Tag: gardeners on tumblr

A bold boi Opuntia in fruit in the rock garden of Cuddy Gardens.

The other Opuntia species/cultivars in this garden pale in comparison to this variety. The native O. humifusa does not have THIS kind of size or boldness. Amazing such a bold variety/species is winter hardy in Canada.

“But Gato, did you grab any of the Opuntia fruit?”

Sad to say my self preservation from their glochids strongly overrides my seed harvesting/germinating obsessions. Prickly oriental poppies will be enough pain in my future in my greenhouse.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)

Like their evergreen cousins the hollies, winterberries are generally a dioecious species. Never seen one in the wild as of yet but one day. At least seeing one irl regardless will help me recognize them in the future.

Grabbed a few berries so we’ll see if we get seedlings come spring. (which btw… don’t be fooled by the size of the berries; one berry can hold almost 6 seeds! If viability is high you do not need to collect that many berries for propagation)

I decided not to repot my tol Dracanea marginata, I did however decide to stake it (to deal with its contant leaning/tipping over on the one direction), and a good few weeks ago I had also chopped the top off (as it was extremely bent/turned around) and am trying to root it in water. I doubt it’ll root successfully in water (they work better with soil rooting with root hormone, or even just air layering) but its worth an old graduate try.

Schlumbergera, Haitora, rabbit foot fern, & Ledebouria socialis are finally repotted.

While I would’ve preferred shallower/smaller clay pots for these particular houseplants, beggars can’t be choosers. At least the weight of the clay pots will make them less top heavy.

Fingers crossed that all the Schlumbergera truncatas in this repotting batch don’t end up aborting their flowerbuds.

Toad Lily (Tricytis hirta) flowering in a corner of the woodland garden.

I once had 3 different plants in this garden but they have appeared to have perished to this garden’s elements; whether be plant/weed competition, summer drought, harder winter seasons, or some other reason, it’s not entirely clear (I say spring plant competition tbh).

This specimen and its two young stolon clones are all that remain; filling the autumn flora slot

@sillytillywilly

Thought you might find these interesting. I’m making terrariums with 4-liter carlo rossi wine bottles. Any suggestions for the best plants? We have elephant bush and English ivy so far.

I’m always a sucker for the terrarium aesthetic (even if I’ve never been able to maintain one long term, if even short term)!

It’s honestly hard to think of good choice terrarium plants as it’s in the eye of the beholder as well as how willing one is to do maintenance on it (as in when certain species either become leggy, too tall or too big, or just start encroaching on other plants in the terrarium). My personal taste is always for humid-loving dwarf species of plants (the small size theoretically slows down the demand of frequent maintenance), though I won’t lie I had to google to get a refresher on some suggestions as its been a long long time since I’ve divulged in studying on terrariums, some of my fav of the terrarium classics include;

  • Strawberry Begonia (Saxifraga stolonifera)
  • Cryptanthus
  • Tillisandias (on a branch or something preferably)
  • Button Fern and/or Rabbit Foot fern (MY PERSONAL TASTE, BUT STILL I RECOMMEND to research for other ferns that are TRULY “dwarf”)
  • Baby Tears (Soleirolia Soleirolii)- beware on this one though as it is definitely a terrarium encroachment despite its diminutive/delicate appearance

And if somehow you have enough light for more flowering-type terrarium flora then it may not hurt to go for these lesser two classics;

  • Dwarf African Violets
  • Dwarf Sinningias

I hope these suggestions are to your taste and I wish you good luck on your terrarium projects!!!

Speaking of, while I cannot guarantee quality nor can I guarantee that it’ll happen soon, if enough of you request it I may try taking photos of the yard/property despite how…. 3d it is to try to show it all at once (not to mention some gardens have become… very unkempt). Maybe I would do a walk photographing or just a walkaround video maybe even just to encapsulate the mess.

Regardless of whether you want to see all of that or not I still hope to at least photograph/share with you all the new gardens that I worked on / have been maintaining this summer. It’s not much to sneeze at for plant selection but then again I was limited to plants that I could relocate/divide from other gardens.