Cheap planting pots that are readily available…

My Coleus and Plectranthus cuttings at work have rooted, so I really have to get some pots and plant them in soil. I don’t want to bring a bunch of mismatched 4 inch pots to work, because they are sitting my co-workers office, and I don’t want them too look too unsightly. I searched the internet for bulk pots that were taller than regular 4 inch pots, but not wider. I couldn’t fine any; they were either too expensive or too large a quantity to buy.

I went to my friend’s Christmas party this evening and they had clear plastic Solo drinking cups. Measuring 4 inches at the top lip, 2.5 inches at the base and 5 inches tall, they were close to the size I wanted… so, at the end of the party, I helped clean up, collected the drinking cups and brought them home. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that they were clear.

I stopped by the grocery and found opaque ones called SoloGrips in different colors. I can use these as the pots. I’ll cut the clear one to about an inch tall and use those as the saucers. Very Cool!!!… Cheap planting pots that are readily available!

I’ll make one up and take photos to illustrate what I said above.

Garden Status…

I didn’t have work today, so I was able to do a little garden work and snap more pictures.

I checked the Brussel Sprouts and Swiss Chard and they are doing okay, but there was a lot of snail/slug damage :)

The Sugar Snap Peas that I planted on the 8th are sprouting. I can’t tell if the leaves have not opened up, or if they were eaten by snail, slugs, pill bugs and/or earwigs. I’ll have to recheck tomorrow.

I turned the leaves in the compost bin, and you can see the steam rising. Looks like the BioStack is doing a much better job at heating the compost up than my garbage can bins. I did notice these weird bugs under the lid with ants tending them, kinda aphid size, but they looked a little different than aphids.

The Dutch Irises and Spring Star Flower that I potted up on the 8th are emerging.

The Coleus survivors are surprisingly still hanging on, but I really should get some cuttings… and I should get off my behind and get the old aquarium in the patio and bring it in and put some grow-lights!!!

I started a Coleus group on Flickr…

I’m so excited, because I took my passion for Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) and started a group on Flickr devoted to… guess what?… Coleus!!!

My ultimate goal is to have a central location where you can view photos of Coleus from people all around the world. There is also an area where you can discuss these colorful plants.

Coleus

So, if you have any Coleus photos and a Flickr account, stop by an share with the group. Here’s the link:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/coleus/

( Also posted in Gardening )

Found Christmas Kalanchoe + Wierdo Kiwi Fruits

As I was walking to carpool after work and saw some broken Christmas Kalanchoe plants. Knowing me, I searched for any leaves that were broken off. I was able to collect these, which I’ll try to propagate.

Found Christmas Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana)
Found Christmas Kalanchoe

Once I got home, I took my Mom grocery shopping and we saw these weirdo Kiwi Fruits which we bought for a $1 (for 4).

Weirdo Kiwi Fruits
Weirdo Kiwi Fruits

Latin Names and Nomenclature Questions…

I posted the following in the Gardening community ( link )

Hello Fellow Plant-lovers… I’ve just began to get interested in the Latin names of my various plants and have a few questions about nomenclature. Please forgive me/correct me if I’m using the incorrect terms.

I’m using these 6 examples for the questions below:
a. Kalanchoe tomentosa
b. Crassula perfoliata ‘Falcata’
c. Crassula perfoliata var. falcata
d. Crassula perfoliata falcata ‘Morgans Beauty’
e. Crassula perfoliata ssp. falcata
f. Crassula lycopodioides f. variegata

I generally have seen the Latin names as [Genus species] as in (a). I’ve also seen [Genus species ‘Something’] as in (b).

1. Is the ‘Something’ between the single quotes called a “cultivar”?

Today as I was surfing Google, I ran into a couple of unfamiliar nomenclatures (c-f)

2. Is (c) equivalent to (b)?… and what does “var.” mean?
3. In (d) they have 4 terms. Is this a correct usage?
4. In (e) and (f), what does “ssp.” and “f.” mean.

Sorry, if I sound so elementary. I’ve generally been using the common names of my plants, but recently discovered I have a couple of plants that have the same common name, like “Jade Plant”.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Also, if any one of you is good at identifying plant names, I have a photo set on flickr.com with plants I can’t identify. You can check it out here. ( link )

Pretty Weeds

As I was taking a break at work. I noticed this this spent Dandelion flower under a tree on the sidewalk (The Embarcadero/Levi’s Plaza Park, San Francisco). Luckily, I was carrying my camera and I snapped up this photo:

Spent Dandelion Flower
Spent Dandelion Flower

I then noticed more weeds.

Unknown Weeds
Unknown Weeds   Unknown Weeds

Anyone know what these two weeds are?

Right before writing this entry, I responded to comment about one of my older Oxalis photos. I then remembered that I had another photo of light purple Oxalis that grow as weed in our cactus and succulent pots. I just leave them and enjoy there added color.

Pretty Oxalis Flowers
Pretty Oxalis Flowers

Older Photos…

I was going through older photos in my iPhoto library and found two that I took at my friend, Howard’s, old apartment. These were taken on March 2001.

Yellow Oxalis
Yellow Oxalis
    Faucet
Faucet

I use to call these Clovers, but recently discovered that they are actually Oxalis. They grow as weeds in San Francisco and I read that they are hard to get rid of. One of my friend, Dave, told me that as a child he use to pick the long flower stems and suck on them. I tried it and surprised to find it very tangy like a lemon.

Earthworm Rescue

While I was on break, I noticed 3 earthworms stuck in a puddle of water on the street. Lifting them with a pine needle, I safely returned them to the grass where they should be… There’s my good deed for the day… now back to being mean and nasty!