Bringing in the Pots?!

I have a lot of indoor plants - and some inevitably end up outdoors in the summer.

Now that frost is just around the corner, I'm beginning to think about which ones to bring indoors again...

I often cut branches off the geraniums and put them in a vase of water until they grow roots. Then I plant them in soil, hoping they'll be ready to grow flowers by next spring.

I'd like to bring in the evergreen (that scrawny plant in the centre above). Some day it could become a tiny living Christmas tree...!

So many decisions to make before the inevitable first frost arrives! And then there's the second inevitable question: Where would I put them indoors?!

New Look!

I've been moving plants around...

Even though the weather is still cool at night, I hope the spider plant, geranium and palm tree will survive outdoors.

(Thanks to my neighbour, Diane, I have an array of large outdoor pots.)

I need indoor space for my two surviving amaryllis bulbs that show signs of budding.

The indoor garden in the sunroom is taking up more and more space!

I'm Confused!

Among the potted plants I brought indoors in recent weeks is the plant I picked up on someone's front sidewalk because it was marked "FREE."

It has thick rubbery leaves and I assumed it was a rubber plant...

I trimmed off several limper leaves and took this picture of it. 

A few days later, I was surprised to discover that an app on my phone had identified it as a "Blushing Philodendron." I typed "Rubber Plant?" in the comment space - but nothing further has happened... so I'm still confused!  

I looked up "Blushing Philodendron" and found a picture of this plant - which doesn't really look like the one I have. For one thing, the leaves aren't as thick and rubbery.

Another test will be if the plant survives the winter in my drafty porch - a philodendron apparently doesn't like drafts!

Bringing Plants Indoors

At this time of year, I miss my bright, spacious classroom, where - in autumn - I'd bring my outdoor potted plants (from home) in for the winter, as I did in my teaching days.

It's a lot harder now.

Our house has lots of windows - but nothing like my classroom! And my plant collection gets bigger every year!

I have a hard time letting plants die... So I feel a pang of sadness when neighbours put healthy Boston ferns out for "yard waste collection" when summer ends. I even regret that Halloween pumpkins aren't all repurposed as food. (Though they are repurposed as compost for next year's gardens.)

I wish I could store my outdoor potted plants in a commercial greenhouse - like my aunt and uncle do.  

Their plants come back in spring looking better than ever!

Instead, I look for a bright corner where I can keep them - far from my other indoor plants - to "quarantine" them for a few months, in case they have an infestation.

This year they are sitting in our entry - next to boots and shoes!

Rubber Plant Update

The day after bringing my new rubber plant home - indoors - into my sitting area, I noticed that my wrists were itchy.

I didn't think much of it until the next day, when the itchiness continued.

Why am I itchy? I asked myself... Have I eaten anything new? Used a new product for laundry? Or a new hand cream, perhaps...?

Nothing new in my environment except this new plant sitting across from my chair.

Could I be allergic to the rubber tree plant?! Allergy to plants has never been a problem for me before - but I know someone who is allergic to nuts - and also to nut trees. She discovered the tree allergy after moving into her first house - which happened to have a large nut tree in the front yard. (She eventually moved...)

I looked up "allergy to rubber trees" and discovered that there was indeed a known allergy- to natural latex in the sap.

Not wanting to risk further issues, I took the plant outdoors... Would my itchiness now go away?

It's now sitting next to a potted geranium and an indoor olive tree - while I figure out what to do next!

My plan now is to leave it outdoors till September or October, then bring if indoors again and see if the itchiness returns.

What Now?!!

I was excited to see this plant - the LAST one on a givaway box in Old Ottawa South. Terry and I were heading to the Green Door restaurant for lunch...

I'm going to pick that up - if it's still there when we go back to the car, I said - hoping it would be... 

And it was!!

Does it need to be repotted?! It's overflowing leaves indicate perhaps "yes."

Online research indicated that they needed heavy pots - so that they wouldn't topple over. But not necessarily larger pots. In fact, the maximum size pot a large plant should have is 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter and in height.

