Not too much gardening at home this week because we're away in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Here is some of the island flora...
Above, is the island's chestnut tree.
This is a flower from the trumpet vine that looks like a wisteria with huge flowers.
A red flower from the succulent planter outside of our room. I can't remember the name, anybody know?
The fruit on the calabash tree. They make maracas out of this fruit.
This is a dried up flower from the calabash tree.
DarrylCopyright 2013 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
It's time to repot some cymbidiums. As my mother-in-law would tell you, it's a chore I should do more often.
In general, cyms should be repotted every 2-3 years. It's not a tricky process but it is hard work and messy at times.
First, to determine which plants need to be repotted, look for plants that have filled up the entire pot. Maybe they look more dead than alive and the mix is broken down, that would be another sign that they need to be repotted.
You'll need the plant, a pot (usually I put them back in the same one, on very vigorous plants I might increase the pots size a bit), mix, trowel, hammer, and pruning seal (not shown above).
Knock the pot off. You can see this plant is more root that soil, indicating it needs repotting. With your fingers, reach in and break up the root ball. Remove as much soil as you can, along with dead roots. I also remove the dead-looking back bulbs and maybe even some green growths to make a more centrally-shaped plant.
You can also pot the dead looking bulbs, as long as they feel very hard and firm to the touch, and new plants will grow from them.
Cymbidiums are terrestrial orchids, meaning that they grow in the ground in the wild unlike epiphytic orchids (like cattleyas, dendrobiums, and phaleanopsis), which grow on the side of trees.
This means you can't use straight bark chips on them like the other orchids. I buy a pre-made mix from an orchid nursery but you can also make your own using 50% small to medium bark chips, 25% perlite, and 25% peat moss.
You can see that there's a hole in my bag. Want to know where the Cheapskate is? Just follow the trail of cymbidium mix.
Put an inch or two of mix in the bottom of the pot. Spray pruning seal on any wounds left by tearing off old bulbs. Find the leading growing edge of the plant. Cymbidiums don't grow out in all directions, the green point at the bottom of the bulb above is the new growth. The plant will grow in this direction.
Put the none-growing edge up against the edge of the pot and the new growth facing the center. Fill with mix all the way to the edge of the pot. Use a hammer handle to pound the mix down as tight as you can.
If you've pounded the mix tight enough, you should be able to lift the plant by the leaves and the pot will not fall off.
Once done, it should look something like this with the growing edge given room to grow across the pot for the next two or three years. Water it in and put back on your orchid bench.
DarrylCopyright 2014 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
Gardening is in full swing. Chores are being done with regularity and, in this warm drought year, the plants are doing spectacularly well.
We've been working our behinds off and, now, we're going to take a little break to enjoy the results. Check out the cherry tomatoes sneaking in to the hanging dendrobium, above.
Speaking of orchids, the cymbidiums on our orchid bench are almost overwhelming in their color. My mother in law gets mad because I'm behind on my cymbidium care chores but they still bloom anyway.
The Moonstone and it's unknown neighbor rose let me know they're doing well in the drought. They survived our earthquake too, but that's a story for another day.
Double Delight still delights...
...and Mr. Lincoln is producing it's usual platter-sized, deep red blooms as it always does at the beginning of the blooming season.
Here's a very delicately colored pink bougainvillea to finish off this week's look at the beauty side of our garden.
DarrylCopyright 2014 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
The blooms...they just keep on comin'. Cymbidium hybrid Lloyd Hawkinson 'Madrigal' put out two spikes with these white and pink flowers.
That's not all, you can browse our posts for the last couple of weeks to see more cymbidiums in bloom.
This little dendrobium is blooming...
...as are our bletilla orchids.
I always recommend the bletilla to people who say they can't grow orchids because these literally take no care at all from me.
Not to be outdone, our hanging basket dendrobium has opened too. This climate is perfect for dendrobiums.
This little Angel Face rose will be the first bloom for us this year.
And finally, after getting a big haircut last season, this Superbells Calibrachoa hybrid in a hanging basket is back.
DarrylCopyright 2014 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
Another day, another batch of guavas. I shouldn't sound so blase...we've waited three years for this bumper-crop harvest.
My wife made some jam out of the weekend's harvest and we've been snacking on the ripe fruit too. If you've never had it, it's kind of like a real sweet apple, mixed with a real sweet pear, with a dash of ripe banana thrown in. You just bite in, like you would for an apple.
One thing I'd forgotten in the last three years...the very pungent aroma of ripening guavas. Not to be too blunt, but think of a sweet smelling version of cat pee. It's close to overwhelming at times so we let them ripen in the garage.
Hope I don't have to fight off the tomcats to get in...
In other fall food news, our citrus is starting to show it's color. This is our Cara Cara navel orange.
The chiles are non-stop on the production this year. I've even used some as mulch on other plants because we just cannot eat or process enough to keep up.
What should be the last dragon fruit is on it's way to ripeness.
We've go a few tomatoes on the way...
...and lastly, it looks like we'll have a crop of Thanksgiving zucchini.
DarrylCopyright 2013 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
Still getting some rose bloom here just before Halloween. That's Peace, up above. We don't know the name of the yellow one below.
I'm still ripping and tearing up my lawn, getting ready for the big reseeding next month. That's a huge chore and is a lot of work. I'm just about done with the aeration, next will be the ultra-short mow and the overseeding.
My fall zucchini is coming along fine. Actually, three plants have popped up but I think this will be the one to give me fruit.
You can see some buds coming up from the middle. Hope to see flowers and gourds here soon.
More cymibiums are setting flower spikes.
Finally, it looks like our begonia is getting ready to bloom.
DarrylCopyright 2013 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
While we break open a nice red for these crisp fall days, the roses are giving us their last hurrah.
At the top is Peace, which we grow as a tree rose.
Here's Julie Newmar with one last flush of yellow before the end of the season.
As of September 30, the roses are on their own. No more deadheading, no more fertilizer. Now, it's up to the plants to store food in their rose hips to get themselves over the cold weather of November and December.
Soon, they'll all look just like this Angel Face and go just a bit semi-dormant until pruning in January.
DarrylCopyright 2013 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved.
No, that's not one of my punny titles, that's the actual variety name of the cherry tomatoes that I planted in a hanging basket outside of our kitchen window.
My travails with the regular tomatoes have been well documented here this season, although that could also be having a happy ending soon, but the cherry tomatoes have done a decent job.
Starting off in April, I selected a suitable basket and lined it with coco fiber. Next, I repurpose a plastic shopping bag so I can slow down and direct the drainage by poking a hole in the bottom. This will let the water spread out and pool for a minute or two before draining out getting the soil nice and moist evenly around the roots. Then, some potting soil for the plants to grow in.
The seed go in and are watered in before hanging.
I hang the basket outside, put a drip emitter over it, and the timer waters it for 5 minutes everyday.
A month later, a healthy seedling emerges.
In July, I get my first fruit on the biggest stem. It will repeat this act about every two weeks for the rest of the season. I can't wait to get some more stems, more fruit, and have more of a "tomato" fall effect.
Now, according to the picture where I bought it, the plant should look like this.
Unfortunately, none of the other stems (three in all) feel like producing. Fortunately, the one that does is a reliable producer and is still giving us great salad ingredients to this day...I picked those ripe ones a the top this morning.
DarrylCopyright 2013 - Darryl MusickAll Rights Reserved
