Friday, November 21, 2008

Random Plantings

I rescued this Elephant's Food plant from my neighbor's unattended side yard. Last year, it only had one section that appeared alive. I spotted a perfect branch to start a bonsai like Julie at A Succulent Life. She has instructions that I will follow as it grows, and hopefully it will grow into a beauty.



My "Husky Cherry Red" patio tomato has been producing dime sized tomatoes since September, and although quite small, they are delicious! I have been getting about three ripe ones a day, just enough to eat when I water the plant.

Flower beds are filling out. I have had a lot of trouble this year with random plants dying overnight. I try to fill in as quick as possible. This bed is full of petunias, snap dragons and lobelia.



My greatest hope is that my beloved sweet peas make it though the season. No-see-ums are eating them away! I check the plants at various times of the day to see what it could be--but no luck! I haven't over-fertilized, I use only Miracle Grow. They are getting the proper amount of water so I'm not sure what could be eating away at them. Come February I may go into a depression if I don't have sweet pea bouquets throughout my house every day, and my family will miss their daily delivery. I talk to the the plants every day and tell them to hang on and overcome this plague ! They know how much they mean to me! I am keeping the faith and know they will try hard! Sometimes though, nature out trumps our wishes.


We are having perfect weather--a little above normal --but gorgeous days, perfect for flower watching and swinging away in my swing and taking a daily walk around the lake! Did I ever tell you I live in the most perfect spot in the world? The fall, winter, and spring here are pretty close to heaven. The summers are really close to hell, but I wouldn't trade it for anywhere else!!!






2 comments:

Julie said...

Hey...check this out. There is a list of pests and diseases that could affect Sweet Pea (on the right hand side of the page) at U of California!!!

Thanks for thinking of me with training your bonsai when the time is right! Hope it will all work out perfectly! Your plant is quite sprawling right now...gorgeous! I said out loud when I saw it..."Oh what is that...I want one"!!! LOL!

My bonsai is looking so cute outside in the sun. We have to keep them in the sun even after doing the bonsai to it, or the leaves will all fall off!

Your flowers in the wall planter are so colorful!!! I wish I could have something like that here...but it takes too much water.
Sadly.

Have a fun weekend!

Claude said...

The garden seems to be growing along just fine... as for the no see ums... I don't grow sweet peas, but my grandmother did... could it be leaf miners? Grandmother would sprinkle a little garlic powder (powder - not salt!) around the plants. Then water it in... this would 'flavor' the plants leaves and make it unapetising to the bugs. Of course, don't do that for a few weeks before the plants bloom, unless you want garlic scented flowers...