I love my new Canon PowerShot A610 camera, because it can take much better macros than my old Canon PowerShot SD100. I can shoot as close as 1cm. Below are some photos I took earlier today.
Jade Plant Flowers
Coleus “Alabama Sunset” Seed Stalk
Dried up Dusty Miller seed heads
Friday, July 8
At work, I butchered the Coleus that I overwintered in my office. The plants are so leggy (about 3 feet tall). I’ll root the cuttings and plant them as a group once they’ve rooted.
Overwintered Coleus Wizard at work
Coleus Wizard Green(?) Cuttings
Coleus Wizard Rose Cuttings
After work, I passed by Target and bought a Yellow Cape Fushia (Phygelius Funfare) along with an untagged striped Coleus.
I also passed by Home Depot and got another bag of potting soil and steer manure. I also got a six pack of Sonnet Mix Snapdragons, to plant along the ones I planted yesterday.
Once home, I saw my mom’s broken Jade plant (see previous entry). I’m not sure what to do about it so I just left it for now. I’ll post a query online and see if anyone has any suggestions.
I planted the Snapdragons and pulled some weeds while my mom dead-heads the roses and Kelly (our dog) plays on the grass.
When I went to the garden today, I noticed that my mom’s Jade Plant (Crassula argentea) was laying on the ground. At first I thought my mom pulled it out, but after inspecting it, it looks like the plant broke from its weight. I was wondering why my mom would pull a plant that we’ve had for over 18 years. It has grown over 5 feet tall (64 inches); the trunk measured about 5 inch in diameter and about 16 inch around.
Help!… I’m not sure what to do. Will this plant root if I dig a hole and place the broken trunk in it? Will it root if I place the trunk in a bucket of water? Is there a way to save or revive the whole plant?
My Mom’s broken Jade Plant
After work (Wednesday), I drove over to Yard Bird to see if they had some cheap big pots. I found some 12 incher for $1.97 and got 5. I walked around looking at what trees they had. I’ve been trying to get ideas on what trees to get once I get my own house.
While walking around, I found a Coleus called “Dark Star“, that has very dark foliage that are almost black. I had to get it.
When I got home and separated the pots, I found a baby Praying Mantis hiding between the pots. I was only about an inch long and really cute. I placed it on my cucumber plants and took photos. Hopefully it’ll be okay and survive. Maybe I’ll see it again once it grows up. Praying Mantis are rare in our neighborhood. I’ve only seen 1 in all the years I’ve been gardening.
I potted the Coleus that I didn’t plant yesterday along with two Kongs that I rooted in the new pots. Some were too big so I took some Jade, New Orleans Red and Dark Star cuttings.
It was starting to get dark, but I wanted to finish one more chore. I got some soil conditioner and steer manure and amended a little flat in the front yard so I can plant a six pack of Snapdragons that my brother bought. I also transplanted 5 pots of Calendula that I grew from seeds
Friday, July 1
Today was the start of my 5 day holiday weekend. I had a lot of errands to do so I was only able to do a little bit of maintenance gardening and everything is looking good.
My mom and I went to Mid City Nursery in American Canyon. Even though this nursery is less than 10 minutes away from my house, I’ve never been to it because it closes before I get home from work.
I was very impressed. They had a lot of plants that I normally don’t see in larger garden centers, including some Fuchsias, Coleus and Euphorbias that I liked. I ended up buying 4 plants (I’ll post photos later)
Euphorbia Mozambique
Fuchsia hybrid “Golden Marinka”
Fushsia triphylla “Firecracker”
Coleus “Velvet Lime”
Saturday-Monday, July 2-4
My friend Darwin and I are going to Reno to take a mini vacation and visit my friend Michael. Michael introduced me to Coleus last year and actually gave me my first cutting (unfortunately it didn’t survive). Michael is starting his “Garden Design and Installation” business and I was looking forward to seeing him and his work… So I packed some Coleus I rooted and brought it along with the business cards that I designed for him.
We visited several nurseries and I did buy some plants (I’ll post photos later):
Coleus “Pat Martin”
Coleus “Jade”
Coleus “New Orleans Red”
Coleus “Stained Glassworks Burgundy Wedding Train”
Coleus “Gay’s Delight”
Perilla “Magilla”
Michael also gave me a cute little hypertufa pot that he made planted with a succulent.
Tuesday, July 3
Since this was my last day of the long weekend I wanted to visit the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery again… just to see if they had any new Coleus…. and they did… so I ended up buying five more… I just couldn’t resist.
Coleus “Wild Lime”
Coleus “Wild Lime” (I think this one is mislabeled because it’s different than the previous “Wild Lime”)
Coleus “Exhinition Magma”
Coleus “Rustic Orange”
Coleus “Trailing Rose Frost”
I also noticed another nursery on the way home. So I checked it out and OMG they had a Coleus sale. Buy 3 get one free… So I got four more along with a Euphorbia species. The Coleus were old and already flowering, but I’ll just take cuttings of them and make new plants.
Coleus “Dragon Black”
Coleus “Tabasco”
Coleus “Sunshine Burgundy Sun”
Coleus “Kong Green”
With all these new plants, I stopped by a local store and got a couple of cheap 18 inch pots. I also got Mondo Grass Ophiopogon and “found” some detached baby succulents.
Once home, I did major potting. All in all, I potted 5 succulents, a hanging Fuchsia pot and 3 large pots with Coleus.
I’m sleepy, so that’s it for now… I’ll post some pictures soon…
[edited June 8, 2005: Added missing plant names]