We have a rainy, blustery day today–perfect for working in the greenhouse and finishing up the plant clean-up.

I don’t get lonely out there, since there are lots of fun creatures around keeping tabs on me:

I believe this is a Giant House Spider, which is a European import.  I welcome all spiders in the greenhouse, though this one, approaching four inches long, startled me a bit at first.

Here are some pics of the cleaned up greenhouse:

I tried an experiment with some holiday cactus two years ago–I decided that they might do best in hanging baskets planted in orchid mix.  I potted three of them up this way, and hung two of them up and put the other one on a shelf:

I don’t know that I’ve fertilized these appropriately, but they seem healthy enough.  And for the first time, they have fat buds appearing on the tips:

One of my favorite orchids is the persnickety Coelogyne cristata.  I have had this plant for probably six years, purchased at the annual Flower and Garden show here in Seattle.  I believe the plant has bloomed two years, with its beautiful pure white, fragrant flowers.  However, there were few flowers and the display was unimpressive, as they turned brown pretty quickly.  This year, I took the drastic step of repotting the plant into a big wooden hanging basket.  That was several months ago, and the plant seems to really be happy with its new home–the new pseudobulbs are fat and clean and the plant is now HUGE:

My dream is to have a basket full of flowers from this plant one year–who knows?  Maybe next spring!  I’ve done a bit of reading online about these plants and discovered that watering can be tricky to honor their bloom timing and their rest period.  I doubt if I’m doing it right, but it can be tough to customize the treatment for all the plants in the greenhouse!  I’m lucky to water them at all, so tailoring a water schedule to a certain plant isn’t really in the cards right now.

Below is a close-up of the Plectranthus flowers mentioned earlier.  I am impressed by the delicate design on the insides of these graceful flowers.

One final panoramic view of the cleaned up greenhouse.  Next weekend, the outside plants come in!

A quick count of all the remaining plants in the greenhouse came out to 344 plants!  No wonder I’m tired!!  And that doesn’t count those that will get moved in next weekend, or the plants outside on shelves!

Brother Tim and I took a quick trip to the Washington Park Arboretum and we hiked around on Sunday afternoon.  Here is brother Tim near a pair of especially graceful, mossy and licorice-fern covered maples:

Probably the prettiest thing we saw was this Chinese Golden Rain Tree, Koerelteria elegans:

Always a favorite of ours, and a plant whose offspring are in pots in our yard, the blue sausage tree, Decaisnea fargesii:

Another of my favorites, the delectable Daphniphyllum macropodum:

The Camellia Sasanqua hybrids are blooming and are stunning!

Darmera peltata, I think, is below.  The flowers are surprisingly lovely, especially coming so late in the year:

This Fuchsia hybrid was graceful and gorgeous in this hanging container:

The Franklinia was blooming, as well, as the autumn set in around it.

From the greenhouse this weekend, I noticed this Streptocarpus flower that I hadn’t seen before–very remarkable.

Some days I have to ask myself if I don’t just have entirely too much going on when it comes to the garden, greenhouse and all the potted plants.  Mind you, I love all the plants–each and every one!  But if there is such a thing as a plant hoarder, I likely crossed into that category many years ago!

I took some time off work to concentrate on some studying for a class I’m taking and to catch up on some greenhouse chores.  I got through one shelf this weekend and another one today, so I am about halfway finished.  This is just the repotting/grooming step in the project.  Next, I need to get everything completely organized, then clean up anything not needed and debris.  All this just so I can import all the plants that need to spend winter in there from around the yard!

The biggest job today was to pot on Clivia seedlings that had been neglected for about one year too long!  The good news is that these were all named seedlings and the flowers promise to be colors that I don’t have, since most of my current clones are close to the orange/yellow of the miniata species.

Here are some possibilities of what the Milk White x Milk White might look like.

Another hybrid has Charm blood lines crossed with a pastel Peach.  I’m hoping for something like this.

The third batch of seeds includes Nakamura breeding (famous, amazing Clivia breeder).  See some of those amazing plants here.

