Tag: my plants

F*CKING MASSIVE ROSE

Ignore unhinged jaw of my face I wasn’t planning to be in the shot. Y’know when I said “the Canadian Explorer Rose will be the T-rex of the plant relocation/rescue project” I DIDN’T REALIZE HOW ON THE MARK I’D BE ON THAT DISTINCTION! She’s fucking HUGE! Also hellishly thorny just like grandma rugosa, I actually had to get my gloves out to be able to lug her up (I was stubborn about NOT getting the gloves till that point. Much yelping had ensued beforehand). A lot of her full size was concealed by the overgrowth of weeds where she resided. Such a contrast to the other hybrid rose (which is a Hybrid Tea) which barely reaches my knee, THIS rose could reach my waist+ if propped up. In Canada this size is not unusual for many species roses, but for a lovely hybrid rose this is something I am not the least bit used to, even after having this girl for as long as I’ve had.

Unfortunately as you may have noticed from the photos though; not a lot of roots came up with the rest of her, which is bad, really bad for such a monster (ESPECIALLY if one is transplanting in MID FREAKING SUMMER). So after these photos were taken I took to pruning two thirds of her (which may still not be a liberal enough of a prune-out) which should hopefully make up for lack of roots. I’m hoping her Rugosa background gives her the edge to take to the new flowerbeds (more on that another time) and bounce back, though that does not entirely keep my confidence as I have never had luck with transplanting Rugosas either.

Fingers crossed she makes it through the summer, but if not I at least know which group of Rose hybrids I will seek once again; Canadian Explorer roses all the way.

Photographed July 8th 2018

105 Jacks in a batch

Today I got the Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) plantlets from the 2015 sowing (the first pic is admittedly not of said Jacks, rather that is of the 2016 sowed Jacks) all into their own individual pots at last. Many of them are still only just waking up from their corms which is fine by me as it’d be a LOT harder to repot them from their super-crowded pot if they were all fully awake and emerged.

With them no longer having to compete with their siblings + with me feeding them some granular fertilizer (eventually. For now I’m not giving them even a lick of fert) they should reach floral maturity much quicker (hoping under 2 years but that might be overly optimistic).

In the next few days the 2016-sown Jacks will be next to repot. We’re definitely gonna be reaching the 200+ mark once we got the 2016 Jacks potted up I’m sure. Thank god the greenhouse got a clean out to make for greatly-needed space! 

Photographed May 18th 2018

THEY LIIIIIIIIIIVE.

Most of the liveliest of the greenhouse residents right now. (not listed in order of the pics) Betula

alleghaniensis, Betula

populifolia, Thuja occidentalis, Catalpa sp., Picea glauca, Geum triflorum, Clemtatis tangutica, and Penstemon hirsutus.

These guys are also on the list of “gonna see if I can sell them this year” crops. Especially the Birches, cause they big and they are a pain in my butt lmao.

Photographed May 13th 2018

Spring Flowers/flowerbuds in the greenhouse

2nd year Alpine Strawberry (2 cultivars, though tempted to sell them together as a “mix” due to messed up labels), Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum), Canadian Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia).

Talk about fast pace to maturity. These are definitely at selling size so this is the year I’ll be trying to sell them off. Whether its to another nursery or to interested gardeners. Of course I plan to keep 3 of each (except the strawberries) species so that I can propagate from my own stock in the future.

Photographed May 13th 2018

The Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) that are under lights rn are survivors of the starving birds and mice (during that spring snow out we had a few weeks ago) that were scavenging the tray in the greenhouse. So, we see why these trees are so expensive; it’s not just that they grow slow as balls, it’s the fact that even at seed/seedling stage EVERY FUCKING THING WANTS TO EAT THEM. It’s not just us humans who find Sugar Maple deliciously enticing.

However due to the fact that autumn 2017 I had a lot of sugar maple seeds on hand thanks to our neighbour John, I had a lot of seedtrays of them, and consequently experimented stratifying them in different locations. One of said locations being the new experimental outdoor seedbed. It flooded and had severe freeze/thaw late winter / early spring so I thought pretty much every seed would’ve croaked. However as you can see here not only are they doing splendidly but the birds/mice couldn’t get their grubby mouths into them.

So to the Birds/mice that were total dicks to one of my most valuable future plant crops;

Photographed May 13th 2018

Alright since the previous seedling post didn’t get much reception HERE’S SOMETHING TO RECEPTION ABOUT!

Cornus kousa, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Asmina triloba, Magnolia macrophylla, Cercis canadensis, and Liriodendron tulipifera seedlings oh my (also Acer saccharum in the group shot but shhh we’ll get to that).

I severely underestimated the seed viability of the majority of this year’s indoor stratified seeds. Due to this a lot of sprouting seeds of Cercis, Magnolia, and Cornus had to be discarded due to very limited growlight space. Pawpaw in the future definitely is going to be indoor stratified like this despite it being a space hog, as I have gotten far more seedlings from this over outdoor style. For some unusual reason several of the pawpaw seedlings sprouted out in a twisted form (which unfortunately kills them for sellability which sucks ass). Now from here I chew my nails as I wait for space to be made in the greenhouse to move some of these guys out of the lights cause jfc they’re getting too big too fast for such a cramped space.

Photographed May 13th 2018

Cannas: “I lived bitch”

As it was the first time I’ve tried overwintered any plant in the new garage and the fact the plants in questions were worse for wear AND the fact it hadn’t been watered whatsoever all winter, it’s amazing that they are pushing their own independent growth all on their own despite it all.

To be truly honest I did not think I’d be seeing any Cannas this 2018 as my overwintering tubers have in the recent years have done horrendously across the board (whether due to environment, diseases, or just my own exhausted negligence). It’s nice when plants can go above your pessimistic expectations of their survivability, it’s somewhat healing. So these guys are now outside near the greenhouse and given a deep hose soak. Let’s see how quick they take off from here.

Photographed May 13th 2018

Hatiora gaertneri flowers
Photographed February 16 2018

Proof we can’t give seasonal-based names to houseplants; we got an Easter Cactus flowering around Valentines Day. It’s not just their cousins the Christmas Cacti (Schlumbergera) that tend to flower “offseason” lol.

Third time’s a charm?
Photographed January 29th 2018

This orchid is the very last survivor of the dwarf orchids and she’s gone through so much hell and isn’t even at top form yet here she is trying to grow her third attempt of a flower stalk. No pun intended in that I’m rooting for her to succeed this time! I have never seen her flowers before so it’d be such a treat to see.

Christmas Greetings from the December blooming Schlumbergeras
Photographed December 7th, 10th, & 13th, 2017

Merr Christmas. Even one of my tiny little Schlumbergera seedlings is blooming this month for the occasion! Gotta say though that the Schlumbergera x buckleyi is killing it for standing out this year though, even if the flowers are smaller than the rest!