Some flowers that missed Bloom Day

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These are both first time flowerers for me and even though I've got a pretty good idea what they'll look like they'll still be nice to see. I'm sure I won't be disapointed, both are beautiful even just in bud and regardless, I bought both of these plants for their leaves. The flowers are a nice bonus I hope to see soon! (You can see both (including leaves) in earlier stages of bud development here - The Aloe has been coming along much faster than the Echeveria.)



These are the soon to open buds of an Echeveria The whole things a frosted pink colour and the orange-pink of the buds looks like it'll be a nice touch.


For the record that's approximately my favourite colour in a flower. Not too different from the colour of the Echeveria on the lowest buds. I don't think the colour will spread to the tips so the effect of the open bloom may not quite live up to expectations but time will tell. Time will also tell if similarities to my Haworthia buds will carry through to the flowers.


In other news I'm planning a trip to Lee Valley Tools - one of my favourite stores but slightly out of the way. I needed wanted to pick up a few things but it's always worth getting everything you need in one trip so you don't have to go as often.

Looking around for a few things on their site (do they have these? I haven't seen them on their site, will ask in store - sounds like a perfect solution to my problem) I stumbled on a Self-Watering Patio Garden that looks exactly like one Mr. Brown Thumb reviewed. It's slightly more expensive than I might have wanted to pay but I may get one anyway. I had a really bad time with Tomatoes splitting and would really love not to have to deal with that next year. With the size of the container I could put two Tomato plants (all I usually grow) and all my herbs and in it and save space too which is huge when you're trying to fit as many plants as I am in as small a space as I have. Reviews I've read are strongly positive as well.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - October 2010

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A few more things still flowering outside this fall Bloom Day. This may be the last outdoor Bloom Day until next March, but that will depend entirely on the weather. If it's like last year I may still have some plants flowering in mid-November but we've already had a few light frosts. We'll have to see how that goes though.

But this month... There's quite a bit that's still going. Sure there's a lot the same as I had flowering in September but it's still nice to have this much still going in the garden.



My Pink Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) is still going strong. I'd never even noticed the way it branches and flowers lower on the stems. I wouldn't have noticed either but I was chopping it back to make room for my Rhododendron. By the time the main flower stalk has finished though so have most of the side shoots. I think it's more "Oh that's interesting" than anything practical. The flowers are actually kind of ugly strange. There's not that much else that's as reliable for fall flowers though and the leaves are actually a very nice dark glossy green.


This little Pansy seedling has popped up on my patio and (other than being eaten by earwigs) is doing well. Of particular note is that this seedling is identical to its parent. I need to try to collect some seeds from it for next spring.


This volunteer Morning Glory comes from my neighbours yard and is growing through and around my Honeysuckle. The Honeysuckle's still flowering with lots of buds to open, and I know there's at least one open today (I can smell it) but couldn't see it for a picture today. It's nice though because by the time this has started to flower the Honeysuckle is mostly finished with only the odd bloom here and there.


And because I love it so much here's my Red Rose again, this time with the seeds of my Miscanthus 'Little Kitten' - the smallest Miscanthus I've ever heard of.

Also still flowering in my garden but not pictured is my Toadlily (Tricyrtis hirta 'Tojen', Sedum 'Lynda Windsor', there's one or two flowers on both my Clematis 'Rebecca' and my Hall's Honeysuckle and just missing Bloom Day are my Mystery Aloe (x Haworthia?) and Echeveria, both of which have moved inside the house for the winter. Plenty of African Violets and the like too, but maybe we'll be looking at more of those next month?

Kniphofia 'Papaya Popsicle'

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Picture from work. Nice colours on this variety. Not ad nice in the picture ad in real life. It's too bad the leaves always look so terrible on these because the flowers are so cool.

In slightly related news my mystery Aloe should be open soon. The flowers look at this point much like the buds on my Haworthia but with some orange colour to them. Maybe it'll be open by Bloom Day? Should have an Echeveria open by then too.

I also managed to get all my perennials (including my Rhododendron) and bulbs planted today and most "tropicals" brought inside for yet another frost warning tonight.

Need advice: wintering Musella lasiocarpa

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As the nights get cold and after our first frost of the fall (!) serious thought has to go into wintering some of the plants. Most are easy, they are going somewhere inside the house (where they'll all fit is a question for another time) but the Musella is not.



For obvious reasons my Musella lasiocarpa has become a favourite plant of mine.

The best I could hope for outside I imagine is survival of a very very heavily mulched root, leaving me with a plant that will never flower. I am in zone 5, my backyard is easily a 5b to 6 because of how sheltered it is but I would be seriously pushing all of my luck to think anything that's only reliably hardy in zone 7 would ever survive and thrive for me outside. So that's out of the question.

Bringing it inside the house is out of the question as well. This thing is huge.

My garage is probably the best bet. I'm hoping that the dormancy will mean that the darkness will not be an issue - no leaves = no need for light, right?

The pot will be wrapped probably in a foam pad (the sort that you might use while camping under a sleeping bag. I'm not sure how thick a layer this will make, so maybe I can place all that in a larger box with something like straw around it?

To protect the stems... I'm at a bit of a loss. Moisture should not be a huge problem because it won't be getting snowed on in my garage but I'm not sure what will be the best material for the job - newspapers? Blankets? Something that will breathe more? A wire frame with dry straw? Should the pot be dry or how often should it be watered?

Unfortunately this is also a new garage door and I've never payed attention to how cold it gets in there in winter. I'm sure it goes at least as low as freezing, a big plus though is that there won't be any wind which is usually the worst killer of plants here.

Tricyrtis hirta 'Miyazaki'

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Another picture I took at work. The spotted varieties have been growing on me though I'd still say I prefer the plain one I already have.