it looked a little dangerous, a little frightening, and a little sexy!

U.S. Botanic Garden: Pretties

2011-04-14T10:47:00.001-04:00

I went to the U.S. Botanic Garden with Kyoko a few months ago, my first time using a "real" camera, and again with a visiting friend a few weeks after. These are some of the nongesneriad photos I shot on those days. They are unedited photos, so I would have lightened some or adjusted colour slightly, but I think they are pretty enough!

Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' in flower, just like mine isn't.

This Rhipsalis flower is attractive to me--kind of cactus-y.

This Rhipsalis is more disappointing than pretty. But also interesting!

Comparing Cameras

2011-04-12T08:23:00.001-04:00

In the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to use a real camera (Kyoko's Olympus E-5) rather than my own FinePix F60fd. It is a challenge to learn a new camera, especially one that can be incredibly different to use with different lenses. I would need much more practice--because I'm new to manual cameras, I'm only just learning about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and the relation they play in taking the photograph I want. I'm used to my point-and-shoot autofocusing digital camera. I enjoy the ability to manually focus on Kyoko's camera, but the rest of it has a much greater learning curve!

While at Al's greenhouse with Kyoko a few weeks back, I attempted to get good close-up photos of flowers on this Aeschynanthus.

With Kyoko's camera, I think the overall image is nicer, because the photo could be taken without flash and allowed me to focus where I wanted, although I think this particular photo could have been in better focus--the aperture should have been a little higher, I believe, to have the entire inflorescence in focus.

My camera, on the other hand, is a bit better focused in general, but the flash really makes it look shitty. It would have been blurry without the flash, because manual adjustment of shutter speed and ISO on my camera isn't as readily accomplished as on Kyoko's. In fact, I still haven't checked to see whether I can do these things.

So... I'm still debating what to do with the whole camera situation. Getting my F60fd really made my photography better, because my old camera was, literally, a piece of junk. It's more rewarding and encouraging to take good photos--I see a lot of opportunity in having a digital SLR camera. But I think there's untapped potential in my current camera. Also, I'm trying to convince myself not to drop a few thousand on a new toy--but we all know how hard it is for me to resist temptation!

Exploding Into Spring

2011-04-11T08:40:00.000-04:00

Spring works fast, almost like liquor on a frat boy. One second, it's cold and barren--the next, it's wild and explosive.

Last month, give or take a few weeks, the garden at Mr. Yogato went through a brief awakening: the Crocus and Scilla siberica bloomed and a few things came slightly out of dormancy. The plants are hitting their stride, now, and are working on ramping up their growth at an ever-increasing pace!

The Fritillaria camschatcensis 'Black Lily' isn't dead! In fact, it's coming back from beneath the plant-refuse pile. From several spots. I didn't think it did as well last year as this growth seems to indicate--it sent up a few leaves and then kind of disappeared. With more than one growing point this year, my assumption is that it actually stored a lot of energy. Maybe it'll flower? I'd be so pleased!

Speaking of being pleased, my columbine is sending up flower buds! I look forward to seeing these open in the next few days.

My broccoli is growing true leaves. I'm worried about the mint taking over, however--that stuff is quite invasive.

Oh, no, I meant this mint! Although the other mint and such things are pervasive.

I have a random Rudbeckia seedling popping up in the bulb garden--it's in a great place to grow, if no one's bum or bag crushes it as they did most of my tulips last year, which is part of the reason why they're coming back so weakly this year. That, and the compact, wet soil may play a role too. Maybe. But I'd prefer to blame bums and bags.

The rosemary is leafing out even more. It's right next to the flowering arugula I blogged about yesterday. Actually, it's right next to almost every plant, because the Mr. Yogato garden is pretty tiny. Or maybe I just try to cram too many plants into it.

The lavender is growing leaves, but it looks a little more scraggly than the rosemary. It'll bush out this year, I'm certain!

This is the Heuchera 'Caramel' I put here last year. It's doing fine, now; last year, it was barely chugging along, because I had broken my collarbone so many times it was hard to keep it happily watered during the dry, hot summer. It seems this spring is trying to make up for last year's lack of rain, however.

The Heuchera is planted at the base of my 'Flame' red seedless grape vine. This is its third year in this spot, and the vine grew incredibly last year. The buds are leafing--I can't imagine how wild it'll get this year! I'm hoping for grapes.

Closeup shot of the buds opening on part of the grape vine.

The hops isn't growing terribly fast, yet, but the fact that it's getting larger and sending out more leaves is a positive sign to me! If it takes a year or two to get established before generating a measurable harvest of hops, I'm fine with that--I mean, I've been waiting for the grapes for years, right? I think I can give the hops the same opportunity!

Arugula Blossoms

2011-04-10T16:09:00.000-04:00

Last fall, I scattered a ton of arugula seeds at Mr. Yogato. No reason, I just had a ton and felt that there should be something growing in the area after the Datura died (although it took a longer time than I expected for the Datura to kick the bucket). Most of the arugula died off during the winter, but some stuck around, and now they're flowering!

I like the flowers, but the plant looks like other people would consider it to be a weed rather than a tasty treat. Something about the slightly serrated elongated leaves, I think. Maybe it'll set seed and naturalize here, but it'll face a lot of competition with the mint and strawberries!

Photographic Plant Pornography

2011-04-09T17:04:00.000-04:00

I attended the local Gesneriad Society chapter meeting today. My fellow chapter member and friend Kyoko had a presentation on plant photography, with tips and tricks, as well as comparisons of photos printed from different print labs. It's amazing the difference between print labs, even if you use the same photo file!

I also met for the first time John Boggan, the hybridizer of one of my recent plant acquisitions, Chirita 'Dreamtime' (which is, by the way, trying to flower again). It's wicked-cool to be able to meet people like that here in DC. The local plant crowd is not a small community, and it's full of some pretty big hitters. I can only hope that someday I may have produced one or two plants that are worth speaking of in such company!

But, going back to photography, I have a lot of pretty pictures I've taken at various places in the past few months. I was going to do, like, captions and such, but I find myself lately with a lack of time. So, please enjoy the photographic plant pornography from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History orchid exhibit!

Sexing Up Sarcoglottis

2011-04-06T12:30:00.001-04:00

The Sarcoglottis sceptrodes I got from Al's in January was just starting to bloom when I picked it up. Then it kept starting to bloom. It kept starting to bloom so high I had to rearrange the plant so the flower spike could ascend two and a half feet or so through two shelves on my metal shelving unit. Once the flowers opened, I was less impressed with the plant. I mean, the individual flowers are okay and all, but they're green and small, and there aren't enough of them on the inflorescence to make a statement.

See? Nice stripes and all, but the colour doesn't distinguish it well enough from the rest of the plant, to be honest. Plus, some of the leaves died back after I removed the plant from a more congenial environment (Al's greenhouse), so it's not even that pretty below, either.

And yet, I decided to pollinate them. I ripped one flower off and opened it up to figure out how pollination works with these orchids. It's pretty easy--an insect (or The Indoor Garden(er)'s exploratory forefinger) approaches a flower, and a sticky thing attaches to whatever surface it touches. That sticky thing holds the anthers and pollen, which slides into a slot below a fold in another flower to pollinate it. So I grabbed a few sticky things and slid them in and out of the slots in the flowers. Almost immediately, I noticed the tips of the flowers withering--it's a sign of "something happened, probably fertilization." Or, at least, attempted fertilization. A lot of orchids do things like this, I believe, to inhibit fertilization or to prevent insects from trying to fertilize them again. They got what they wanted, they don't need any more pollen! I was initially heartened by the fact that most of the flowers hadn't entirely fallen off--if fertilization had been unsuccessful, I would imagine the withering would extend beyond just the petal region. But then it did. Now, all of these flowers have browned and seemingly dry-rotted off the spike. What teases!

On The Inside

2011-04-04T08:06:00.000-04:00

My dwarf banana never went dormant--it has been growing leaves all winter! I guess I never blogged about ever getting this, but it's considerably larger than when I acquired it just under a year ago.

My pink Cryptanthus is making offsets after flowering. I don't think any of those flowers were pollinated, unfortunately, but at least I'll have some babies!

Speaking of babies, my Cryptanthus cf. bromelioides is offsetting as well, but I'm more hopeful about getting seeds from this one too!

The Cissus quadrangularis I received in trade last year has been hot and cold with me. Like Katy Perry. Just sayin'. But although random stem segments die left and right on me, sometimes they send out new growth, too--and that's what I have right now!

My florists' Sinningia is getting huge, as is its wont. I dug the tuber out at the end of the fall last year, let it rest for a bit, and potted it in new potting soil this year. I hope it'll reward me with a floriferous display!

The one-leaf Syngonium cutting I got from my sister at Thanksgiving is doing quite well in the windowsill. It's sending up a second growing point, also. There must have been something in the soil--another plant germinated. I have no idea what it is!

My larger pot of Sanseveria 'Bantel's Sensation' is doing well. This individual plant actually fell out of the pot with the other spikes, so I potted it up by itself. Now, it's sending out new growth!

New Sanseveria 'Bantel's Sensation' to grow and share with friends.

My Tricyrtis 'Samurai' is sending up new growth as well, but this new growth has lime-green leaf edges!

My Amorphophallus konjac didn't flower, yet again, but I still enjoy the huge leaf it puts out.

I also enjoy the petiole's variegation--cute pink with brown splotches! Kind of like the cow that makes strawberry milk. Yeah, what of it? I used to love that stuff.

The Selenicereus chrysocardium I received in trade has sent out multiple leaves in the few months I've had it. Maybe in the next year or so, it'll start looking like a plant!

Canna musifolia in a way too small plastic pot. 'nuf said. But I'll say more anyway! I got a few last fall via the DC Urban Gardeners Yahoo group. I only planted a small clump in this pot, just to see what would happen--and something sure as heck happened! It's breaking my pot and growing insanely tall, even without lots of light and space. I will probably try to use the other clumps in guerrilla gardening installations in the coming weeks. This beauty may have the dubious pleasure of being planted at Mr. Yogato. Somewhere.

Crocus On The Curb

2011-04-02T09:21:00.000-04:00

More on the spring theme, I ran across these yellow Crocus growing through some urban refuse a week or so ago. It brings to mind stories of people turning old tires and other "trash" into beautiful plantings--I used to love reading about that stuff as a kid! It's one of things I try to keep in mind as I guerrilla garden, too, but I haven't yet gotten down and dirty with the city's offal to turn it pretty, except for the little broken-brick rock garden I crafted at one of the guerrilla gardening sites. I keep meaning to post about that one--we were filmed by Voice of America. I need to stop by to see how the plants are doing--I haven't been by since early Winter. The pansies that weren't stolen are blooming nicely, as I discovered via Twitter, but I want to check on the Canna, the ornamental grasses, and the Opuntia.

