Overwintered Alstroemeria. 24 March 24.

 I overwintered two super-dwarf Alstroemeria in the dry / chilly garage last winter.  I brought them outside and started watering again, last week. Also cut off all of the dead leaves and stems.

Here is the purple one.

There are several new shoots, plus one that was already up.  No growth yet on the yellow one.  It was low to wake up last year.

My rationale for overwintering dormant in containers is that not all Alstroemeria descend from fully cold winter places.  I don't know the ancestors of these highly hybridized dwarfs.  They are very nice deck plants.  It takes almost no effort to store them over the winter in the garage.

Here's a clump of tall, not as nice, Alstroemeria that has been growing outside in my fenced orchard / garden.  Plus a dandelion.

I grew those from seeds about 20 years ago.  These are divisions from divisions from those original plants.  They have survived every winter outside in the borders.

The newest seedlings (Ligtu hybrids) should ad some new and brighter colors to the orchard clumps.

Overwintering Echinacea. 24 Mar 24.

 Here's the Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea that I overwintered dry, in light, in garage.  I moved it outside a week or two ago, cleaned it up, and started watering.

I haven't looked at the ones that I left in the ground over the winter.   The plants that I left outside in a container dried out and died.

These are nice plants.  I hope some of the others survived too.

Planting Some New Daylilies In Containers. 24 Mar 24

 Here are some daylilies that I bought at Costco last month.

Here they are before planting.  I could have planted them any time during the past few weeks.   They were sort of "out of sight / out of mind" in the garage. They have been growing, some upside down.  I tried to unbend them a little and plant focused on having the roots pointing down.

Daylilies are resilient.  I think they'll recover fine.  With those root masses, they might even bloom this summer.  Might. 

For now, they are just North of the house.  Today is chilly, rainy and overcast.  Ad they grow and the chlorophyll fills in and darkens, I'll gradually move them to sunnier locations.

Think about what plants had to survive during the great era of botanical explorations, during the 1500s to 1800s.   I imagine some of the survivors of those sailing ship journeys were the ones capable of enduring all sorts of difficulties.  Maybe some of those passed their resilience to their descendants (as mine did, to me). 

Bringing Out Overwintered Container Plants. 19 March 24.

 These were in the unheated, attached garage.  They were in a west window, and not watered during the winter.

These include two potted, dwarf Alstroemeria, a Dorotheanthes "Mezoo", two Lycoris that I planted last fall, and a dried out burgundy leaf oxalis.

I watered them.  Next they need cleaning up.  They might not grow.  I think they will.

Planting Onion Seedlings. 19 March 24.

 I planted the first row of onion seedlings.  These were the yellow long-keeping hybrid, Patterson.

I started the seeds in January.  They are ready to plant.  These also, are in a high raised bed.  I can sit on my garden stool and plant them.  The soil was prepared last fall and covered with tree leaves, so it is soft, moist, and weedless.

I covered them with fencing tunnels.  Without those, Jays pull up the onion plants.  Sometimes they do, anyway.

I have five more pots of onions, and two of leeks.  I will see if I can plant one pot a day.

The New David Austin Roses. 19 March 24.

 Three of the new David Austin Rose bushes look pretty good.  They have plump buds with red or green growth.

Darcey Bussell

Boscobel

I forgot to photograph Silas Marner.  It's about the same.

Give Me Sunshine had the longest, palest shoots.  I had hoped that shade and cool weather would protect them.  Instead, they have dried out and wilted.

I'm still hopeful that new buds, not yet emerged, will grow and form the new bush.  The stems themselves still look good.

Rose Cuttings Update. 19 March 24.

 Today must be rose update day.

Here are some of the rose cuttings, starting by the "cut a stick in early winter / push it into the ground / mulch / forget it method".  

They seem to be taking and growing well.  Without roots, a bud might swell and make a leaf or two, but eventually it will dry out and die.  They are safer during the chilly weather of Spring, but they can only grow so much without roots.  These seem to be nearing the point where, without roots, they will wither.

