Thursday, June 21, 2018: Okra, West Bed

I moved two young okra plants out to the east bed this morning. I still have one more okra plant in an air pot inside. These plants are all from seeds I harvested last year. The first plant I took outside already is blooming and fruiting. I may let the first couple of fruits mature and harvest seeds for next year.

Shows dates plants were put into east bed

The veggies in the west bed are really coming along nicely. No doubt in my mind that the beets are in front of the basil and the carrots are along the south side.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018: Okra, Hydrangea, Mike S.; goldfish; Marvin

As promised, Mike S. stopped by this morning and looked at the floor at the south door. He did not have a firm answer, but he rapped on the tile just east of the door and it sounded hollow. He suggested taking up the tiles and see what is going on underneath. He said he would try to find time in the next couple of weeks. We have plenty of replacement tiles. He was relieved to find no obvious issues with the foundation. He feared he would find cracks.

A week or so ago, I noticed the tree Hydrangea (Quick Fire, #70 on our map) was listing severely toward the east to the extent that you could not walk along the steps from the back patio to the top pond. I could pull on the trunk to straighten it, but I needed to put something in to hold it. Today, I used another part from the hoist I bought a couple of years ago. We'll see if it lasts. The ants really seem to love this tree/shrub. There is a continual line of them going up and down the trunk.

I noticed this afternoon that I already have a good sized fruit on the first okra plant I put out on May 22. The plant I put outside on June 11 is still doing OK. I have two more plants growing inside that I think I will go ahead and bring outside tomorrow.

The plants in the west raised bed (carrots, beets, dill, basil, kale) all seem to be doing well. It doesn't look as if the rabbits (and we have a large population this year) have found them yet.

I changed one-half of the water in both the fish vases today. I filled both vases up to the brim. I need to ensure the water level will hold while I am gone for three or four weeks. Otherwise, I will have to transfer the fish back out to the pond before I leave town.

Got a call from the Marvin people this morning saying they would be out Friday morning with my replacement shade and a new lock for the south door.

Monday, June 18, 2018: Rosemary and floor settling

I decided to re-pot the other rosemary I brought home from the MoBot the weekend before last. It was in perlite, but wasn't rooting. I used the last 1-liter air pot. We will see if it perks up.

On a sadder note, I noticed yesterday that I have some subsidence occurring at the south door of the sunroom. I have been having some problems with the door and have had the Marvin people out twice before to adjust the door. Yesterday, I noticed there is one cracked floor tile and there is obvious settling right in front of the door. I called Mike S. (carpenter) today and he said he would come out later this week to have a look.

This is disconcerting. As you may recall, Mike had an engineering company come out on September 30, 2014 and test the soil before the footings were poured. After they took their samples, Mike had the footings poured on October 6, 2014. On October 18, 2014, Mike sent me the invoice from the engineering company along with their report. The report stated that "the existing fill soils observed are unsuitable for support of the proposed construction". I showed this report to the architect (Tyler) and he said he thought the language was a bit severe and that most of St. Louis is covered with fill dirt, but it is decades old. Tyler also advised me to keep the report "just in case". When I spoke with Mike about it, he also said he was disappointed with the language used in the report, but based upon his own soundings of the soil, he was comfortable we could proceed. He also assured me he would stand behind his work. We will see what happens next.

Saturday, June 16, 2018: Bonsai, goldfish beech

This morning I reinstalled one wire on the juniper bonsai, bending one limb up. This provide more exposure of the main trunk. Will need to take the wire back off around the middle of September...before my October river cruise. I also measured the maximum spread to determine how much growth we are experiencing.

Added a third gold fish to each of the vase aquariums yesterday.

I noticed over the past week that the Purple Fountain Beech is looking very wilted. I increased the watering, but it doesn't look healthy at all.

Thursday, June 14, 2018: Spider Lily

We have had Spider Lily (Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea') around the house for many years. I cannot remember where we got the original plant. I like the plant for several reasons, it is very intensely colored, it is very easy to grow/propagate and it is very difficult to kill. One time I just threw a sprig of it out into the back yard and it took root. It is a perennial native of Mexico with a USDA zone rating of 10 to 11. It will not survive the Winters in our area so I bring it inside in the Fall and take it back outside in the Spring. I noted this Spring that the two containers of the plant are getting very "leggy". MoBot recommends to "remove flower stems immediately after bloom and to pinch back stems as needed to maintain plant shape and to stimulate new growth." I've not done either of these over the years. Hence, the plants are essentially out of control.

Today I clipped off six or seven of the tips and planted them in one of the three-gallon air pots.

I put the air pot up between the Japanese False Cypress and the Wormwood Silver Mound. It should get plenty of sun in that location which will promote more intense leaf color.

If this works well, I'll plan to do another one and retire the older pots.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018: Cardinal Flower, Lamb's ear, bonsai

Went to the MoBot this morning and then had breakfast at the Osage Cafe in the Bowood nursery. Before I got back home, four three-gallon air pots were delivered.

At the nursery I picked up two Cardinal Flowers (Lobelia cardinalis and Lobelia siphilitica) and a lamb's ear (Stachys 'Silver Carpet').