Spring At Mr. Yogato

2011-04-01T08:42:00.002-04:00

These photos are almost within the range of timeliness, but not quite. Over the past month, the bulb garden at Mr. Yogato grew in and out of its splendor--the Crocus didn't have nearly the display they put on last year, unfortunately, although the Scilla siberica were/are delightful! My $13 Fritillaria camschatcensis 'Black Lily' is coming back and looks healthier than last year, although I have prepared myself to be okay with it not flowering. The tulips are sending up leaves; the Iris are mostly, too, although I think I lost one of the large black ones because of people's butts and bookbags; and my 'Dominic' daylily is also sending out more new leaves (I'm not sure he ever actually lost all his green leaves!).

Iris reticulata

Scilla siberica

Crocus 'Negro Boy'

Other plants at Mr. Yogato are showing signs of growth as well. I'm hopeful that the grapes will flower this year! The Heuchera 'Caramel' is still goin' at 'er, and the mint is, of course, growing crazy. I also scattered some seed in random places, but no, I have no idea exactly what or where they are. Some parsley, chives, bread seed black poppies, Rudbeckia, other flowers. I have tons of seedlings coming up, but I don't know what all of them are yet!

Are these the hops returning? I'd love for it to be so! It's in the right place for it, at least.

The impulse-bought columbine is coming back! It flowered a little in November last year, and then when real-winter came in December, it died back. But it made it through the frigid ordeal and is looking quite healthy now.

This photo was taken in early March--the strawberry plants are much better established now and have many more new leaves. They are not as weedy as I had hoped in this region--the plants that survive tend to be near the edge of the concrete planter instead of spreading to fill out the middle section as well, but that leaves me space to plant other things, such as the columbine, rosemary, lavender, an iris, arugula, broccoli, poppies... Much more than the little planter should be able to contain!

Speaking of rosemary, it and the lavender are putting on new growth. The fresh green leaves are more evident now than they were in early March, but it made me happy when I first noticed. I bought the columbine, lavender, and rosemary all at the same time late last fall, and I despaired when they looked scraggly and feared they wouldn't make it through the winter. (The lemon verbena did not, but that's because someone stepped on it and broke it all up before it had a chance to freeze to death.) But I was delightfully proved wrong!

First Terrarium, First Flowering

2011-03-31T08:28:00.000-04:00

My first-ever terrarium (well, maybe not first ever, but the ones I attempted as a child didn't turn out remotely this successfully) is insane with growth. I have cut back the Pellionia pulchra, Fittonia, and Nautilocalyx pemphidius once each and shared some at a gesneriad society meeting. I need to do so again! Luckily, such a meeting is in only a week and a half.

The N. pemphidius has been flowering for weeks. I haven't tried to pollinate the flowers for some reason--they're inside a glass jar, I always forget to.

The ailing Pilea depressa I received in trade is rejuvinating in the terrarium--it's not quite thriving, but it's not dying either. Success!

Chirita 'Dreamtime'

2011-03-30T11:11:00.000-04:00

My cutting of Chirita 'Dreamtime' tried to flower, pretty unsuccessfully. I had a request to share the blooms when they open--which never happened. They kind of developed, but then twisted and dried up. The photo I took didn't focus well, but you get the idea.

I revisited the original plant earlier this month, and it is, of course, looking wonderful and even blooming still/again!

I had also e-mailed the hybridizer, John Boggan, who said he hadn't anticipated this Chirita's size when he released it--his underwatering, underpotting habits apparently had it growing to a more reasonable size for him, but others (including myself!) really enjoy the giganticism of the plant.

When In Rome

2011-03-25T16:26:00.001-04:00

Rather, when in New York City during Christmas, at a Whole Foods with friends before heading to an Upright Citizens Brigade show (I want there to be an apostrophe somewhere in "Citizens," but the website doesn't show any. Damn lack of grammar.), one absolutely must twist off a piece of a random Schlumbergera, stick it in one's pocket, forget about it for a week after one returns from the big city, and then attempt to root it.

Months later, this little stem hasn't died, hasn't dried, hasn't done shit. But because it's not withering and rotting, I'm hopeful that I'll get a little plant out of it! I'll always remember my less-than-stealthy thievery and that special night I spent with my NYC-relocated friend and my boy. And, of course, who could ever forget "Forest Hills State of Mind"? ...yes. "Forest Hills State of Mind," Schlumbergera, and babka are among the wonderful memories I retain from my New York City trip, and there are so many more to make when I next go!

Special Pan-Asian Night of Deliciousness

2011-03-17T12:30:00.000-04:00

One of my goals this year is to have monthly dinner parties. My first one, in January, involved roasted marinated beet salad, carrot and sweet potato puree soup with pear slices, white chocolate risotto that I learned how to make at Cilantro Cooks in Nova Scotia, and mixed berry crumbles for dessert. I had forgotten to prepare and/or serve a lot of things I had planned for that gathering (such as a side for the risotto and the ice cream for the dessert), but I think the dinner party went well enough.

On the last weekend in Feburary, I went further abroad than Nova Scotia for my menu--Korea! I know I called it my "Special Pan-Asian Night of Deliciousness," and I planned on making Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese dishes (at least), but other than the spicy mango chutney and garlic naan, most of the recipes I ended up using were from Maangchi, my favourite Korean cooking blogger.

This is the aforementioned mango chutney. It is also the dish that led to the revelation that I'm incredibly allergic to mango. The lymph nodes under my armpits were huge; I had red, hivey, swollen patches all over my body; and my eyelids puffed up so much that it was hard to watch Xena on my computer while I was preparing some recipes a few days before the dinner party. Luckily, I was off work; unluckily, I had to skip my personal training session last-minute.

A lot of food allergies, at least the ones I'm used to having, are side-stepped when a food allergen is cooked. Not so with mango, as I found out during the dinner party--I had a tiny bit of the chutney, and then had a tiny bit of the allergic reaction. It was tasty, but maybe a little too caramelized--I was distracted by a series of work-drama-related phone calls and the beginnings of my allergic reaction, so the chutney was on the stove a bit longer than it should have been.

These were my own creation. I had a lot of leftover rice from other dishes, so I rolled some into balls, coated them with cinnamon/sugar, powdered roasted black sesame/sugar, and coconut flakes and baked them. I liked them, but others' opinions varied widely.

This was perhaps one of my favourite dishes I prepared from one of Maangchi's recipes: kongjang, or caramelized-soy-sauce-and-sugar soybeans of delight! I've already made a second batch. They taste teriyaki-ish, and sometimes they remind me of jerky, in a pleasant carnivore-turned-vegetarian way. Who needs meat when you can eat kongjang? I think everyone liked Maangchi's broccoli pickles that I made, too, but I didn't photograph those.

I didn't take a photo of the sigeumchi namul, the sauteed garlic spinach side dish, before we all dug into it. The boy said he'd like more of this--it was so quick to prepare that that's not hard to offer!

I really enjoyed the musaengchae, or raw radish salad. It was another easy-to-prepare dish that had an excellent mixture of sweet and heat. Also, hell, fun with chopsticks!

The kimchibokumbap, kimchi fried rice, was one of the last-minute-decision dishes. I wanted to use the new batch of mak kimichi I made, but I wanted to try something different from the kimchi pancakes I always make. The kimchibokumbap was tasty, sure--but it wasn't as spicy as I had hoped, nor did I fry the rice as much as I wanted to. I think drier rice would have been better--I used a mix of sushi, jasmine, and brown rice (there was an accident with the rice when I got some glass containers a few months ago), and sushi and brown rice both get a little bit wetter than I think would have been best for fried rice. I let the rice dry overnight in the fridge--which really only offered a crusty top layer, not an evenly dried bowl of rice. Next time, I'll just cook different rice for my kimchibokumbap.

The main dish was japchae, because I had never made it before. I didn't use the beef the recipe called for--I substituted cubes of tofu. I also added some radish (I had a little left over after making the musaengchae). This was quite a tasty entree! It's one of the few nonspicy Asian main dishes I've ever cooked, and I know I'm going to try it again.

I have made Maangchi's maejakgwa before, for my (now award-winning) strawberry soup. These were tasty after-dinner snacks, along with the chocolate creme pie that Jenna of ModernDomestic and DC State Fair brought (which I didn't photograph, unfortunately, although it was tasty!).

I had planned on making some of Maangchi's jatjuk (pine nut porridge), but I nixed the idea after everyone claimed to be overfed. It is truly filling, if you eat an entire pot of it! I seasoned mine with cinnamon and sugar--it tasted amazing!

These would have been desserts, too, but I ate them all prior to the dinner party. I made Maagnchi's gyungdan recipe days in advance, but later, when I snuck a taste, I realized that they don't exactly store well--they need to be fresh-made before serving. I liked them enough to eat after they were refrigerated for a few days, but I wouldn't serve them to others. They are coated with cinnamon/sugar, powdered toasted black sesame/sugar (best topping ever!), and powdered sugar and flour (not great... Coconut is better). I made some for coworkers, too, and they seemed to be a hit!

Chirita 'Dreamtime' Bein' Crazy

2011-03-16T22:48:00.000-04:00

The Chirita 'Dreamtime' cutting I got back in January has decided to start blooming! The cutting--which was about a foot and a half long and only a little branch from the main plant, which you can see with me on the first page of last month's issue of "Gleanings" from the Gesneriad Society--may have set roots already, but it has dropped most of the older leaves (with no roots to support it and a drastic change in environment, no wonder!) and only just started growing new ones. I don't anticipate being able to grow it as large as Al is able to do with his huge, humid greenhouse, but if I don't kill it, that would be awesome for me! It was hybridized by John Boggan, a local plantie who works at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. So I try to treat this cutting nicely, and I think it's doing alright. It could probably use better care, however--more humidity might be nice for it. Maybe in time, every member of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Gesneriad Society will have a cutting to try? I think that's an achievable goal.

New Plants From Al's

2011-03-10T12:30:00.001-05:00

I went to Al's Orchid Greenhouse with Kyoko again over the weekend. I got to use her camera to take photos, and I was offered cuttings of some pretty awesome plants! (If you're getting a sense of foreshadowing, you're right on the money--of course I did something with these beasts.)

Unfortunately, a lot of photos remain on my camera, and I can't access my old ones, because my computer is going verrückt. So, we'll see what I can cobble together--the half-dozen or so posts I have waiting in the wings will have to remain that way!

In the meantime, y'all should also check out the latest DC State Fair "State of the Fair" newsletter that I put together. If you're in the DC area, come out to the seedling swap on 14 May. It'll be a hoot! I'm starting extra seed that I bought from Renee's Garden, mostly, for those who don't have seedlings already.

Here's the spread. Most of the cuttings/seedlings/what-have-you are small, and many will remain small. Others, however, will potentially get rampant.