And this was a small plant - in height.

I've never had a rubber plant before. But my former colleague, Vera, has one that belonged to HER grandmother... and Vera is now a grandmother herself! So rubber trees can live a long time!

Maybe it’s time for me to call Vera for some expert advice!

Puzzling Plant Development

A few years ago, I purchased several amaryllis bulbs - which bloomed beautifully in late winter. 

When they finished blooming, I cut off the flower stalks and continued watering them.

Then, in spring, I transplanted them into slightly bigger pots and left them outdoors on our front deck, out of direct sunlight. I kept watering them until September or October, when I cut off their leaves,, removed them from soil and kept them in s paper bag in the basement for 8-12 weeks before replanting them in pots of fresh soil. I put them near a window and started watering them again...

I did the same a few months ago to these two bulbs. They're currently sitting outdoors.

But I've noticed something very puzzling!!

One off the pots has a second plant growing in it!!

Is this a seed that blew in and self planted?

Is it a "side shoot" off the amaryllis bulb in the pot?

Or is it a plant that was hidden in soil from another plant, soil that I used to fill this pot??

I'm curious to see what will develop!

Beauty Everywhere!

Walking around in nature near my son's home in the country, I see beauty everywhere!

Every (random) grouping of wild plants - like these grasses in a ditch no longer filled with water...

These colorful flowers that "just happened" to be growing at the edge of the ditch - are all so beautiful....

These white daisies growing at the foot of some pine trees... 

No human gardener has planted or tended this - yet here it is! Beauty everywhere, if I just stop and look!

God's handiwork all around us - planted by wind and birds, tended by rain and sun... Just as beautiful as any garden planted by human hands.

Nature is innately - lavishly - beautiful!

It's a Mystery!

My grandson was showing me the bean seed he had planted at school  - which had sprouted into a nice-looking plant.

We then headed outdoors so that he could show me something else.

To my surprise, he pulled the plant out of the soil and showed me the roots.

Grandma, what happened to the seed? Where is it?!

I looked at the roots... No seed husk in there, that I could see...

I don't know, I replied. It's a mystery... Maybe it melted. (I guess the right word would have been "dissolved.")

Leave the plant in the soil. Let it grow. Don't you want it to grow beans to eat?! (Thinking, even as I said it, that there was little likelihood that a bean plant growing in a small soil-filled glass would ever bear beans, especially if it was pulled out daily to check on its roots!)

So he replanted the bean, leaving me to ponder the mystery: What happened to the seed??

Dividing an Overgrown Aloe Vera

For years I tried - unsuccessfully- to grow aloe vera. Then, (lo and behold!) one I bought at a church bazaar actually grew... and grew!

Eventually it was so big that I divided it. Several years later, its offspring (the plant on the left below) is doing well... 

But it was time to divide the original plant again! I cut off a few "branches" and just put them in cactus soil. They had no roots attached. One "pup" had already broken off - it's the small one in the pink pot above. Its colour is a bit off, so it may be drying up. I hope it survives.

Here are the other aloe vera "babies"... I hope they make it! I really have no idea what the "secret of success" is! Maybe starting with a healthy plant, putting it in bright sunlight - then neglecting it! (In other words, no overwatering!)

Amaryllis Growth

Last winter, I enjoyed four amaryllis flowers. One was a re-blooming plant I had bought the previous year. The others were new bulbs, encased in wax, that didn't need to be watered.

Once they finished blooming, I removed the flowers - and the wax - and let the bulbs continue to grow in pots outdoors.

In fall, I removed the bulbs from the soil and let them lie dormant for eight weeks in the dark before repotting them in early December.

Since then, I've been disappointed that nothing remarkable has happened. I had been expecting a sudden burst of life once I brought the bulbs out of the dark.

But now, a month later, I notice that two of the bulbs are slowly beginning to sprout again. 

Will the others sprout as well? 

(I guess I'll just have to wait and see!)