Really, I think roses start almost as easily from hardwood cuttings as forsythias, willows, and figs.  

First Crop Of The Year. Scallions From Egyptian Walking Onions. 19 March 24.

 Today I harvested scallions. These were from  single clump of Egyptian Walking Onions.  They need a little more cleaning up than regular scallions, because they emerge from last year's bulb.  That needs to be removed, and the scallions washed.

It feels amazing, having a crop on 19 March.  I could have earlier, had I looked.

The row looks like this.  I think it's about two years old.

Without going into detail, I'm a lot more physically limited compared to last year.  I can't do nearly as much as before.  Over the years, I've been building a garden that is focused on accessibility.  Now, even though I can get up a bit, a lot of my gardening is done while sitting.  This row of Egyptian Walking onions is in a high raised bed.  That format helps make it possible to garden, for the physically challenged like me.  It helps so much.

The onions also work that way.  Egyptian Walking Onions are perennial.  If you don't harvest, the  clump will just keep growing larger.  Every couple of years, they should probably be dug out and replanted.  It doesn't matter much, when.  I'll try covering the ground with leaves from my pile, to keep weeds down better too.

Mini Rose Rescue Notes. 19 March 24.

 Here's one from the first group (yellow flower) that came from a pot that had crispy leaves and dead flowers.  I had cut them back, removed the dead leaves, washed off the original crummy soil, and repotted in good quality potting soil.  That was 21 Feb, so one month.  They get watered with dilute Schultz houseplant fertilizer (7 drops per quart of water) and are now outside 24/7.  I move them into full sun all day long.

This is the first with a flower bud.  It's interesting that happened so quickly.  The new leaves are larger and a richer color, compared to the few remaining original 

It will be nice if they bloom.  I check every day.

Here's the red mini that I gave the same treatment a few days ago.  The flower petal edges already had that sunburn.  They'l get cut off soon.  The plants really didn't miss a beat from that treatment.  They look healthy and vigorous.

These three plants were smaller than the five yellow ones, so I had planted them together but in a larger pot.

The better looking red one is waiting for a new pot.  It needs watering twice a day, so I better get to it.

Still looks very nice.  I think it's a newer variety.

Oops. Replanting Dahlia Seeds. 19 March 24.

 I dropped both 8-packs planted with dahlia seeds and spilled most of them.  So I replanted.

I could see that a number of seeds had germinated.  One seedling remains.  I just put the potting soil back into the eight-packs and replanted with fresh seeds.  Not that much time was lost.

Peaches In Bloom. 19 March 24

 The genetic dwarf peaches are blooming.  I think this one is Garden Globe.

Half of the cover blew off.  I don't know if that will result in peach leaf curl disease.  It was protected for part of the winter.  Now that it's blooming, I should select branches to prune.  I don't want it to be any taller than it is.

This is El Dorado.   A lot smaller.  Might have peaches this year.

Potted Bulbs From Last Fall. 19 March 24.

 I potted these last fall and kept them in the vegetable garden.  The did pretty well.

I either dropped the hyacinths or an animal got into 5em.  Still very colorful.

Frugal Living. New Pot Handles. 19 March 2024.

 Not about gardening at all, but about the gardener.

In the mode of reduce / reuse / repair.  I dropped the crock pot lid.  This gets used almost every week, for at least the past six years.  I precook the chicken thighs for Rufus's dog food in it, overnight, before adding the rest of the ingredients the next day.  The crock pot itself came from a thrift store for $15 or so.  A new one can cost $90 on Amazon although I'm sure bargains are out there.  It's been used hundreds of times.

The knob on the lid broke, not repairable.  I had a car trunk load of stuff to take to Good Will, so I went inside and found a small pan lid for $2.  They are fairly universal, just unscrew the knob and install it on the crock pot lid.

