Yearly Archives: 2012

Corrugated Plastic Panels Replacements…

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At one side on our house, we have a bunch of succulents that are under corrugated plastic panels to protect them from rain.

Succulent Area (Before)

The only problem is that the plastic panels is opaque green and creates a shade over the succulents. My Mom suggested we get clear corrugated plastic panels to allow more light to come in… We didn’t have a vehicle to carry the panels from the store to our house, so we haven’t been able to replace the panels… until this morning when I asked my niece if she could drive us to the local home improvement store. They fit perfectly inside the van and I finally was able to replace the green ones.

Succulent Area (After)

Now the succulents will have more light and hopefully will grow better.

What’s this?… Unknown Tree at St. Vincent Parking Lot…

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I saw this tree with reddish leaves on a tree at our church’s parking lot (Northern San Francisco Bay Area/zone 9b).
Anyone know what this tree is?

Unknown Plant (Photo 2 of 3)

I also have another photo here.
I saw some seeds and collected some.

Unknown Plant (Photo 3 of 3)

[Update] It’s Purple-leafed Hop-bush – Dodonaea viscosa ‘Purpurea’ (Family: Sapindaceae)

So Many Fruits…

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I just updated the What’s Growing? page and didn’t realize how many fruit trees we have until I listed them all down. Below is the list so far, not even including all the grafts that I have made.

Continue reading →

Wish List: Cymbidium Huell Howser

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I just watched a California’s Gold episode about the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show and they showed a Cymbidium Orchid named after the host of the show: Cymbidium Huell Howser. I like its color and searching to see if there is one for sale online.

Goodbye Stitch Modern Quilt Show…

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Earlier this afternoon, I drove down to the Piedmont Center for the Arts to help take down the EBMQG quilt show, Stitch Modern, and to pick up my quilt and bring it home. I took my PlantCam time lapse camera and set it up to take a photo every 30 seconds… I think I should have decreased the delay to take photos every 15 seconds.

Pacific Orchid Exposition 2012 + Orchid Purchases…

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My Mom and I went to the San Francisco Pacific Orchid Exposition at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Like in the previous years, the Orchids were beautiful and there was so much to see. I’ll post photos from the show in a later entry.

Since we tend to kill Orchids, we have only purchased Orchids that will survive outdoors, mainly cool/intermediate weather Orchids like Cymbidiums, Epidendrum and Masdevallias, with a few Zygopetalum and Maxillaria.

I found two inexpensive Masdevallias:
– Masdevallia Angel Glow ‘Zi’
– Masdevallia Angel Frost ‘Sunset Velour’

My Mom wasn’t going to leave the show until she got a few Orchids. She wanted a particular Dendrobium, but that Orchid needed bright light and warm weather, so we didn’t get that. She ended up choosing two:
– Epicattleya Rene Marques ‘Tyler’
– Epidendrum Crystal Valley ‘Orange Ball’

For fun, I searched the internet for the parentage of these Orchids and here’s what I came up with:
Continue reading →

Berkeley Plant Purchases…

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I stopped by two nurseries in Berkeley and found some really cool plants, that I had to purchase.

From Westbrae Nursery:
– Meadow Foam (Limnathes douglasii)
– Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria)
– Sugar Snap Peas

From Berkeley Horticulutral Nursery:
– Broccoli Raab ‘Zamboni’
– Gai Lan ‘Green Lance’
– Leaf Broccoli ‘Getti di Naoli’
– Portuguese Kale ‘Galega da Folhas Lisas’
– Kale ‘Redbor’
– Tree Collard (Purple Stem)
– Snow Pea ‘Golden Podded Pea’

My Potting Table

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My Potting Table

My current potting table is just a heavy duty cargo trunk with wheels. It’s elevated on bricks to a comfortable level and can hold about 4 cubic feet of potting soil.

Earlier today, as I passed by it… the gloves that I left resting on the side freaked me out.