White Phaleonopsis Orchid Blooms

I pamper three lovely Orchids in my office which overlook our woods.  My wife is not fond of Orchids because when they are not blooming they are kind of stringy and somewhat unattractive. I prefer to focus on  the fact that Orchid leaves stay green continually and tend to look nearly as hardy as the leaves on a Mother-in-law Tongue plant.

The White Phaleonopsis shown to the right is one of my favorites because the buds come in multiples and the blooms seem to last forever. In the middle of winter I can always count on my Orchids to cheer me up when it is cold outside and spring blooms seem so far away.    

The secret to my learning how to grow Orchids was the rookie success I had due to the amazing amount of indirect light that enters my large office window. Orchids  do not do well in direct sun-light. Since Orchids are essentially parasites, which grow in a shaded jungle environment they do not have a true root system. In the jungle they often grow on the bark of trees.

As you can see the Orchid on this page is positioned in a flower pot, with ample drainage holes. I do not use soil as such, but rather a moss-like, medium that is very porous, unlike traditional potting soil. I water the Orchid about every seven days; wetting the entire surface inside the pot. There is  also very good drainage at the bottom of the pot. You do not want the Orchid to dry out completely but you also do not want the Orchid to sit in water.   My Orchids fascinate me and I don't mind that my wife prefers other flowers. I do not discriminate when it comes to appreciating beauty in a flower. Quite frankly, I don't think  I ever met a flower that I didn't like.      

Ivy Geranium Cuttings Ignore Winter

Skylight & Ivy Geranium Basket 

Do you have a skylight in your home? We have a great skylight  in an upstairs bathroom. It has become an annual tradition to bring in an Ivy Geranium basket as the first frost approaches. This year was no different. I cut it back and pulled out  pesky weeds and hung it up. The photo to the left shows some healthy growth after pruning. While you do not see any pink blooms in this photo  I have enjoyed  many pink blooms for the past few months and it has added some warm color and charm to those cold, dreary, winter days.

Ivy Geranium Cuttings 

As my in-house Ivy Geranium basket began sending out long shoots it became apparent that I had to trim it back.  A few days before Christmas I took some scissors and gave it a trim. Naturally, it goes against my instinct to throw anything away that might grow, so I took several leafy geranium stems to my garden room in the basement. I prepared them to be cuttings. 

I chose my preferred stems (an even dozen) and placed them in a 12 pack of growing medium. (peat moss, pearlite, and some rich humus;  harvested from my 2011-2012 compost heap. I put the flat of cuttings into a plastic tray, set them on top of an electric heating pad and then poured  about an inch of tepid water in the bottom of the plastic tray. The heat reaches a temperature of about 60-65 degrees and warms the soil just right.

I also turned on the florescent grow light so that the green leaves would receive a good days light every day. In about two weeks or so (should have logged it precisely) I could see that several of the cuttings seemed happy and green; my instinct told me germination had occurred in these. The six pots you see above and the pot to the left are my successfull results. Some of the original cuttings had turned  yellow; a sure sign that the stem did not yield roots. I ended up with six successful cuttings. I was very pleased with this result.  All of the pictures on this page are ivy geraniums; photographed on January 5, 2013.

New Growth

I will publish pictures of these cuttings for the next few months so you can get an idea of how much time it takes to grow into a mature plant, and how long it takes to get flower buds and blooms. The cutting above is doing very well. The small leaf is a new leaf. The picture to the right shows new sprouts at the base of the plant. The new growth is robust. It will be interesting to see how many stems will burst forth from the center of the plant. I want to encourage you to begin experimenting with  propagation of your own ivy geraniums. It is great fun and definitely saves you some cash. See you in the Garden. It is only a few months until Spring.  

