Last week, a much-needed break from classes began. My first “fun” chore was to inventory all the seeds I have left from years past and set a plan for each kind. I was planning on this being a 15-minute quick task. About three hours later, I was finally on the last packet of seeds, the SIXTY-NINTH PACKET!

I immediately promised myself I wouldn’t buy any new seeds (a promise since broken) and that I would plant each and every kind of seed I already owned and give them each a fair chance at reaching their plant potential. To meet that goal, I pretty much have to plant a packet a day for the rest of my life…

My seed starting window (my seed incubator) had to be reassembled after a summer dismantling. I accomplished that today. I have a plant tray there with a heating mat, all on a table. Three sets of LED lights will get clamped around the edges so I can adjust the light levels.

Well, after the seed incubator was all up and running, I couldn’t help but get excited and want to plant some seeds. So, first I planted the seeds that followed me home from Hawaii, graciously ignored by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture at the airport. A bunch of them were from the Foster Botanical Garden, and some were from the house we rented. They honestly could be almost anything. It will be fun to see if any of them come up.

The incubator still looked pretty empty, so I decided to try some of the Australian seeds that I ordered last year. I picked five different seed packets and while I wait for the various stratification strategies to kick in, I’m typing this blog post. Here’s what I’ll be starting:

Acacias are one of my favorite tree families, and I’ve always wanted one for the greenhouse. Acacia baileyana “Purpurea” is the cultivar I’m going to try. I had to hot water scarify these. If any of them germinate, I expect they will grow pretty fast, so I could end up with a blooming plant in my lifetime.

Another plant I’ve always wanted to try is Hardenbergia. I just hot water scarified a packet of Hardenbergia violacea “Purple” seeds and hope to get one started this way for the greenhouse.

Every once in a while I’ve seen Kangaroo Paw plants for sale at local nurseries. I decided I would try to grow some from seed. These are Anigozanthos manglesii. The seeds supposedly benefit from smoke treatment because wildfires are common where they naturally grow. Luckily, rather than burning the house down trying to meet their needs, I bought some instant smoke treatment that I can just sprinkle on top of the seeds when I plant them, and when I water, the smoke works its magic.

Another fun Australian shrub is Hakea drupacea, the Sweet Scented Hakea. I thought this would be good for the greenhouse, too. This one likes smoke treatment, too.

Lastly, I want to try something really showy, so I’m planting a packet of Telopea speciosissima. I’m soaking these seeds now and will also smoke treat them, just in case.

Nothing is better in the heart of winter than planting seeds and watching them grow…its like bringing spring a little early.

To get the incubator put together, I had to venture into the greenhouse. It is so stuffed at this point that I have to maneuver like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat just to reach the back. And pretty much every seedling that will come up is destined for the greenhouse. I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to work!

I flew to Oahu on December 4th and spent a week there with my friend Linda.  We stayed on the windward side of the island in a beautiful little house.

There were spectacular views and lovely grounds from this little Indonesian cottage. 

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We found a lot of wildlife at the house, too–lots of birds, including wild chickens, mynas, shamas, egrets, and bulbils.  There were lots of frogs around the little pond, and big snails came out at night.  I saw bright pink apple snail eggs on foliage in the pond, too. We had geckos in the house and outside.  There were guppies in the pond, too, so I dipped some out into a fishbowl and kept them on the table inside for our stay there.  One day, I caught a gecko eyeing the guppies with suspicion.

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We took an excursion with amazing friend, Dean, to the Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu.  As many times as I have been to Honolulu, I had never been to this garden.  Surprisingly, Dean had never been there, either, and he’s lived on Oahu most of his life!

We saw some amazing plants and trees in this garden.  Highlights were the big trees, including the Kapoks and the Baobob, and the Quibo.  The palms were great, especially the Talipot Palm, which you will see blooming below. The “baby” Talipot doesn’t have a trunk, but is huge and has hooked thorns.  The conservatory had myriad treasures, including my first Amorphophalus titanum sighting (not in bloom, but the leaf was impressive enough!), and a giant anthurium, orchids, bromeliads, and more.

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I was working on college coursework the entire trip, but one day had some free time to go to the beach.  Of course, that ended up being the rainiest, windiest day!   Here are some photos from that excursion.  The plant is an interesting beach pea we found, and the cat is a feral cat at a fun restaurant we ate at.

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I had brought a book to read about the paintings and travels of Marianne North in the 1800’s. She was an amazing, prolific artist.  Dean bought me a book on the William Hillebrand, who founded the Foster Botanical Garden, and who had a major impact on Hawaii’s flora and fauna.  It turns out that Hillebrand had met North during their travels.  In addition, she had painted a blooming Talipot palm, which is what we also saw at Foster–it was blooming for the first time after 51 years there!  

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