I’m travelling for the next few weeks, so I figured it makes sense to make sure the potted plants are safe.  I finished that today, potted some hyacinth bulbs for forcing and then wandered quickly around the garden and too the following pictures:

I’ve been partial to these trees since they started from the seeds borrowed from the arboretum.  While at the cabin, I perused the leaf book Leon bought me a few years ago

and I found the name-the are Idesia polycarpa!  And they are putting on quite a show.

Striking yellow leaves with the red petioles still bright.

One of the blueberry starts colored up nicely–it has grown well this year.

 Prime Ark blackberry is trying really hard to ripen these berries before frost.

Aronia leaves.

Witchhazel flowers.  These don’t have a sweet smell–more like a clean, astringent one.

Alpine strawberries loving the cooler weather.

The black raspberry threw some major wandering canes.  I put a pot in the garden to catch this one so I can have a start next spring.

Raspberry leaves coloring up in the cooler weather.

This crow came to cheer me on as I took pictures around the yard.  Actually, it was looking for a handout, but Leon fed them yesterday, so I wasn’t inclined to oblige.

Another view of the witch hazel flowers.

The Iochroma in the driveway bed grew eight feet tall this year, but it still didn’t bloom!

Lamium looks its absolute best this time of year.

Dahlias are blooming a sigh of relief for the cooler, wetter weather.

Another late bloomer.

Campanula poscharskyana throwing a few blooms of its own half a year past its usual bloom time.

Huge white mushroom in the bark growing next to the veggie raised beds.  My foot is included (size 10.5 ) for size perspective.

I put the bulbs for forcing in the cold frame.  I’ll leave them uncovered to get some rain, then cover them with leaves and put the lid on for a few months before pulling them into the greenhouse for forcing.

Another HUGE mushroom–this one in the raised veggie bed where I planted lettuce seeds that have resulted in no lettuce plants that I can see.

The kale plants are finally snapping out of their year-long doldrums.  I had pruned these virtual shrubs back early in the year and they pouted since then.

Curly kale, looking fresh.

Here is the head of the Kalette plant–it is lovely and has some great looking leaves, but the brussel-spout like kalettes haven’t formed yet.

A close up of the leaves with their purple veins.

This dahlia is actually more orange than pink (at least to my color-blind eyes).  They are putting up some great flowers late in October!

Again, the colors are off–the larger blooms are orange, and the smaller ones are a lighter orangey salmon.

This euphorbia from Brother Tim is happy as a clam in the greenhouse and blooming up a storm–a snow storm!

Deeply colored flowering maple–so gorgeous!  These shrubs are enjoying a resurgence in the cooler weather, as are the streptocarpus behind them.

More flowering maples.

When I went out to move the cymbidiums and clivias into the greenhouse, I was greeted with at least four spiking orchids!  This one is almost ready to burst–the others are just starting.

A little blurry–but another cymbidium spike!

And another really fat one!

And yet one more.

Here is the greenhouse–stuffed to the gills with all the winter tenants.

Another plant enjoying the cool, wet weather–impatiens in a pot on the back patio.

This is a great color, too, and the leaves look fantastic this time of year–nice and dark.

The wonder berries are blooming still.  There are lots of berries and lots of flowers.  I grabbed some berries today for Brother Tim to have some seeds.

The Hakone grass is looking like a fountain of color right now.  I need to divide it in late winter, as it is incredibly pot bound and it dries out far too often in the warm months.  But it is hanging in there an still making a show.

We drove up to our little cabin in Tonasket last Thursday and came back today.  We didn’t time it on purpose to avoid the storms that were being predicted all weekend, but it worked out well!

Below are some pictures of what we saw/experienced on our long weekend.

The larches were in their glory near the cabin–I couldn’t resist taking pictures that I’ve probably taken a thousand times before!

You can see here how larch needles cover the ground everywhere near the trees.

My best hiking buddy, Bodhi.  He’s ten now, so not quite as active, but he keeps me company on three mile hikes!

Not a fun picture, but a strange one.  This is the second toad I’ve found apparently run over on the same stretch of dirt road in several years.  That wouldn’t be strange, except that the “traffic” on this road is maybe 2-3 cars a day!  The odds are in the toads’ favor, and yet two of them have failed to cross the road!

More larches…

And more…

And more…

The shrubs in the meadow add a wonderful contrast to the grass and the trees.  There is a subtlety, that, contrasted with autumn’s boldness, comes across as bold, as well.

