Blog Author
xantedeschia
(view profile)
Recent Entries to this Blog Mark of Intention - Garden Plots
Posted: 16 Jan 2022
So, About Those Pitaya...
Posted: 28 Feb 2021
Pitaya Seedling Picture
Posted: 09 Jan 2021
Pitaya RISING!!!!!
Posted: 05 Jan 2021
It Has Been Some Time...Hi!
Posted: 27 Nov 2020

All Entries
 


Introduction - Oh, Hi There!




Category: Miscellaneous | Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:34 pm

Well, this is lovely. I like this site already as it combines two of my favorite things: Gardening and writing.

A little about my garden. I am agoraphobic, so my garden is really a bunch of containers around my house. I do my best. In some areas of horticulture, I succeed and in others I fail...dismally. I keep trying though, so I'm sure I'm earning brownie points for that.


The oldest plant I am growing is a Sanseveria (Snake Plant) and I acquired it via a piece I got from High school in 1998. My poor baby. I went for a year without watering it and it still survived. It's currently sitting in my window.


I made several more cuttings off of it and put them all in one six inch pot to give the appearance of a fuller plant. Between more frequent watering and the addition of fertilizer, it took off in growing. At the tallest point, it's currently 27" high from the base of the plant to the tip of the tallest leaf.


Next in age is my supermarket rescue Aloe Vera plant. I bought it in 2000 and managed to break my poor baby's head off. Undaunted, I kept the remaining stalk of the plant watered and was delightfully surprised to find it budding again from the remnants. It's currently about 12" high at its tallest point and has several offshoots.


After that comes my spider plant. My therapist gave me a piece off of her plant in 2007 and I've been growing it ever since. It has made several offshoots, some of which are now growing in other people's homes as gifts.


Next comes my orange trees. I planted one seed in 2010 and two stems came out of the soil. For a while, they did okay on water alone but I eventually began to see the telltale sign of malnutrition on both of them. Unfortunately, I'm very poor, and couldn't afford fertilizer right away. Thankfully, they hung on despite the diet of water alone. I just got some fertilizer...finally and they're both now growing out of all recognition.


From there, comes my supermarket spawn: my Ginger plant. I bought a rhizome of ginger from my local supermarket in the spring of 2011 and sprouted it. Given my past history with gingers of various types, I didn't have high hopes that this one would survive, let alone thrive. It did though. I enjoyed a lovely plant but no flowers for two years before I got hungry and harvested a piece off of it. I have to say how delicious it was. I made cookies with it that were wonderfully flavored. I then replanted the remaining rhizomes and left it alone from December through February. It's now sprouting new shoots already and it isn't even Spring yet.


Another supermarket rescue is my African Violet plant. I bought it in November of 2013 to overcome my fear of growing the plant. I was fully expecting it to die as my previous attempt had. I placed it in a shady patch beneath my bedroom window and waited. It also not only survived but it thrived.


A profusion of blooms soon came up from the center. I could scarcely believe what was happening and took pictures thinking that, at any moment, the horticultural anvil would land on my attempts at growing this plant and something would kill it. I was pleasantly surprised a few days ago to find that it's blooming again. The only thing I did was give it a bit of the same fertilizer mentioned previously in this entry.


On the same day I purchased the African Violet, I saw a sad looking fern. To this day, I have no clue what kind of fern it is as it wasn't labeled in the Supermarket. I'm doing the best that I can with it but, for some reason, it's not thriving like the other plants. I had another fern I bought a month after from the same supermarket that has died already. I'm hoping for the best but, it doesn't look good.


Next up, in the 2014 column are my Radishes, Tomatoes and Nasturtiums.


The radishes are Burpee's Cherry Belle and I planted them along with Super Sweet 100 cherry Tomatoes on 21 February 2014. I planted the Radishes in the ginger pot and the cherry Tomatoes in the window in a small spare pot I had. I have high hopes for both.


The Nasturtiums, I planted on 25 February 2014 and I planted four seeds a piece in the two orange tree pots.


My future plans include planting the seeds I just purchased this year. Those seeds are: Park's Seed Company's Cinnamon Basil, Burpee's Coleus Rainbow Mix, Lemongrass and Geranium Border Mix.


I also have Blood oranges and strawberries coming in a few days from now from a different supermarket, plans to get more seeds, including peppers and plans for taking the plunge and growing mushrooms.


That's everything, I think. Please, if you find anything here interesting. Say hello. :)


Last edited: Mon Mar 10, 2014 3:03 am

This blog entry has been viewed 613 times
You're reading one of many blogs on GardenStew.com.
Register for free and start your own blog today.


Comments

 

waretrop wrote on Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:55 pm:


Hello there. It's nice to meet you. Is nice to hear about your gardening. We would love to see some pictures.

What country or state do you live in?

Barb in Pa.




 

eileen wrote on Mon Mar 10, 2014 12:46 am:


What a lovely way to introduce yourself to us all. However more of our members will be able to say hello to if you say pop a post in the 'Welcome to GardenStew' forum.
In the meantime a warm welcome from Scotland.






 

xantedeschia wrote on Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:13 am:


@waretrop: Hi, it's nice to meet you too. I posted some pictures in my album.

I live in the state of Maryland in the USA. :)


@eileen: Thank you! I'm going to check the forums out as soon as Cosmos is off. :)





Leave a Comment


Login or register to leave a comment.