Spring is Around the Corner

Spring is not in the air just yet, but it is certainly around the corner!  It has been an incredibly mild winter so far.  The Spring Equinox is a few weeks away, but March could still be keeping a secret!  Here in Central Indiana, we have had some crazy winter storms in March.

I have been resisting the urge to prune some of my plants.  When it is suggested to prune Hibiscus and Poinsettia in late Winter to early Spring January is just too early!  Be patient.

I noticed that the Hibiscus was putting out lots of new growth.  Tiny hints of pale green all over.  If I was going to prune it, it needed to happen before the plant put all it's energy into new growth all to be chopped away.

Here is what I did the first time.

It wasn't enough, so I went at it again.  Eek!

The problem is that I actually need to get in there a bit deeper, but my office scissors just don't have the pruning power as a good pair of . . . well, pruners.

There is tons of new growth since I trimmed it up about a week ago.  Hopefully it will be covered in blooms this summer.  I will have to do a better job about keeping it fed to encourage flowering.

There is more pruning to come in the next few weeks! Plants are waking up from the winter hibernation, in fact, there are tulips and daffodils poking up all over the neighborhood!

A Sip of Nectar

I was out on the back porch with a glass of tea (with watermelon ice) poking around on the camera when I heard a familiar little chirp.  I slowly looked up only to miss the tiny hummingbird flitting away.  When she came back for another sip of nectar I was ready!

It was a bit breezy making the flower sway about, so she had to take a little rest.

It is difficult to get a good picture.  These little guys are on to the next thing before you can hardly catch up to the first!  She was trying to perch on the blossom, but the breeze was a bit much.

I know there are two that visit sometimes.  I have tried to figure out how to make a hummingbird feeder because I have been too cheap to spend $16 on one in the store.  Kohl's sent me a $10 gift card for my birthday, maybe I will see what they have.  If I get one out soon I can help the tiny things fatten up for their trip South in the next few weeks.

Doesn't the Hibiscus just look appetizing?

Speaking of tiny things, have you ever noticed how sweet and dainty catnip flowers are?

On a completely unrelated note: my banana peppers have started turning purple on the bottom.  Like they were dipped in purple powder.  Remember the purple jalapeno?  That guy turned green again before I picked it.  Apparently it was too close to the sweet red pepper and cross-pollinated.  It was the sweetest jalapeno I have ever had!  I will see what happens with the banana peppers, though I do not think it is a cross-pollination issue here because the closest sweet red pepper plant is about 10 feet away.  Then again, the bees do get around.

I noticed the same thing is happening at the joints of this plant also.  It is kinda cool looking what ever the cause.

Updates

My plants have been busy in the month since I started this blog.  There have been so happy discoveries and some sad revelations.  Ah, such is the life of a plant care taker.

Hibiscus

There are actually 5 flowers today!  It has bloomed almost every day for the last month.  It is just happy, all I have to do is remember to water!  I gave it a little more food today, we will see how it liked that.  There has been a hummingbird visiting for the breakfast buffet recently.  I am just not fast enough with the camera.  I would like to get a hummingbird feeder out there.  I know it is late in the season, but they are tiny and need their energy for the flight South soon.

Poinsettia

This guy has recovered quite nicely!  The few leaves I left after pruning have fallen off as the plant has put energy into new leaves and shoots.

Next season I will go in a little bit lower on the stalks so that they send out more shoots like these in the hopes of a bushier/denser plant.  Even the cuttings I attempted to root are doing ok.

Yes, I know they look like nearly dead twigs, but I promise there is life in them yet because there are little leaf buds barely emerging here and there.

Orchids

I have good news and bad news about these guys.  Two of them have moved on in the last few days.  The first two I got. I think they must have had a fungal/mold problem when I bought them.  If I had treated them before putting them in the new pots I think they may have stood a chance.  The good news though, is that the most recent orchid purchase has continued to open more flowers!

I was so excited,  I thought I could almost see it openign right before my eyes! I was wrong.  It got about this far in 2 days.

On the third day I checked on it after work and found that the other bud opened up as well.

What a wonderful surprise!  It was so cool to watch.  It looked like the other 3 blooms actually turned to watch the new faces emerge.  I guess it decided to let one of the faces fade in trade for 2 new ones because within a day the oldest flower stared to whither. Otherwise this plant seems to be happy.  I do not know what is going on under the moss though, but with this one I am going to let be until it is done blooming.  

Edibles (the herbs and veggies)

We had a big storm the other night that the tomatoes did not want to fight.

I have been fighting gravity to keep them growing up, and off the ground.  I gave up.  Since they are in pots on a 4 inch deep layer of dirt over limestone it is difficult to stake them properly.  I have done what I could and eventually decided that gravity can have this one as long as I still get some bounty!  

The smaller plants, like the peppers, were un-phased by the wind and hail.  I picked the 2 rather ripe sweet red peppers.

Don't be fooled by the photo, the pepper is only 4 inches long.

I don't know why, but one of the jalapenos turned purple on top.  It is pretty. 

Speaking of hail . . .

The elephant ears are now pierced. 

Even some of the plants with small leaves got mauled.  

                     

There is a crazy spider that has a huge web near the front door.  She has had to rebuild every couple days due to wind, and twigs falling through her web, but after the hail it is the nicest yet.  

She is the craziest looking spider I have seen in this area.  She seems quite happy where she is, and as long as that is where she stays catching flies I am okay with it!  Here is a profile so you can understand why she is so crazy looking.

Happy garding!

Good Morning

It is mid July in central Indiana and the Hoosier state is certainly not letting us down with a mild morning.  My plants are still thirsty even though it is really muggy!  When I went out to water this morning I found the hibiscus had bloomed!  Aside from watering and an occasional feeding I have not been paying enough attention to this plant.  Last week I realized that the summer was about half over and it had not bloomed yet.  The plant must have heard me thinking because with in a few days flower buds started peeking out of their leaf cocoons.  There are now more than a dozen buds.   I did an internet search on hibiscus and they seem pretty easy to keep blooming for most of the year.  Mostly it's about food, temperature and light.
     Stay cool in the garden, it's supposed to be a scorcher this week!