                   

Frozen in Time

Frozen in Time is a fitting Violet to introduce to my flower fans a few days before Christmas. It is freezing outside. My door to the deck was frozen shut this morning from the recent snow fall and a little melting that occurred recently.  I never had a violet with these colors. Notice the tips of the leaf are etched in white and the blooms are a faded white with green tints. How unusual, how intriguing to the eye. This flower has bloomed so abundantly for me; it is the rich soil that has made this happen. It is so simple, yet the average house plant person has no clue where to get good soil. You make it. Comment to me if you have questions.  

Here is a closer view of the blooms and the white etching on the leaves. Can you believe how plentiful the blooms are? You too can have abundant blooms. It is so simple a child can do it. Write me to tell me what your experience has been with violets. You might like this blog about African Violets. 
 http://www.nsavctc.blogspot.com/

Ma's Melody Girl

You would not believe the size of the cutting I received that resulted in this mature Violet called Ma's Melody Girl. It was not more than two inches across. And now look at it. From leaf to leaf it is probably 10 inches across. How about the healthy leaves? Look at the rich greens; light and deep green. So lush. You too can grow magnificent violets. The recipe is simple. You need rich soil, watering from the bottom and indirect lighting.  Voila! Amazing blooms charming your life and amazing your imagination. Always something bright to look forward to.

Deck Day Dreams

When the dreary clouds of late autumn and early Winter pour out their buckets of rain for days on end, don't you just day dream for the time when your deck will be once again dotted with beautiful blooms, with colors galore?

This is what I am dreaming of::  flower pots filled with  deep pink, fire engine red, and bright white geraniums overflowing in great abundance. The picture below is one example of what we saw this past summer immediately out our back windows overlooking the deck and thick woods.  The spike plant adds a nice variation of texture and complements the charming rich green leaves of the geranium plant. One of the amazing traits of the geranium is the fragrant scent from the leaves. My memory of this scent goes back to my childhood, when we used to plant geraniums on my Gramma and Grampa's graves, every year on Memorial Day. 

Do you take advantage of the hardy geranium as you adorn your deck with color & beauty? Properly planted in rich soil, you will have a bounty of blooms all season long. The key is to dead-head the spent blooms to make way for the new buds that are just itching to begin multiplying. Geraniums are a staple of our summer Deck Decorum.  Don't heed those little rain puddles huddled on your deck; Day Dream with me. It won't be long and you can start your geranium cuttings for next summer.

   

Mum's the word!

Once the cold arrives in early October virtually all of my summer flowers displayed on the deck (in pots and flower boxes)  reached their peak and began to whither. I took my geraniums out of the pots and flower boxes for their long winter nap. I store them in a green garbage bag, after drying the roots a bit, and shaking off most of the dirt. I poke several holes in the plastic bag so the roots have some air and don't dry out.   The pink and red geraniums  go dormant during the winter but start shooting out little buds about mid February.

With our son Paul's wedding around the corner I knew it was the perfect time to cheer the place up with some autumn  Chrysanthemums. I bought five different colors from Kollmans' Greenhouse in Twinsburg. I transplanted them out of the plastic containers into my clay pots for display on the Deck.

I will try to plant these in the ground before the hard frost arrives, and hopefully some of them will survive the winter and be a source of many new mums next year.  I will  re-grow the Mum's shown and I will make cuttings from each of them.  

Kentucky Zinnias Win the Race

How would you like this bouquet of Zinnias on your dining room table as you sit down for a romantic dinner for two tonight? This picture was sent to me by my cousin Brenda Lee. She grew these marvelous specimens way down in  Kentucky. Notice the bright yellow Zinnias. They give such a lovely contrast to the reds and pinks and oranges. 

In early October Brenda said her Zinnia's were still setting buds and blooming. Virtually all but a few of the  Zinnias in the Garden of Deegan are gone. It has been unusually cold this October. 

I have already harvested a good amount of Zinnia seed and placed the stems and dried blooms in the compost heap. I can hardly wait for next Spring to start my Zinnia seed. If you would like to order some Zinnia seed please let me know.     

To  enjoy more gardening wonders check out Brenda's grdening blog Where the Green River Flows  at  www.greenrivergreens.blogspot.com. See you in the Garden.