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A Good Day for Plants
Apr. 24th, 2012 09:46 pmThe spinach wins! 8 days after planting, 4 inches of rain yesterday and a nice sunny day today worked their magic, and I have at least a dozen or so spinach seedlings. YAY! The rest of the plants are hopefully not too far behind... carrots will take a little while... not sure on onions... hoping for some peas soon...
My potatoes came yesterday, and are now sitting happily in a box upstairs in the library so they can wake up and maybe start sprouting, and I will hopefully get them in the ground next weekend. I don't know if there's enough to do the full fun potato tower, but maybe I can do a mini-one. I may have more potatoes than I think I do... when they all fit in a little 8x12" box, it is deceptive.
Also got the Bletilla orchids in the mail today! Probably going to grow them as houseplants, even though they're supposedly hardy to zone 5. Two came sprouted and growing very happily in little tiny pots, the third was bareroot... tiny little shriveled thing, with a few roots, and a pathetic looking green sprout flopping about out of the top... I thought "I paid $12.95 for what, now?" but have done the right thing and used up the very last morsels of potting soil and put little Rickey Bletilla properly in a 4" pot, watered gently, and will wait. Patiently. It will be worth it when he finally blooms:
The species B. striata has a flower spike on it. Hopefully the stress of shipping and new environment won't shock it and it will still bloom. Thank goodness for easy-to-understand care sheets, too.
Delivery of three Attar of Rose geranium that I have finally, finally been successful at rooting will happen this weekend too. One is a surprise. :) If anybody out there wants a cutting, let me know. I've figured out how to make them grow and be happy. Not as far as I know a medieval-period plant (earliest date I can find is 1690), but quite lovely nonetheless. I've made rosewater, rose-flavored sugar, and a rose-flavored cake (take clean leaves, lay in the bottom of a cake pan, pour white cake mix over them, bake. Delish. And not overly-flowery). The leaves are apparently edible, but I haven't ever munched on them...
And in other news... my li'l red car turned over 180,000 miles today. Good ol' Rosie's at 180,040 on return to the house tonight. Keep going, little car! You have new brakes and will have a new timing belt and other maintenance-worthy internals next week! We'll keep driving for a few more years at least!
My potatoes came yesterday, and are now sitting happily in a box upstairs in the library so they can wake up and maybe start sprouting, and I will hopefully get them in the ground next weekend. I don't know if there's enough to do the full fun potato tower, but maybe I can do a mini-one. I may have more potatoes than I think I do... when they all fit in a little 8x12" box, it is deceptive.
Also got the Bletilla orchids in the mail today! Probably going to grow them as houseplants, even though they're supposedly hardy to zone 5. Two came sprouted and growing very happily in little tiny pots, the third was bareroot... tiny little shriveled thing, with a few roots, and a pathetic looking green sprout flopping about out of the top... I thought "I paid $12.95 for what, now?" but have done the right thing and used up the very last morsels of potting soil and put little Rickey Bletilla properly in a 4" pot, watered gently, and will wait. Patiently. It will be worth it when he finally blooms:
The species B. striata has a flower spike on it. Hopefully the stress of shipping and new environment won't shock it and it will still bloom. Thank goodness for easy-to-understand care sheets, too.Delivery of three Attar of Rose geranium that I have finally, finally been successful at rooting will happen this weekend too. One is a surprise. :) If anybody out there wants a cutting, let me know. I've figured out how to make them grow and be happy. Not as far as I know a medieval-period plant (earliest date I can find is 1690), but quite lovely nonetheless. I've made rosewater, rose-flavored sugar, and a rose-flavored cake (take clean leaves, lay in the bottom of a cake pan, pour white cake mix over them, bake. Delish. And not overly-flowery). The leaves are apparently edible, but I haven't ever munched on them...
And in other news... my li'l red car turned over 180,000 miles today. Good ol' Rosie's at 180,040 on return to the house tonight. Keep going, little car! You have new brakes and will have a new timing belt and other maintenance-worthy internals next week! We'll keep driving for a few more years at least!