That should last a few years.  I didn't think to look, but since then I found knobs for a few dollars on Amazon and elsewhere, even very similar to the original Crock Pot lid.

Why buy a new one for $90 when you get a perfectly functional one for $2?  And it's 100% reduce / reuse / repair?

This is plastic (maybe Bakelite).  By re-using one, that's one tiny piece less plastic made to pollute later.

I also needed to replace the side handles on this Stainless Steel pot.  It must be 40 years old.  The only thing wrong with it was the badly damaged handles.  Plus, they were solid, no finger space to reduce dropping risk.

There were lots of choices on Amazon for minimal cost.  I took off the old ones, measured - they are ALMOST universal or standardized (I can't find to fit another pot however).  

Ordered, here in a day, and installed.

These are better than the originals.  The finger holes mean less dropping likelihood.  Stainless steel lasts a lifetime, is easy to clean.  If something chars on too much, I use a scrubbing attachment on my electric drill, with some Bar Keepers friend.  It's clean in one or two minutes.   Nothing like those cheap, teflon or other toxic chemical coated cookware that becomes impossible to clean anyway, emits toxic fumes, and doesn't last.

The one negative about this pot (also true for all of those light weight, garbage teflon coated aluminum pots and skillets) is the stainless steel bottom is actually a thin layer of stainless steel on a thicker aluminum base.  That's fine for standard electric or gas stove, but does not work on induction.

That's my extremely rare Frugal / Environmental post for now.

Chili Pepper Seedlings Outside Today. 16 Mar 24

 Today was the first day outside for the chili pepper seedlings.  I think they are looking good.

I'm glad I planted most in 4" pots.  I think they will fill in quickly.

Today's 72 F is just about perfect.  They's go inside tonight, too chilly at 39 or so for such tropical plants.

Alstroemeria Seedlings Outside Today. 16 Mar 2024

 I took the Alstroemeria seedlings outside today for the weather.  It's their first day, so briefly in full sun and mostly in partial sun.

Also the lemon bush Eucalyptus and Rudbeckias.

Schlumbergera Update. Seedlings and Up-potting One. 16 Mar 2024.

 Sclumbergeras tend to become top heavy with age, and fall over.  I don't think they need as large a pot as some plants the same size, but they eventually need up potting.  This one was grown from cuttings maybe three years ago.  Nice, unusual color.  I grew the original plant from cuttings many years ago, and took these when it became scraggly.

For the falling over problem, I think a heavy pot is needed.  I had one extra, so I used it.

The root mass looks pretty good.  No winding roots, but pretty dense.  I roughed it up just a little before potting.

As for the Schlubergera seedlings, they seem to be on a bit of a growth spurt.  They are making new pads at the apex and and the sides of the old pads.  Interesting.

I sat them all outside today, not in full sun except briefly.  Temp 72F.  To night they will come back inside for the expected low40s F.

Bare-root Repotting A Blooming Mini Rose. 16 Mar 2024

Today I repotted the second mini rose.  This was the one I bought partially crispy and wilted at Bi-Mart.  Clean-up, consistent watering, good light, trips outside, and dilute houseplant food brought it back.

Even the new flower colors  were better, dark red instead of mauve.

With the producer's peat & perlite medium still in the pot, it dried out and wilted too quickly.  That's my thought about all of these.  Warmer sunnier weather, and more growth, will make the problem more challenging to keep up with.  So I turned it out of the pot, to repot it.

The roots look very good.  Not really over-crowded, and not root bound.   I knocked off as much soil as I could without causing too much root damage, pulled the three plants here apart, and washed off the medium by swirling in a basin of water.

Not letting them dry out, I immediately potted them in my usual good quality potting soil that manages water very well and lasts for a number of years.  Then watered it in.  This was a somewhat larger container, maybe 100% more soil holding capacity.

I will leave the flowers on.  I think the root damage was very minimal, and the effect of improved soil is almost immediate.  They'll get pampered for a week.  Probably more.