I’m not positive what this plant is, but I’ve been lured in by its gorgeous leaves before.  It may be an alien–it appears on driveways and other disturbed places.

Very few plants were still blooming as autumn was throwing down cold nights, but I saw dozens of blue bells all over the mountains.

More larches, firs and pines…

Bodhi traipsing through the tall grass.

An old crag standing out against a moment of blue sky.

A spectacular larch in the meadow.

Aspens as a backdrop for a smaller, brighter larch tree.

This was the most amazing thing we saw all weekend–ten turkeys scurrying across the meadow one morning.  We hadn’t seen turkeys near the cabin  in seven years!

Before the turkeys realized we were talking about them, they were in a more relaxed formation.

Leon and two Lhasa Apsos at nap time.  We sleep SO MUCH there and it never seems to be enough!

Amongst all the Douglas firs, larches and Ponderosa pines, there are a few odd trees out.  This is one of them.  There is a short line of these and their seedlings popping up around in one very specific area near our cabin.  I think this is a spruce of some kind, but need to investigate further.

Close-up of the needles to help me identify later.  There are also noble firs around the area that I’ve seen.  I assume these trees have been brought in by residents over the years.

Mona is NOT a good hiking partner.  She won’t go past the driveway anymore!  But she looks awfully cute!  And she loves being up in the country.

A close-up.

A larch amid darker trees.

I saw this gorgeous bug on the door frame of a neighboring cabin.  Bugs were a big part of this cabin trip–our cabin was full of flies and wasps that came out as soon as the temperatures got above about sixty degrees.  I caught at least a hundred and fifty flies and passed them outside.  I hope they found somewhere else to winter over.

Chipmunks were not hibernating yet.  I got a picture of this little guy’s tail, mostly.

Bodhi pointing out a particularly showy larch tree.

We call Bodhi our billy goat–and you can see why here–he loves scrambling up rocks (or furniture) and loves to be on top.

It is tough for a shrub to stand out when all around them are brilliant yellow larch trees.  This stand of wild roses held up well to the competition.

These are a fantastic combination of yellow, green, red and orange–and the red stems really set it all off.

Another view…

Another….

This trip was about cows, too.  There is some drama about the cows being welcomed by some property owners and not others.  The ranchers rely on the free range land.   However, the cows can cause damage and “yuck” pretty much everywhere.  Leon and I like the cows, but we can sure understand the problem.

Another stand-out larch brightening its dark area of the forest.

I ordered the following on Ebay and the seller did an amazing job of packing the very healthy starts that were sent.

You can find their Ebay store here.  The photos below are from their site–I highly recommend them based on their prices and the beautiful, healthy plants hey sent.

Hosta “Fragrant Blue”

Heuchera “Dolce Silver Gumdrop”–this picture doesn’t lie!  The leaves of this gorgeous cultivar look exactly like this.

Here is Astilbe “Color Flash Lime”.  This one was showing the bright lime foliage, but not yellow as  it appears in the photo.  We’ll see what the semi-sun exposure in the Doug fir bed will do to its color.

This gorgeous hosta is “Stained Glass.”

Here you can see starts I received.  The packaging was amazing–each plant had craft paper wrapped around the pot and leaves and folded over and taped.  In addition, the soil was secured in the pots with plastic bags tied tightly around each plant stem.  This packaging was brilliant and effective!

All of these plants went out into the Doug fir bed this morning.  I have had success with one hosta out there, so I am hoping to build on that and add a few more and plants that like similar situations.

The biggest concern is the dryness of that raised bed.  The tree sucks all the moisture out of the soil and out of the air.  The ground was extremely dry when I planted the starts today.  I set the sprinkler to water them in well for an hour.  I’ll have to really watch it next summer, though, and water that whole area regularly until the starts are established.  Hopefully, I’ll have a drip system in there and that will make it easier.

Brother Tim and I went to Walt’s Organic Fertilizer yesterday.  It is a charming little nursery in North Seattle.

I bought a few things, including a gorgeous Alstroemeria–a dwarf with near-white flowers with 

I love that this has just a few spots in the middle, unlike the usual spotty versions.

I got this Lewisia “Little Mango” to grow in the greenhouse.  I love Lewisias, but I haven’t grown one in a while.

I also got this twinflower for the Doug fir bed.  I’ve seen these growing near the cabin in dry shade…so maybe it will survive.  Here is what it might look like one day:

These are such amazing wildflowers–I hope the little guy survives.

