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Hello Praying Mantis…

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After work (Wednesday), I drove over to Yard Bird to see if they had some cheap big pots. I found some 12 incher for $1.97 and got 5. I walked around looking at what trees they had. I’ve been trying to get ideas on what trees to get once I get my own house.

While walking around, I found a Coleus called “Dark Star“, that has very dark foliage that are almost black. I had to get it.

When I got home and separated the pots, I found a baby Praying Mantis hiding between the pots. I was only about an inch long and really cute. I placed it on my cucumber plants and took photos. Hopefully it’ll be okay and survive. Maybe I’ll see it again once it grows up. Praying Mantis are rare in our neighborhood. I’ve only seen 1 in all the years I’ve been gardening.

I potted the Coleus that I didn’t plant yesterday along with two Kongs that I rooted in the new pots. Some were too big so I took some Jade, New Orleans Red and Dark Star cuttings.

It was starting to get dark, but I wanted to finish one more chore. I got some soil conditioner and steer manure and amended a little flat in the front yard so I can plant a six pack of Snapdragons that my brother bought. I also transplanted 5 pots of Calendula that I grew from seeds

2 Free Smith & Hawken Biostack Compost Bins

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I just saw an ad for 2 free Smith & Hawken Biostack Compost Bins. I just emailed the poster and I hope the bins are not taken yet.

[added July 8, 2005]
The poster never emailed me back and the ad is no longer up, so I’m assuming it’s no longer available.

Tons of LiveJournal Entries (to read)…

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Damn, I’ve been off the internet for a few days and have a tons of LiveJournal entries to read… I wish I can take another day off and catch up on the postings :)

5 Day Weekend…

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Friday, July 1

Today was the start of my 5 day holiday weekend. I had a lot of errands to do so I was only able to do a little bit of maintenance gardening and everything is looking good.

My mom and I went to Mid City Nursery in American Canyon. Even though this nursery is less than 10 minutes away from my house, I’ve never been to it because it closes before I get home from work.

I was very impressed. They had a lot of plants that I normally don’t see in larger garden centers, including some Fuchsias, Coleus and Euphorbias that I liked. I ended up buying 4 plants (I’ll post photos later)

Euphorbia Mozambique
Fuchsia hybrid “Golden Marinka”
Fushsia triphylla “Firecracker”
Coleus “Velvet Lime”

Saturday-Monday, July 2-4

My friend Darwin and I are going to Reno to take a mini vacation and visit my friend Michael. Michael introduced me to Coleus last year and actually gave me my first cutting (unfortunately it didn’t survive). Michael is starting his “Garden Design and Installation” business and I was looking forward to seeing him and his work… So I packed some Coleus I rooted and brought it along with the business cards that I designed for him.

We visited several nurseries and I did buy some plants (I’ll post photos later):

Coleus “Pat Martin”
Coleus “Jade”
Coleus “New Orleans Red”
Coleus “Stained Glassworks Burgundy Wedding Train”
Coleus “Gay’s Delight”
Perilla “Magilla”

Michael also gave me a cute little hypertufa pot that he made planted with a succulent.

Tuesday, July 3

Since this was my last day of the long weekend I wanted to visit the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery again… just to see if they had any new Coleus…. and they did… so I ended up buying five more… I just couldn’t resist.

Coleus “Wild Lime”
Coleus “Wild Lime” (I think this one is mislabeled because it’s different than the previous “Wild Lime”)
Coleus “Exhinition Magma”
Coleus “Rustic Orange”
Coleus “Trailing Rose Frost”

I also noticed another nursery on the way home. So I checked it out and OMG they had a Coleus sale. Buy 3 get one free… So I got four more along with a Euphorbia species. The Coleus were old and already flowering, but I’ll just take cuttings of them and make new plants.

Coleus “Dragon Black”
Coleus “Tabasco”
Coleus “Sunshine Burgundy Sun”
Coleus “Kong Green”

With all these new plants, I stopped by a local store and got a couple of cheap 18 inch pots. I also got Mondo Grass Ophiopogon and “found” some detached baby succulents.

Once home, I did major potting. All in all, I potted 5 succulents, a hanging Fuchsia pot and 3 large pots with Coleus.

I’m sleepy, so that’s it for now… I’ll post some pictures soon…

[edited June 8, 2005: Added missing plant names]

Wednesday’s Gardening…

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I wasn’t planning on doing much gardening, but after work, I can’t help but check up on my plants.

Some of the Coleus cuttings that I took on the 18th (11 days ago) are starting to root. I like to plant the cuttings in potting soil right when the root start forming, before they get a quarter of an inch. They just seem to be stronger this way as opposed to when the roots get too long.

I potted 4 Tilt-a-Whirl. Tomorrow, the Kong Scarlet and Alabama Sunset should be ready to pot.

My second batch of Sparkler Radish, like the first, are just not forming bulbous roots, so I pulled all of them out and placed them in the compost bin. I was able to harvest about 6 roots, which I pickled and had for dinner. In it’s place, I sowed some Hybrid Summer Boy Chin-Chiang Cabbage.

I aerated my trash can compost bin (see my icon) by dumping the contents out, mixing it and placing it back in.

I wheeled the Potting Soil, Steer Manure and Soil Conditioner that we bought on Tuesday to the back.

The first Hollyhock just bloomed, it’s a double white. Gladiolas are in full bloom and so are the Cactus Dahlias.

The first Cucumber and Sweet 100 Tomatoes should be ready to harvest soon.

I also took loads of photos, but I’m too tired to edit them and post. Maybe tomorrow :)

Quick but busy Monday…

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With the success of directly planting the Tendergreen Bush Beans, I decided to try planting Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans on a trellis which had Snap Peas. I think it may be a little late, but I’ll see how these turn out.

Along with some New Zealand Spinach that my mom harvested, I harvested my first peppers (1 Hungarian Hot Wax Pepper and 2 Pepperoncini) and some White Icicle Radishes for a Filipino dish called Sinagang that my mom will make for dinner.

I also planted the 4 Coleuses that I purchased on Saturday in a large terra cotta pot. I took cuttings of the taller ones and place them in water to root.

The Sunflower seeds I planted on Tuesday have sprouted and are about an inch tall.

Mutant Tendergreen Bush Bean Seedling?…

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Today I noticed a mutant Tendergreen Bush Bean Seedling growing.

Below is a normal seedling with 2 primary leaves.

Below is the mutant with 5 primary leaves; 2 being conjoined.

Just thought this was interesting?

More Gardening Books…

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Right after work, I stopped by the library and check out more books:

– A World of Flowers by Clay Perry
– Decorate You Garden by Mary Keen
– Gardening Basics by Ken Beckett, Steve Bradley, Noel Kingsbury and Tim Newbury
– The New Victory Garden by Bob Thomson
– The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson