Summer Succulents

 I have my mom to thank for my green thumb and love of nature. While at her house yesterday, I saw (one of my favorite plants in the whole world) this Gasteria (which is massive--probably over a foot wide and leaves 2 inches thick) with a gorgeous bloom stalk emerging!
I've been considering getting a tattoo on my ankle and I think this is it!

 This is so beautiful now--I hope I can photograph it when the flowers are actually open!

you can see how thick and meaty the leaves are--
and check out that gorgeous blue color!!

I am a proud plant parent to my Euphorbia which has a special story behind it. The center pictures are how it looks after almost four years.

Moving outside

 Every summer, I move most of my houseplants outside to soak up the sunshine, be refreshed by the rain, and generally thrive in the fresh air. Each year, I like to experiment with different set-ups for all my plants. Last year and the year before I primarily utilized a rickety (albeit good-looking) wooden plant rack, the year before that was metal shelves on the balcony, and even farther in the past they hung out on little tables I got at Target. Now that I have a yard, I rigged up the biggest, best shelving unit yet.

For about $1 each, I bought six "1/2 size" cinder blocks and Matt rustled up some old wood from the garage. Voila! a great-looking outdoor plant shelf. I made a Buddha face from concrete and will probably hang it above the plants. Look for that project in an upcoming post.

In other news, my silver squill bulb succulent is blooming. The teeny-tiny blossoms are so pretty--they have bright purple stamens inside the light green and white flowers. 

The excitement over this plant spurred me to create this blog. In case you don't remember, check out my first post. 

Anyway, my precious little euphorbia has performed like a champ. He went from a tiny cutting to growing his first leaf bract, then doubling in size in his first year, growing like crazy in the last two years and now... my baby is a parent! You may remember I chopped the head off the top of the plant, and as a result, the base section is now growing pups. The top part has yet to root, but it's still early and I have hope. 

I decapitated him back in February 

The largest pup at the top of the plant is noticeably bigger everyday!
The lighter green cutting in the pot was a hitchhiker in a plant I bought at the greenhouse ;) 

Another update to one of my plant babies is the "Obama cactus" which has grown about a 1/2 inch after being rooted back in November. Yay for Spring!!

DECAPITATED!

My 3-year old Euphorbia Trigona cutting has been doing extremely well, growing over an inch taller just this last summer alone. However, it became obvious that the lower section was not growing and the plant was becoming top-heavy. So, nervously, I decided to cut off the robust growth at the top of the plant in hopes it will root and continue to grow, while the bottom part will sprout new off-shoots.

Here's my illustration of the situation:

I'm a nerd. Get over it.

 I was pleasantly surprised to see healthy roots which had filled much of the pot.

 Scalpel...

 If you have the good fortune to own any of the varied and diverse members of the Euphorbia family, do be careful, as they will seep a white liquid if cut which can be irritating to the skin and toxic if ingested.

The bottom portion of the plant got repotted in a larger container with fresh soil. The top part will be left to dry and heal over before getting his own pot or joining his mother in her new pot.




Based on how fast this plant has grown in the last year, I am hoping he will look like this soon:

photo from here: http://onthewildslopes.tumblr.com/post/42213704895

It's Hot--Like it or Not

It's a scorcher here in Wisconsin! This was the scene before we got the air conditioner fixed late last week. Poor babies! They were so hot, they were both napping laying on their backs! Cute, but sad!

Unlike the cats, however, my plants are LOVING the heat, inside and outside the house. My Euphorbia Quadrangularius that I've had maybe a month and a half has sprouted several branches--one of them almost 7 inches long! I think if I looked hard enough I could see it growing!

I can't believe I haven't posted photos of my garden yet this year! It's really looking nice and everyone seems to be very happy and healthy.

I found this fun hippo planter at an antique store recently. How cute is he?!

One of my favorite plants is this fan aloe. It's been doing very well, despite frequent re-pottings to find a good fit.

A shot of most of the garden. Adler loves to come out and chew on the catnip growing in pots.

I have an absolutely beautiful cactus bloom that just started to open last week.

Amazing--I love cactus flowers!!

In-between taking care of all my plants, I've had a little time for thrift shopping :) These are my finds over the last weekend. My favorite is the pair of vintage owl mugs I got for $.69 each. I found a really great hand-woven wool table runner, a cool book on houseplants from the '70's, an interesting book about the desert (I adore the cover design), a roll of funky paper that I can frame, and a pair of brand-new baskets that can be hung on the wall. What a haul--and it all looks so pretty together!