Today is the ultimate day of retribution against the creepy crawlies in my vegetable garden. As I mentioned yesterday, I could not find a decent, organic, safe insecticide at the Garden Centre yesterday so I just made up some of my own. It already seems to work on the bugs I sprayed directly, but the question is: will it also kill my plants? I guess only time will tell…

I just filled up a spray bottle with warm water, crushed and minced garlic, cayenne pepper, a few drops of dish soap, a tablespoon of mineral oil with citrus oil (edible–it’s what I use to oil my bamboo cutting board), and 4 drops of Grapefruit Seed extract (blegh!). Then I sprayed the crap out of my veggies, especially the undersides of the Swiss Chard, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and lettuces. I doubt my Broccoli will survive, though, they’re looking pretty pathetic and small right now, however, they are just starting to produce florets, so who knows…my “doomed” tomatoes rebounded, after all.

I’ll try and post a few garden update pictures in a bit. First, I need to pick out all the old lettuce that has bolted and replace it with my Brussel Sprouts and Stir Fry Greens mix.

EDIT: Okay, here are the photo updates…

Full view of veggie garden

The lush ex-"shrub" garden

View of the "Terrace" Garden

Terrace Garden Part 2 (Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Carrots in rubbermaid bins at the back)

Bugs ruining my lettuce (or is the lettuce ruining my bugs?)

Yes, I admit it. I fell off the Garden Centre wagon. What started out as an innocent trip to pick up some live ladybugs (which were unfortunately out of stock until Wednesday) ended up in a free-for-all plant shopping extravaganza. Well, not quite. I did pick up some veggies to replace a few dying plants/bolted lettuce (I bought Brussel Sprouts (mmm!) and some Stir Fry Greens–think Bok Choy). But then I also snooped around the tropical plants section. You see, they have these really really cute teeny tiny 2″ pots of tropicals and they have now lowered the price from $2.49 each (I think) to $1.49, so I just HAD to pick up a few cuties (another Baby Rubber, another Fittonia, a tiny Fern, a weird little succulent thingy that looks like it has cobwebs or cotton growing on it [EDIT: Just found out this plant is called a Sempervivum arachnoideumaka "Cobweb Houseleek" aka "Hen and chick"], and some other type of Rubber plant) as well as a couple large succulents (with matching pots, of course) and one cacti with a little pot. I’ve never been a huge cactus fan, but they’re starting to grow on me. However, I really enjoy the beautifully-coloured and thick succulents. I bought a big blue-green-pink one that looks kind of like Agave (perhaps it is?) and a smaller rose-coloured one. So, my little Garden of Darrell is growing and taking over my desk, which is fine by me as that right-hand side of the desk is basically inaccessible (due to my drawers being in the way and the big lamp) so I’m happy to have a bunch of beautiful, living plants rather than more tchotchkes and Dr. Who figurines

New Succulents: Graptoveria Opalina(?) and Echeveria

Echeveria Hybrid

Brain Cactus (Mamillaria matudae cristata) and more miniature Tropicals

New Tillandsia concolor (wet)

New mini Fittonia and Fern

I still have to figure out a way to naturally get rid of all the pests and creepy crawlies on the vegetables. I couldn’t find anything organic/edible at the Garden Centre, but I think I can make something with dish soap, oil, and cayenne pepper. I’ll have to google it again to be sure, though.

Alright, gotta go have dinner and get ready for the big Lost finale!

D-

[Wordpress is being very weird today, I almost lost this whole post and it won't let me post pictures. I'll try it again.]

Just a quickie today, I’m sloooowly working on cleaning up my room (spent an hour dusting off all my Doctor Who figurines–hey! Stop laughing!).

Here is an updated pic of the “Garden of Darrell”–I ended up moving the Zebra Plant and the Coffee Plant to my desk area. They looked pretty on the floating shelves by my bedside but they just won’t get any light at all over there; my room is on the back and side of the house  on the first floor (which has large hedges between our house and the neighbours), so it’s quite the dark cave. Anyways, pictures:

And one bonus Zoë picture–this is what she looks like in the morning when I get up before she does:

Often, I’ll find her sleeping like that with her eyes open, it’s kinda creepy!

That’s it for now!

