This week I acquired some locally sourced wild violets. The area of growth had just been mowed, but there remained a small line of plants along the edge of a wall that survived the mass beheading. I planted the violets in the shaded iris bed, in order to provide some layering, and to compete with the unknown and uninvited weeds that were sprouting up. Fighting weeds with weeds is a new favourite.

When I checked up on the violets a couple days after planting, I was a bit dismayed to see them drooping (even after I had watered them the day before), and holes forming in the leaves (I neemed them the day after, uncertain if a pest had taken hold). Maybe I should have left them to callus, or applied cinnamon or neem, or planted in a different spot. Time will tell if they bounce back.

On the upside, I also discovered a most delightful surprise: the fall-planted irises are starting to bloom! After I’d given up all hope, thinking maybe I planted the bulbs too deep, or in an area too deficient in sunlight, or before a too mild winter, hope SPRINGS anew. Nearly vibrating with giddiness over this poufy green packet forming on just one of the stems. I have no clue what colour is about to pop up, but I am excited to find out.

In the rest of the garden, the clover continues to grow. At this stage, the progress is not as visibly noticeable, probably similar to how a 10 year old and an 11 year old human look alike, while a newborn and a 1 year old are remarkably different.

Other than the violet procurement, my primary plant parent interference this week was in handling one of the cool aloe pups that I had previously transplanted out of the parent plant pot. The aloe pup had been leaning in its new container, so I pulled it out and found that the roots were rotten and withered.

I’ve not had great luck in salvaging root systems, so I decided to try propagating the aloe with leaf cuttings.

After spritzing the cut ends with alcohol to protect against infection, I left them out to callus for two days. The calluses look terribly unhappy, and I’m uncertain if alcohol used in this manner was ill-advised, or if I should have applied cinnamon instead.

Anyhow, one of the smallest leaves did not survive this 1^st stage of propagation, and I’m not too hopeful for the other small leaf. I’m not even too sure what manner of propagation might work for these aloe plants, so I have two leaves for the vertical-in-water method, and two leaves for the horizontal-in-moist-dirt method. What a great opportunity for experimentation!