I also discarded all the coleus that we had potted. Some of these were several years old and were tired. I also cut out the dead branches of sage. Next on the agenda is to prune the serviceberry.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Saturday, November 4, 2017; Clean up
The okra plants died with the first light freeze a couple of weeks ago. Today, I pulled them out and chopped back the chives. I should have pulled the jalapeños as well, but didn't.
I also discarded all the coleus that we had potted. Some of these were several years old and were tired. I also cut out the dead branches of sage. Next on the agenda is to prune the serviceberry.
I also discarded all the coleus that we had potted. Some of these were several years old and were tired. I also cut out the dead branches of sage. Next on the agenda is to prune the serviceberry.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Thursday November 2, 2017; Dawn Redwood, Trash Cans and Stained Glass
During my walk yesterday through the Missouri Botanical Garden, I came across one of my favorite trees, the Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). It is a native of central and western China. It is very similar in appearance to the Bald Cypress, which is a native of Missouri. In fact, the MoBot fact sheet states the Dawn Redwood "...is related to and closely resembles bald cypress (Taxodium) and redwood (Sequoia)". The trees at the MoBot were started from seeds brought over from China and planted in 1952. They are now over 70 feet tall. They purportedly can reach a height of 100+ feet and are hardy in Zones 4 to 8. I do not intend to allow any trees that may come from my efforts to grow to full height.
Of course I could not help but collect a seed cone from the ground. I looked up the method to start a tree from seed.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/germinate-dawn-redwood-seeds-20985.html
I've got the seeds mixed in with moistened peat moss (actually Miracle Grow Organic Moisture Control Potting Mix with Compost) and in the basement refrigerator. The instructions say to let it sit for 90 days. I've put a note on my calendar for February 1 to move on to the next step.
Supposedly, these can be made into bonsai trees.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-coast-redwood-bonsai-seeds-50634.html
I noticed during my walk through the garden that they had not yet pruned the red twig dogwoods or any of the rose bushes. Last year, I noticed they had pruned the dogwoods almost to the ground, but I wasn't sure when they did it. I will note this fall when they prune.
The week before I left for CO (the week of October 9) we had a rather severe thunderstorm with high winds. We have noticed in the past that there are some very strange wind currents that develop between our house and our east neighbor. The day after the storm, the only thing I noticed was that most of the chess pieces had been knocked down.
Then my neighbor pointed out that the storm window protecting our stained glass window on the east was broken out.
This window is 20' off the ground. The storm window is Plexiglas, not glass. For something to break it, it would have had to take a pretty good hit. The green trash container was out front awaiting pick up the next day. I found the blue recycle container was on its side by the gate. I believe the wind picked up the blue trash container (it was empty) and flung it against the window. Luckily, there appears to be no damage to the stained glass. While I will need to get the Plexiglas replaced, I also wanted to ensure this does not happen again. Today, I installed a cable tether to prevent either trash container from moving far from their designated spots.
Of course I could not help but collect a seed cone from the ground. I looked up the method to start a tree from seed.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/germinate-dawn-redwood-seeds-20985.html
I've got the seeds mixed in with moistened peat moss (actually Miracle Grow Organic Moisture Control Potting Mix with Compost) and in the basement refrigerator. The instructions say to let it sit for 90 days. I've put a note on my calendar for February 1 to move on to the next step.
Supposedly, these can be made into bonsai trees.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-coast-redwood-bonsai-seeds-50634.html
 |
| Dawn Redwood Cones and Seeds. Cone on left was taken off ground. Cone on right came off tree |
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| Bald Cypress cone on left and Redwood cones on right |
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| Seeds in potting soil, heading for refrigerator |
The week before I left for CO (the week of October 9) we had a rather severe thunderstorm with high winds. We have noticed in the past that there are some very strange wind currents that develop between our house and our east neighbor. The day after the storm, the only thing I noticed was that most of the chess pieces had been knocked down.
Then my neighbor pointed out that the storm window protecting our stained glass window on the east was broken out.
This window is 20' off the ground. The storm window is Plexiglas, not glass. For something to break it, it would have had to take a pretty good hit. The green trash container was out front awaiting pick up the next day. I found the blue recycle container was on its side by the gate. I believe the wind picked up the blue trash container (it was empty) and flung it against the window. Luckily, there appears to be no damage to the stained glass. While I will need to get the Plexiglas replaced, I also wanted to ensure this does not happen again. Today, I installed a cable tether to prevent either trash container from moving far from their designated spots.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Tuesday, October 31, 2017: Halloween, succulents and okra
Our favorite holiday!
Today it is cloudy and cool with the highs in the low 50's. I prepared the succulent bed for Winter. Several of the succulents I planted last Spring recommended not exposing them to frost to prevent "scaring". I'm not sure what scaring looks like, but maybe I'll find out.
The first transplant was the Snow Pole Cactus (Espostoa Ianata). As you might remember, it is native to mountainous Peru at elevations of 4000 to 7000 feet and supposedly will form a branched, tree-like columnar to 6' in height. It is described as prone to scaring by frost. My observations since planting it back in early April made me doubt whether or not the plant was alive. To my amazement, the plant has developed a nice root system.
