Update

Went to Home Depot and got some perilite today to put in some of my hibiscus cuttings. I put them in little styrofoam cups and placed glass jars over them to try to conserve some humidity. Two things i should have done differently tho (since i just kinda cut them and stuck them in there) were: i didn't really pay attention to the nodes and where they were, instead of cutting just below the node i cut just above like the special person i am :), and two, i wish i would have planted them together en masse b/c i read they somehow grow better when they are propagated together. I did cut them at an angle, moisten them and dusted with powder rooting hormone. made the holes large enough so that when i put them in they didn't brush off all the powder. They're said to root anywhere from 4-6 weeks so i'll check on um in 4 by giving them a little tug. i have the glass touching the cuttings on a few of them and i know it's a no-no but i'm thinking it'll be ok.

Also found a cute hanging 3 pot planter that holds little 4" pots so i bought an ivy for it and took a couple cuttings and put them in water with 2 drops of liquid feed for them to root so i can put them all in. I'll take pics of everything later (my camera battery is dead from a trip to San Antonio).

The roses in the front (aromatherapy and moondance) are not having the happiest time. i built that bed too low and i think they've been getting a little too much water. its all hurricane season and rainy and houston so i'll be glad when everything dies down. i do need to get around to making that bed higher tho. sitting in water is bad and even worse when it gets cold... i can see leaf mold spots on them which i periodically pick off and chunk out into the yard.

the fragile roses i pulled out of there are doing pretty spectacular actually. i wish i liked them better. they have just been taking off. i deadheaded them and i have new buds everywhere. they're not retaining water tho like the ones in the front so naturally they are pretty pleased. i have to find a good home for them b/c right now they are just kinda sitting randomly in my yard.

bought some canning jars for the okra. i had the brainstorm when i remembered just how much i enjoy pickled okra. oh, and if you buy them, get them from walmart. they have them too and cheaper than what the grocery store had them for (6.79 vs. 11 something at Krogers). I was a little miffed when i saw that one. i got a lot of enjoyment watching the okra grow so i'm thinking that i'm gonna grow about twice as much next year. hopefully the seeds i have will still be viable next season.

First okra

came home after 3 days and the okra was going strong. i finally pulled the first one off, but i think he's a little on the large side and i should have picked him sooner. he's somewhere around 6".

theres a bit of aphids on one of the plants. i keep knocking them off with the water hose so maybe they wont do too much damage. they are really only on one plant... for now. we'll see how that goes.

the rest of the plants are doing well and i should get more from them soon. i have buds opening everywhere.

oh and i found out that the wood cutting from my mother's rose bush is one from the pink bush. it's a bit weak, but for the first bloom i guess it's to be expected. i should probably cut it off so it can focus on making branches tho instead of diverting its energy into blooms.

i let that portulaca below it go a long time ago btw. ; )

Okra blooms

I think i wasn't able to catch the first flower in full bloom before it fell off so i took this one of the second one i've seen before it spoiled. it should look beautiful when it fully opens with that dark center it has.

i remember dad calling me one day when i was out of the house and telling me the plant had okra all over it and i told him that one of us had to be mistaken b/c i thought they were flower buds. turns out both of us were right. what looks like happened is that, as with any other fruit bearing plant (duh!) the flower is on top of the actual fruit, as the ovaries are situated in the middle underneath all the stigma and stamen and what-nots. so really it looks to me like the okra (which you can see to the bottom right of the flower) is just beneath the actual bloom. it's kinda like a 2-for-1 deal i suppose. that or okra just liking to fake me out. for some reason i imagined the actual pods to form further down along the stem of the plant.

and i do love the idea to plant a few (2 or 3) seeds together in the same spot so that you can twine the stems together. it helps out well especially when they are young b/c they support one another as they rapidly seem to grow taller much more rapid than they get thicker. plus it looks nifty : )

sadly, i still have no idea what this is yet. the super sad part is that i actually went and looked at the old seed list i bought and then looked up the pictures of the plants again and i still can't figure out what it is. i'm pretty sure it's not a weed that just randomly popped up in there. and it's nothing i've seem growing in the yard... i donno. i'm starting to think it's a balloon flower, which would be so great. \/ see any resemblance?


but its growing really really well in the SIP planter and i'm super happy about that. it's time to change containers, no? roots are evac-ing out of the bottom, look at um go.

these planters are pretty great b/c they're like that one oven with the timer that you used to see on all those info-mercials that goes "just set it and .... forget it!" and the crowd screams the "forget it" part. my god, so ridiculous. but really the only thing i have to do is make sure there's water down there for my little plant babysitters. and actually, for the next veggie job i do i'm gonna make a larger one out of a tote box (one of those rubbermaid ones) b/c it seems very simple. saw a nice youtube video of some nice canadian guy making one that anyone could do like a knockoff earthbox. i'll probably do that tomorrow. i'm all about some sub-irrigation.  : )


datura metel and my angel trumpet are going great too. the datura is getting a little yellow in the leaves from the veins - nitrogen deficiency, so i'll fertilize. the trumpet is showing no bad signs other than occasional slight wiltyness now b/c it's so darn hot.

i cannot wait till they bloom! prolly not anytime this season though. i'll still keep my fingers crossed.



< angel trumpet.

Hibiscus blooms

Finally woke up to my first one after the cold weather last winter almost killed my poor hibiscus all the way off. honestly i thought they were gonners, all 3 of um.

the yellow ones beside this one almost open too. i think my last pot has pink flowers so i'll see.

Growth spurt

the datura plant is huge! it must have been all the rain (or the SIP planter) but i didnt even add any fertilizer recently. imagine if i HAD! i'm pretty happy about it. the one on the right is what it looked like only 2 weeks ago (6/17/10). from tiny little seed to this...

the hibiscus plants (left) are finally starting to bud. after the nasty freeze we had last winter i was really scared for them. they had died back to almost nothing. its amazing how resilient nature is.

         the rose i propagated from a stem cutting at my moms house (right) has also put out it's first bud! i started the bare stem back last October i believe, and it's doing really well. i forgot to tag the stems so i dont know exactly what color it will be so i'll be eagerly awaiting the opening

  

and the okra buds haven't bloomed yet, but the leaf size is incredible. i would have never expected little okra that i am accustomed to eating to grow off such a massive plant.                                             i have to re-stake the tomatoes b/c the old ones i used are not strong enough and with all the wet ground they just topple over. my vegetable garden is such a mess right now. i would hate for someone to come over and see it : (