D-

…I went to the garden centre AGAIN! Well, I went for my Mom to pick up a watering wand so she can water her hanging baskets, and I saw more beautiful little air plants drying out on the string display and of course I had to “rescue” them. I just gave them a half-hour bath to revive them and they are drying upside down at the moment. I will take a picture of them and post it later today. These plants are so neat and unique, and they are pretty cheap too (ranging from $2-$14 each).

Here is a list of the Tillandsia (“air plant”) species that I have “rescued”:

Tillandsia

• albida
• xerographica x brachycaulos
• montana (large form)
• magnusiano
• seleriana
• seleriana x circinnatoides
• stricta
• bergeri (a whole clump of tiny plants)
• rodrigueziana
• aeranthos (“bronze”)
• neglecta (“red spike”)
• crocata v. tristes (“fragrant”)
• ionantha x brachycaulos
• plus the 3 unidentified plants mounted on a log

See? I’m starting quite the collection! Maybe I’ll have an air plant museum one day LOL. The good thing about these diminutive plants are that they ship really well, so if I do end up moving across country, I can just give them a couple of good baths the week before I move, let them air dry, and then ship them to myself cheaply across country. They also put out beautiful little flowers, often “blushing” while they do (foliage turning red/pink/coral) and then once the flower dies, they usually start producing “pups” (baby plants) sort of like how spider plants form their little babies.

Anyways, the house just feel better now with some life in it. All these beautiful plants are very uplifting and fascinating, and many of them are filtering the bad chemicals out of the air and giving off some nice, clean oxygen. This really is a fun hobby, I just hope I can become a “green thumb” instead of a “black thumb”. Speaking off, it seems something weird is going on with my garden–my broccoli leaves are turning red/purple/orange and falling off (the bottom ones, anyways) and my lettuce seedlings, which are barely a couple inches tall, have already bolted; it’s not that warm out, what the heck is going on?! Oh, well…we shall see how this garden grows. Aerogarden tomatoes are also dropping blossoms, so I guess I waited too long to pollinate them by hand (I’ve just been gently shaking them, but I haven’t been physically pollinating them with a cotton ball because I thought that they still needed to open up more–oops!).

Time to check on my air plants! Buh-bye!

D-

[EDIT: Okay, here are some pic's of my new air plants and my little Gardenia plant (the big one appears to be dying now)]:

Is there a 12-step program for plant-aholics? Perhaps some kind of rehab for plant addicts?

“Hello, my name is Darrell and I’m a plant-aholic.”

“Hello Darrell.”

“It’s been 4 hours since my last plant purchase.”

Well, step 1 is admitting that I have a problem, I suppose. Yes, dear readers, I did the unthinkable–I returned to the garden centre and bought more plants. Lots more. It started out innocently enough; I wanted to buy another plant for Mom for Mother’s Day (I bought her a miniature rose plant in a little pot yesterday and then I wanted to buy her her own prayer plant, except what I ended up getting wasn’t a prayer plant technically–I don’t really know what it is but it does fold up on its own) [Edit: Okay, I found out the name of the plant species--Calathea roseopicta Medallion] and I also wanted to pick up a little cactus trio for my sister, like the one I made. But then I decided to get some “air plants” (Tillandsia) that I saw at the garden centre yesterday and never heard of. So today, I bought a little log with three air plants attached (one in bloom), as well as 5 more un-mounted specimens (still trying to think what to do with them). And since our local garden centre is so awesome and relatively cheap, I decided to pick up a 6″ coffee plant and a larger (6″) zebra plant, and at $3.99 apiece, how could I resist?! And of course, I needed matching green ceramic pots and saucers (only $4.99 per set!), and on the way to the checkout, I spotted a big, beautiful croton plant,  and…well, you get the picture. And to ensure you get the picture, here are some…erm, pictures

Roses for Mom...

...and a prayer-plant imposter, too!

Coffee and Zebra Plants

Coffee Plant Closeup

Zebra Plant Closeup

Huge Croton Plant

Air Plants Mounted on Log

Assorted Air Plants (drying off after their "bath")

[Edited to add picture of Air Plants in their new 'home'--a candy jar my Mom was using to hold her receipts]:

Alrighty, folks. Hope everyone has a nice weekend/Mother’s Day!

