I heard that the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show starts Wednesday, so I asked my boss if I can to take Thursday off so I can take my Mom to it.
I’ve never been to a Flower & Garden Show, so this’ll be an experience…
Yearly Archives: 2007
Lotsa Potting…
Saturday, March 17, 2007
I hardly did any gardening today since I went to San Francisco and Oakland to hang out with friends. We saw Zodiac then had “tea service” at… um, I forgot the restaurant. Later, we did some shopping and had dinner at The Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland.
I also happened to see a common weed along the side of the road, but this one had variegated leaves, so I took a cutting. I’ll post a photo of it later, to see if anyone can identify it, since I don’t know its name.
Sunday, March 18, 2008
I took a whole bunch of photos in the garden today. I was going to take more photos, but the sun was kinda harsh. My mom was so cute; she helped my by holding a sheet of cardboard to block the direct light from the plants and flowers I photographed.
My Mom also showed me a shrub that she had been growing for a few years. She said that this is the first time it bloomed this profusely. I asked he what it was, but she said she lost the tag. Anyone know what this plant/flower is?
I made some Orchid mix with some bark, perlite and charcoal. Initially, I was just going to pot the all white Cymbidium that I bought for my Mom, but she caught me and asked if I can pot the other Orchids she purchased at the SF Orchid show too… so I ended up potting about 3 Orchids.
I also made a large batch of Cactus mix out for potting soil, perlite and sand. I potted most of my recent succulent purchases from the 99¢ store and the Sonoma Orchid show. I ended up potting about 18 Cactus and Succulents.
Lithops, Tomato, Eggplant and Pepper Seedlings
Six day old Lithops seedlings:
2+ week old Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant seedlings:
Flickr Update: Collections + Layouts
This entry is mainly for those of you who use Flickr.
Flickr has updated their site with a new feature called Collections. These are basically containers where you can put sets and or other collections. Think of it like folders for albums.
I just tested it out and created a new Collection of Gardening Events and Field Trips that I have gone to.
They also updated layouts of your first page, so you have the choice of small or medium (thumbnail) images. You can also have a side bar of our sets, collections or just fill the first page with images (no sidebar).
Guinea Pig Waste?
My nephew has two Guinea Pigs and I noticed they poop a lot. I got to wondering if I can use their droppings for compost and fertilizer? (Kinda like how you would use rabbit droppings.)
Also, if the Guinea Pig poop is okay for compost/fertilizer, can use also compost their soiled bedding (paper pulp pieces, urine and poop)?… or is this not advisable?
Also posted in the compost_wackos community.
Massive Seed Sowing Sunday…
This weekend, we had beautiful summer-like weather with highs reaching 78°F (normal average is 63°F). Looks like we are going to have an early spring (which is what I think Mr. Groundhog told us). I remember last year, I couldn’t plant outside until May because he had rain everyday in April.
It’s funny seeing myself plant seeds… Does anyone else sit down cross-legged with slippers and short on and work on the ground like that? I think I need a potting table…
I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and start planting seeds… and I did some massive seed sowing:
– Lemon Cucumber
– Cosmos ‘Picotee’
– Cosmos ‘Sensation Mixed Colors’
– Orange Cosmos from treebreeze (Thank you for these! :)
– Sunflower ‘Summer Sun’ (Ox-Eye) (Heliopsis Scabra)
– Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearl’
– Strawflower (Helichrysum) Tall Double Mixed Colors
– Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Envy’
– Zinnia ‘Candy Cane Mix’
– Zinnia ‘Dahlia Flowered Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Giant Cactus Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Thumbelina’
– Lamb’s Ears (I think they are Lamb’s Ears) seeds that I collect from San Anselmo
Spiders, Spiders, Spiders: As I was filling the 6-pack cell pots with soil, I found a Spider living in between them. I released it so it can find a new home. My Mom then noticed a Spider that had made a home in our of our decorative bird house. Then when I was sowing the seeds, I notice hundreds of tiny baby spiders around the 6-packs, so I tried to disperse them around the garden to make new homes.
Peanuts: I also took the Peanut outdoors and repotted it (again) into a larger container (its permanent home) filled with potting soil and a lot of perlite to make the soil really loose.
Garden progress:
Recent blooms: Spring Starflower, Rananculus
About to bloom: the very first Columbine, Pears, Apples, Clematis, Wisteria
Emerging growth: Forsythia leaves, Taro
Saturday Plant Sale…
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Early this morning I went to the San Francisco Botanical Garden Plant Sale with my friend Howard. I purchased a Sempervivum and a type of Crassula. I’ll have to check on the names later.
I also snapped some photos, but left my camera at Howard’s condo… ARGH!… I feel weird without my camera… It’s funny how it’s become a part of me.
When I got home, I noticed that there are about 5 tiny specks of green in my Lithops container. YEAY!!!… Little baby Lithops being born, 3 days after sowing.
I also noticed one of the 12 Japanese Long Purple Eggplants sprouting. It’s been 13 days since I sowed this, so maybe the seeds are not viable… (Pause)… I just checked the seed packet and it was packed for 2003, so they are probably old… I’ll have to plant more of the newer seeds. (I don’t know why I didn’t do this in the first place?)
Garden progress:
Recent blooms: Peaches, Sparaxis Tricolor, Tulip
About to bloom: Italian Plums, Persimmons
Not doing well: some Carnation cuttings, Orange Grafted Cactus
More Found Plants + More Sowing
I collected a few cutting along my way to work this morning. I got a sprig of Fairy Crassula (Crassula multicava) and an unusual relative of the Ice Plant (Oscularia deltoides). I also found some Aspargus Fern seeds (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Meyersii’).
Once I got home, I planted these as well as the three other succulents that I found last Saturday.
I sowed a few more seeds:
– Red Pear Tomato from penguingardener
– Wonder Light Tomato (Lemon-like Yellow Heirloom Tomato) also from penguingardener (Thank you, Thank you!!)
– Red Texas Star Hibiscus from gypsy_soul
– Pink Flowering Maple (Abutilon) also from gypsy_soul (Thank you, Thank you!!)
A few more seed just started to sprout:
– Orange Ornamental Peppers from Virginia (sown 3/1, 7 days)
– Calendula ‘Pacific Beauty’ (sown 2/20, 16 days)