A few things are blooming now, but not much.  The Plectranthus are blooming with their charming spikes of white:

This Oxalis regnellii was given to me as a free gift with an eBay purchase.  I already have had this species for years and always keep a gallon plant of it around just for color.  I find this baby very charming and the flowers are lovely:

      

There are a few begonia flowers in there, too, and this one Dahlia that I cheated and brought in from outside:

Some other plants of interest include the Sinningia leucotricha, which has a bigger and bigger caudex and HUGE leaves:

The leaves are velvety and beautiful.  I think the size might be related to overwatering, but the plant keeps growing and appears happy, so I haven’t looked at ways to keep it drier.  It is in a clay pot, and that probably has saved it!

Here is the Veltheimia starting into growth and very strong.  I will divide it after it blooms to get a separate plant to share.

Below are some of the baby Babiana hybrids that are now two years old and I just potted on this weekend.  They should grow faster now and hopefully will bloom next year.

Agapanthus praecox seedlings below.  I never dreamed I’d be able to grow Agapanthus from seed, but some were included as a free gift in a seed order and I tried them.  I got two strong plants, now inseparable, as I didn’t pot them separ!

Here is a nice vignette  from the back patio.  It is about to be put disassembled for the winter, so I thought I would capture this now.  I love this gargoyle sculpture by the talented Tom Francis, and the Pelargonium behind is a lovely shrub with pristine leaves (which won’t last, as the cool weather sets in).

More clean up tomorrow, and likely another post.

 

We had a nice morning/afternoon before it started to sprinkle, so I was able to get outside and start cleaning up around the greenhouse and potting area.

First on the agenda, I had to plant out most of the remaining seedlings that were sitting around.  There were four campanulas that needed to go out to the orchard garden.  I planted them around the apple and cherry trees. They are currently mystery plants, since they came from a pack of mixed seeds.  I am hopeful that  at least one of them is Campanula lactiflora, which I’ve always wanted to grow.  See a description here.

I still need some plants to add around the apple and cherry trees, so will do some online shopping soon to get things in the ground soon, as the best planting time is right now.

Here is a picture of the Iochroma that is planted out in the driveway bed on the orchard side.  It grew better than every this year, but alas, no flowers.

I believe this is a purple cultivar, something like this.

There were three large Abutilon “Suntense” seedlings left, as well, so I planted one in a large pot for the patio and put two of them in the bed next to the lilac closest to the dog pen.  These shrubs can get pretty big, so I had to make sure there was room for them.  I think they’ll do well there, with the southern exposure, but shade from the big Douglas fir tree during the hottest part of the day.  Also in that bed are seed-grown tree peonies, Eucomis hybrids (also from seed), and some ironweeds that I started several years ago.  It isn’t a well-thought-out garden, but has interest for sure, and is providing a nice nursery for my seedlings.

Once I got everything planted out, I switched to the greenhouse.  My first assignment is to do an autumn clean-up before I more everything back inside for the winter.  I started at the back wall–the cactus and bulb seedlings are all along there.

Some happy surprises:  My Hippeastrum mandonii seedlings, which are over two years old, both are growing well and have some decent bulbs forming on them.  See the flowers here (scroll down to mandonii).

The two Agapanthus praecox seedlings, also over two years old, are growing very strongly.  I potted them on together, as their roots were so entangled that pulling them apart seemed ill-advised.  These are handsome plants.  I won’t expect flowers for another couple of years, but they are growing very well.  Here is what I can look forward to.

Dierama seedlings of the deep purple strain are now around 18 inches tall.  I intend to plant them outside next spring in their final places, once I figure that out.   They should be beautiful if they get to blooming size.

Ferraria crispa is an oddity.  I have three bulbs of Ferraria, two of which are crispa and the other is another species.  Mine have not bloomed yet, but possibly this year, as they are winter growers and have really strong starts coming.  The flowers might look like this.

I potted on seedlings of Freesia and Babiana, along with some tiny Moraea and Gelasine seedlings.  We’ll see if any of these live to bloom.  Again, they are winter growers, so the lack of light in our northern location is tough on them.  The other seedling plants on the shelf along that wall include Habranthus robustus,

some Watsonia hybrids, maybe 7 or 8 small Cyrtanthus montanus, a couple of fuchsia cuttings and one Restrepia guttulata.

I’ll have more updates and pictures tomorrow as the clean-up continues.

 

 

The garden and greenhouse have taken a backseat to other priorities through the summer.  I didn’t have much time for any garden work, and what time I did have was spent trying to keep everything watered and alive in the extraordinarily dry and hot season we had.