Next came the Kosmik Kaktus is a Haworthia species from South Africa. This plant is not hardy in our zone and also has the suggestion not to expose it to full sunlight. I put this plant in the southeast corner of the succulent bed so that it would get some shade from the nearby Japanese maple. As with the Snow Pole Cactus, this plant also has developed an extensive root system. In fact, its roots stretched across the length of the bed.
The Golden Sedum (Sedum aldolphii) was stated to be hardy in USDA Zones 8-11. It was described as a spreader with star shaped flowers. It has not spread much, if at all, and I did not witness any flowers.
The blue Desert Gems Cacti are described as "indoor" plants, so I assume it will not like our winter lows. When I transplanted the plant, I found little or no evidence of root development.
One cactus I left undisturbed. I had no information on it, not even an full name...just cactus. If it has grown over the past six months, it is not overly apparent. Similarly, I had a poorly described sedum. This plant has propagated. One of its "branches" had actually put down roots away from the mother plant. I clipped this branch and potted it with its roots, leaving the majority of the original plant in the bed. I also did not disturb the chicks and hens. I think this plant is hardy in our zone.
At some point in the Summer, I planted a Kalanchoe daigremontiana, a.k.a, devil’s backbone, mother-of-thousands, alligator plant, or Mexican hat plant. It is a succulent plant native to southwest Madagascar. For a long time, not knowing what this plant was, we referred to it just as the "mystery" plant. T discovered its true identity.
I came across a leaf of this plant when living down in the French Quarter. That leaf has propagated enormously. It drops thousands of plantlets (seeds) during the Summer which grow everywhere. The only way I have found kill this plant is our cold winter weather. In fact, if it were not for its inability to survive our winter weather, this plant would be invasive. Therefore I am not overly concerned about all the baby plants that crop up during the Summer. I brought the major plants inside. The specimen I put in the succulent bed seems happy. I left it out to die this winter. I'll plant more in the Spring.
So, in summary, I brought in seven succulents to spend the winter in our sunroom.
After two days of drying, today I put the okra seeds I harvested on Sunday into a empty capers jar, labeled and put into the door shelf of the refrigerator.
Today it is cloudy and cool with the highs in the low 50's. I prepared the succulent bed for Winter. Several of the succulents I planted last Spring recommended not exposing them to frost to prevent "scaring". I'm not sure what scaring looks like, but maybe I'll find out.
The first transplant was the Snow Pole Cactus (Espostoa Ianata). As you might remember, it is native to mountainous Peru at elevations of 4000 to 7000 feet and supposedly will form a branched, tree-like columnar to 6' in height. It is described as prone to scaring by frost. My observations since planting it back in early April made me doubt whether or not the plant was alive. To my amazement, the plant has developed a nice root system.
Next came the Kosmik Kaktus is a Haworthia species from South Africa. This plant is not hardy in our zone and also has the suggestion not to expose it to full sunlight. I put this plant in the southeast corner of the succulent bed so that it would get some shade from the nearby Japanese maple. As with the Snow Pole Cactus, this plant also has developed an extensive root system. In fact, its roots stretched across the length of the bed.
The Golden Sedum (Sedum aldolphii) was stated to be hardy in USDA Zones 8-11. It was described as a spreader with star shaped flowers. It has not spread much, if at all, and I did not witness any flowers.
The blue Desert Gems Cacti are described as "indoor" plants, so I assume it will not like our winter lows. When I transplanted the plant, I found little or no evidence of root development.
One cactus I left undisturbed. I had no information on it, not even an full name...just cactus. If it has grown over the past six months, it is not overly apparent. Similarly, I had a poorly described sedum. This plant has propagated. One of its "branches" had actually put down roots away from the mother plant. I clipped this branch and potted it with its roots, leaving the majority of the original plant in the bed. I also did not disturb the chicks and hens. I think this plant is hardy in our zone.
At some point in the Summer, I planted a Kalanchoe daigremontiana, a.k.a, devil’s backbone, mother-of-thousands, alligator plant, or Mexican hat plant. It is a succulent plant native to southwest Madagascar. For a long time, not knowing what this plant was, we referred to it just as the "mystery" plant. T discovered its true identity.
I came across a leaf of this plant when living down in the French Quarter. That leaf has propagated enormously. It drops thousands of plantlets (seeds) during the Summer which grow everywhere. The only way I have found kill this plant is our cold winter weather. In fact, if it were not for its inability to survive our winter weather, this plant would be invasive. Therefore I am not overly concerned about all the baby plants that crop up during the Summer. I brought the major plants inside. The specimen I put in the succulent bed seems happy. I left it out to die this winter. I'll plant more in the Spring.
So, in summary, I brought in seven succulents to spend the winter in our sunroom.
After two days of drying, today I put the okra seeds I harvested on Sunday into a empty capers jar, labeled and put into the door shelf of the refrigerator.
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