I also got lettuce seeds to start in one of the raised beds.  Here are the three varieties I chose:

This variety is Lolla Rossa.

This variety is Tango.

And here is Oak Leaf.

I cleaned out the bed that I had already cleaned out a few weeks ago–there were about two thousand calendula and borage seedlings already up and growing in there.  I rooted them out by hand and added potting soil on top to plant the lettuce seeds in.  If they get a quick, healthy start, they might just stay ahead of the NEXT crop of calendulas and borages that will inevitably push up in the next week or so.  I did water the bed with the sprinkler, and the other raised beds and Doug fir bed, too.  Things were extremely dry out there.

Here are some pictures of what’s happening in the garden as summer transitions to autumn.  I had high hopes that we’d get enough rain this week to matter, but I was deeply disappointed!  It rained overnight on Friday–just enough to perk up some of the potted plants that weren’t under the eaves.  The veggie beds under the Douglas fir tree didn’t even get wet.  That tree absorbs so much water that it has to really pour for any to slip through all the branches to the gardens underneath.

There is a precocious Daphne laureola that popped up in the Douglas fir bed.  You can see the flower buds for early next spring forming at the tips of the branches.  I have a soft spot for these shrubs, though they are invasive.  I should remove it, but I know I won’t.

As the flowers wane, the foliage starts to shine.  Here is the Aucuba japonica in the Doug fir bed, looking better than the Aruncus that died early in front of it.

I plan to do some digging to identify this tree soon.  You can really see the red petioles here.  From a seed off a tree outside the Arboretum gift shop (that tree has since died and been removed), these two seedlings are getting some serious growth on them now.  I need to prune them back to keep them from shading the orchard.

Here is a shot of one of the leaves–should help me ID it.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides blooming on the side of the orchard garden.

Close-up of the flowers–actually a better blue than the tropical plumbago.

These amazing huge berries are on Prime Ark…very delicious, too!

A few more berries coming on in the summer batch.

More flowers (and berries) coming on–not sure if they’ll make it before frost, but I admire their spirit!

More blackberry flowers.

The beauty and symmetry of mullein flowers gets missed because they appear in spires, but they are amazing.  The crinkled lower petal really shows in this picture.

Here is the spire.

Serious gardeners would burn me at the stake for even showing this combination, but I think it actually is quite stunning.  The tall spires are dock seeds, with aster flowers and raspberry leaves.

I seem to have two types of aster.  One is shorter–I think brother Tim gave it me from Bette Higgins.  The other is taller–maybe also from brother Tim through his friend Merla.

The white hardy geranium that I started from seed this spring is still blooming in the pot Leon stuck it in.  It has  an interesting flower pattern–the stems just keep elongating and sending out more blossoms, though they are a bit smaller and spaced farther apart than the first blooms.

Another great foliage plant that really looks great this month–Lamium maculatum.

The fragrant arboretum rose is getting a bit of a second wind–and the clematis on the same arbor has a few straggler flowers, too.

Dahlias are the stars of the flower show right now…not super prolific, but enough of them and a great variety of bloom types.

The alignment of the petals on this particular cultivar are almost impossibly intricate.

I cut most of the rose hips off when I pruned this arboretum rose, but a few still snuck through.  They are brilliant, shiny red.

Another dahlia showing off…

Another dahlia…

Another view.

I cut back the seed heads on this Dianthus expecting an explosion of bloom.  I got two.  But in September, that’s a treasure!

Seeds from the voodoo lily–spectacular color.

Hesperis seed pods split open and look kind of crazy…I keep meaning to cut them back, but instead I’ve grown fond of them.

Feverfew snapping back from the summer heat and blooming its fool head off.

Here are the asters that I added to the Doug fir bed last summer.  They aren’t covered with flowers, but there are lots of buds and it looks like they might last for several months.

Brother Tim pointed out the seed pods on this Acanthus.  They are bright green against the tan bracts.  There are spines protecting the seed pods, too.

The ripe pods are a burnished brown–they look a little like acorns.

Garlic chives in one of the raised beds, an offset from brother Tim that is blooming especially well this year.  They make great cut-flowers, too.

Another dahlia…

And another…

And another…

I’m not sure why most of the cane begonias died out, but this is the last of them.  The leaves look pretty good, but it isn’t as robust as most of the starts I had before.

Some of my potted seedlings are showing autumn color.