Dischidia sp. 'Nova' I don't think 'Nova' is actually the variety name, it's just the location in which this plant was originally found, according to the one source Kyoko found while at Al's.

Dischidia variegata (left) and Dischidia hirsuta, which I saw at the US Botanical Garden the previous weekend.

Hoya retusa (left) and Rhaphidophora celatocaulis

A Sinningia leucotricha cross

Some mini Philodendron

A creeping groundcover Ficus

And some ferns! Al says he thinks these may be hybrids of the weedy ferns he has growing in his greenhouse. I'm more than happy to take weeds off his hands!

Pregnant Onion Babies Growing Up

2011-03-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

My sexually propagated Ornithogalum caudatum seedlings are sending out their second leaves and doing well inside on my metal shelving unit. In my office, however, an asexually produced bulb that had, at one point, tried to grow a leaf and then (I thought) died has sprouted anew! In the past two or so weeks, the tiny bulb (hidden under the Ledebouria socialis) resprouted a leaf and has grown many inches tall. In time, it'll take over this pot, which also contains some Crassula ovata, so I'll have to split the plants up at some point. But there's plenty of time before all that!

The Indoor Garden(er)'s Setup

2011-03-03T08:07:00.002-05:00

I live in a studio apartment. I have a lot of furniture. I also have upward of 150 or so plants, although I guess most of them are pretty small (I used to have larger ones, but they either died, got smaller [pruning], or were bulbs/corms that went dormant and are only now resurfacing).

How does one fit huge furniture, a bicycle, tons of kitchen supplies and appliances, and a crazy-person garden in one's apartment that's smaller than many community garden plots?

Shelving. Lots and lots of shelving.

Here's the back of my bed's headboard--the bookshelf and the desk with the hutch. You can just see the end of the defunct garden box on the left with a pot that contains some Episcia I'm rooting. The orchids on the headboard and the Canna could probably use more light--they're about 10 feet from the window. But, really, where would they fit...?

Here's the other end of the garden box on the right, as well as the window sill and my apartment's all-purpose temperature-control mechanism, which I never have on because my plants live on/near it. The couch is blocking a few plants (namely the Aechmea fasciata, a fern, Aloe 'Grassy Lassie,' Aglaonema, and a couple others) that would otherwise be visible. Since taking this photo, I realized I have been doing a disservice to a few plants (mostly 'Grassy Lassie'), so the plants got shifted a little. Other plants got potted up or shifted to accommodate the movement, but generally everything's pretty similar.

The couch also blocks my germinating seedlings on a heating pad (all of which was finally just adjusted to be closer to the lights), a catering tray that I use for small plants that like extra humidity, some Crocus, a coleus, and more! But you can see most of the shelves with my lighting and plants. They're kind of slap-dash arranged, but I like how easily I can whip the couch out of the way to gain access to my plants to water or tend them--it gives me a lot of extra floor space! It's not like my lemon verbena really cares that it's up against the back of my couch. The fluorescents also provide some bottom heat for starting seeds or for plants that may like a little extra warmth.

Happy Hoya

2011-02-25T08:38:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago while at Al's Orchid Greenhouse, I received cuttings of Hoya pubicalyx (shown), Hoya curtisii, and another Hoya, as well as a potted fourth Hoya that I chopped up just a little to root a few cuttings for fun. I also tried to root "fern" cuttings that I should really take photos of at some point because they're crazy-looking to me.

Some of the cuttings went into moist vermiculite that ended up in a large sandwich catering tray with a clear plastic lid to retain a high humidity level--this container has been wonderful for such things! Some other cuttings went into a mixture of moist sphagnum moss and perlite.

Both groups rooted about the same--the H. pubicalyx went crazy in both (some even already producing new shoots), and the H. curtisii mostly rotted in both. Shown above is a single-node cutting of H. pubicalyx that was rooted in vermiculite.

After a little accident with the sphagnum/perlite cuttings (they ended up all over the floor), I decided to pot these up on Saturday night. I'm still trying to get the H. curtisii to root somehow, because they're wicked-pretty. It was suggested to me that I try nicking an internode lightly, which apparently somehow encourages nodes to send out new growth, and placing a cutting in a terrarium.

I have never grown any Hoya before, so receiving cuttings that I have successfully rooted is extremely gratifying to me! Maybe I will be able to get them to flower and enjoy their delightfully scented blooms!

Goings On

2011-02-24T08:40:00.001-05:00

Although I had a seemingly similar plant-update post earlier this week (eine Pflanzenfortschreibung, in my made-up German), those were all somewhat seasonally related. These updates are really timeless--they only happen to coincide with other plants that are trying to trick me into believing that the weather will be getting nice soon.

Either way, both types of plant updates make me excited, because they mean that something's happening other than plant deaths and bug infestations!

For example, the Syngonium cutting I took from my sister's plant after Thanksgiving dinner is rooted, potted, and sending up new leaves! Also in this pot? A mystery seed that germinated. One never knows what one will find in repurposed soil from The Indoor Garden(er)...!

The Synadenium grantii I received in a trade has gone through cycles of pretty good growth followed by periods of intense leaf drop and refoliating. I can't figure it out--the plant has received pretty much the same care since I got it, except that one time I snipped off the growing tip because of the mealy bugs and kept it in the bathroom for a few weeks with the other plants in quarantine... But really, besides that, it's had the same amount of light, temperature, watering... Well... At least an unvarying variation in these conditions! It would probably behoove me to stick it in a slightly larger pot.

I had a sweet potato in a bag in my kitchen for a few months, apparently. I kept buying new ones to cook and forgot this one underneath the bag of red potatoes. So when I found it, the tip had sprouted a few "eyes." I chopped the tip off and cooked the rest of the sweet potato. I stuck the tip in some water in a little sauce dish, but it didn't do anything except get a little mouldy. Because I don't know how to take a hint, I removed it from the water and just stuck it in a container with some potting soil. A few days later, the first stem shot up out of the soil, followed shortly by another, and another, and more and more!

The small plant is bushy and healthy-looking, for now. In a few weeks, I could easily pot it up and maybe encourage it to grow up the shelving unit. Maybe if I buy a cubic-foot bag of potting soil to plant this in, I could just have that as my "container" and grow the sweet potatoes indoors? I wonder how the spider mites would like them...?

Did I ever feature my Aechmea fasciata when it decided to make an offshoot months and months ago? Did I ever mention having it other than in the almost-a-year-out-of-date plant list? The answer to both of these questions is a resounding "No!" I initially bought this plant as a celebration for reaching some sort of weight goal, but I don't really remember what or when, unfortunately. It must have been a busy time of year...and now that I think that it must have been a busy time of year, I remember buying it at Garden District before a meeting with a bar manager for a Pride Green fundraiser event, so it must have been March or early April 2010. It could have been to celebrate my 75-lb-lost-since-joining-Weight-Watchers milestone at the end of March last year, but that was an erratic period of ups and downs, so maybe it was that week that I lost seven pounds. Who knows why I bought it?

Anyway, months ago, this plant starting sending out a pup (on the right). Now, that pup is more like a pitbull--the pointed ends of the leaves always poke me when I'm bending near it or sidling by it (it's behind the couch in my new apartment layout, which you'll get to see [partially] later this week!).

Coitus Confounded

2011-02-23T08:45:00.002-05:00

Although I selfed my Cryptanthus cf. bromelioides (hopefully successfully), I don't think I'll get the opportunity to cross it with the pink Cryptanthus. The pink one is opening male flowers right now, but C. cf. bromeliodes seems to be done flowering. I might get lucky--under the debris of spent flowers, I think I see a few unopened ones that could offer pollen to the pink Cryptanthus or receive pollen from it. I will hope, but I won't hold my breath.

They Think It's Spring

2011-02-22T08:25:00.002-05:00

Residents of The Indoor Garden(er) are doing things that indicate longer days and warmer temperatures. Outside shows similar signs, but I never trust them--growing up in the DC area really trains one not to trust things that seem like a trend toward nicer weather, and especially not to trust whatever comes out of the mouth of any area meteorologist. It has been nice, bright, and warm here for a week or so, but I still didn't take out my hoe and seed yet. DC weather is too mercurial to trust--I often feel a bit paranoid about planting or sowing seed even at the end of April, assuming that the weather is just being a tease and we'll get a hard frost that will kill all of my plants in June. I'm only proven right in that mistrust by yesterday's frigidity and the wintry mix we got overnight. But, what keeps me going is the thought that it'll all be over soon, and I'll have something new to complain about: the unending heat and humidity!

This columbine at Mr. Yogato thinks it's time to start growing again. Really? Is it safe? I'd be scared to put my tender growth on display like that.

The Crocuses are also shooting out leaves at Mr. Yogato. Alright, fine, so this is about time for them to do so, but I they're like people who wake up really early in the morning (y'know, before noon)--I know they exist, I just never understand why they'd want to put themselves through such a horrible experience on a regular basis.

Also at Mr. Yogato, mere inches from the Crocus is this tulip. I'm almost certain I didn't see the bloom last year--people kept picking them before I saw most of them, and the others got crazy aphid infestations.

Indoors, my Ledebouria socialis, which I just featured on DigTheDirt, is sending out inflorescences. Maybe this time I'll actually get around to pollinating them!

I also have an Arisaema triphyllum sending up a leaf--I had almost given up on this fellow, because it had been months since I potted him, but I guess the changing temperatures made a difference!

It seems I'm fated to receive another leaf from my Amorphophallus konjac. One of these years, I'll get a flower, and it'll smell horrible, and I'll be satisfied.

Starting Gesneriad Seeds

2011-02-21T10:39:00.000-05:00

I started some gesneriad seed a week ago--most of them came from Kyoko, who seems to have supplied me with a large fraction of the plants I now own, although the space they take up is minimal because they're small plants. It might be interesting to take an inventory of plant source and figure that out--I know am a loyal "customer," so I expect that the majority have come from five or so sources.

After putting together the last issue of Petal Tones, which contains a piece on starting gesneriad seeds, I got a bit better of an idea how to do this whole thing. I knew humidity was important with many gesneriads in particular, but it has taken me a while to realize that humidity can be encouraged with a covering! It makes sense, but it just really didn't sink in, and rooting Hoya cuttings and starting terraria were big factors in hammering that into my skull.

So, I decided to use a Chinese-food container, which I have previously been using as water trays for odd-sized containers or groupings of smaller pots. I mixed up some premoistened fluffy, perlite-amended seed-starting mix with some sphagnum moss. The mix was wet, but not soaked through, because I planned on keeping the container covered--I didn't want it to be a swamp, just humid! (When condensation appears more like lakes than mist, I sometimes adjust humidity in my terraria by leaving lids open or slightly ajar to allow water vapor to escape--I have done the same with these containers, because I really don't want to encourage the growth of fungi.) I then tamp down the medium until it's relatively smooth on the surface, because when sowing ubertiny gesneriad seed (which often need light to germinate, the Internet says), it's easy for them to get in a dark crevasse under the soil and they may not germinate--they want to be surface-sown, so it's easier to ensure that by having a flat surface to sow them on. I sprinkled the seed in rows, labeled the lid, and shoved it on my shelving unit on top of a fluorescent light fixture for a bit of bottom heat.

