All's quiet on the eastern front

The ocean breeze hits my terrace from the east south east. The only sheltered spot for the new species cane b. coccinea  is behind one of the two pilasters on the terrace. However, even here it is susceptible to being blown about by the easterly breeze. So, I moved the large 12'+ plumeria from the east side of the terrace to the adjacent side of said pilaster. It bends to the breezes offering a decent wind break. Double bonus, the digitate form of the white plumeria's leaves provides some dappling of the stern morning sun.

At times, a restless wind. A real challenge for begonias on il terrazzo. 

Bring out the body bags

As per a suggestion I've put the b. coccinea (in it's originial pot) in a large pot weighted by stone. I had to un-pot a large bromeliad, a very large, sharply serated bromeliad that grows to 5' across in the ground. It was quite a specimen, but too big for the terrace. The sawtooth edges of the leaves could probably have been used to cut wood. It turned into quite a job. I had to chop up the bromoliad to make it manageable. There was quite a lot of soil in the pot leftover, had to bag all of this with plugs of soil pulled out to plant the wart ferns. I had visited a local nursery and had bought 3 small wart ferns, which I planted each in one of the bougies. They should grow in nice like.

Cobalt

Deep cobalt pot for b. 'RED'. Simply placed potted plant into heavy pot with drainage. I want the begonia to become tightly pot bound before re-potting.

 



Tie me up, tie me down

b. coccinea following the suggestion of a fellow gardener from C. FL this girl is about 6.5' or more at it's highest, which might be a problem in the wind, hopefully a sheltered, sunny spot will be found for home. A little leggy now, but with some very careful, selective pruninng the habit will become more dense. Hopefully, I'll get the beautiful pink flowers a good deal of the year. I bought this at Living Color Nursery on Griffin Road-- $89. Pricey, but it is a mature plant.

A mighty cane indeed

Extra "terrace" strial labor

 

My outside work has required extra effort of late. I've not had the heart to put in a post, the needling of stress can promote taciturnity.

However, on a happier note, as the weather has turned slightly cooler, a flush of color is sweeping over the terrace. The bougies are beginning to fluoresce; magenta, purple, orange. The handrail  planters which where were renovated with 3/4 new soil (while still planted) seem happy to have the new rich soil.  The fish-tail ferns I planted with them have a healthy vigor to the eye.

In my experience, plants do not resent a sharp cut back in their roots. Depending on the plant-- some tend to respond quite well; croton, bougainvillea, gardenia, jasmine. I take the gardenia out of it's 26" pot every 2 years or so and clean up the root ball significantly. Re-pot with some nice expensive potting soil and she's off. I transplanted a large bougainvillea a few months back and while (ever so gently) pulling it out of the pot, at least 1/2 - 2/3 of the delicate root system got knocked off. Replanted in some good soil, it grew back better than ever. (I disagree with the mantra 'bougainvilleas like benign neglect'.  In the ground that would make more sense. The ground soil provides some sort of protective moisture and nutrients, in a pot however, good soil, regular water, a regular pesticidal bath paves the way to a full  flush of color)

However, leave begonias alone until you have the rhizomes crawling out of the pot. I'm don't have a lot of experience with canes. Although begonias can be surprising sturdy when it comes to sun and rain.. their root systems can be delicate and an unwilling plant will die if not left well enough alone at least they have at my awkward hand.



Here's a rhizomatous that will grow up and out of it's pot --Selph's Mahogany. Not to everyone's taste, it is one of my favorites. The flower stalks in the late winter and spring appear to fly out of the upright rhizomes.
 

 

Back to the flowers; the giant white florets of the plumeria, quite numerous now, would lend themselves well to a bridal bower, their petals are a very clear white with the very slightest hint of yellow toward the center.

It's a  rainy day here today. About a week ago, I scattered some time-released fertilizer high in nitrogen and tends to promote acidity. The rain off and over the last few days has enabled the croton and the gardenia to suck up the nitrogen. Their leaves take on a deeper green with a nice sheen to them.

In defiance to the leaden sky, a sprightly green



The objects of my desire

I assume the commercial growers of bougainvillea spray insecticide on their plants in the field.  Mine certainly suffer constantly from pests. I am going to dedicate one watering every 2 weeks to pest control by putting in a tablespoon of Bayer Protect in 3L of water. This will include the potato tree which seems to be quite susceptible to getting eaten up.

