Blooming Jade Plants

This is my root bound thirty-year-old jade plant.

 My friend, Teresa, came over yesterday to pick up some green japanese maples that I was gonna chuck onto the compost pile. They were all too root bound to make it another summer in those pots and I don't need any more planted on my acre. They come from a big green japanese mama tree and only grow a quarter of the size. I like to have them on my patio for the vertical element and I also play bonsai with them while they are young.

I'm cleaning off the patio for winter. Putting the patio furniture away, rolling up hoses, putting the semi-delicate plants against the protected wall of the house, getting ready to put the geraniums in the garage and the houseplants returned inside.

The houseplants need to come inside after they've been sprayed off with a hose for most of the bugs and a systemic sprinkled over the soil to keep the hatching bugs from infesting my house.

All of my houseplants go outside in the summer to rusticate. They love  the fluctuating temperatures and the light levels much better than inside the house.

We get enough frosts and freezings here in the Willamette Valley that the delicate things need to come inside or at least into the garage or basements of our houses. The geraniums and fuschias in the hanging baskets will go into the garage.

They are loving our temperate 60 degree November days and blooming so well, it's difficult to get ruthless and trim them up for storage.

Anyway - my jade plant is more than thirty years old. I married it and it was a dangly, sad-looking house plant that I chucked out on the deck to compost. Instead, the golden retriever's puppy tail pruned it for me and it became this lush plant with little growths all over. It stands about three feet high and round.

Lesson 1:  They want to be pruned.

After about ten years, it set out these blooms that opened in November and held on until February. There's is a slight smell and pollen but mostly they are little white star flowers with a tint of pink.

Lesson 2:  It has to be old enough to bloom.

One November, I left it out a little too long (thanksgiving!) and the second frost melted half of it. But it came back. with little green sprouts.

Lesson 3: Leave outside as close to possible to first frost to harden off. But not past the moment.

The trunks on this baby are about five inches in diameter. It doesn't like to be over-watered - maybe once a month? In the winter, it goes a tad dormant. It would be fine in the garage but I like the little star flowers, so it comes inside.

In the spring, I prune off the weird parts - I like that spherical look, and toss those cuttings under the hydrangea where they all take root.

I rarely re-pot. Sometimes, I add a little soil to the top. I have cut the roots - as in bonsai directions - to thin them out. Most of the years, I do nothing.

Lesson 4: Leave them alone. Perfect houseplant for me.

 Here are some three year old babies all together in a pot. Not sure what I'm gonna do with this one. I don't want a second plant in the house. Keep pruning until I can foist it off on a friend.

 These are two year old babes. Some in individual pots and the ones in front together in the blue pot. This might come inside this winter - it's looking pretty pleased with itself.

 Waiting for hose spray-off are my avocado trees and the ficus that I have a love/hate relationship with.

You want the secret of growing your avocados?
Again, really lazy here. Take the pit outside and plug it in one of your patio pots. Forget the toothpicks, forget scraping the bottom to encourage root growth. Just plug it in some soil - in the summer.

But now what???

It's getting taller. It's also fussy, pitching a hissy fit when I bring it inside and dropping leaves, some leaves turning half brown. I hate fussy. I had a coffee plant for a while - talk about hissy fits. I finally got ruthless and pitched it on the compost pile. I may do so with the avocado. It's a tall statement plant for behind the couch but somewhat fussy in it's drinking habits.

Now - the Ficus. It's not even a variegated leaf one. But it doesn't pitch hissy fits. It's tall, which is nice in the house. It's not particularly pretty. One more winter.

 The fuschias blooming their heads off in the cooler autumn temps.

My mock-orange did not get the winterizing memo either.


Why houseplants inside in the winter? Everyone knows they improve the air quality during the winter months. 

I also have six african violets that do stay inside year round. Way too many. Need friends to come over and leave with one, or two. Any takers?


I wouldn't say no if you needed a six year old avocado tree either.

Velvet Elvis

My newest plant lust: Velvet Elvis.
Latin name: Plectranthus

This one dropped into my cart last spring because of the plant label. It showed lots of little tubular flowers on stalks - somewhat like salvia.

I always buy a few filler plants for my patio pots in the Spring. This one grew and grew and grew some more. No flowers. But it was super happy to make my patio it's home so I watched it and watered it as it grew some more.

After a long hot, dry summer, in which it did nothing but grow, it burst forth with these delicious orchid-type flowers in October.

Oh my.

The leaves have a  nice purplish/blue undertone and I am now on a quest to see if I can get it to winter over.

Dahlia from my Mom & Dad's place. 

I am super lazy with dahlias. I do not dig them up to winter over. 
Four out of five years, they will survive our Oregon winters and come back better than ever. That 5th winter, they tend to freeze too long and turn to mush. Which most of mine did last winter - except for this one which is protected by an evergreen yew situated nearby.

