The Trouble With Winter-Growing Succulents

November 27, 2019November 27, 2019Leave a comment

The trouble with succulents is that you can buy them anywhere and they are usually very affordable. So, I’m always dragging new ones home. I need to give some orchids away if I bring many more home.

So, yesterday I got a Crassula Campfire while shopping for T-Day. The most common Crassula is the common jade plant. I love them because their active growth season is winter! But, that only makes them more addictive.

I got looking around at all my Crassula and I have a lot of them!

It took some time to try to classify some of them today. But, that’s what breaks are for, right? Good thing for a snowy, cold Colorado day in my PJs. https://worldofsucculents.com is my favorite site to ID these guys. Disclaimer – I am not a plant scientist so many of these are guesses!

I’ve had some of these guys a long time – like Hobbit.

I’ve had this one on the kitchen windowsill for years.

I also have several living in kokodemas since last year – hung on my pencil cactus.

(Some of them have weird names.)

My year-round ornaments.

I got one labeled “Pagoda” last year, but I think it’s a different Crassula. I couldn’t find it in the listings.

I got little planters that resemble my dogs last year in Moab . . . Two of them have Crassula.

I have some of the cute small stacked ones that I added this Fall.

They are a great addition to container plant groups. the trailing ones are cool.

Some other newer additions are my Propeller or Airplane Crassula.

The Silver Dollar Crassula lives up to it’s name.

And, the curly leafed jade lives up to it’s name, as well.

Honestly, I think I have a couple other Crassulas tucked away on a shelf somewhere.

I will say that I’m glad daylilies are generally name labeled pretty well. My daylilies are all tucked up for the single digit temps this week – under mulch or in the back porch. The trouble with both succulents and daylilies is that they are like Lay’s Potatoe Chips.

Sexy Succulents

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019Leave a comment

I’m changing my inside plant scheme to largely succulents and air plants. Succulents are cool because they come in all shapes, colors and sizes. And, they require little care.

So, I found a few books on designing with succulents. I need to do more with group arrangements and pots that have a theme. I tend to grab whatever pot is empty.

I usually come home from my spring Southwest road trip with Senora desert dwellers. So, I’ve had succulents in my collection for a long time. Just now, with a crazy work schedule, they make more sense that orchids. Especially water culture orchids.

My orchids are now all moved to bark. They have cool pots. I just have so many! Maybe I will give some away as gifts at some point.

Air plants, succulents, and bromeliads is my new focus. I read one design book on mixing air plants in succulent displays. I like the effect a lot.

Freeze is upon us for a couple of weeks. Leaves are falling. I haven’t watered daylilies much this month, and we are headed back to drought weather. Leaves are falling, soon to be daylily mulch for the winter.

Come spring, I have plans to turn my old fountain into a succulent garden. I bet I could mix in a few daylilies – minis. I need to think about this idea!

Boil it Down!

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019Leave a comment

Today, I feel the need to simplify life. I worked from 8 to 7. My orchids cry for water. They aren’t doing well splitting time with the daylilies in summer. I am ambivalent about losing some of them. I need to pack for my camping trip. Laundry needs to be done. I haven’t gotten 8 hours of sleep in nearly a week.

Raven Woodsong 8.15

I got hobbies when I was trying to balance life and find purpose when working from home. I took a more challenging away-from-home-job a year ago. Now, the mania of the first of a term with nearly all new faculty, new programs, new campuses has hit. I am attempting to shift the work culture, and it feels like my life balance is taking a hit.

Cripple Creek 8.15

What could I eliminate? Not my dogs or my daylilies. Not my camping or road trips. Orchids can be thinned. I want to get into air plants – why don’t I just leave it? IDK. I like plants. And, I don’t want to give up my hobbies. It took me years to finally get some because career was my life. I think they are essential – but I need to boil them down to the essentials.

Orange Vols 8.15

Drizzle and Dragons

August 12, 2019August 12, 20192 Comments

Sunday. I decided not to work on work until later or tomorrow because my energy is feeling all the change. I slept in and woke up to delightful drizzle in my garden. I had 18 bloomers and one Premier – Heirloom Heaven. She was a bonus and she is supermini. Also, one of my most reliable fall bloomers. I know the season is starting to close-up for another year when I see her.