I had a Cardinal Flower last year and liked it very much. However, it did not survive the winter. It didn't help that some neighborhood critter "played" with it several times. The Lobelia cardinalis is the classic with intensely red flowers. It is a Missouri native and can grow to four feet tall. The plant I bought is already three feet tall. The main difference between the two I bought is that the siphilitica has blue flowers and may be a little shorter than the cardinalis. I put each in an aquatic planter and placed them in the upper pond.

I've always wanted a Lamb's Ear. They had them on sale at the nursery, so, why not. They are recommended for dry, sunny, well drained areas. They are also considered to be aggressive. From the experience I had with the mint, I have learned to be wary of aggressive plants. I decided the best place to put it would be either in the small succulent bed I installed or right next to it. For the time being, I have put the lamb's ear in one of the three-gallon air pots that were delivered today.

The second fishbowl stand was delivered today. The two fishbowls are in relatively "untraveled" locations which hopefully will not have much opportunity to knock them over.

I have also successfully replaced about 1/3 of the water in each of the fishbowls. I will try to do this a couple times per month.

I took my bonsai class on April 14. They advised not leaving the wires on the juniper longer than two months, as the wires may start to grow into the wood. Today, I removed them. They are no longer needed to hold the shape.

With wires

Without wires

Tuesday, June 12, 2018: Air Pots and Goldfish Stand

One thing I picked up at the MoBot class over the weekend was the potential use of Air Pots. These are peculiar looking pots that MoBot really likes. They supposedly promote good root growth and come in several sizes. This morning I received six one-liter pots.

I transferred five plants I had in either perlite or in soil in other pots.

I also received a stand for one of the goldfish vases. Expecting another stand to be delivered on Thursday.

I also thinned out the carrots and the dill in the west raised bed. They recommended thinning the carrots to one plant every three inches. The dill was recommended one plant every nine inches.

Monday, June 11, 2018: Okra

I took out the second okra plant today. It was only about 4" tall, but we'll see how it does. I still have three more plants still growing inside. The first plant I took out three weeks ago (May 22) is doing well.

The goldfish in my vases are still alive! Tomorrow the second aerator should arrive. I am sharing the one aerator I have between the two vases. Without a doubt, the fish really enjoy the aerator. They seem to enjoy swimming through the bubbles. When I remove the aerator, the fish go mostly dormant. 

Sunday, June 10, 2018: MoBot, Goldfish

Yesterday I attended a class in plant propagation at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MoBot). There were eight people in the class. The instructor was Justin Lee, one of MoBot's propagators. It seems MoBot has individuals who specialize in propagation of specific types of plants. Justin implied he gets all the weird ones. Interestingly, prior to joining the MoBot, Justin was in IT and never thought he had a "green" thumb. He said his IT background has helped in that exhaustive documentation of everything he does is required. Don't want to repeat mistakes or forget what actually did work well.

The class consisted of about one hour to go over the eight page handout provided, covering the essentials of plant propagation. We then got a tour of the Garden's greenhouses...which was worth the cost of the class on its own. Finally, we got to go into Justin's greenhouse and take some stem cuttings to take home and propagate. I brought home a container with four cuttings. Two different Rosemary's, a succulent and an Acalypha Inferno.

Looking at the MoBot web site, I am assuming the Acalypha is an Acalypha hispida, a native of the South Pacific (New Guinea, Malaysia). MoBot describes its notable characteristics as:

Acalypha hispida, commonly called chenille plant, is a beautiful flowering plant that has a long bloom period. The flowers, which droop in cattail-like pendent clusters up to 18 inches in length are bright red to deep pink. In zones 10 to 11 it is a vigorous, upright, coarse-textured shrub that usually attains a height of 5 to 6 feet that is commonly used as an accent, hedge, specimen or container plant. In St. Louis, it is a good container, hanging basket and greenhouse plant, when taken indoors in the fall. Its long period of bloom makes it a showy centerpiece for any tropical or subtropical garden. It features leaves that are 6 to 8 inches long, ovate and medium green.

It was an interesting class and I took many notes. I need to get some butterwort. These are carnivorous plants that the Garden uses to control gnats which they say are inevitable around indoor plants. I used fly paper this past winter to keep them under control.

This morning I took a cutting off the two fruit trees we have had for several years. I don't know if they are lemon, lime or whatever. But they have never flowered or born fruit. I followed the tips I got from the class yesterday.

The instructor also mentioned the technique of "wounding" a plant to invite new growth. I decided to try this on the Brugmansia. It is now over six feet tall with all the leafing at the very top. I made a wound about 20" above its ground level.

Before wounding

After wounding

A couple of days ago, I decided to try to turn some of our larger flower vases into goldfish bowls. I chose two vases (about 1-1/2 gallon each), put some gravel in the bottom along with some of the aquatic accessories we had in our aquarium down in Lake Jackson. I also put two Marimo Moss Balls in each. I also placed an order for a small aerator which arrived yesterday. I captured one small goldfish from the pond and put it in one of the vases. I wanted to start with just one to see if it would survive at all. After a couple of days, while lethargic, it was still alive. Yesterday, the aerator arrived and I installed it and also added a companion goldfish. The first goldfish took on new life. Not sure if it was due to the aerator or due to having a swimming partner.

 That seemed to go so well, I ordered another aerator (to arrive next Tuesday) and captured two more goldfish for the second vase.

I also replaced the pump in T's gargoyle fountain.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018: Last Cactus Flowers

The last two flowers opened on the cactus today. They will be gone by tomorrow.