Showing off a bit :D

There will be rather a few posts, but this is a great teaser, lol. So, since we got the camera it has been hectic here (we hosted Thanksgiving). But, I did manage to get a few pics of some things around here. That is the view out to our balcony. The must have, hunted for one because I can't give up my bonsai!



This is a Southern Magnolia. Seems pretty happy here in Seattle! This was sent to me by YardGranny in SC. I potted it up a while back and it has loved the weather here, frankly it surprises me as it has gotten rather cold here.


Here is the White Snapdragon. I don't grow flowers normally but this one has it's place here. Shannon fell in love with it so I will do all I can to keep it alive. It has grown on me since it flowers when it gets cold. How random is that! I guess I will have to do some research on this bugger so I know it's habits and whatnot :D


YardGranny also sent me two Mimosa's, they were happy but just to make sure, since they are babies, I have done what I normally do for my coffee tree at work (the one I am bonsai'ing) and placed their very own mini greenhouses over them. These will stay on until the last possible frost. There are a lot of mimosa here, not this color...but they seem happy to live here. I figure once they get older, perhaps next winter, they will not require this (and I will get a Bay tree to do this for instead, hehe).


I had these at the house and took them with me (note...MINE!). There is a Purple Sage, a standard Silver Sage, some Garlic Chives (thanks again Poe!) grew from seed from Ohio and a Mother of Thyme. It is so nice having fresh Thyme at any time. Yes...I had to do that ;)


And one last shot for now, the Japanese Elm with a few leaves left, my favorite Japanese Maple (about 7 years old) and some Provencal Lavendar. Shannon is a freak for Lavendar so I think this will get a bigger pot come spring so it can go wild!

Nice and rainy

Oct 3, 2007 | 11:11 AM PST

So, I have a new cam, so pics will be forthcoming. We have been getting rather a bit of rain (about time) but it is finally the end of the 'real' gardening season. If I can figure out a way to do it with minimal dirt (I know I should use at least a 5 gallon container but am willing to take a risk) I may cold stratify some of the tomato seeds I saved and start them up here in the office. That would be kind of cool, having some fresh tomatoes here. I kept some Black Prince and Brandywine seeds, although who knows what they will end up being as there were a few different varieties of tomatoes out there and I did not bag them so they are no doubt cross pollinated. I really don't mind, as long as they are fresh! I am planning on starting up some of the Jalapeno seeds I saved, I know it will do fine in a relatively smaller pot. I have all this sunshine here at my desk so I might as well take advantage of it, right?

I brought a couple Schefflera's in to the office.

My favorite story about Schefflera's...A pal of mine owned a hotel on the NC coast and the hurricane wall they had put in was coming down after a particularly nasty storm so the hotel had to come down. The people who were hired to take all the furniture and whatnot out and put it in storage really were not all that smart as they put all the plants in the storage unit as well. Three months later we opened up the unit, having already assumed the plants were living in the movers homes (nothing to quibble about, this all had to be done fast so the owner just figured a home is a home) and there they were. No water, no sun, three months...they were fine. They were Schefflera.

Time to get going on some winter gardening. I got seed for Walla Walla sweet onins, Garlic cloves, Purple Kohlrabi, Brussels Sprouts and Spinach so far. I have cleared the sugar snap pea bed so now all I need to do is take down the trellis (I used screws so it is basically collapsible) and recondition the little plot o'dirt and wait for the maters to finish up, collect the radish seeds from the early radish's that I let bolt and do that soil as well. I want to put in garlic, onions, Brussels Sprouts and Kohlrabi. They are very neat looking plants.

I will plant the spinach and plan on several lettuce varieties for this fall and come early spring in my tomato and radish bed, yum!