Not cheap, but a great value

$75 bougainvillea (red Pixie) Richard Lyons. Beautiful 16" x 6" heavy matte ceramic bonsai bowl from Tropical Plants, Tamarac FL. @ $125.

Clean at last, clean at last thank god all mighty.. clean at last

Once the home of a buddha

How do you get a potted bamboo out of a pot. Didn't think I was going to get this one clear of the steel rhizomes of a mature clump of buddha belly bamboo. I cut the culms down to the soil, and got up as much root as I could with the Sawzall.  Poured 'stump out' on the visible rhizomes. Covered the exposed roots with black trash bags. Repeated this about 2 months later. Two months later, I began working on the roots again. the main root ball just wasn't giving. It was still hard wood..But I began working around the edge of the pot and was able to loosen and begin removing roots (not rhizomes) and soil. I was able to clear soil from around the root ball, it began to give. No cutting necessary. Dig, dig, dig. I had about 10 garbage bags of soil and root by the time I was done. Need to clean it up some,

Somethings bear repeating

In my mind's eye, I have this form ready to be brought into the world! (photo: me, San Juan PR)

Snipping just so...

Let's get busy..

Coccoloba uvifera bonsai
or,
sea grape a utube

I'm going to borrow a picture so you can see what I'm thinking about:

I wanna bonsai my baby

Significant changes kicked off by complaints from below about excess watering pouring from drain spouts onto their terrace. Upon reflection (after knee-jerk ranting), I don't blame them. Then.. the poodles next door evidently eat bougainvillea bracts that blow over from my terrace. I was asked to trim the bougainvillea-- which I did. However, bougainvillea is WAY too important to my heart to even THINK of giving them up.

Ha ha ha, tee hee hee, bougainvillea I love thee

Culling the number of pots and messy plants has improved the cleanliness of the terrace floor. But removing the bamboo and palm have exposed the terrace to the ever increasing intensity of the sun as we approach the the vernal equinox (where as the year gone?).

The oven's a warmin' .

The angle of the morning light has changed markedly in the past 2 weeks. I'll need to readjust the winter positioning of some to protect them from the harsher light. The great hope now lies with the pair of sea grape one on either end of  the terrace. Grow my children, grow. Give us shade. Give us depth.

Going to order to order a book on bonsai. Might be helpful in keeping the grapes trimmed.

Great expectations

with the terrace in the middle of renovation, it looks bare from the street as I drive underneath before turning into the parking lot. I've trimmed the jasmine's legginess back a week ago, new growth has already begun to appear. And why wouldn't it, the past week has been a circle of sun, rain, heat. Can hardly wait for the sea grapes to take on some size, putting some green back in the view from below, offering shade from the sun for orchids and begonias, etc., etc., etc. I've stashed the orchids that I've bought at Home Depot in a deeply shaded nook next a pot overflowing with wart fern. They've acclimated to the terrace and they're doing well. I'll publish the names of each when I have enough energy to get off the sofa.

High seas on the way? (reef the main sail)

A second sea grape for the other side of the terrace. This 20" pot is a heavy ceramic babe with a very pale blue grey wash over a tan base.

Hot April sun. A hat in the garden is a must.



The Bluebird and I (Living Color Nursery)

Orch-huahua

One of my custodials, a delicate orange flowered mini-vanda. 

ascocentrum miniatum

As time goes by..

3rd week

Pulling up the anchors

The bamboo has been cut down, the palm I salvaged from a haunted trailer park has been cut at the base. Of course both of these studs had plenty of root I'm going to have to deal with before I can replant the valuable (in size and beauty) pots. As reported, I have dowsed the chopped bamboo culms with "Stump Rot", I then covered all exposed soil with black plastic. I re-wet the soil a week later as suggested online. The palm came down earlier in the week. I sliced the top and trunk into a few pieces that went easily down the small square rubbish shoot- which is on an outside walkway. I saved a 2.5' piece of the trunk thinking of strapping a vanda on it.. and then securing somehow. My neighbors have had the chance to watch me force hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of soil, plant carcasses down said rubbish hole. I'll use the Skillzaw to cut around the base as the palm roots radiate from the base of the stump. I should be able to cut through these fairly easy, after that.. I just don't know. When I finally have these two pots empty and all cleaned up, the experience will probably be useful to others as I'm sure any serious container gardener has had to remove a mature plant from a large pot, etc. I'll keep you posted.

Otherwise, the bougainvillea are offering magenta's, purple, orange/ coral and yellow bracts. On different plants of course. The begonias are still blooming but just barely. They put out impressively for a month or so. The Pandora vine is bloom and forming pods. I'm going to let the pods mature as they will make great gifts for some gardeners I know. I spotted some black and orange caterpillars munching down on the Dutchman's Pipe. I haven't been too impressed with this vine. It's gorgeous on a huge trellis with plenty of airflow underneath. It rots easily in cramped quarters. Might have to come out-- a never ending search for the perfect family of plants that would be willing to marry my terrace.

Moved the native seagrape into place on the eastern side of the terrace. Some of the leaves have gotten  seriously sunburned. Not field grown in full sun I guess. It's almost a weed down here, though I think a handsome one with beautiful large round leaves with red veining- and grape like fruit that the parrots love. . Should grow out fine. I will report on it's progress.

Sea grape in puce

A native. A friend of sun, salt, wind and rain.

Hoping Miss Joachim will flower under the hot summer sun

Although I have smothered some of the orchids with a pillow, I have a few little monkeys still hanging on. Below we have terete leaved, several types of vanda and a schomburgkia something-onia lower right.

Chicken wire filled with hardwood branch and bark for moisture. 

The renanthera storiei, a elegant example of a monopodial is a handsome straight backed girl.. Leaves are a faded but clean of spotting of any sort. Coming to think that this one can't get too much moisture. There are only a few aerial roots to absorb the moisture. It is in a prime spot for some direct mid - late PM sun.  The three trichoglottis brachiata are holding their own too. Funny-- the orchids (vanda, terete, trichoglottis) wired to the chicken wire above are growing better than those simply hanging..

In bloom; white and red bleeding heart, bougainvillea, vietnamese gardenia and the begonias of course, all of them. The Pandora vine is taking a bloom break. Unfortunately the absolute queen of fragrance, the orange tree, has finally finished and at every flower there is now what might be a  fruit someday.

Tricky love

I've killed at least half of my orchids. I threw two more out today. My gorgeous blue vanda is looking burned out. Too much fertilizer. I'm such an addict. I'm advised by all to fertilize once every two weeks during the growing season. I put a tablespoon of Jack's in with every morning spray. I once heard "if there were a pill that made everything perfect, absolutely everything. I'd take two", this describes my relationship with fertilizer and orchids..  Will glyphosate kill the bamboo rhizomes I need out of my big beautiful pot?

Urban Babylon



Your very own blogger

The hanging gardens of Herzog & de Meuron at the Perez Miami

Found an interesting fertilizer at Homo Depot today; Alaska, All Purpose Fertilzer. Pellets made of fish, kelp, feather meal, blood meal etc. Clean, relatively non odorous. I like organic foods for breathing some life back into soil that's been in pots for several years. I love PlantTone which is loaded with dried blood etc., but it smells too bad to keep in the house.