Some more maples showing color.

The showiest of all–Acer davidii…

Close up of davidii leaf

Great gesneriad flower…

Streptocarpus blooming in the greenhouse…

Nasturtium blooming in the greenhouse.

Geranium maderense very happy that it got repotted a month ago.  I might get flowers next year, though it is still puny compared to pictures I’ve seen online, where the flowering plants reach four feet tall.

The euphorbia brother Tim brought to me last weekend and a blooming begonia.

More gorgeous gesneriad flowers.

Abutilon flower in the greenhouse.  The actual color is a deep, blood red.

There are a few orb weavers in the greenhouse–I like them in there eating bugs and they typically lay their eggs in there in the autumn.

Rain lily blooming in the greenhouse.

Another view…

Another view…

Another abutilon flower.

Geraniums blooming in the greenhouse.

Fuchsia “Cardinal”

More Cardinal flowers.

Seedlings on shelf outside the greenhouse.

Begonia blooming outside on the patio.

The coleus are coming into their own.  They probably will start to dwindle as the weather cools.

Two sculptures:  a stone beauty by Elaine McKay and a gorgeous begonia.

Wonderberries ripe in the raised beds.

The ArtsNorth Studio Tour is this weekend, so I’m working at the end of the driveway as cashier.  We’ve had some good sales and the weather is spectacular today!

Denise Heekin makes this amazing ceramic birds!  It’s tough not to just buy them all!

She also incorporates them into gorgeous vessels.

I adore flickers, and this vessel does my “spirit bird” proud!

This vessel has Steller’s jays, which is great–we had a pair near the patio this morning, chiding us for some unknown offense.

Arliss Newcomb makes these happy stones with words and faces.

Janet Still has some spectacular ceramic sculpture displayed in our driveway.  She’s sold the most so far.

Another awesome Janet Still sculpture.

Another Janet Still sculpture.

You get an idea of the display here–tables full of goodies!

Diane Boone’s jewelry on display–she’s talking to Leon there in the background.

This is a “river glass” window piece that Leon’s cousin Ed Ford created.  It was pretty spectacular with the morning light coming through it.

Another one of Ed’s windows–very cheerful in the bright light.

Hostas are very popular for their foliage.  I certainly understand that.  But I’ve always thought their flowers have potential, too.  Here is the one in the Douglas fir bed doing the genus proud:

In the same bed, the lavender asters are starting their show.  I watered that bed today, which  inevitably led to rain falling from the sky.  It wasn’t enough rain to count, though, so I just kept watering.

The combination of sprinkler and clouds created some nice water drops on the Aquilegias.

Most of the poor shrub roses have been overwhelmed by bindweed, but this one stretched one branch out and bloomed again.

Below is a close-up of one of the flowers.

Here is one of the huge Prime Ark blackberries.  That is my thumbnail next to it for reference.  (And I don’t have tiny little hands like some people.)

While the sprinkler was running, I had a little visitor come in for a bath!  And this time I had the camera with me!

I was probably within 12 feet of this charmer, and that didn’t bother it at all!

Another view of the little bather.

And another.

Hippeastrum mandonii that I grew from seed three years ago. These were expensive seeds and I wasn’t confident that I could get them to grow, but they sprouted and grew nicely.  I actually sprouted them in water, which is what I read online.  Who knew?

Here is the potential the bulbs hold:

One reason I thought I might be able to grow Hippeastrum species from seed–the red and white hybrid clone I have set seeds a couple of years in a row and I threw them around into pots in the greenhouse.  Here are three of the offspring.  There are at least two others that I haven’t potted individually yet.  It is always exciting to find something that likes the greenhouse environment.

A luscious, somewhat shy gesneriad.  This from brother Tim from the gesneriad club sale from years ago.  It has fantastic leaves and gorgeous flowers.  I think this is a Kohleria–but no longer sure and didn’t see the label.  It has a significant tuber at this point.

Speaking of tubers–I wasn’t expecting to see a big one attached to this Aloinopsis rubrolineata that I grew from seed, maybe seven years ago.  It just seems to moulder away on the shelf in the greenhouse, so I gave it some new soil and a new position–maybe that will cheer it up.

Amazing surprise, as I was trudging through my greenhouse chores today, I moved the huge Coelogyne cristata hanging basket and right behind it, previously hidden, the glorious Sinningia tubiflora was strutting its stuff.  The photos aren’t great, due to the bright backlight, but I’ll try to get better ones tomorrow.

