A Rosemary Autopsy The delightfully fragrant rosemary plant has decided to shuffle off this mortal coil. I definitely want to get another next year. Or maybe during the winter, to be kept inside. Although I assumed it probably died from overwatering along with this more humid climate (at least compared to the Mediterranean, rosemary’s preferred… Read more

The Little Troopers I’ve had three wee cuttings of Tradescantia zebrina chilling in a jar for the past three-ish weeks, as another standard propagation of this prolific plant. For the last two of those three weeks, my negligent arse has not added water to the jar. At all. Somehow, the little-to-no water did not seem… Read more

The Peppers The remaining pepper plants really are coming along nicely, in that they are still flush with chlorophyll and standing erect. Except for one that tilted for a day after a squirrel dug into the dirt at the base. I assume the squirrels are burying nuts at this time of year, rather than digging… Read more

My mother has a distinct dislike of cut flowers, in large part due to the inevitable death that awaits these victims of the shears. I can certainly empathize with this point of view, but death comes for us all, be it today, tomorrow, or years from now. I should like to enjoy the loveliness flowers… Read more

Pepper Plant Be Poppin’ Every day I go out and get to see these survivors thriving. It’s quite the thrill. With the late start they were given, it would take a miracle for them to produce peppers before the season is over. This is a case of enjoying the journey, not the destination. We’ve moved… Read more

Delayed post for Week VII, partially due to weather conditions mucking about with my plans, and partially due to my pre-existing condition of being human. It was finally time for me to take a more active role in the wee plot of garden in front of my house. While I would love to fill the… Read more

This week, nothing unexpected metaphorically blew up in my Plant Life, so I decided to have a Pruning Day. Removing dead and dying leaves helps protect the rest of the plant from decay. For some plants (such as the Tradescantia group), pruning achieves the goal of making a plant bushier and less ‘leggy’ (long vines… Read more

The pepper pups have been replanted. Rain and the Vanishing Flowers All week, the forecast has predicted plenty of rain, yet the weather has not quite delivered. Having more faith in the weather report than I should, I refrained from watering my outdoor plants, assuming the sky would take care of them. Safe to say,… Read more

This week I created a raised garden bed out of an old plastic storage bin. I set it up before we were to have two days of rain, in the hopes that it would thoroughly soak the bed, priming it for planting. First, I drilled holes into the base for drainage. I chose to place… Read more

A Beautiful Opportunity The past week, my local public library offered a free workshop for people to learn the basics of houseplant care. Much knowledge was gained. One of the most shocking concepts I’d never before considered is the importance of sanitation to protect the ‘open wound’ of roots or trimmed stems. In my mind,… Read more