Here's my Chinese-food take-out tray with the seed placement labeled on the lids. I started Aeschynanthus longicaulis; Titanotrichum oldhamii; a mini Sinningia; S. tubiflora; and Streptocarpus 'Vampire's Kiss.'

And the first seed to germinate was Sinningia tubiflora after five days! (Sowed 13 February, sprouted 18 February.) I'm still waiting for the others to pop up--the Streptocarpus 'Vampire's Kiss' was two-year-old seed, but I've heard-tell that they'll germinate anyway, after two to four weeks; the Aeschynanthus longicaulis was also old seed, so we'll see whether that'll come up. Kyoko says it took 12 days for her mini Sinningia and 16 for her Titanotrichum oldhamii, so I have at least a few more days to wait to see whether those will come up or not.

New Terraria

2011-02-15T09:32:00.002-05:00

I'm starting to really enjoy terraria. I now have four, mostly featuring gesneriads with the occasional Cryptanthus or other plant. As a child, I constantly tried to set up terraria--but my view of plant love was pretty similar then as it is now: water = affection. I have learned that that isn't the case, but at least now I have plenty of other plants to show my "affection" to while I leave these terraria in peace. The ones I've had have been doing very well so far. There wasn't much consideration about how the plants would look as they grew when I set the terraria up, I just shoved in plants I thought might do better in a glass jar than out in the open. Therefore, some plants are in terraria that are too short for them or are being crowded out by more vigorous plants (Pellionia pulchra, anyone? Such a pushy guy!).

All I want now is a water feature like the one I saw at Al's Orchid Greenhouse for my orchids, gesneriads, some Cryptanthus, and other fun plants.

You know what? I just need to move to South America and live in a rainforest or something.

Anyway, these are the two latest terraria I put together. (I never shared the third--it has some Cryptanthus, Episcia, Nematanthus 'Black Gold,' and a Nautilocalyx pemphidius leaf section for propagation. Just in case you were interested.)

I bought this container at Target for a few dollars (They called it a "penny jar." It looks like a cookie jar, to me. But, then, everything is a cookie jar to me! I like cookies.). I like the lid for some reason.

Most of the plants I put in this container were the ones I picked up at the Gesneriad Society chapter meeting last weekend. Within this cookie jar thing, I place a cutting of my Fittonia that I have growing quite well in my pumpkin-shaped terrarium, one rooted cutting of the Columnea microphylla, the full-plant version of Petrocosmea rosettifolia, a mystery plant, another mystery plant, the Sinningia muscicola seedlings (they're totally tiny right now, but you can find them if you look hard enough!), and some moss that I had collected from the base of a tree around the sidewalk and tried to break apart and grow in my other terrarium somewhat successfully. I think it needs more time to get established, however. I also stuck in some leaves from the Saintpaulia 'Tiny Wood Trail' and a random Petrocosmea that I have had for a few months.

This doesn't look full, yet, but the plants mostly look like plants already. I anticipate needing to trim the Fittonia every couple of months (which is why I planted it in the "back" near the lid), but everything else should remain fairly low (I think) and attractive where it is.

This jar has a glass lid and was a few dollars more expensive than the cookie jar. I'm not sure the price, but it wasn't more than $10. I think I need to start scouring garage/yard sales for glass containers--I'm really enjoying the terrarium thing!

A lot of less-well-established plants went into this one, however. I'm trying to avoid the issue I have with the first terrarium I put together with the Nautilocalyx pemphidius, Fittonia, and Pellionia pulchra--all three are going so crazy they're choking each other out already. I cut the P. pulchra back and shared the cuttings with Gesneriad Society folks (and I totally warned them about the spreading growth of the plant!), but I'm letting the Fittonia and N. pemphidius grow a bit more in that container. In this one, I have the Saintpaulia 'Tiny Wood Trail,' along with a few of its leaves; some Streptocarpus thompsonii seedlings; leaves of the random Petrocosmea and P. rosettifolia; a random green, furry growth I found at the bottom of the plastic cup that housed the P. rosettifolia; the other rooted Columnea microphylla cutting; and just a few mini Sinningia seed sprinkled in the centre, on the off-chance that they'll germinate in an appropriate place and grow well in the container.

This terrarium is definitely of the "needs to grow into its shoes" type. With really only a single thing that is already considered a plant, it'll be a while before this will look full and pretty. In the meantime, I have other plants behind glass to stare at!

Although I set these up on Sunday, Mr. Subjunctive totally scooped me by posting a list of plants to grow in a terrarium yesterday. (I realize it's not really scooping--the content is only related in the sense that both posts are about terraria. I don't begrudge him his excellent resource for gardeners interested in trying out terraria and wondering what plants may be best for such an environment. I do, however, begrudge him for puffing up my newfound addiction focus with encouragement to purchase new plants.)

I also sowed the seed I got at the Gesneriad Society chapter meeting in an old Chinese-food container. I am looking forward to raising the seedlings and maybe selling some at the chapter's show and sale this fall!

Surprises

2011-02-14T09:15:00.000-05:00

I should have learned by now that plants are almost as tenacious as I am when it's almost noon and I'm still in search of my first cup of coffee.

It doesn't happen often, but over the weekend, it did, and that was all I could think about until I got my first, then second, and finally third cup. In fact, not having coffee until so late in the day happens so infrequently that I'm still remembering that inhumane hardship I had to endure, marveling at my ability to survive through such a debilitating circumstance.

The plants in my apartment face similar struggles in their lives, caused by my overattention or neglect, depending upon the plants' placement, the composition of the soil they're planted in, and the time I have to care for my garden. Often, these factors combine to take down otherwise healthy plants that should have had a long, bright road ahead. Occasionally, however, a plant's tenacity allows it to overcome the intermittent care it receives until I notice it doing something and attend to it better.

For example, I had pretty much written off my Amorphophallus konjac months ago. In August or so, the leaf on each of my two corms withered, I let the corms dry out for a few weeks, and I stuck them in pots and watered them infrequently. The frequency decreased even further over the months that the corms remained dormant, but I kept up the watering on the off-chance that they might pop up. Yesterday, I noticed this! Maybe it's a flower this time instead of just a leaf?

I also noticed this--my Ornithogalum caudatum seed I collected in November and sowed a few weeks ago had germinated in vermiculite, so I transplanted them yesterday into some potting mix, along with an underground offset of Agave victoriae-reginae that fell off when I was repotting the parent plant after the severe mealy bug/scale/etc. issues I've had with it. The soil had been wet for a great deal of time because of that treatment, but I wanted (for some reason) to keep the plant alive, despite the fact that it looks horribly ugly right now. But if this underdeveloped offset doesn't die, I might have an alternative to saving the mother plant. I could also just get a new one--it's not like they're terribly expensive at the local cactus and succulent society show and sale, but I prefer to keep every plant I get alive instead of giving up and getting a prettier one.

Unrecoitaled Love No Longer!

2011-02-13T08:34:00.002-05:00

I finally got perfect flowers on my Cryptanthus cf. bromelioides. So, I took a Q-Tip and spread pollen all over the stigmas. And took a video. I get a little excited at the end--it's hard to control oneself when one has waited so long for such an opportunity. In a few weeks/months, I hope to have seedpods to sow and see what I can grow!

Gesneriad Gallimaufry

2011-02-12T15:41:00.001-05:00

I guess if I pronounced "gesneriad" with a soft G, having an alliterative post title would have been easier and I could have used a word I already knew ("Gesneriad Jumble"). But because I pronounce it with a hard G, it's harder to find a word that means "potpourri" but is alliterative. But I almost prefer that, because I learned an awesome word today that I hope to be able to use sometime in the future!

So I have random gesneriad-related updates today.

I didn't realize that I haven't mentioned that I'm a new coeditor of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Gesneriad Society's newsletter Petal Tones. The first issue I was heavily involved in just came out last weekend, and if you want, you can check it out. Some of the photos in this issue were used on the cover of Gleanings, a publication by the Gesneriad Society (the national society, not a chapter)--and I'm in one of the photos! That was pretty awesome!

Outside of new editorial and layout duties, I have new plants, too, mostly from the raffle table at the chapter meeting today! I bought two dozen tickets, and I swear, more than half of my numbers were called. I only claimed half of my tickets that were selected from the bag and let others claim the rest of my winning numbers, because I'm trying this thing called "self-restraint" that I've heard so much about. And when I already have five plants, a leaf to propagate, a container with sown seed, and five packets of more seeds to start, I really don't need to double that. At least, not until the raffle at next month's meeting.

So, what do I have here? On the top right, I have a Petrocosmea rosettifolia leaf that I'll stick in some soil to root, just as Saintpaulia. The seed packets below that baggie and to the left are Aeschynanthus longicaulis (which is old seed, so they may not germinate); Titanotrichum oldhamii; a mini Sinningia x self (Purple Crest F? x Little Venus); Sinningia tubiflora; and Streptocarpus 'Vampire's Kiss,' one of the first gesneriads I ever tried to grow. It struggled along for a year before my overwatering tendencies overcame its desire to live.

In the container, in the back, I have a miniature trailing Saintpaulia 'Tiny Wood Trail.' To its left is Petrocosmea rosettifolia. Huh. I guess I didn't realize I had picked this up when I grabbed the last leaf on the table (there were a lot of P. rosettifolia leaves on the raffle table, and the one I picked up wasn't a ticket-winning selection--it was just there after the raffle during the free-for-all, so I nabbed it). In the centre is Columnea microphylla, and it looks cute! I'm going to grow it in a terrarium. To its right are transplants of Sinningia muscicola seedlings. At the bottom right are transplants of Streptocarpus thompsonii seedlings, and at the bottom left is a cup with Streptocarpus 'Freja' seeds fresh-sown this afternoon.

I don't have hopes that any of these will be show plants at the chapter's September show and sale, but maybe in the future, I'll learn to grow plants well enough to enter! In the meantime, I'm hoping to learn how to photograph well enough to enter the photography competition. We'll see how all of that turns out.

More Exciting Than...

2011-02-09T09:37:00.000-05:00

...I can't think of a great comparison, because I think winning the lottery would be a bit more thrilling, and having dinner with Joel Gibb or Tracy Chapman would be, well, off the chart. But when I came home from work on Monday and discovered that my Cryptanthus cf. bromelioides had finally burst some of its male blossoms open, I was ecstatic!

Now all I need are some female bits to rub those male bits up against so I can have some babies to take care of!

