Summer Squash Launch

Planted just May 13th, this beautiful summer squash is really taking off! The variety is an heirloom called 'Trombetta di Albenga' from Renee's Garden .

They have a fantastic selection and I always have good luck with the seed germination-even tomato seeds from 2012!

Late Summer Hort Happenings

 

My african violet is blooming beautifully! More amazing is the color...

 

 

...it's way different than the color they usually are, the most recent blooming just this past March (and the only color it's ever been the whole time I've owned this plant!) Wonder what it will do next time?

Outdoors the planters are pleasantly surprising, with volunteer tobacco plants blooming well...

 

....but this pot has mostly weeds. Time for some "fall plantings"!

 

I soaked some nasturtium seeds overnight, this variety is 'Moongleam' with pretty yellow flowers.

I'm also planting some 'Afina' cutting celery, purple podding radish, 'Pistou' basil, 'Quick Stir Fry Blend' greens, and slow-bolting cilantro.

                                                      Nasturtium goes with the tobacco...

 

...and hopefully will mature and flower before the tobacco is done.

 

The rest of the seeds were planted all together is groups, and the very next day some germinated!

 

Too crowded already...

 

...so the first thinning commences.

 

Indoor project is a last-ditch effort to see this lovely spring-blooming cactus look like it did in May of 2010...

...rather than the way it does now. *Sigh*  I'm not sure exactly what went wrong, but I'm going to try growing this barely alive speck in orchid fashion. (I think I read somewhere that people mount these like tropical orchids, and it's dying anyhow so why not? :)

So I pulled it up, got some green and spanish moss, and wet it with distilled water like I do with orchids. I'll buy a cork bark or wood mount to put it on and see what happens. Heck, if it dies I may buy a new one and mount it just to prove (or disprove) my own point.

 

The indoor tomato looks mighty sad...

                                                                 ...so a pruning is done...

...and out it goes! This is another what-the-heck-it's-dying-anyway experiment. This plant will be further challenged by the ridonkulous heat over the next week or so, however.

 

Even Galileo here doesn't have enough temp ballons to show the mid to upper 90's we're getting. God speed and good luck Mr. tomato!

 

Grow or die. It's the general theme around here :)

Some of My Favorite Plants Are Carnivorous

As houseplants go, carnivorous plants can feel like oddballs. Impulse buys from the back of a comic book that are surely doomed to die (if they make it to your door alive in the first place!) My first mailorder purchases a few years ago arrived tiny and without pots, came with confusing instructions, and promptly died. Then I got the hang of it.

Let me preface the rest of this post by stating clearly: I am NOT an expert, or even seasoned grower of carnivorous plants. This is merely what's been working for me. Bright light (direct at my previous home, filtered through a white sheet here), and shallow trays of distilled water. That's it!

Bolstered by these encouraging experiences, I decide to try growing Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plant) from seed. I bought Nepenthes inermis off Ebay from a grower in Indonesia, even though I'd read on several forums that this practice can be futile since seeds need to be fresh in order to germinate properly. They weren't very expensive, so I figured it would be worth a try. First I filled these plastic cups with a carnivorous plant soil mix I bought from Cobraplants.com, and placed them in a plastic tray.

Here are the seeds with the pod...

...before planting I soaked the soil cups in distilled water for two days to ensure they would be moist enough (I spritzed the soil surface, too).

According to the instructions that came with the seeds, they are to be scattered on the surface. I was tempted to push a few under the soil too, but figured I'd play by the rules this first time.

I had to use tweezers to handle them...

...okay now-grow!

I spritzed them down with distilled water to ensure good soil contact...

...then set one cup next to an established sundew (currently in its' annual dieback, pardon the drooping).

The other cup will go under the LED grow light to see how that goes. I just hope at least one seed sprouts somewhere, but only time will tell.

As for the carns I have growing currently-these two are in need of division to their own pots, but were so small when I got them that one pot seemed big enough. I bought this Nepenthes bicalcarata (a.ka. "Fang") from Carnivorous Plant Nursery, and they included a free bonus sundew Drosera capensis. They both arrived in decent shape but were small and un-potted. I put them together in here, but will repot to seperate quarters soon.

This flytrap was part of an order from my favorite carn nursery, Sarracenia Northwest. Everything I've purchased has been good sized, healthy, and potted up. Check out the bloomscape arising from this beauty, Flytrap 'Dente'.

I like the rounded leaves of this sundew Drosera burmanii, also from Sarracenia Northwest. Dining on a gnat as well, goodie! The third plant from the same nursery is the sundew in my wardian case, Drosera capensis 'Red Leaf'. It actually had two plants in the pot they sent!

This is the happy plant that inspired my carnivorous confidence-Nepenthes unknown (I bought it in 2008 from a big garden store in Green Bay, and the tag it came with just had a silly cartoon and some basic cultural info). One thing the tag said was to keep it "moist but not soggy", which to me says "impossibly fussy about moisture". When I first tried to grow carns, I followed this acvice and they died. So when I got this nepenthes, I kept it in a tray of distilled water at all times. This is how it responded, so that's my new growing rule.

It was so happy last fall, it bloomed!

There's even a baby plant growing alongside, with pitchers and everything!

Just goes to show that even the largest consensus of garden advice can be ignored with good results. So blaze your own trail, no matter what the experts say. Success is in the results anyhow!