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.
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| I decapitated him back in February |
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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!!
This one is all Matt! He has two very large, robust snake plants which are now in bloom.
The flowers are really delicate and have a nice scent.
We've noticed ants are attracted to the flowers (you can see them if you look at the photo closely). I'm not sure where they are getting into the house, but they are crawling all over the flower stalk. It doesn't look like they are damaging the plant, so perhaps there is a nectar on the flowers they like? Watching them, I cannot figure out what they are doing.
While doing a little plant maintainance today, I noticed a few interesting things. First, my epiphytic cacti seems to have some flower buds. I've had this plant less than a year, so I don't really know what it's winter habits are. I've been leaving all my succulents quite dry, as it is winter, and there is no shortage of cold drafty windows in our apartment, so I'm thrilled that my plants are blooming--a sign I'm doing something right!
Several weeks ago, I noticed my Echeveria sprouting this long clump of little pod-like forms. I assumed it was just an off-shoot and was growing a new plant. I went to water it today, and saw this beautiful pink flower emerging! I've only been growing succulents for a few years, so I feel like getting them to bloom is a real victory.
Also, this interesting little form has grown from Matt's mini palm tree. I'm not sure what it is. A seed pod of some kind? Very neat, whatever it is!