Getting A Jump On Spring

2011-02-08T08:16:00.003-05:00

I am a true addict. I bought a seed-starting kit with a heat mat and sowed a 72 flat of seeds last Friday night. Not that I have anywhere to put the resultant seedlings when spring trundles around, but they are ready for that possibility. I really can't get my old plot back--one too many broken collarbones to take care of it means I forfeited it. I may have a plot available at another garden, but, unfortunately, community gardens aren't able to let in new gardeners so early in the season--they have to wait to see how many of last year's gardeners are returning first.

Anyway, even though it has only been three days (it's last night as I write this), I already have some seeds germinating. Just like last year, the hollyhock and Star of the Veld were the first to pop, but close behind them are the tarragon and--wait for it--Sea Island cotton, seed that Michael Twitty shared with me last year and I didn't have a chance to sow.

Sea Island cotton poking up out of the soil! If I had moved the camera just a smidge to the right, you would also be able to see the Star of the Veld that germinated, but you can't. I'm sorry.

A little baby black hollyhock. I tried growing some in front of Mr. Yogato last year, but the corn took over and they either died or were just completely overshadowed by the vigorous vegetables growing in the same window planter. This year, I'll put these babies in before the vegetables will ever have time to get established.

And, finally, the tarragon. I'm not certain I've ever had tarragon germinate for me. Most herbs, other than, say, basil, chives, cilantro, and sage, refuse to germinate for me. It may have to do with the seed I try to grow or the way in which I try to grow them. Maybe the steady humidity and bottom heat helped--or maybe it's because this is fresh seed from Hudson Valley Seed Library instead of who-knows-how-old seed from my bag o' seeds? I oversowed a lot of cells because so many of my seed packets are a year, or two, or more old, so I am hoping with enough seed in one cell, I'll get at least one healthy seedling!

I sowed the seeds mostly in duplicate cells--so although there are 72 cells, there are only 39 different varieties in the tray (33 duplicates and six individuals).

Want a list? Okay!

Olive (c'mon, really? Yeah, I'm trying it from seed. We'll see...)

Rosa Bianca eggplant (Hudson Valley Seed Library)

Aunt Molly's ground cherry (HVSL)

Tarragon (HVSL)

King of the North pepper (HVSL)

Strawberry spinach (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

French Perfume lavender (Renee's Garden)

Little Prince eggplant (RG)

Lilium NOID (seed I collected from a tree box lily last year)

Forget-me-not

Fennel (Botanical Interests)

Baby's Breath

Queenette Thai basil (RG)

Thyme (BI)

Mrs. Burn's lemon basil (Seed Savers Exchange)

Lemon grass (BCHS)

Oregano (BI)

Shiso

Seasoning celery (RG)

Dill (from Washington Gardener seed exchange 2010)

Sage (Old Sturbridge Village)

Nigra hollyhock (SSE)

Salvia splendens (from Washington Gardener seed exchange 2010)

Asclepias tuberosa (SSE)

Nigella papillosa (SSE)

Star of the Veld (SSE)

Passion flower (Prairie Moon Nursery)

Dr. Carolyn tomato (from Washington Gardener seed exchange 2010)

Sea Island cotton (Michael Twitty at Washington Gardener seed exchange 2010)

Cowhorn okra (Michael Twitty)

Carolina Black peanut (Southern Exposure Seed Exchange)

Huckleberry (shared with me via Twitter)

Sungold Cherry Tomato (BCHS)

"WTF?" (this was seed I had collected on a walk around Rock Creek Park. It looked odd, and it may have come from a tree. We'll see what germinates!) - Only one cell

Fennel (from the Washington Youth Garden) - Only one cell

White eggplant - only one cell (also shared via Twitter)

Zavory habanero - only one cell (from Washington Gardener seed exchange 2010)

Thai Dragon pepper - only one cell (from Washington Gardener seed exchange 2010)

Bhut Jolokia pepper - only one cell

Winter Goings-On

2011-02-07T09:29:00.000-05:00

My Tricyrtis 'Samurai' is budding! Since I took the photo, I think the buds withered. But I can always hope there will be more.

Because it is also sending up new shoots! This one and another. 'Samurai' seems to be doing well indoors.

The Calathea I got at a gesneriad society raffle is also sending up new shoots. Excitement!

My foxtail fern, Asparagus meyeri, is developing water-storage systems in its roots that are popping up out of the soil. There are two or three visible now.

My Sinningia is coming back from dormancy. It's the third time in the two years I've had it. I forced it to stay in dormancy for longer than the barely a week it did the last two times by not watering it for a month or so. Then I dug it up and repotted it a few weeks later, because I thought it needed new soil. Hopefully, it will flower as well as it has for me in the past!

My fall-blooming Crocus' leaves are not perturbed in the least by the snow outside of Mr. Yogato.

More From Tropiflora

2011-02-06T09:25:00.002-05:00

I went Neoregalia- and Vriesea-crazy. I had previously ordered a bunch of Cryptanthus from Tropiflora before, and I was pleased with the plants. They aren't quite expensive on their own (at least, not the ones I allow myself to purchase), but when you get, like, eight of them at once, it very much adds up. But, the company has its "VIPP" program (the extra P is for "Plant"), and there are weekly discounts. I'm pretty sure most of these were special discount prices. Or, at least, not more than $5, mostly. Before shipping, of course.

The haul. I must stop using my bed as the photo studio. Sometimes, I end up with potting soil on it and I wonder if it's because I was walking in the "garden" before going to bed or if I had placed a pot on the sheets for some reason.

Neoregelia 'Perfecta'

Neoregelia 'Red Planet' #7

Neoregelia pauciflora x wilsoniana

Neoregelia sp. 'Fireball' green form

Schomburgkia splendida x self (yeah, I bought an orchid. I need to control myself...!)

Tillandsia abdita Mexican form

Vriesea correia-araujoi

Vriesea 'Grafton Sunset'

Hudson Valley Seed Library

2011-02-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

I first ran across Hudson Valley Seed Library via a tweet last winter by MrBrownThumb. It seemed nice, so I signed up for their newsletter, and I got them regularly, but I'm not sure I ever ended up reading a single one.

I don't think I ordered any seed from them last year--I was all about the Renee's Garden, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, and Seed Savers Exchange. While I was in New York City in December, however, I ended up checking out the Horticultural Society of New York, which was displaying Hudson Valley's seed packet art. I had taken a few pictures of the enlarged art, but none came out well. I did buy a few packets of seeds (Ultimate Salad Bowl [how to resist the walking salad bowls?!], Borage, Tatsoi, and Provider Green Bean).

After seeing their art and checking out their website a bit more thoroughly this year, I'm starting to become a big fan. Hudson Valley also happens to be run by a gay couple (which totally gives them extra points in my book, if only because the two are living what I think could be something of a dream for me). The gardeners I follow on Twitter and on blogs seem to belong mostly to one of two very general categories: women with kids and gay men. It's nice to see seed company management reflecting that community through, say, the woman-owned D. Landreth Seed Company and Renee's Garden, as well as the openly-gay-owned Hudson Valley. MrBrownThumb was probably tweeting something like that last year, which led me to find Hudson Valley the first time, but just recently, he wrote a great post about seed-company diversity.

So, I bought a seed library membership (which comes with ten "free" seed packets that I got to choose from the entire selection, as well as discounts on anything more than that, which I have not yet chosen to avail myself of). Maybe I'll even be able to return seeds I collect to Hudson Valley and help support them more than just financially.

...and don't think I haven't started spinning the idea of a Washington, DC-based seed library around in my head already. Because I have. I'm really just not there, yet. I'll stick to seed exchanges for the moment!

The Jungle Within

2011-02-04T15:51:00.000-05:00

Within my office, that is.

The last time I showed a full-on shot of all of my office plants together with the lamp with grow-light bulbs was in November 2009. That's quite a long time, eh? The Epiprenmum aureum, also known as Brendan in my office, had just started its trek up the wall; the Gardenia hadn't died yet (I know, right? Sometimes, one needs to learn one's lesson the hard way.); and the cute pumpkin was uneaten. The only thing that hasn't changed, really, is that the pumpkin is still uneaten, by me, at least. I tossed it in January 2010 or so when it started getting icky. I kept forgetting to take it home to cook it.

When I look at this new photo, I'm amazed at how large my Sansevieria got in the past year or so. Because I see it almost every day, I keep thinking "That little Sansi, she isn't doing anything. What's wrong, honey dear?" But looking at an old photo, she clearly has more and taller leaves than she did when I first got her as cuttings rooted in a vase of water.

I also have some Ledebouria socialis doing alright, and one of them is thriving. It must be a difference in the soil--for some reason, some pots are pretty much straight-up leaf-mold compost, and others actually have some potting soil in them. It has been an issue for almost two years, but I haven't brought in a bucket and some potting soil to correct the issue for various reasons. One of them is that I don't have fungus gnats (anymore) nor any other insect pest in my office, and I'd like to keep it that way, so I'm avoiding bringing new plants in from home without an extensive quarantine period. And, well, my assumption with the potting soil thing is that fungus gnats are already in there before you buy the bag. So I'd just rather avoid the whole deal and make my plants suffer. Nothing I really care about will be affected by not being treated nicely, so it's all good for me.

In the foreground, you may notice an E. aureum in a purple pot with a bow--it has been in that pot for almost five years. It's the plant that I took the one-leaf cutting (Brendan) from three years ago, my coworker's (who left the office a few months ago, so I inherited her plant). Clearly, this needs new soil or something--Brendan is doing much better, with awesome variegation, huge leaves, and a sexy-long vine that's probably six or more feet long. Yeah. I attach him to the board with push-pins and tape. What of it?

I just added a new plant to the group--a cutting from another coworker's plant. For the longest time, I thought it was a standard nonvariegated Chlorophytum comosum and didn't really give it much of a glance. But the other day, I was staring at it while talking to my coworker and noticed that the leaves were more pointy, thick, and rigid than I'd expect from C. comosum. Maybe it's a different species of Chlorophytum, or maybe it's a species of Sansevieria? Or a related plant? I'll take any likely identifications if you have 'em!

Here's the plant in question in my coworker's office. It produces pups by running an underground stem about an inch or two away from the mother plant and sending up leaves. My coworker has a window. I'm insanely jealous, but then, she's been there for decades, so I can't complain much.

This is the cutting I took, replacing my Sempervivum that couldn't withstand my love (read: overwatering). I cut it off the underground stem, and the offset had a few roots, so I figured it could go directly into the soil. The leaves have a slight variation in colouring horizontally--almost as if it could be fully striped if it wanted to be.

More From Al's Orchid Greenhouse

2011-02-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

Al's Orchid Greenhouse, from which I acquired several new plants and cuttings recently, is like a cavern of wonders, with beautiful, sparkly, enticing tidbits everywhere you turn. I took photos, but most of them turned out horribly. Here are some of the not-so-horrible ones.

