You Grow Girl™

Allan Gardens Greenhouse

Today was a very plant-filled day. First thing this morning I spent at least two hours watering, repotting and preening plants. Generally I don't consider this to be a good time of year to repot house plants, however there were a few that were in a desperate state and couldn't wait until spring. One of the plants that was repotted was a tiny jade that I grew from one leaf. I think it's kind of amazing that even though the original plant died, I now have a new plant simply because I kept one, tiny leaf. I put it in a larger pot and also added another very tiny Pachyphytum longifolium that I am currently growing from another fallen leaf. This evening I added two more fallen leaves to the pot, plus a third that broke from the jade during the pot transplant. The miracle of succulent propagation in action.

This afternoon we made a group trip to the Allan Gardens Greenhouse with my brother and his girlfriend -- we all brought cameras. It turned out to be the perfect day to go! The sun was really bright, and lighting conditions were perfect for photography. The humid rooms of the greenhouse were more humid then they have ever been and the air was fresh and clean inside. Lots of flowers were blooming, the arid room wasn't hotter than haddes like it usually is, and the cold room wasn't freezing. The only drawback was the crowds. There was a ton of people, at least three wedding parties taking photos and blocking our route in and out of rooms, and someone was shooting a video. I'll never go on a Saturday again if I can help it. During the week the place is quiet and peaceful.

I took 183 photos with the digicam and my brother took a bunch with the PocketDV. I spent the majority of my time in the Arid Room because during the summer it is too hot to be in there for more than a few minutes and I wanted to take advantage. I discovered a new favourite Mistletoe Cactus (Rhipsalis baccifera). It has flat leaves unlike the typical cylindrical rhipsalis, and it produces these crazy white, translucent berries. Really weird.

Alot of the aloe were in bloom and it was interesting to see the differences between flowers each species produces.

In the tropical room alot of the orchids were hurting. There were a few that looked great, and some were even blooming, but some had diseases far worse than what killed my poor 'Sharry Baby' oncidium. Sometimes it's kind of a relief to visit the greenhouse and find that their plants aren't perfect. Makes me feel like a bit less of a loser after the recent rash of plant deathes that have occured around here. And hey even their staghorn ferns had a scale insect infestation. I lifted the leaves and checked! I had to know. I wasn't the only one making comparisons. I overheard a few "My ________ looks better than this one."

Tonight I topped up the soil on two African violets, and made my first attempt at propagating a begonia rex via leaf cuttings. The procedure I took was to fill a pot with moist, sandy soil on top of which I lay a begonia leaf. I made sure to stick the stem of the leaf into the soil to draw up moisture and to ensure that there was optimal contact between the leaf underside and the soil. I held it down with a few large staples and made a few fine cuts with a brand new xacto blade across the veins in the leaf. Then I put it all in a ziploc baggy and placed it in a light spot away from direct sun. I'm excited to see teeny, tiny begonias emerge from the slits in the leaf. Neat-o.