Having said this, the bougainvilleas are beginning to flower. The magenta is in the midst a big flush. The purple hanging over the handrail are putting out shyly as is the orange. The plumeria are in full bloom and the newly planted pandora vine has a beautiful flower on it with buds on the way.

b. 'DOC' a new hybrid from PHOE

b. 'Doc' catching a few rain drops. First time using a plant stand in the garden. It will probably rust soon enough, but that wouldn't be a bad thing I'm guessing. It boosts Doc up to a good height- to catch the sun while in a sheltered inlet of larger plants and become a focal point. The white plant stand isn't as distracting from a distance. I might have to paint it.
Spent a few hours cutting around the root of bougainvillea in planters. I pulled out 2/3 of the soil (a thatch of tiny capillaries). I replaced this with a rich potting soil full of humus and a moisture control substance. In this new rich soil, I also plopped in some fish-tail ferns as the bougainvillea trunks looked too bare. It was lightly raining so I took the opportunity to swab the decks. Probably no complaints about excessive water gushing from my drain pipes as I swept out dirt and leaves with the rain already falling.

Houston Begonia Society-- great resource

BEGONIA PARADISE

Another at PHOE should have asked the name. I'll post when I find it.
a rhizomatous with mallet leaves.. and very distinctive spotting..mmmm

Palm Hammock Orchid Estate

The slight cooling of the weather inspired a trip to Palm Hammock-- it's begonia time. I'll post picks tomorrow of begonia 'Doc' which I bought. More later. Photos: me of course.

They did not pave this parking lot-- it's still paradise

In hothouse #2, begonia acetosa and friends

Hungry mouths

There is just the slightest hint of cooling here. Some sort of catepillar has alit and has been eating orange leaves as well as the solanum macranthum. Big bites. Going to Palm Hammock Orchid Estate tomorrow. The cooling weather will lend itself to a handsome new begonia.

Time flies like the wind, white flies seemed to have been blown away

It must have been during the battering of wind and rain during tropical storm Isaac that the whitefly population was decimated. It gives me a profound sense of peace to see this miracle. The back of the bird-of-paradise leaves that used to be covered with furry colonies are now smooth and a glossy green. Perhaps we'll get a break from these sorry inventions for a while. A cool winter would drive another nail into their coffin. No love lost here.

Croton cuttings and the amazing regeneration of a tortured bougainvillea

Cuttings of my favorite (and only) emerald yellow-veined croton are being eased into the sunlight. They started in deep shade. Look forward to larger pots of this. 

The bougainvillea, almost completely stripped down now has buds appearing, trying their hardest to burst out of the woody trunks. Plants are compelled spit out new green. Inspirational. 

We've been having hot, sunny days, punctuated by thunderstorm in the afternoons. Still having to water, especially bougies under the portico as they don't get the rain. They are not in large enough planters.. Got some figuring out to do there. 

Bromeliad 'Zebrina Surprise' pup is growing up nicely, about 2/3 or so the size of it's mother. 

The buddha belly bamboo has had a few periods of needing water, one of the new culms has shriveled. Perhaps with some more regular watering, it will continue to come up. 

Dark, loud storms in the pm

Looking west after a muscled pm shower

A little more on Plumeria

Though it's growing in some serious sun (full southern exposure to the tropical sky), this plat has grown too tall, too quickly-- probably too much water and / or food



This plumeria has grown in densely. It is tight in it's pot-- which makes it easier to handle water. I do feed it but rarely.

 

Nyctaginaceae Castrati

This will be an interesting experiment. Stripped the bushy purple bougainvillea into 3 tall stalks (behind potato tree), almost completely bare. Notice one stem tied to left of trellis. It had grown in a loop so I had to start over and bend it as straight as possible and tie to trellis. Having started over, I can pay a lot more attention to the shape of the plant. Pleach against corner walls?  The middle branch was crossing the taller branch on the right, so I pulled this into a better position and tied it into place to train growth correctly. The branch on the right has obviously been stripped on side branches and tied tightly to the wall. Ultimate goal is to have an overhang of beautiful purple bougainvillea in the winter. It may take a year for that. It was a hard, hard pruning. I'll post progress. Interesting to see how long it takes to fill in.

Before- see right corner for a beautiful bougie before radical surgery:


Sloshed Bayer Feed and Protect on potato tree, bougies, jasmine, bleeding heart. I've been watering with fish/poop and Superthrive more regularly. Feeding the plumeria too much causes leggy growth. It is not a very demanding plant in terms of water or food.

Bad dog.. didn't lift a paw to help in the garden. Stayed in the A/C all day.