Encyclia cochleata, one of the only plants whose tag I photographed also.

This flower looks much more interesting if you click on it and view it full size (well, cropped-sized, which is only 30% of the original photo).

These are some cute carnivorous plants in the corner, near the frog. (Yeah, Al's has a lively population of various local frogs who live in his greenhouse.)

This terrarium gave me a chuckle. It's the same exact one I saw back in March at the local gesneriad society show. Kyoko put it together and then stashed it at Al's. It looks incredibly happy, if a little overgrown.

Parkour!

2011-01-31T09:45:00.001-05:00

This is completely plant-unrelated. Just so you know.

So, those of you who follow me on Twitter may have read a few tweets about parkour, especially recently. If you have an exceedingly retentive (or stalkerish) memory, you may recall that I blogged (well, commented on a blog post) about breaking my collarbone last year at parkour bootcamp.

I didn't finish that level one bootcamp, of course--how to climb up walls or roll around with only one usable arm? So, I took some time off, broke my collarbone again, and went about the time-consuming process of healing and gaining a basic level of fitness. Taking that time and getting to a place where I can consider myself to be relatively active allowed me to complete the level one parkour bootcamp at Primal Fitness this past weekend. This time, I only skinned a few fingers; got awesome calluses on my palm; bruised up my knees, elbows, and palms; and found out what an IT band is after it got so tight it was funky to walk for a day or so, before I found out how to stretch it so it doesn't hurt so much.

I won't say I'm particularly awesome, yet, but for a guy who spent most of his adolescence and adult years at 300 pounds, even being in a gym is still mind-blowing, let alone being able to scramble up a wall without hand- or footholds or, hell, even just being able to do a full pullup!

So, uh, here's my "graduation" video. I can only hope it reaches the standards set by the parkour scene in The Office. During the last session, we strung together some of the movements we learned during bootcamp into running an obstacle course. For the run I'm doing in the video, we all did the same path and were timed. I am particularly proud of myself for springing off the angled box (most people stumbled at that point) and scrambling up the six-foot box without dropping, despite doing the cat leap onto it horribly and banging some part of myself. I don't really remember--the only bruise I have is on the inside of my elbow, but that doesn't seem like the right place to have banged into the wall. It sounded worse than it was, I guess, but I do need to practice those cat leaps.

You may also notice that the instructor and the bootcampmate videotaping me call me Tiny Dancer. There was an incident with a pole and me spinning around it at one point... Parkour really is good training for a variety of endeavours in life.

So. Parkour. It'll help with guerrilla gardening and escaping the po-po. And yeah, I signed up for the second level bootcamp that starts tomorrow.

Cryptanthus Coitus Compulsion

2011-01-30T09:16:00.001-05:00

Let's see how often I can reasonably use "coitus" in a blog post title, eh?

My flowering Cryptanthus cf. bromelioides isn't the only one thinking about getting it on--this pink unnamed variety I picked up at Behnke Nurseries, a local nursery that I used to love to go to as a child, is now flowering, too!

I will try to cross them, if they take a liking to one another. Otherwise, they'll have to be satisfied with being all coital with themselves.

Orchids (And More) From Al

2011-01-28T19:15:00.000-05:00

One of the pictures from my phone I posted yesterday was from Al's Orchid Greenhouse (it was a photo of an amazing water feature with tons of orchids, gesneriads, Tillandsia and other bromeliads, and other fun humidity-loving plants.

I took a buttload of photos at Al's, but few were very good. I am out of practice, I think--I haven't been carrying my camera around with me everywhere like I did in 2009, because 2010 saw me with a frequently effed-up left collarbone and use of only one arm (which preferentially carried coffee, not the camera). I can blame the recent decrease in blogging to the incredible lack of photography--I have only single-digit-number of blog posts without a photo or video, because I think they all need some sort of eye candy (what, my keyboard diarrhea isn't enough for you?!), so fewer photos equals fewer blog posts.

That statement is a load of bull, really. It's just a cop-out; even when I have a lot of photos, sometimes they just don't get posted. I went back through my drafts and saw stuff from as far back as July that I had uploaded into a post but hadn't written anything about. Partially because they weren't plant-related at all, but also because they would be thousands-of-words posts, and I just haven't had that amount of time. Maybe I will, at some point, blog about the beer I brewed in October or the cooking class I attended in Nova Scotia (that white chocolate risotto I learned how to make there has quickly become a standard in my culinary repertoire!).

But, in the meantime, I have new plants! Not pictured here are various Hoya cuttings (H. curtisii, H. pubicalyx, others) that I'm trying to root in different media--one was prepotted, some are in moist vermiculite under cover for extra humidity, some are in vermiculite with no cover, some are in a mix of moist sphagnum moss and perlite, and one (a long cutting with tons of aerial roots) was stuck directly into a pot with African violet soil and perlite. Now that I'm getting more into gesneriads and succulents, I have learned the importance of excellent drainage. (I could learn the importance of watering when it's appropriate, but that's too much like work, so I modify the plants' environment to accommodate my overwatering tendencies. It has helped a great deal so far!) I also didn't take a photo of an "African bulb," the various Episcia cuttings I'm rooting, the crazy Chirita "cutting" (which was more than two feet long, because the actual plant was the size of a large dog with leaves bigger than dinner plates), and a thing that is supposed to be a fern but looks nothing like one because it has heart-shaped crazy succulent leaves and a vining habit.

This is an unnamed orchid that Al grew from his own seed, from what I remember him telling me. The label says "Rrm. Orchidom Red Love x Tolu. (Wimpy x Sniffen 'Jennifer Dauro.' I'm trying to figure out what the hell that means in real-plant speak, but orchids like this one are almost as different to real plants as, say, Chinese is to American Sign Language. This list says that Rrm. stands for Radrumnia, which is a cross between Rodriguezia and Tolumnia--which is abbreviated "Tolu.," I assume, but did not find that in this list. I don't know whether "Orchidum" is a hybrid name or some other crazy denotation. This is new waters for me!

Anyway, I'm calling him Radrumnia x Tolumnia "Charlie," because I can. I don't like the craziness with which orchid parentage is described--the names are way too long! (I don't know why "Charlie," it was just the first name that popped into my head, and hell, it seems a good enough name, right?)

In any event, the blooms are beautiful.

I killed the Ceropegia woodii cuttings that Kyoko gave me in the summer, so I nabbed this prepotted one from Al's. Hopefully it'll do better for me because it already has roots (presumably).

I also have cuttings from this Hoya curtisii, which looks exactly like the Ceropegia woodii to me (except the internode length is much shorter on the Hoya. Also, y'know, flowers.). My mom would love both plants for their leaf shape. She would also kill them (I learned well from her! Actually, she was pretty darn good with plants--as long as they weren't ours.).

I liked the look of this Sarcoglottis sceptrodes (left) because it is almost reminiscent of a well-variegated lancifoliar Chirita to me. Also, it's flowering. This picture was taken in early January, shortly after I got the plant from Al; now, the flower spike is about six inches tall.

Also visible in this photo is one of my Aloe that is being resuscitated after a mealy bug/scale double-whammy through which it lost its root system to rot (sigh) and my Bulbophyllum gracillimum that I had the bright idea to mount on sphagnum moss attached to the pieces of wood I got from my first-ever three-part prune during Master Gardener training. I'm not sure if they like this much. At the same time, they moved from next to the window to under the fluorescents, so I'm not sure what is making them more upset--the mounting or the light or the temperature difference.

This little buddy is only slightly visible in the above photo--he's Dendrobium loddigesii. And he's variegated! He brings out the Lorraine in me ("Gosh that's cute!").

Photos From My Phone

2011-01-27T15:12:00.001-05:00

When it's all wintry and disgusting outside, it's nice to have photos like this to look at and remember the good ol' days of... Winter? Well, not quite, but almost--this photo of the Mr. Yogato garden was taken on 29 November. The trombetta squash produced fruit right until a hard frost in mid-December. The Datura looked alright until then, too, and the grapes, and everything else! (Last year, the frost-sensitive plants had to say goodbye at the end of October, when a freeze knocked them down.) Right now, the place is a barren patch of browning twigs and fallen ivy leaves. Soon, however, the bulbs will start popping up; the strawberries, mint, and herbs will start leafing out again; and maybe the chard will flower! Maybe the grapes will also bloom this year--it will be its third year in this location, and last year, it grew a hell of a lot more than it did two years ago. I actually had to trim the grape vines back in a couple locations (although there were some I couldn't reach that I thought could stand to be trimmed--unfortunately, I am not 15 feet tall).

Sometimes, however, winter offers you a view of plants that you may not otherwise be able to encounter--this, for example, is a type of bushy landscaping plant that I see occasionally (very occasionally. In fact, rarely, I should say.). I noticed this one of a matching set outside of a shop in Georgetown when I was there last week to get my DC license (after three and a half years in DC, I finally had to get the license in order to file a Home Occupation Permit for DC State Fair so we can get a basic business license and a license to solicit funds--in case you were just dying to know why I gave up my Maryland license with the cute little crab on it). Sometimes, plants sans leaves have more interesting architecture than they could even with flowers. I'm a fan of this plant--I'd grow it just to kill it and keep it in a pot by itself! (No, I wouldn't--I don't like to intentionally kill plants. I'd "accidentally" kill it, then.)

I visited Al's Orchid Greenhouse the other week with Kyoko of the local chapter of the Gesneriad Society. We helped "clean up" some of the plants (although it felt more like "cleaning out" Al's stock), and I spent more than an hour just wandering through looking at everything. I can't say this is the "most impressive" display, because there were a lot of impressive features at the greenhouse, but it is certainly the largest and most intricate piece there. Now I want to install a rainforesty water feature in my apartment! (You know I got plants from here, too. I'll be sure to, at some point, blog about them.)

This lawn made me tilt my head like a confused yet curious six-week-old puppy with long, floppy ears. I was excited by the exposed soil just waiting to be planted--and then I realized that the raised beds were made of broken-down bookshelves. That made me chuckle at the ingenuity and resourcefulness, but then I worried about the glue from the compressed wood and the coatings on the "wood-grain" covering getting into any edibles grown there and thus into the gardener's body. Then I saw the snow, and I was almost depressed, knowing that nothing would be growing in that soil for weeks if not months. All thoughts of others' potential health issues were wiped with that sobering thought.

Speaking of confusing plants, this is the beau's attempts at houseplants. He keeps his Epiprenmum aureum and Chlorophytum outside during the warmer months, but at no part of the year do these plants get watered regularly. Nor have they been repotted in years. I know I should be helping take care of them, but, y'know, they aren't my plants. And, well, they aren't quite dead, so...

I am jealous of my new local hydroponics store, Urban Sustainable--man, if I had crazy-expensive grow lights, I'd have eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes growing this hardy in the dead of winter as well!