This plant has required a huge amount of patience.  It has grown well and filled a gallon pot with dozens of tubers.  But it has only bloomed once before, with just a few flowers.

Because it is hardy (or said to be), I have threatened it frequently with being planted outside.  But I can’t figure out where I would put it–probably in the Douglas fir bed…but not sure it would thrive in that dry, root-filled environment.

The best thing is that, because there are so many tubers in the pot, I can divide it up next spring and give some away or try a few in the garden.  The flowers are said to be fragrant, and I remember them smelling like vanilla the first time the plant bloomed, but this year I can’t smell them at all.  Not sure if it is my blind nose or the time I was sniffing them.

I believe there are three pots of Ferraria crispa now.  I got them from Ebay back in 2012–almost four years ago.  One of them grows pretty well, but to my knowledge it has yet to bloom (tough to be sure, as it is a winter grower and I’m not always looking in the greenhouse in winter).

These tenacious plants really needed repotting today–their roots were exploring outside the pot and the soil was completely depleted.  These are seeds from Africa that were the free gift with some other seeds I ordered.  There are two plants here, but they’ve grown together and I didn’t want to upset them by tearing them apart at this late date.

From Wikipedia, here is what the flowers may look like in another two years or so:

I bought this Vetheimia bracteata from Sky Nursery three or four years ago–it was half off ($7.50), which seemed like a steal for  a blooming-sized bulb.  Since then, it has spawned a pup.  It needs to be repotted, but I didn’t have the time or energy today–maybe this fall before it leafs out.

Another Ferraria crispa bulb.  These plants are really unusual, with pretty iris-like leaves and fascinating flowers.  Sometimes called starfish flowers.  There are a lot of clones that have different looking flowers.  I can’t wait to see what mine look like!

I ordered more than one species of Ferraria.  It is possible this is NOT crispa.

These seedlings don’t look like much right now, but these are some more winter growers.  This clump includes a mix of Babiana hybrids.  These are two-years-old from seed.  I divided the seedlings into three pots and they seem to be doing alright, though they haven’t bloomed yet.  Babiana leaves are pretty cool–all pleated and crinkly.

This cactus has been with me for what seems a lifetime.  It does get flowers in a double ring towards the growing end.  I think this may be Mammillaria matudae, not super happy in low-light Seattle, but muddling through.

Gasteria “Marble” that I’ve had for a few years.  This is a plant family that I can’t resist.  They are completely carefree and the flowers are interesting and the leaves are fascinating, too.

Another view.

And the tag.

Another Gasteria–this one came from brother Tim.  It is prolific–look at all those babies around the parent!

I will pot up a few pups this year so I have some extras to give away.

This is a Sauromatum venosum bulb that I ordered from eBay and planted in October 2014.  This voodoo lily is new to me and it will be great to see it bloom one day.

Originally from the Flower and Garden Show–I think from Edelweiss Nursery, these Freesia laxa (syn. Anomatheca laxa) have been consistent in coming up and blooming–and spreading seeds all over the greenhouse!

Another Gasteria–this one came from sister Cate many years ago.  It bloomed already and it is throwing another scape.

I only have one Pancratium maritimum seedling left–originally I had potted three of them on.  I’ve always dreamed of having one of these bloom in the greenhouse.  I really hope this one makes it!

This fuchsia plant, a cultivar called “Rijs” has charming, smallish flowers and has survived a sunny shelf in the greenhouse until now.  This one came from brother Tim, from a fuchsia sale he attended several years ago.  I pruned it back, gave it fresh soil and moved it out of the sun!  Hopefully, it will get back to blooming before cold weather sets in.

I lost two of my pitcher plants this year, but still have this–and it happens to be my favorite.  I need to make sure it has enough water all the time, which I haven’t been as good about this year.  It usually sits in a water-filled tray, but the water-filled part was harder to maintain this year for some reason.

This seems to be an iris seedling, but no idea what kind.  I grew dozens of seeds three years ago and this is one of the few left in the greenhouse.  It likes water, so I keep it with the pitcher plant.

Pelargonium “Grossersorten” cutting, with some small “Petals” cuttings in the same pot.

Leon got this Haworthia cutting from a friend.  It was a lot longer, but I cut it off where the stem was bent.  Right below the bend, there are fresh starts coming out among the leaves.  I think this will do well in the greenhouse and nicely complement the Gasterias.