D-

Hello! It’s been awhile (or at least it seems that way) so I thought I would do a quickie update. I decided that I needed some indoor plants for my “office” (aka the little nook in my room where my desk is), so I picked up some nice tropical plants from the garden centre and a nice glass apothecary jar from the Bay to make my own little terrarium.

Below is a picture of the terrarium; I put some fine gravel in the bottom for drainage, some potting mix, planted a bunch of miniature tropical plants I got for $2.99 each (they are sooo cute and tiny!) and then added a few river rocks on top. The lid keeps the moisture/humidity in so I don’t need to water it that often (I’ve heard some sites say that you just need to water it every 3-4 months because you’re creating a microclimate–it essentially “rains” every day due to the process of condensation). Unfortunately, the small plants are just labelled “tropical house plant” and so I don’t know the species of all of them (any help in identifying them would be appreciated!). I know I have some tropical variegated ivy (hedera helix?) and a lovely fuzzy purple-leafed plant (“purple velvet plant” aka “purple passion plant” or Gynura sarmentosa). I would really love to know the names of the others. [EDIT: okay, the round yellow and green plant at the back is a "baby rubber" plant aka Peperomia obtusifolia (variegata) and I think the one with the small waxy green leaves on the red stem are some sort of Peperomia (pepper plant) as well--P. fraseri? P. albovittata?]. [Edit #2: I'm pretty sure the tiny green and white plant is a member of the Acanthus family--most likely a very small/baby "zebra plant" or Aphelandra squarrosa Actually, I think this little plant is a Fittonia argyroneura, or 'mini white Fittonia', AKA "Snakeskin Plant"]. Anyways, here are a few pics:

Closeup of Terrarium

Birds-eye View of all the Plants

I also purchased some cacti: “split rock plant”, “sunrise plant”, and a “hibotan”. Fortunately, these ones came with stickers so I stuck them on the back of the pots I transplanted them to. I bought a bunch of little matching pots for my random plants and they had a little set of three with a bit, rectangular dish so I repotted them and I think they look really cute together:

My Cacti (and yes, that is a Dalek from Dr. Who in the background!)

The cactus on the far right (actually, I think it’s classified as a succulent) is a really cool plant from Africa. The “leaves” are shaped like split rocks and the flower grows out between them. Very neat!

Next, I have a Philodendron aka “sweetheart plant” (because of the heart-shaped leaves, of course). It’s growing up a little trellis and I just like the way it looks. Nice and green and vibrant.

Then there is the “prayer plant”–so named because it opens and closes (and moves towards the light) so it looks like it’s a bunch of hands coming together in prayer. I remember my Nanny (grandma) had some of these as well as a bunch of cacti in her apartment’s kitchen window.

This one has a matching little green pot and saucer, too.

[Edit: forgot to add a pic of the full "Garden of Darrell", so here it is]:

I also picked up a little Meyer dwarf lemon tree (finally! I’ve been looking for one for ages!) but it’s really really small and spindly right now, although I’ve been told it will bloom and put out lemons soon. As well, I picked up a “pitcher plant” (nepenthes somethingorother), to match my sister’s Venus Fly Trap; it attracts flies and bugs and then they get stuck in the little cups and it digests them. Pretty sweet! And hopefully it will get rid of the few little flies that snuck in the dining room with all my seedlings. Oh, I also got a teeny little Gardenia plant (yes, another one!) because this one already has two beautiful, fragrant blossoms and my other one has lots of buds but the won’t open. They’re extremely difficult to care for–suicidal, even.

I think that’s all I picked up (other than gravel, soil, cactus food, and other boring miscellaneous crap). Mom got a bunch of really pretty hanging baskets and I bought her a little pink rose plant with a little pot for Mother’s Day (don’t worry about me ruining the surprise, I already gave it to her LOL).

Well, that’s all for tonight. I’m hoping to actually read some books so hopefully I’ll have some reviews or something soon (here’s a hint: don’t read Ysabel–the book on my “currently reading” sidebar–it’s total crap, unless you like really cheesy fantasy fiction marketed as “historical fiction” with celtic gods and shapeshifters and lots of lame pop culture references, like iTunes, iPod, Coke, and “jpegs”!).