The leaf edges have a slight sunburn, from leaving them out earlier this week.  I'm impressed that they held their dark red color.

Planting Dahlia Seeds. 15 March 2024

 Here are the dahlia seeds that I planted today.  Size and appearance reminds me of zinnia seeds.  I used regular potting soil, and re-usable eight-packs from last year.

Those are dwarf sized dahlia varieties, although possibly not as dwarf as the two that I bought at Winco last year.  Also, I stored those dry in their containers over the winter.  I'll wait a month to see if they have viable-looking tubers.

The portulaca is for later.  Maybe tomorrow.

Daffmobile. Daffodils in Containers. 15 Mar 2024.

 Here are some of the bulbs I planted last fall in containers.

They grew a bit uneven.  There appear to be lots more bulbs to bloom.

There is some slug damage.  I gave them all slug bait today.

Planting a Few Lily Bulbs. 12 Mar 2024

 I planted a few lily bulbs in a somewhat derelict half wine barrel.

I bought these in January, thinking the bulbs would keep better in my chilly garage than in the dry warmer store.  

I think I was right.  Even though growth was about an inch, it looked plump and healthy.

In my garden, lilies don't survive being planted in the earth.  They disappear.  They do fine in containers.  I think it's the underground fauna eating them.

Up-Potting Chili Pepper Seedlings. 12 Mar 24.

 I've been up-potting more of the chili pepper seedlings.  Now the Serranos, Cayennes, and Jalafeugos have their own containers.

They will not dry out so fast now.  This leaves the Thai peppers.

Mini Rose (Kordana) Rescue Update. 12 March 2024.

 It's soon for an update, but they are thriving.  I set them outside in sunny / overcast weather for abput half the day now.

I think I wont prune back any more until after the bloom again.  I don't know when that will be.  Maybe June.

This is the Bi-Mart one that I rescued.  Now I can see the new blossom buds are scarlet.  I had a little buyers remorse, seeing the sort of mauve color of mature blossoms.  The red buds are better.  

That one needs a new container and new soil.  I need to free up a container for that.

Here is the dark red one I bought at Safeway.  It's ideal so far.  Also needs larger container and better soil soon.

Complete. Container Planted David Austin Roses. 12 March 2024.

 Here are the container David Austin Roses now.  Yesterday I bought more potting soil so I could pot up Boscobel too.  They are on wheeled dollies so I can move them as needed for shade, light, and turn them around etc.

I also pruned the Vanessa Bell Rose that overwintered, to one foot tall.  I think that will give stronger stems and more compact shape.  I didn't want to prune off stems that were already growing, but I don't think that will really hurt anything.

Current weather is mid-50s F, intermittent showers, rain, sun, cloudy.  I think that's a good start and tender shoots get a chance to acclimate before potential sunburn weather.

Planting Some David Austin Roses in Containers. 10 March 2024.

 The David Austin roses that I ordered in January came today.  They were shipped from Tyler Texas.  I don't know if they were grown there.

They were packaged wet, so I just had them in water while planting.  I pruned long or girdling roots and crossing stems, not much.  There are some pale, one inch long shoots on multiple stems on all of them.  The current chilly, rainy, overcast weather will give them a chance to acclimate.

Silas Marner went into a container that I had placed and prepared during the winter.  For all of the roses, I mixed into the soil about 1/4 cup crushed eggshells, 2 tablespoons crushed chicken bone meal, and about 1/4 cup coffee grounds.

Silas is near Vanessa Bell that I planted about one year ago.

I'm debating removing the sedum and muscari from that container.  I don't think they hurt anything, just messy.

Darcy Bussell and Bring Me Sunshine each went into planters that hold about 2 cubic feet of potting soil.  I drilled a lot of holes in the bottoms, first.

These will be on dollys so they can be moved around easily.

I ran out of potting soil, so Boscobel will wait until tomorrow.  It's in a temporary pot of potting soil for now.