Today, however, I made it out in the garden and got some important things crossed of my lengthy to-do list.  Below are pics from the garden and greenhouse.

I haven’t done a good job of keeping the streptocarpus tidied up, but they keep blooming despite the mess!  The flowers are especially cheerful as the days turn darker and colder.

These are the cottage garden mix Verbascums that I started from seed this spring.  They suffered through too much sun and poor drainage all summer and still they grew.  I planted them out at the edges of the orchard garden. 

These are the mail-ordered asters that got planted at the worst time of the year.  And somehow, they survived and bloomed.  I think they are a great choice for the Doug fir bed.  With luck they will spread their autumn charm all through that bed.

Fuchsia “Cardinal” still blooming with fall foliage.  This is one plant that is thrilled with the cooler, wetter weather the last few weeks!  It will still be in bloom when I move it into the greenhouse next month.

Malva “Mystic Merlin” volunteer that came up in the gravel bed next to the house.  Amazing flowers on a rather coarse plant.  These came from sister Cate years and years ago and they pop up in surprising places every year–never weedy, though, but tough to relocate, what with their taproots.

Wonderberries (Solanum burbankii) getting ripe–and they do taste good!  My biggest worry is that most of them won’t mature, since only the very earliest berries are ripe so far.  They are juicy, full of seeds, but they are easy to eat.  I likely will try these again next year, but start them earlier.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides  blooming near the orchard garden.  I have had this plant for close to 20 years and it just keeps trying.  It isn’t placed in the best spot and it doesn’t get any care because it pops up so late I ignored it until October.

Another lovely strep showing some fall color.

Acanthus spinosus–looked so sick when I planted it out after struggling for a year pot bound in the greenhouse– but look at it now!  Amazing foliage and I expect it may bloom next year.  Spinosus is supposed to be more bloomiferous than the more usual Acanthus mollis.  And I like the leaves better, too.

I planted other things in the Doug fir bed, including four of the Clematis columbiana that I grew from seed two years ago.  They had to go somewhere, and this bed seemed like the best choice.

You have to love the fall colors against a blue sky!  These maples never disappoint.  The best one is the coral bark.  No one talks about the beautiful foliage–but the leaves far outshine the bark.

Asters from Tim’s friend, the late Bette Higgins.  Brother Tim brought me a start or two 15 years ago.  The poor things are surrounded by raspberries and other thugs, so they chase the sun all around the bed!

Abutilon “Bella Series”  I haven’t figured out how to prune these shrubs in the greenhouse, soI have ugly plants with beautiful flowers.

Wonderberries growing well in the dry raised bed under the Doug fir.  I don’t know how these aren’t more popular–they are very vigorous and taste good.

Voodoo Lily “berries”.  There were a lot of them this year and I’ve thrown them all over the Doug fir bed in the hopes of seedlings next year.  They are more invasive than some, but because of their season and growth habit, they don’t do any harm.  Keeping them in this challenging raised bed will control too much spreading.

The garden is seriously lacking in flowers, but some of the foliage helps make up for it–an Aucuba japonica here.  This shrub plays shy through the summer with showier plants taking the spotlight.  But in the autumn light, no flowers can outshine these amazing leaves.  And unbelievably easy and tolerant–it is in dry shade next to a 100-foot Douglas fir!

One beautiful and fragrant rose bloom.  This is a French hybrid, but I forget its name!  But the fragrance is unsurpassed.

My chores were focused on planting out all the seedlings I grew through the spring and summer.  It didn’t look like there were many plants to go out, but when all was said and done, there were nearly 100!  I planted out strawberries, hardy geraniums, Oenothera palida, all the Lathyrus mix, Dianthus, Polemoniums, Abutilon “Suntense” and more.  I put them mostly in the orchard bed around the shrubs and brambles.  We’ll see how they do next spring–should add some interest and color to that space to go with the excellent fruits and berries.

My favorite surprise last week was seeing flowers on the Habranthus robusta in the greenhouse.  Grown from seed sevreral years ago, these bloomed sooner than expected are a delicate pink picoted cream.  Very lovely!  One more of them has a spike.  I’ll work to get better flowers for next post.

Not plant related–I am a huge crow fan and ran into a murder near Green Lake on Friday.  I never did see what they were mobbing, but I have heard there are Great Horned Owls in the woods nearby.  Here is a video of the crow-cophony.