March 2, 2005
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Urban Garden Update - It looks like the weather will be nice on the weekend. Time to do more work on the deck. Took a trip down to Home Depot in Colma and picked up a small sago and this cool hair grass. I love the way it sways with the wind – kind of give a different dimension to container gardening. I have to look for some more ornamental grasses, something I’m not too familiar with other than knowing they are hardy and take full sun. The king alfreds are almost ready to bloom.
One project I’m pretty happy with is making a spark arrester for the chimenea with a couple of items from Cliff’s. The CCR’s from the condo association says that there can’t be any open flames (which, alas, means no tiki torches) on the deck – so voila! I plan to burn pine cones in this - I’m going to have to take a walk in GG Park and collect them myself, go see if they have any in the flower mart, or just get them online. That will satiate this pyrophile.
Meet Kerman – Hal and I named him after a mutual acquaintance who conincidently we both dated (it’s a small town, folks!) in our pasts. Kerman is a local tv reporter and the station always sends him to remote places in the Bay Area to give a live 2 minute weather report (usually a winterstorm on Donner’s Pass or a rainstorm in Gilroy) No matter how harsh or desolate the weather conditions or locations -you can count on Kerman to get the job done.
I don’t know what to do with the pointsettia from last Christmas, it’s still doing well and I don’t have the heart to toss it – I’ll just keep it behind the chair for now.
We finally got a chance to pick up a couple of huge terra cotta pots & redwood trellis(es?) for the mandevillas, in a instant they picked up and new growth is emerging! Since the flowers are pink I found a pink flower seed mix online to grow with. I know – how gay! Somebody has to do it, so why not me! I’m certainly getting my exercise lifting big bags of soil and pots!
The staghorn is enjoying the rainy weather we’ve been having – I’ll plant some epiphytes on it soon. This guy normally hangs on the wall, but the rain keeps it well watered.
The best thing about container gardening is that it is so easy to move things around until you find it’s feng shui.
Even the succulents are happy with the rain and sending up flowers.
The rosemary plant is doing well – I’m started to use this in cooking. Soon there will be light blue lobelia under it and…
Here is the lavender plant starting to perk up – it looked a little spent at the plant store but will be great to use in cooking and of course my favorite – on top of vanilla ice cream!
The pink jasmine is starting to bloom – it’s called pink because the flowers are pink before they open up. There’s lobelia (Cascade of Color) that just germinated in the pot, too.
It’s true - I’m a shutterbug!
see ya!
Comments (4)
Beautiful plants, Rich!
The pointsettia will flourish – put it in a bigger pot so it can grow and won’t dry out too much, and it may turn into a tree or something.
I love succulents.
And all plants, really.
Except for shrub daisies (Euryops).
If you buy a shrub daisy, Rich, I will have to spray herbicide all over it.
Thanks! Your plants look awesome man… keep up the good work!
Just lookin around and found ya. I wish I had more room at my place to have a bunch of plants like you have. They are such a mood lifter! My mother has kept a poinsettia alive for over 10 years……you just hafta put it in a bigger pot and give it the right light and it will do just fine. Have a good one!
~Stephen