plantyhamchuk:

Selfie with chopped off banana tree parts

Scored this banana tree by digging it up from a tiny landscaping job with  coworker R. There’s been a Great Debate about exactly what kind of banana it is, and whether or not it is actually hardy here (I think it is a dwarf Musa basjoo hardy only to zone 8, M thinks it is a non-dwarf Musa basjoo hard to zone 6). But hey it’s free! In order to get into my car I had to chop the main stem and leaves off, and request two strong male coworkers (B and M) to lift it into my car.

I felt bad about chopping the plant, it was really pretty. It has at least 4 healthy pups though, so we’ll add this to our banana tree collection and see if it makes it through the winter. 

We no longer have a landscaping department, but we do have R, who used to be on the landscaping crew. He maintains a few local properties on behalf of the plant nursery. 

One of the perks of landscaping is that often you get to keep the plants that you’re tearing out. 

Speaking of landscaping, I’ve been cleaning up small projects around the nursery that I created or encouraged M to create. And now I understand why people here will buy mandevillas in early summer and then toss them at the end of the year. Seems like a waste, right? They aren’t the cheapest plant? Well, they are stunning vines. Just gorgeous. And yesterday, when I was checking out the ones we had used to cover a lattice, the under sides of some of the leaves were 50% white from all the mealybugs!!!!! What the ever living fuck? They also had some aphids and scale. I went home and sterilized all my tools three times, with alcohol AND fire. 

Mealybugs are the stuff of nightmares. I really really hope I don’t accidentally bring home horrible pests…

leafy-friends:

Spring is here