These landscape roses are out front and they bloom wildly from late April to late November. I have a love/hate relationship with these. I love all the constant blooming but they have lethal thorns. Not just the usual rose thorns but double'O'7 thorns.

'Tis the season. Apple pie time.

My avocados.

Like most people, I've always heard you can grow your own grapefruit from seed, avocado from seed, etc. The reality is frustrating. There is the missing secret of getting them to work. I think I watched every youtube video to find out what I was doing wrong. The toothpicks, the careful scraping off the bottom of the pit, -- I must have spent 14,000 hours googling to find out how to do it.

Here's how; You pick a nice slightly ripe avocado and sit it on the counter for a few days to get it to that optimal 'ripeness'. You peel it, put it on your salad greens, wash the pit and carry the pit outside where you cram it down into the soil of one of your patio pots.
Forget about them.
Tada! they all grow.

I have four in this pot. This is their second year. Debating whether to re-pot before bringing it inside for the winter or leaving it rootbound......

January In Canbyland

No winds, just frosty this morning.
I went out to re-fill the bird feeder and had to bring in both the hummingbird feeder and the bird feeder - I can't get the top off the bird feeder without possibly cracking the acrylic. Brought them both in to thaw.

My camellia.




Sunrise glow happening. Looking out towards runway through my Star Magnolia.
I'm actually facing North towards Portland.

Son climbing Mt. Hood this morning. Nearly to the summit. 11,239 feet up.


Autumn leaves resting atop my creeping wooly thyme


Still a couple of fall color Apple leaves on the tree.


An evergreen Azalea. I was given this shrub many many years ago.

It doesn't get too cold here in the Willamette valley. No snow accumulation at all. A good sunny day following this frost - possibly it will warm to the 40's today, enabling me to get out and take care of some winter clean-up.

New Plants or How I Won the Plant Lottery

One of our local nurseries had a live on-line auction this last weekend. Where it is just as easy to go overboard in your bidding as in a silent auction. Well - it was silent - just me and the computer and the ticking time clock.
I have a short list of tall, narrow plants that I want to replace in  the 200 ft. bed where we took out 18 fir trees.
I didn't find those plants but I did find some others that will do splendidly.

First up is this Norway Spruce Cupressina.  I bought these sight unseen but when I arrived at the nursery, I fell in love. These spruces are soft to the touch. I have a gorgeous blue spruce  in my yard and no one wants to go near it because it might attack. This Cuppressina is totally what I need for this living fence between my neighbor and I. The price of $10 did not hurt either. These wholesale around $68 with a retail price of over a hundred dollars. These cuppressinas are already 6 ft. tall and will immediately go to work blocking the shack house next door. They extended all the way into my front seat inside the car. (in the photo above - see how the cupressina is already blocking the house next door?)

 

Second are these Tri Color Beech Trees.   I had wanted a tri-color Dogwood but this proved impossible - mostly because they are so susceptible to anthracnose in this area (NW). These decorative Beech trees will fulfill a need for ornamental trees but be healthier. These were only $8 each with a wholesale price of $40. One has no leaves but is definitely green in the twig so we will have to watch that one.

Third - a total impulse purchase are these Graham Blandy Boxwoods. OMG - another tall, vertical element to place strategically to distort the view next door. I did buy four but my car would only hold three. These were only $6 each but are 4 ft tall. (Wholesale price? $35)

 Thursday morning was my first morning off this week and it was not raining. Previous downpours helped create a mud factor that almost sucked me in. I believe some people call that gumbo.  When you get the cheapo prices from an on-line auction - you generally need to hike out and gather in the plants yourself. Except these were BIG. As in HUGE.

I got all but two in my car when I came to a awful truth - I could not lift the last two high enough to get them into my car by myself. I called a friend; I called my husband; but eventually with no answers, I conceded defeat and scurried back to the nursery office and prevailed upon Mike to come to my rescue.

While he was helping me manhandle the cupressina into the car, he allowed how he almost bid on the Graham Blandy Boxwoods and it turned out that I could not stuff one more plant into the car so I gifted one to him for his help.

Now - they need to be planted - in the right spot. I'll probably have to move some plants to make room but already - I know where those Norway Spruces are going.

Good thing I have Columbus Day off - hopefully it won't rain on my parade.

More Spring Flowers

More flower power.
Trying to remember to take joy in the simplest things. Count my blessings and all that.

 Pacific Dogwood

 Dwarf Iris

 Hanging Baskets planted.
I usually do about ten or so, but this year I am cutting back on patio plants.
I'm not going to be a slave to watering.

 Varigated Iris. Delightful blue purple blooms.

 Chinese Dogwood finally in bloom Cornus Kousa.

 Leopard's Bane. Tres important to keep the leopards out of one's yard.

 Very expensive new Rose (meidiland  from Heirloom Roses). 18 of them.

 These plants have all found homes in the ground now.
Hinoke cypress, boxwoods (varigated leaf), tri-color jap. maple, etc.

