Weekend Gardening… Stinky-Stinky!…

Saturday, June 10, 2006

I didn’t do any gardening, but took a few photos in the garden.

The Avocado that we found sprouting in the compost bin last year has survived the winter outside very well. I didn’t realize how much it has grown in 11 months. I’ll have to repot this into a 5 gallon pot soon.

One Year Avocado

My Mom harvested the Shallots she planted a while back, but the bulbs didn’t get too big. They were growing in a mostly shaded area and the soil needed to be amended badly. We are going to replant the smaller bulbs in the newly amended veggie bed under much more sun. Hopefully that’ll make a big difference.

Shallots

She was telling me that she loves these either chopped up with tomatoes and added to fried fish, or pickled with Garlic, Carrots, Green Papaya and Labanos (Diakons/Radish).

Later in the afternoon, we went shopping at Target, the Filipino Grocery Store, Food for Less and the 99¢ store. At the 99¢ store I got a grafted Cactus that was starting to flower and my Mom got a bunch of six Lucky Bamboo both for 99¢.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

I did a bunch of this and that on Sunday.

I sprayed the Roses, Snapdragons and Dahlias with half and half solution of skim milk and water. Hopefully, this will deter black spots and mildew or rust (I forgot which one).

I also sprayed almost everything’s leaves with fish fertilizer. Stinky-stinky!!!! Note: remember to close your windows if you spray your plants with fish fertilizer!

We had more Taro and Ginger sprouting in the kitchen, so I planted those in six-packs.

I emptied the one-galloon pots that had Caladiums from last year, which all died… but I found tons of earthworms which I relocated to veggie bed #1.

Earthworms

The Cucumbers were getting too big for the 12-pack Mini Greenhouse, so I transfered them to 4 inch pots, because I haven’t finished the other veggie beds.

I continued to work on veggie bed #2, but I still have to finish one of the side, which has Breaded Iris and Chocolate Mint growing against it. I think we also have some Hyacinth bulbs there which I have to dig out carefully.

I planted another Coleus pot with ‘Saturn’s Rings’, ‘(Mislabled) Show & Tell’, ‘Burnt Sienna’ and Heuchera ‘Amber Waves’.

The Start of Veggie Bed #2

When I got home from I went to check if the fly I took a photo of yesterday was still there. Instead I found this ladybug. This Coleus must be a popular bug hangout!

Ladybug on Coleus

I was surprised that a Bataw (Filipino name for edible Hyacinth Bean) plant that we planted last year survived the winter and is growing again! My Mom placed a bottomless soda bottle over it to act as a cloche. These are supposed to be annuals.

Bataw Survivor

Finally, This evening I started work on building up the walls to my second vegetable bed. The walls are made of two levels of scallop bricks which I have to stack scallop to scallop. For stronger support, I have to make sure the ends of each brick are staggered. The tricky part is constructing the corners. I only got one end semi-done because it was getting dark.

Starting to Fix Veggie Bed #2

Here’s a photoset of what I did last year with the first vegetable bed.

Fly on Coleus

Fly on Coleus

This fly didn’t want to get off my new Coleus, so I shot a picture of it.

It was a Busy Gardening Day…

I took a half day off and left work a bit early. I just needed to take care of a lot of things, because I know I won’t have much time this weekend because of another Filipino Fiesta in San Francisco.

Before going home I stopped by Mid-City Nursery and got three plants.
– Coleus ‘Show & Tell?’ (I don’t think the sticker on the container was correct)
– Coleus ‘Burnt Sienna?’ (I’m not sure if the tag on this plant was correct)
– Heuchera ‘Amber Waves’

Coleus 'Show and Tell?'   Coleus 'Burnt Sienna?'

Heuchera ‘Amber Waves’ photo

3 Ornamental Grass Plantings

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

I planted three of the Ornamental Grasses seeds that I found:
– Purple Fountain Grass (from Costco) ( seed photo )
– Unknown California Rush-like Grass (from shopping center on Mini Dr. & Sonoma Blvd.) ( seed photo )
– Unknown Japanese Rush-like Grass ( from Sears parking lot at the Tanforan Mall in Daly City) ( seed photo )

I also cut down my Coleus ‘Dragon Black’ because it was getting too top heavy and infested with mealy bugs. I’m rerooting the two tops it had in water and will repot once I see roots.

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

I wanted to take the day off but my boss already took the day off, so I went to work and it was so dead. I spent a good part of the day going through some of my unorganized photos, deleting duplicates and blurry ones… I usually take multiple shot per subject to ensure at least one being focused correctly.

Once I got home, I went through the whole garden and took a whole lotta photos since it was still fairly bright outside. I noticed that the flamingo flower and siberian iris have started to bloom.

I then did some maintenance, pulling up weeds and overgrown plants being careful to to get the newly emerged ladybugs.

I hope I can take half a day off tomorrow so I can start preparing my bed for new borders-not a task I’m looking forward to doing, but something I really need to do so I can start planting in them.

Wish List: Butterfly Clerodendrum

Clerodendrum ugandense (Butterfly Clerodendrum or Blue Glory Bower) ( DG PlantFile )

I saw a a photo of it’s flower on patchoullijulie‘s journal and fell in love.

Wish List: Fritillaria verticillata

Fritillaria verticillata ( DG PlantFiles )

I saw this on one of wendymerle’s photos. I love the patterns on the interior of the flower.

Nanay’s Amaryllis…

My Mom is so excited that her Amaryllis is finally blooming. Once it opened she told me to whip out my camera and take a photo of it! :)

Amaryllis Bloom   Amaryllis Bloom Closeup

The blossom spans about 7 inches wide and 8 inches heigh.

*Nanay means Mom or Mother in Tagalog.