Mementos

2011-01-17T18:02:00.002-05:00

While in New York City for a few days over the holidays, of course I had to buy at least one plant! Y'know. "To help remember the trip." I chose this Tillandsia bulbosa (I think--the cashier seemed quite pleased with himself for struggling "Tillandsia" from his memory when I asked what it was, so I'm only going on the basis of Google searches for the species. Seems an appropriate identification to me, anyway.) from what I was told was called "Gea's Garden Jewels," the gemstone/jewelry/succulent houseplant store recommended to me by a friend of a friend. The address was spot-on, but the shop didn't have a sign with that name on it, so I'm not sure whether it has changed hands or was never really called "Gea's Garden Jewels" anyway.

I am kicking myself a little for not photographing the 200-square-foot wonder that was that shop, with the cactuses and Lithops in tiny pots lined up in cases along the walls next to the loose gemstones, earings, and necklaces. As you peruse the shop, surprised to find that the stone you're looking at is actually a live plant, you brush up against the towering leaves from ferns and tropical houseplants tightly clumped in the center of the store, leaving barely enough room to shimmy past in some spots. Add to the mix a girl looking at stones to buy for a friend, my man milling about, and a cashier who is still learning about the diverse stock, and it made for an interesting visit.

I bought the T. bulbosa for several reasons--I had visited a few other plant shops and had seen a lot of awesome plants, but none interested me that weren't overly pricey or too bulky to carry back to DC on the bus. T. bulbosa didn't complain too much about traveling, and it was easy enough to care for while still on vacation. When I go back to New York City, I'd love to visit this shop again--it's very close to an awesome Mediterranean-ish cafe with amazing-looking pastries and tasty vegan/vegetarian fare.

Cogitating Cryptanthus Coitus

2011-01-11T20:24:00.002-05:00

That alliterative post title took a lot of searching on Thesaurus.com, so I do hope that it's appreciated over the less lyrical "Planning On Sexing Up My Cryptanthus."

Regardless of the title, if the topic makes you uncomfortable, blame the plants--they're the ones with all of their reproductive desires being put on display for any passer-by to behold!

Personally, I'm excited when plants decide to strut their stuff, because I usually choose to believe I'm doing something right for them--I view it as my reward for treating my plants right. Lately, I need a little bit of positive reinforcement, what with all the mealy bugs (which I mentioned), spider mites (which I didn't mention recently, but I've had for years), and aphids (which I also didn't yet mention, but really? In winter? How the heck did they get in?) I've had to deal with in the past few weeks.

So, thank you, Cryptanthus cf. bromelioides, for deciding to grace me with your sex organs! I have had this plant for only three months--I'm not even sure whether it has roots. But, it's flowering, and maybe I'll pollinate it somehow? A Google search yielded a few discussions of cross-pollinating Cryptanthus and bromeliads in general, but I can't find good detail in any one location, which is something I've come across often--it seems that growers either don't publicly distribute such information or they keep it in difficult-to-find websites or (gasp!) in books! I just think I don't know where to search for this, because I'm certain someone out there has written a tour de force on sexual propagation of Cryptanthus for the slightly eccentric, experimental, plant-torturing home gardener. The information I have found so far indicates that Cryptanthus are likely self-fertile, so I won't need a second flowering plant in order to pollinate this one; flowering can last a few weeks, although individual flowers may last only a few hours, if that (probably open for business in the morning); probably a paint brush is fine for pollination; the flowers in the center, which will bloom first, are likely all male, but the flowers on the bottom of the inflorescence are likely mostly perfect (so, both male and female), so I might be able to self-pollinate those ones (but the all-male flowers may have "better" pollen than the pollen in that of the male/female flowers--not sure on what this claim is based); stamens from the male flowers might be able to be preserved in a glass container in the refrigerator for a time without losing viability of the pollen (but for how long? In order for that to be a boon, it would have to be greater than one day, at least, unless you were intending on crossing different species that bloom at different times of day--so, save the stamens for just a few hours to pollinate a second plant that blooms later that same day); fruit/seed maturation can take from one to six months depending on whom you believe and which species you have, but seeds should be planted within one week (my personal jury is out on that one--I have doubts that seed that takes such a long time to develop could lose viability so quickly. But, then, I guess it depends on the environment--in nature, wouldn't these plants be in higher humidity settings than the dry environment we usually tend to store seed in? They probably sprout while the fruit is rotting and attached to the mother plant. Or, as written somewhere that I read, ants [which purportedly enjoy the sweet, rotting flesh of Cryptanthus fruit] might carry the fruit [and its seeds] away to their lairs, helping spread the particular Cryptanthus species in question.); and once sown, seeds take just a few days to weeks to sprout, a few months to get to respectable size, and one to three years to reach flowering size again.

...And after all that, I clicked through a couple of links elsewhere and ended up on GardenWeb, where all my questions were pretty much answered, both with pictures and words. Most of the assumptions I gathered from various sources were pretty much confirmed, and getting these things to reproduce sexually doesn't seem to be all that difficult (no vibratory foreplay required, at least).

In anywhere from two to seven months, I'll post about whether I harvested any fruit!

Wicked Plants; Or Plants That May Or May Not Be Harmful/Destructive/Mildly Annoying In Some Situations To Some People Or Animals Or Maybe Not

2011-01-04T22:07:00.003-05:00

I've had Amy Stewart's "Wicked Plants" for a while now (since at least July 2009). It's a book about plants, common and uncommon, from all regions of the world, that are dangerous, destructive, murderous beasts of plants that you wouldn't want your neighbour to own for fear of your own life. Or ones that might possibly put your cat in a coma if you smoke too much of it.

I read "Wicked Plants" in 2009, and have since (in April 2010) reread it in preparation for this post. One reason I delayed writing about this book is that I was totally being all nice and waiting for Mr. Subjunctive of Plants Are The Strangest People to review it--I wanted to read his, partly because I enjoy his wit, partly because he was the one who made me aware of the book, and partly because I wanted to see whether certain things that irritated/pleased me also irritated/pleased him.

But, I'm sorry, dude took too long. He mentioned maybe reviewing it back in May 2009, so I think it's up for grabs now, and I feel no shame. The extra push I had to finally write about this book was when Washington Gardener (a local gardening magazine) put out its e-newsletter in October 2010, which included a review of "Wicked Plants." I enjoyed the reviewer's balanced take on the book, which does sensationalize the plants it discusses, a point the reviewer sort of mentions.

In my opinion, one of the most wonderful things about "Wicked Plants" is that so many of the plants within are common and readily available, and the text is presented in such a way--easily accessible to a broad audience.

But, here's my beef with the broad-audience accessibility: It's not consistent. Because of my science-type background, and the semiscientific presentation of information within the book, when I read that "some studies suggest," "a pair of researchers writing for a British medical journal," or "advocates point out," I want references to follow up on and determine for myself what these studies, British researchers, or advocates were saying. One could write a book about literally anything citing "some studies," "British medical researchers," and "advocates"--or even actually citing them directly! There are always groups with dissenting viewpoints and research papers that seemingly contradict one another. This was not much addressed in "Wicked Plants," the fact that one or two studies that look at a couple of instances of potential deleterious effects of plant compounds might not actually mean that the compounds in question are in any way dangerous to the average person at levels they would regularly encounter. Without cited references to follow up on, I can't be sure this is the case, however, so it throws a lot of these uncited claims into doubt for me. Because of the vagueness in this sort-of-scientific approach, I also feel as if Stewart was being a little more sensational than she needed to be--the history she presents and the truth about the plants could have held her book up without the semiscientific scare tactics with faceless men in white coats!

Now, I must say, Stewart did give something like a reference in relation to Lewis and Clark's nigh-fatal expedition west--but this only somewhat strengthens my yearning for citation. And there is a bibliography in the back, which I approve of, but without linking those sources to references within the text, it's mighty unhelpful. (And they might be secondary or tertiary sources of the information Stewart included--I don't think primary information is listed back there.)

Along the lines of inconsistent scientific representation, in the first section, on monkshood (Aconitum napellus), alkaloids are defined, which I found to be helpful not only because they're mentioned throughout the book, but also because not every reader would know what they are. But in many other sections, words, concepts, or scientific techniques that I thought would have been helpful to explain were left up to the reader to decipher as best they could. For example, in the piece about habanero peppers, she talks about measuring a pepper's heat levels using "a new technology, high-pressure liquid chromatography." Now, wait--we explain "alkaloids," which are maybe not widely known but not unknown, but only call HPLC "a new technology"? What does it do? (And I guess it shows my background when I say I would have chosen the product-marketing term "high-performance liquid chromatography.") And why does she write that it's a new technique? It has been around for decades and decades--probably since before Stewart was born! A quick rewrite of the sentence in question to either further detail HPLC or delete it altogether would have appeased me as a reader with more than a modicum of scientific knowledge--as it is, this example, and the book, has a lot of loose ends that I would like tightened for science-presentation purposes.

You may think I am being nitpicky, and to be honest, I eventually got to that point, which is why I'm going to stop talking specifics now--I did really enjoy the book. But as an editor with a science background, these are things I think about on a daily basis--who will read this sentence/story/what-have-you? Will they know the term/technology/phrase? Is more explanation needed, or would more explanation seem inappropriate to the audience? The inconsistent way in which those questions were answered in "Wicked Plants" caused me a bit of confusion, I must admit, and made it more challenging to enjoy it.

But, this book was, in my opinion, well worth the money, despite all the bothers I had (especially the ones I chose not to mention--those are particularly nitpicky, such as how English ivy is included in the section on houseplants, and although she mentions dermal irritation as a potential problem, a big chunk of the brief write-up is about ingestion of berries. English ivy berries? Indoors? Is she serious? Also, because I can't help it, I have a comment about henbane pertaining to another part of my professional past: Pliny the Elder would never have written "braine." Both Plinys were Roman--they wrote in Latin. Because Stewart never cited the translator, she could alter the text however she saw fit and removed the erroneous "e" in the quote the included. I don't think that's nitpicky at all, I just think it's good form to either present information in a common tongue when not crediting any translator or credit the translator, so we can search the dude/dudette up and figure out whether we believe they translated the passage in question accurately. You know all those olde-thyme translators softened things up for a delicate population--Pliny the Elder could have been talking about a completely different part of the body!). The case histories presented within the book liven up the "learning" going on--while I wouldn't call this an excellent educational resource by any stretch, it is definitely informative and a good starting point for those who want to explore some of the world's more deadly/irritating/interesting plants.

And no, I didn't forget the amazing artistry in the book--the two artists did wonderful jobs illustrating "Wicked Plants." I quite enjoyed the layout, as well--it's quite a visually pleasing read! The above photo is of one of my favourite drawings, the aforementinoed henbane, but there are many other nice ones, such as the drawings for oleander and stinging nettle.