Tulip location photo. These used to be in smart clumps in this bed but over the years have straggled a bit. (If anyone wants to help me) I need to dig up the bulbs later and replant them. And what to do with more Columbine babies? They are taking over this bed and I'm not happy.

And finally, one wheel barrow load a day keeps
1. more weeds growing?
2. makes spring weeding a smaller chore?
3. hubby occupied in dumping one load a day?
4. all the flower photos pretty?

My Weeds

For twenty years, I had a 350' long perennial bed under the fir trees. You could always work out there any time of the year as the fir boughs kept the soil from turning into a pig wallow from our Oregon rains.
Until two of the trees uprooted last year and started leaning towards the neighbor's house. . . . .

Do you see that sneaky berry vine hiding to the left of the dandelion?

We took out 18 of the 40 year old Christmas Trees and inundated 200' of the bed with sunny bright light. Rather promptly, 2000 blackberry vines raged forward. Three varieties of thistles competed with the berry vines for space and an army of artillery weeds holds forth this Spring. All of the dormant seeds from the last thousand years have sprouted, thanks to the improved lighting.
***Hint: to grow things, you need light.

Mint Invasion

So - my tentative plan is to rip out the perennials and replant with a vague Japanese feel with tall shrubs and trees. I don't believe I will ever get totally pruned into the Japanese manner - let's just say I will attempt a loose Japanese interpretation.

Do you know how difficult it is to rip out beloved flowers?

You have to get into a ruthless frame of mind, but it didn't happen today.
Today, between sunbreaks and light hail, I did another round of pulling 'weeds'.

Obviously distracted by the enormity of the job, I went back inside to get the camera to document my progress  (really needed to stretch out the back again).

The pinkish flower is from my Christmas Cheer Rhody. Clockwise from there, artillery weed is the tiny white flowers that will take aim at your eyes in just a few days. The other round leaf that is shaped on the outside is Columbine. Maybe a million Nora Barlow seedlings have burst forth.
Under the fir trees, they behaved themselves respectfully. This spring? they are reproducing themselves into a nuisance weed. Yes, they are weeds. They'll have to go.

Clockwise: Dandelion variety top left, a ziillion foxgloves, aforementioned million columbines. They are all popping up crazylike.
I borrowed those first foxgloves from the local woods. Mostly purple, a few were white. I'm used to moving these as each year they would reach for the sun at the edge of the fir boughs and drop their seeds near the front of the bed. I would take my small shovel and pop out the seedlings and plunk them back into the back of the bed where it was shady.

Foxglove

I have to repeat this photo as Dandelions have certainly repeated themselves. My mom was always trying to hide dandelion leaves in our salads. We've always had dogs and us kids - who had to pick up the dog poo, couldn't quite bring ourselves to embrace the dandelion leaf as food.
This morning, I read an article on the health benefits of Dandelion Greens, They contain Oligofructose which is great for your gut. I've got super gut problems so it was interesting,  . . . somewhat ( I still have dogs).
The article I was reading is this months issue of First Magazine. Here's another article on dandelions.

Another type of Iris that is a biennial. I bought the first one so long ago, I have forgotten the name. This plant blooms the second year with a 18" stalk with butter yellow tiny flowers held tight to the stalk. It might not even be in the iris family or else fallen out of favor as I can't source it right now. Anyway, the yearlings are also everywhere. Easy to pull and not as emotionally charged as the columbines who are so much prettier.
Underneath this iris, see more columbine and at the bottom middle - slightly to the left is a fireweed.

OH wait, tucked under the right side of the iris is another foxglove.

Here's a much prettier purple iris who just needs last years brown leaves stripped away.
This is when I went back inside to get the camera. The before picture was hidden under 50 artillery weeds.
In the foreground, I've forgotten this flower's name but it spreads underground with glossy long  round leaves and a white flower. The Iris's are mostly staying but I'm not at all sure if I will take out this low-growing white flower.

 

We are down to just the Iris's and the columbines in this photo.
The columbines will have to go or have a major transplant moment - -but not today.

And here we have an exploded version of the old herb bed.
Where the differing Mints have gone forth and become one mint.

The mints needs to be dug up and thrown on the burn pile. Mostly peppermint and spearmint.
Do you need some?  Maybe two square feet as a starter plant? All ya gotta do is throw the mat of roots down and presto! -- you have a mint bed.
Clockwise, we see some dandelion variety standing tall, bottom left is yearling biennial Iris's, remaining tall snowdrops, a boxwood, and a nectarine fruit tree. This location is approximately where I would love to create a small water feature, so in all probability, these will get moved on as well.

Taken at the Portland Japanese Gardens

This particular spot is opposite my patio where I could block the pathway the neighbor's kids and mine took years ago. It wouldn't take much to run a water line out (40') and hook up a bamboo water pipe. Maybe one that bangs when it gets full so as to scare away the neighborhood kitties? haha