I’ve had this Pelargonium for a long time.  It is possibly from City People’s on the back of Capitol Hill.  I suspect it might be carnosum, but it has never bloomed–maybe someday!

Here are a couple of Amarine bulbs purchased online several years ago.  Amarine is a cross between Nerine and Amaryllis.  These bulbs haven’t been super happy since I’ve received them.  I’ll move them outside this year and let them fend for themselves.

Pelargonium papilionaceae  cuttings.  My older starts of this species are five feet tall and bloom impressively in the greenhouse in spring.

Another old friend–this is Plectranthus forskohlii (I think).  These are impressive foliage plants, and they add lovely white flowers in late fall if the season has been warm enough.

I’ve kept two stock plants going for years now and I take cuttings as needed.  Unlike the closely related, warmth-loving Coleus, these plants do just fine in the cold greenhouse.

Here are some cuttings I took today.

My second stock plant.

There are so many Clivia seedlings in the greenhouse–I don’t plan to photograph and inventory them all.  However, this one actually and miraculously has a label!

I can’t seem to find pictures of this cross online, but at least I know it is a hybrid (or is claimed to be).

Another Quail x Nakamura seedling–these are three or so years old, but somewhat diminutive.  I will see if some fertilizer and tender loving care might help them.

Pelargonium “Petals” cuttings.  I always keep some of these  coming along, as they tuck into pots nicely.

More Pelargonium cuttings–not sure what color.

I’ll call this a memorial pot–it used to hold a fuchsia bonsai that I’d kept for 10+ years.  That plant died away last year, but three fern sporelings have popped up in this pot, including some type of brake-fern, a hardy male fern, and a tender-looking delicate other sporeling.

Another grand old friend–this  is a big pot of Oxalis triangularis.  If I remember, I will divide some bulblet out of this pot and plant them separately this fall.  These are really nice pot plants to mix among the green green greens that permeate the patios.

Some stalwart begonias have held on in the greenhouse for many years, including this one.  I think this is Begonia “Honeysuckle” and I think I bought the mother plant maybe in 2002 as a tiny pot plant to have in my office at work.  The leaves are attractive and the flowers are surprisingly showy.

Close-up of the flowers.

Another view.

And another view.

Leon brought cuttings home five years ago from cousin Brenda’s setcreasea.  Even through several moves, when we visited her in July, she still had a big pot of these showy, tenacious wanderers.

Here is one of the pots with the Pleione mixed bulblets.  I think I popped seven starts in this pot.

Here are some second-year offsets from the Pleione maculata in the greenhouse.

In the midst of my plant inventory and tending, Leon suggested maybe I could clean up the greenhouse for the party he’s having on September 3rd.  Because I’m working so much right now, I knew I couldn’t give the mess the time and attention it deserves to get it really organized.  Instead, I went for the “what they can’t see won’t hurt me” approach–I put up curtains made of landscape cloth!  Above is the before.

And here is the after!!!  Why didn’t I do this years ago!

My first thought regarding fertilizing my potted plants now in trays on the drip system was to drop some granular fertilizer in the trays. But then I found these in the greenhouse:

So, I dropped one of these in each tray and I’ll drop a bit of fertilizer in each tray, too, before I water again–probably tomorrow.  We’re expecting 88 degrees tomorrow, 91 on Friday and 93 on Saturday!  So, it will be a good time to test the system!

 

After visiting cousins Ralph and Brenda in Lodi, I was convinced that even I could install a drip irrigation system.  So, I ordered this from eBay:

Rain Bird Grdnerkit Drip Irrigation Gardener’s Drip Kit | eBay

I realized there is no way I can put a nozzle in every little pot outside and inside the greenhouse–that is probably close to 300 pots!  Instead, I figure if I put all the plants in trays and then get water to the trays, that should work.  So, I ordered a bunch of these:

Gardening Trays No Drain Holes Greenhouse Garden Plant Wheatgrass Microgreens | eBay

And then taking the simplicity idea even farther, as brother Tim and I started to move all the outside plants to the trays, I thought it might be easiest to only have the top trays receive water and then let gravity do the rest.  I cut small slits about 3/8″ up on two sides of the trays.  Not only will this allow the drip irrigation water to drain to the trays below, but it also would keep the trays from filling up too much during the wet season.

So, after all the plants were in trays (and there are some pretty cool plants that I’ve started and somehow kept alive), I opened the package and looked over all the pieces of the drip kit.

