Snake Plant

It comes as no surprise, at this point, that we have another Fall of Ceasar (well, one of his progeny). The two leaves had toppled out of the pot, possibly during the minor earthquake we experienced. Upon review of the roots, which had withered away, I can safely conclude the cause to be lack of anchor holding the top-heavy leaves to the soil.

I cut a triangle into the bottom of each leaf, as suggested online in order to provide root-growth area that isn’t touching the bottom of a cup. I left both leaves out for the cuts to callus, but in those few days, the smaller leaf had rotted, so it was eliminated as a propagation candidate. The larger leaf is now soaking in its water propagation bath, and we’ll see what we see in two months.

Fig Trees

Being no longer concerned about surprise frosts, I moved the two fig trees back outside.

During the relocation, I removed the weeds that had been thriving in the sun-soaked pot, to avoid competition for water and nutrients. I’m not particularly confident in this thought process, but I suppose I never will be.

According to the internet, these unknown weeds might have been lemon balm or catnip, and now I regret not saving a bit to confirm the identity with my cat.

Clover

Continuing our outdoor adventures, I decided it was time to sow the clover seeds. Priming the ground, I pulled up the rest of the weed barrier fabric strips – both the layer I put down, and the deeper layer left some time ago by another person.

It was interesting to observe the ‘fluffy’ mulch-inclusive soil under my fabric layer, and the packed-flat, clay-y soil under 2^nd fabric.

I timed this little escapade right after a bit of rain, so that the disturbed soil was heavier and less likely to be carried away by the wind. Thankfully it was not too heavy that I couldn’t push it all around. After the tarps were removed, I raked the soil out evenly, best I could, and sprinkled clover seed all around. A second, longer bout of rain came through the next day, and I was out again, after the storm, tossing out another round of clover seeds, to hopefully increase the chances of them claiming the land.

Clover seed needs to be in contact with moisture and not buried deep (or possibly at all), so I’m hoping I planned for optimal conditions for clover growth. It can supposedly start growing in 2-3 days (no dice), but can take up to 7-10 days. The area needs to remain moist, so I may need to go out with a watering can in the next few days. Keep your fingers crossed this works!

Hyacinths

During my shuffling around of the soil, I seem to have loosened the dirt at the base of the hyacinths, which had been planted right at the edge of the tarps. When I came out after the storms, the whole row of flowers was leaning forward like it was the morning after a night of heavy drinking.

I packed the soil down again and used the stakes from the weed barrier fabric to try propping up the leaning towers of hyacinth. I’d call it a moderate success.

Most thrilling find of the week: possible new growth of the hyacinths, as interpreted by the secondary, smaller cluster of leaves popping up next to the primary set. I’m not sure if I was expecting additional growth for these flowers at all, but I was certainly not anticipating it to be occurring already. Considering these plants only have a 3-4 year life cycle, I suppose they do need to make tracks fast for such a relatively short time period.