New York Botanical Garden

2011-01-03T17:23:00.002-05:00

I ended up traveling to New York City for a few days over the holidays--and, of course, I fell off the blogging wagon during that time, except for a brief post I wrote on my phone the night I got off the bus there.

On my visit, I stopped by the Horticultural Society of New York to see the Hudson Valley Seed Library seed packet art on display there; I also stopped by a couple pretty awesome plant shops in Manhattan. My favourite one was a combination succulent plant and gemstone/jewelry store--I noticed a lot of combination shops like this in New York, but nothing as outlandish as the wood stove and bicycle shop near where I went to university in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Although, Lithops and malachite in the same store make an interesting choice, too. But they seem more obvious to me--they both add beauty to a space, be it a garden, a windowsill, or the region between a woman's breasts. But... Wood stoves and bicycles? Please, find a common thread for me!

I also ended up going to the New York Botanical Garden on Christmas Eve. At first, I was appalled--I had to pay to enter. Luckily, my man is a graduate student, so he was $3 cheaper than me with his student ID. We only ended up spending $47 for the two of us to gain entry into the gardens. Coming from DC, it's a shock to pay anything at all--our United States Botanic Garden is free for all visitors, as are many other museums and such sites.

Anyway, after trekking from midtown Manhattan to the Bronx for the sole purpose of seeing the New York Botanical Garden, I wasn't about to turn around and waste another hour getting back downtown without seeing the plants. So, I paid, and we went in amid a throng of children and their parents, grandparents, cousins, next-door neighbours' children, and fourth cousins twice removed on their mother's step-father's side.

No, seriously. Okay, not seriously. But there were more people than I would assume would be there on Christmas Eve, and all of them seemingly had more children and strollers than could be explained by individual reproduction rates--they must have borrowed at least some of the kids from someone else to explain their plentitude. They were all there for the holiday train exhibit in one wing of the conservatory. Going in the opposite direction, it was possible to avoid the throng of youths for most of the visit, but leaving required wading--literally wading--through children and their adult guardians to get to the exit. Either that or backtrack through the entire conservatory again, and the exit was so close, I figured it wouldn't be that bad... But it took almost as much time as it might have just to turn around and revisit the beautiful plants in relative peace. (I really don't have that huge of a problem with children... But in such number... During a stressful time of year...? No, thank you!)

But children aren't what this post is about (I say after hundreds of words complaining about them)--it's about the pretty pictures of plants I saw at NYBG! I have IDs for most of them, but some I don't, and I would appreciate any insight anyone might have in identifying them! (And I named the files, so they're alphabetical by genus.)

Aloe parvula

Cochliostema NOID (The species was on the tag, but the plant was blocking it and I didn't realize I never got a full shot of the name. Also, the sun was very bright in this shot, but I thought it made the photograph even more interesting than the plant would have done on its own, even with those cute flowers!)

Coffea arabica, of course! I'm such an addict.

Costus barbatus. I enjoy the curvature of the stem--it grows like a corkscrew! It's also in the ginger family, of which I am discovering I'm a fan.

Cyperus papyrus--yes, that papyrus! I posted about this on DigTheDirt today. I fully intend on growing such a specimen in my apartment!

Cyphomandra betaceae, or Tree Tomato. Looks delicious!

Cyrtostachys renda

Encephalartos arenarius

Gasteria croucheri

Gasteria pulchra

Gloxinia sylvatica for the gesneriophiles out there!

Iochroma cyanea

Neolauchea pulchella, a cute little orchid!

Passiflora NOID. I didn't notice a tag on this one, but I'm sure there was one.

Pereskia bleo fruit

Rhipsalis clavata

Solandra maxima

And now, the NOIDs!

This was growing in the fountain near the Cyperus papyrus. Seems like it should have a "-wort" name.

This is the flower of the full plant below. It's a dramatic plant, and a pretty, if hidden, flower!

Growing Gesneriads

2010-12-23T00:36:00.002-05:00

I am in New York City right now, enjoying my holiday with the boy. But my plants are still doin' what they do--the Ramonda seeds I got from Jim of the Gesneriad Society are germinating in a Chinese-food delivery container. I have tried other gesneriads from seed, but have not previously had success because of poor environmental conditions (low humidity). Now that I'm getting into enclosed-container plant growing, I'm excited to try more! I'm also excited to see what these seedlings/smudges of green will grow into!

Blustering And Blooming

2010-12-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

It's cold out. Not insufferably cold, but almost. I used to be able to handle -10 C, but after losing so much weight, I don't have the padding I used to, and clothing really isn't as good as fat was. Drinking a liter of cold water, let alone going outside, requires me to put on a hoodie just to keep warm. And don't get me started on this frakkin' wind we've been having lately (although I do approve of today's snow!).

At least I keep warm mentally by the show of love and approval my plants give me! Although the blooming Sedum was mutilated as a result of the mealy bug infestation, there are still some other plants a-blooming right now at The Indoor Garden(er).

No, a blooming Saintpaulia isn't exactly a big deal to most people, but I'm still always thrilled when such plants, y'know, not only don't die under my care but reward me for my efforts at keeping them alive! Also, I kind of like these flowers. When I got the plant, I didn't know what type of flowers it would have--it was free from one of the Gesneriad Society meetings, it was fairly large already, and I thought "Why the hell not?"

Another gesneriad I've had for a while; I purchased this Chirita "Deco" in March at the NCAC Gesneriad Society show and sale, and it promptly dropped every single flower it was developing. So I'm pleased to report not only does it have offsets, it's also making what seem to be inflorescences!

And, y'know, the purple-blooming mini Phalaenopsis I've had for almost a year has sent out another inflorescence, too. I'm looking forward to finally getting a good photo of the blooms!

Maybe a little passe, now, but my monstrous Ornithogalum caudatum is whipping out another flower-tail. I'm almost to the point of exasperation with this--it's too much of a good thing. I might just snip the inflorescence. It keeps knocking smaller plants off the windowsill as it wiggles its way into a better light situation.

Battling Bugs

2010-12-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that I was exhausted after trying to get rid of the mealy bugs I found, and this photo is where I found them--on my Sedum I "acquired" from the Washington Youth Garden early this year. (Really, it was a little bit that I found on the ground, it's fine!) I had spider mites at one point, so I chopped it down, and it regrew admirably in the window and then under fluorescents, until the mealy bug issue.

I'm sad to say that this happy inflorescence is no more--I mowed it down again, sprayed the entire shelving unit full of plants with neem while keeping them quarantined in my bathroom for two weeks, and treated everything (except the edibles) with imidacloprid. I haven't seen a mealy bug in a week, but that doesn't mean they aren't still there. I haven't reinventoried, but I lost a couple plants (a Kalanchoe NOID and some other things that I don't mind losing and/or have replacements of and/or can grow from seed again if I want to).

If you click on the photo, it'll open larger in a new window. Even so, you can't fully see the tiny buggers, but trust me, those were little mealy bugs. They were all up on my Agave NOID, my Streptocarpella, and others on the two plant shelves.

Gah. It's a war I'd rather not fight in my living room, and it's much more nerve-wracking than having fungus gnats flying around or the stink bug I found last night curled up and sleeping in the crease between my Ornithogalum caudatum leaves.

It Comes In Waves

2010-12-08T18:06:00.000-05:00

Usually when I'm very absent from blogging on here, it's not because there's a lack of blog-related happenings. It's because one of the other balls I juggle demands more attention, and recently, more than one ball decided to say "Toss me higher, higher!"

I don't begrudge the balls their fun--I do, in fact, relish managing multiple responsibilities and being involved in my community in various ways. I enjoy those many other aspects of my life that sometimes take up my time and take me away from blogging; sometimes it's work, sometimes it's vacation, and sometimes it's volunteering. Lately, it's been a mix of all three.

Volunteering is something I do a lot of, and I blog about it here (sometimes even complaining that I do too much). My volunteering, however, has evolved a bit in the past year or so--although I still get down and dirty with hands-on work, mostly I'm involved in running groups or being on boards of directors. And thus, I have exciting news on that front. Remember DC State Fair, which I helped organize in August along with Jenna and Amelia, two local DC food and/or garden bloggers? Well, it was incredibly amazing and the community clamoured for DC State Fair to repeat and expand--so in October, we incorporated as a nonprofit in DC and formed a board of directors along with Sylvie, another local food blogger, and David (who blogs, but not predominantly about food or gardening, although he often tests my cooking creations, generally with noises of approval). At the end of November, DC State Fair had a bake sale to help raise funds to cover the costs of filing forms with various government agencies to allow us to operate fully--those filings can get pretty pricey! But I'm looking forward to being DC State Fair Board President and helping build a community around showcasing and engaging DC residents' gardening, culinary, and artistic talents. There are a lot of things to do in the coming months before we even think about next year's fair, but I'm already stoked about it!

Another kind-of-work, kind-of-fun, kind-of-volunteering involves the garden community website DigTheDirt. I was contacted by Kaarina about guest posting on the site as an indoor gardening "expert" (I add quotes, 'cause, well, it's such a strong word. Yeah, I might grow things beyond the average indoor gardener, but I know I know a lot less than I should to successfully grow the plants I have, so I have difficulty calling myself a for-real expert.). I thought about the opportunity a bit and discussed it with Kaarina, and we finally settled on me writing a post on the first and third Mondays of each month. Of course, I will likely end up doing more at some point, but the twice-monthly posts would be more in-depth than the infrequent other posts (maybe updates, interesting tidbits, etc.). I am going to have to think exceedingly hard about content, however--I think the format I'm planning is different enough that I wouldn't be sniping from myself. My plan is that The Indoor Garden(er)'s content wouldn't change (not that I'm exceedingly consistent with it, anyway!). My first DigTheDirt post went up on Monday, and it includes my experience and suggestions about growing tomatoes indoors--there are a few more "do not"s than there are "do"s, of course, but I find those to be just as valuable! I have a few ideas for future posts--it's still an evolving website, but there are almost no houseplants whatsoever, so I have my work cut out for me for a while!

I'm juggling other balls, as well, but there is also, of course, The Indoor Garden(er). And I spent about an hour and a half early Tuesday morning (when I wrote most of this) neeming one-third of my more than 120 plants when I found minuscule mealy bugs on my Sedum. I had been taking pictures to be all like "Happy news, happy things going on, happy pictures of happy plant events!" (The Sedum in question was flowering under the fluorescents, and it excited me, also because there was some tag-along grass flowering behind it and the Aloe "Firebird" flowering in front of it. Also, I was going to show pictures of a flowering Saintpaulia, Phalaenopsis, Chirita, and Ornithogalum caudatum, as well as other plant happenings, but the whole mealy bug adventure drained me too much. They'll just have to be a separate post.) I poked myself on an Agave spine, too. I bled a little.