The concept is pretty simple and my gravity idea made it even easier.  I was able to hook up about ten feet of 1/2″ hose and  inserted four nozzles with the nifty installation tool.  The hardest part was figuring out how to “cap” the end of the  hose.  There was a figure-eight looking part that was supposed to be the tool, but it didn’t make sense until I figured out you just put the hose through one opening of the figure eight, then bend it in half and back through the other opening!  It worked like a charm!

So, I think I have successfully installed the drip system.  I have ordered a timer, too, so I’m waiting for that.  In the meantime, this will be a good (sunny) week to run the drip nozzles to see how long it takes to completely water the 16 trays of plants.

Next, I plan to order more trays for the greenhouse.  I will splice the hose and pass it under the gravel through the greenhouse door and then set up something similar to what I’ve done on the outside shelves in there along the top shelf that can drip down to the bottom shelf.  3/8″ of standing water seems about right to allow the pots in the trays to absorb enough, but not get too waterlogged.

Once all that is done, I likely will install some drip systems around the yard, too, that will make it easier to water everything.  We’ll see.

 

Here are a few more plants in the greenhouse.

Brugmansia grandiflora bulbs that I got from Strange Wonderful Things (Ebay) 3 or 4 years ago.  They survive, but don’t thrive.  I top dressed them.  Maybe that will help.

Here is the potential they hold.  I should work harder to grow and bloom them!

Here is a picture from years ago of what I believe is an Echinocactus.  It has HUGE flowers, but not every year.

Another of the cactus collection, with large-ish flowers, though I don’t remember what color.  It hasn’t bloomed for a while.

This was many years ago.  This cactus has grown substantially and it has grown horizontally, rather that upright.  The greenhouse doesn’t get enough sun to make cactus totally happy.  They survive, though, and they bloom sometimes.  This one gets rings of smallish cerise flowers around near the top.

Here is a seedling succulent–now probably four years old (picture is two years old or so).

Here is what Erepsia lacera looks like when it is happy.  I’ll have to work on finding out what it really likes.

Here is the tropical succulent vine I’ve had in the greenhouse for ten years.  Brother Tim got a cutting from it to bloom one year on his hot balcony, and it bloomed once for me, too.  It has fringed tiny flowers like a mignonette and is sweetly fragrant.

Here is a close-up of Albuca setosa bulbs.  I grew these bulbs from seed many years ago.  They bloom regularly

One of the Plectranthus cuttings from years ago.  I have kept a couple of these going for many years–they have handsome leaves and they will bloom in the autumn if kept in the greenhouse all summer.

This agave was smuggled from Spain when we came back from our trip 20+ years ago.  I want to send it to Lodi to cousin Brenda’s place–she can grow it in the ground and make it smile.

Oxalis triangularis regnellii.  I’ve had these for many years and they are a wonderful plant that doesn’t ask for much and give double rewards with amazing leaf color and graceful flowers.

These Dierama mixed hybrids are from seeds that I grew last year.  I have an affinity for these plants, but I’ve yet to get one large enough to bloom.  I’ll keep trying, though.

Another mystery seedling that came up last year.  I think it is from seeds from Arizona.

“Light of Buddha” Clivia that is really pot bound.  I’ll mix up some Clivia mix soon and pot on dozens of my seedlings.

Persicaria capitata that brother Tim passed from Bette Higgins many years ago.  I have two pots of it–love the leaves and the flowers.  I can cut these way back and they only get better looking.

Another brother Tim plant–this Chinese Wisteria has been with me for 20+ years.  This plant bloomed one time–maybe 15 years ago.  I remember it smelled like grape KoolAid.

One of the smaller Rhodohypoxis baurii divisions.

Tree peony seedlings.  The seeds were planted in 2013, but they came up last year, I think.

Fern sporelings that came up around the greenhouse.  I like to grow these on a bit and then plant them under leggy plants like the shrubby geraniums and tree fuchsias.

This seedling is labeled Libertia grandiflora.  I hope that is right.  Here is what it may look like someday:

 Another Masdevallia division.  This one isn’t quite as robust and I think that’s due to the orchid pot it is planted in!  All of the books and advice say that orchids should never stand in water, but the only way I’ve succeeded with these  is to grow them in a tray that I fill with water regularly to make sure they have enough moisture and humidity.  My Restrepia guttulata is also in that tray and it does really well there, too, even with the extra water.