lessons learned

Orchids;  If they're happy DO NOT MOVE THEM, they are creatures of habit! learn from my costly and saddening mistakes.

Foliar feeding my plants was suggested to me, I've found it to be a convenient way to apply nourishing tonics like my 'green genie' cocktail; 1tb MiracleGro 1/4 cup Alaska emulsified seaweed 2 capfuls of SuperThrive in 3L of water. Everyone loves it.

Colonel Mustard in the conservatory

I also add Alaska dried fish pellets every so often to enliven soil.

Let your soil (and roots) breathe before soaking it thoroughly with water again. Ants help aerate the soil.

Enjoy this humid hot summer! The plants are thriving.

Bonsai

My first effort - a wizened old bougainvillea

I trimmed it hard, but I love the gnarlier look. 

field trip to H&F Imports Bonsai Pots and Supplies

long island ficus

small finely serratted leaves.. wan't marked but elegante (cypress?)

fukien tea

 I purchased 5 fukien teas and a shallow free-form platter for them.

fujian forest (i'll retake pic)

The fukien teas above were $14 for smaller $20 fro slightly taller. The pot was $35. Expensive. Tools and rocks etc. were very overpriced. Do your homework. But still worth a visit.

some rooms with a view

the evening summer skies from the 4th floor

a fair part of gardening on a terrace

poison apple? or fruit of the gods

Banana-like fruit growing on my philondendron. 

Monstera deliciosa? Better be careful! 

Sharply incised palmate leaves.. not the round leaves usually attributed to deliciosa. Perhaps the mature fruit will help id.

tricho tricho

I have two trichoglottis brachiata. Both from the same Hawaiian nursery. The smaller is mounted on a block of tree fern. It's doing well. I have a larger plant, that has a healthy upper body the lower roots were dead underneath bark in hanging pot. So.. I cut off the unhealthy lower stem. the rest of the orchid I wired to the sea grape. It is now a neighbor of the terete 'miss joachim'. Time'll tell. 

mm. I think all of my plants are growing quite vigorously of late. I asked Leonard to help me in my garden. He died several weeks ago. He loved nature. Souls can be reborn in the garden can't they?

Stormy weather

Lots of rain lately. Pics from the new Nikon.

Nascent blood orange

Sea grape, sex unknown

Undergrowth under the shade of the bonsai 

Nikon D3200 w/ Nikor 18-55 and Nikor 55-200

baby's first steps, oh what a pleasure to use!

Miss Joachim takes to the sea (grape)

Snipped off the top of this terete 'Miss Joachim' and lashed to the trunk of a sea grape.The trunk is 5' so it will be able to climb for a while and hopefully throw out some color.