Happy Ash Wednesday, or more appropriately, Mardi Gras Hangover Day. Winter is lousy for the gardener. At least it is for this gardener. The temperatures have warmed up enough to do some work in the backyard, but not enough to move the plants outside yet. I have, however moved my cacti back out from the shed.
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The wheelbarrow I got for Christmas was a great help.
Moving the larger cacti under the roof initially took two people. |
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| Full sun. You'll notice the beds I set up from old bookshelves in the background |
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The huge cactus is called a tiger tongue.
It is the plant I have had the longest and has already spawned five other cacti. |
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Two types of agave. The plant in the front-middle is related to an aloe vera, but is from South Africa.
I believe it's called a lawyer's tongue. |
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| Notice the gnome |
That's the cactus area in one of two spots in the yard that gets consistent full sun.
The toilet garden has been giving me some trouble. Initially, I had a pot of wandering Jew sitting inside the bowl and coming out like tentacles, but the bowl never drained water. It was not a big deal when the pot was in there, but as soon as winter came, it was an obvious and gross stagnant water pool. Yesterday I finally figured out how to punch a hole in the bottom of the bowl- with a hammer directed at the bottom spout. The water quickly drained out, so I put in some fresh compost.
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| Chloe loves the garden almost as much as I do |
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| It looks much less trashy now, but wait until Spring! |
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I trimmed all 3 pots of wandering Jew for cuttings. I ran out of vases so I had to use beer steins to hold them all.
After only a few weeks, roots will begin to sprout, and they can be repotted. |
Basically, that's all the work I've been able to do- except for adding more compost to the beds in the backyard.
My neighbor John has been busy in his yard. He received some sort of bonus to "retire" early, so he spent some of it on soil and new plants. When I visited him yesterday, he was starting cabbage, bulbs, and a large poppy with bright orange flowers in his south-facing front yard directly across the street. Sadly, I did not get any pics. If John is planting, then Spring is nearly upon us, and that's great news.
For now, I'll post pics of my garden in its current state.
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| White-faced cats love aloe vera |
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| Pothos and wandering Jew |
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| This was the toilet garden wandering Jew. I gave it quite a haircut the other day. |
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These pots are where I put plants that may or may not live. We'll see what happens.
Spider plant on the bottom and succulents around the rest of the pot. |
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Aloe. On the right is a cactus of some sort that my friend Ellen gave me.
She got so many plants as wedding gifts that she was giving some away. |
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I don't know what this thing is called, but it's awesome.
I'll be able to take cuttings soon, I think. |
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| This is a crown of thorns. It will eventually bush out and produce lots of similar flowers. |
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| This is a pineapple. Did you know you can plant the top leafy part? |
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| Swedish ivy. It didn't grow too well last year, but the winter was good to it. |
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| Succulents I got from my neighbor John |
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| Mom gave me a cutting of this plant. It's like an elephant ear and a pothos combined. |
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| This strange cactus was also a gift from John. |
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Coleus cutting from a plant Mom gave me last year. I put the original in the ground but it didn't survive the winter.
It looked like it had gone to seed, so we will see if it comes back. |
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| Larger view |
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| This is another one of those strange cacti Ellen gave me. It just started growing lots of new leaves. |
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| The cactus up front just started growing new branches. |
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| Kelly gave me this plant. It looks like it's stretching out like it needs more sun. |
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| This blurry picture is of a pencil cactus John gave me. |
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| Cuttings. |
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| Easter cactus cuttings from Mom's plant |
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| Wandering Jew |
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| The hanging cactus is called a cucumber cactus because the leafy vines resemble a cucumber. |
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| Here is the whole table up against the only south-facing window that gets sun |
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| Notice the firepit is ready to burn |
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The birdcage is in my room by an east-facing window.
I stocked it with low-light plants |
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| Spider plant |
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| Aloe and ficus cuttings |
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| Nasty-looking snake plant I got from Ellen |
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| More ficus cuttings |
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| This is a spider lilly. in the fall it will look like this: |
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I took this picture of the spider lilly shortly after Kelly and I started dating.
I believe it's a good omen. |
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| Herb garden with a mysterious bulb in a pot that was growing elephant ear. |
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| These produce large circles of tiny pink flowers that bees like. |
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| Rosemary |
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| Mint and catnip |
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Spider lilly bulbs I got from my neighbor John.
I planted them in mid-summer, but they just came up |
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| The ficus. Quite a tree, I'd say. |
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| A garden needs a good dog. Unfortunately, all we have is Chloe. |
