I suck at gardening. » flowers

Christmas cactus in February.

Corwin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:07:20 +0000

I’ve been a gardening slacker, but this is “I suck at gardening.” I have a few more things coming up soon, but for the moment here’s a Christmas cactus cared for by my wife. Fortunately it seems immune to my presence. [click to embiggen]

Christmas cactus

It did live once.

Corwin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:04:33 +0000

A quick post – I’ll put a couple more up today. I wanted to show from the last entry that the little Hibiscus was once alive.

Hibiscus pre mortius

Not just yet.

Corwin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:39:25 +0000

Hibiscus mortius

I’m looking out of my window at snow. We rarely get any snow around here, but today we have at least 8 inches or so now while it still falls. I was going to write about this little Hibiscus mortius but I don’t know what to say about it. It was pretty? It is a wonderful display of nothing. It sticks out of the ground pathetically, a sad reminder that plants don’t always work. I’m hopeful it’ll come back next year. I really have no idea if it’s an annual or perennial. I should google that. Today’s weather seems more fitting than the happy greenery around it in the first photo, teasing its untimely demise.

Coming back?

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Corwin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:37:43 +0000

I noticed we have bulbs poking their noses up this morning. We still haven’t had a decent snow; I’m torn between looking forward to Spring and being disappointed about not having any snow. It’s still January and it’s pushing over 60 degrees this morning already. I want to do more plantings and gardening this year – but I’m afraid my budget might say otherwise.

Tulip noses

Poor cold plants.

Corwin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:56:38 +0000

Our mailbox is frequented by by some local neighborhood dog. Fortunately some of the plants around the mailbox aren’t within pissing range or the frost here might be yellow. I think these are Pansies.

Frozen Pansies

You’ll need to use your imagination.

Corwin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:15:01 +0000

I think what was once here was a Coleus. Dark leaves, reddish flower things. Of course I’m not sure of the name. It was a happy little plant. Unfortunately it died in the Winter before I got its name. It probably wouldn’t have talked anyway.

Coleus grave.

Our ex-garden and a plant that could live in hell.

Corwin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:22:10 +0000

This is Lantana in the middle of Summer. It started from a small stump of Lantana cut back from the previous year. This was in June before the plant was so large it threatened to take over the driveway and move down toward the street on an adventure of unknown proportions.

Lantana, plant from Hell.

This also used to be our little experimental vegetable garden. We had tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and a few other plants. It is on the south side of our house, with the east end up against a privacy fence (you can see in the other photo.) The south side of our house between May and September maintains a temperature that can easily melt lead. You can deep fry a turkey on that side of the house without the burner. It’s hellaciously hot, beyond Africa hot.

Needless to say our vegetable garden never fared very well there. It was a combination of not being able to afford to have a dedicated 10″ main and water supply, and our inability to acquire special environmental suits with air-conditioning in order to stay on that side of the house for more than a few milliseconds to do menial tasks such as weeding and wondering why the plants did so poorly.

So off to our local nursery at Smithfield Gardens. We specifically asked for a plant that could survive the extremes of the heat and dryness on that side of the house. We were introduced to Lantana. It is freaking amazing. We might water it a little in the Spring to get it started, but after that it just takes control of that side of the house. We usually need to trim it back several times just to keep it from taking over the neighborhood. It’s a great plant that even I can’t seem kill. It attracts butterflies, moths, humming birds, and a variety of other bug creatures. Sadly it only survives the summer. It’s spirit goes on vacation to Hades for the Winter, and it looks like this…

It's mostly dead.

Regardless how ugly it is in the Winter, it’s a great plant in the summer.

Now I know you anal retentive types think I just leave a hose unwound from the reel year around don’t you? I can’t speak to why the first photo has it unwound, other than possibly being unable to get to the hose reel without a machete. The second one I have an excuse.

I bet you thought I was going to tell you my excuse didn’t you?

Evergreen my ass.

Corwin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:35:40 +0000

This my friends is an azalea. They thrive here in South Eastern Virginia. They just don’t thrive under my care. To be fair, there are a few that I haven’t killed yet. This one still has a few leaves on it but I think it’s not happy, and more than likely actually dead. You have to look hard to even find the plant. It took me several tries to get the image rotated the correct way.

Dead Azalea

Oooh that smells nice.

Corwin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:39:39 +0000

This happy little plant is lavender! I think it’s lavender. Notice the care and delicacy of the planting and placement. I’m sure it will blossom and thrive under my care. I can’t wait to use those lavender petals in a nice spring bath. Lavender has petals right? Wait – what part of the plant is the smelly good part anyway? It looks like a freaking weed.

Lavender. It's not dead yet.