Heirloom Heaven – 8.11

That said, I still have well over 100 buds – maybe close to 200. Last year, I had 18. So, the blog will continue.

I also had another one of my amaryllis bloom today – Double Dragon. Pretty color and shape. It makes me wonder about the real triggers for blooming because my bloom rate is better in the summer. I am considering leaving these guys out and just cutting water this year. Or, maybe leave them in the cellar until spring. I would have more room for other plants with plan B, but my bloom rate might be better with plan A.

Double Dragon Amaryllis 8.11

I have also come to terms with the fact that I am burned out with my orchids. Oh, I still love them but work is requiring more energy than anticipated and I have come to dread orchid chores. So, if a few die off, that is OK. I decided to try air plants because they are more resilient to drought but still look good in glass, like my water culture orchids. I purchased a few to fill dead orchid areas. That should help my winter pass. It feels like fall today!

Air plants in glass

Air plant in macrame hanger

Five Months Until Christmas!!!

July 26, 2019July 26, 2019Leave a comment

The rain is pouring outside as the thunder crashes. It was hot today and I had over 70 blooms, again. For some reason, the 7/25 hit me as 5 months until Christmas. The daylilies will lie still under the ground and snow; under layers of leaf mulch. I will be inside bored and playing with orchids and poinsettias as the daylilies rest before the next season. I thought I would share my two Christmas named daylilies from today as a reminder that the seasons change so quickly.

Santa Fe Christmas 7/25

Santa’s Pants 7/25

I got called in early to work, so my daylily photos had to wait until after work – late afternoon. Some were a little weathered, but all were fully open (which is a challenge before work). I had 3 new kids today – and I forgot to take a photo of Navajo Grey Hills. I saw it but got distracted by all the others so had to blow up a photo of it in the background (see top photo). Tired and out of sync.

Navajo Grey Hills – 7/25

Today’s Premiers include Classy Lady – she was one that was either a bonus or an add on to a lily auction order. I like her shape and color – she is a consistent bloomer.

Classy Lady 7/25

Tiger Kitten gave us her first purr for the season. I am fairly sure she was a bonus. Seriously, I paid nothing for many of my daylilies. Others were only a few dollars online. Nurse’s Stethoscope was my most expensive at about $100. But, I helped to name her so it was a treat. (She suffered a set back with the cold spring but finally has a scape.)

Tiger Kitten 7/25

The last Premier is Bella Boo. I got Bella Boo and Platinum Pink Palet Whispers for $10 for 2 deal at a local nursery a couple years ago. I stuck them in the same pot. I think this might be Bella’s first bloom ever in my yard.

Bella Boo 7/25

My flowers are so beautiful at peak. I love the huge spiders the most. Tomorrow, we will see what blooms after the downpour. PS – Speaking of Christmas and poinsettias, the cold spring has my plants looking like they should in mid-June. Sort of wondering if they will come back enough before fall.

Trifecta

June 14, 2018Leave a comment

Long work day, short blog post. No new faces today, but 3 pretty ones returned. I think Purple Many Faces, Talon, and Indian Love Call are close. If I called those three right (for tomorrow), it would be a real trifecta. There are a couple others that haven’t bloomed yet that are close. The morning light will have the answers.

Treasure of the Southwest 6/13

I counted 94 plants with scapes earlier today, including the 7 that are blooming now. Over three dozen of them in the Southwest Garden. Everything is coming to life. The drought is crazy this year. The humidity is usually single digits in the heat of the day. Today, it was mid-90’s. The next county over is on water restrictions. There are major wildfires in the region. It is not good . . . and I hope I can continue to get my blooms the water they need. We really need monsoons.

Saratoga Springtime 6/13

Many of my orchids are outside. I had to put up a shade sail and misting system for them. Orchids are less adaptable than daylilies – but, they do have a hardiness about them. Everything needs some rain. Especially our firefighters.

Stella de Oro 6/13

Daylilies teach living in the moment; Orchids teach patience.

May 9, 2018Leave a comment

Spring has sprung and today brought the first glimpse of summer weather. My houseplants moved outside this weekend. Well, most of them. My daylilies are doing well. Passersby often comment on them . . . even now, before the blooms. No scapes yet, but I keep checking.

It has been a strange winter – we are in an extreme drought here in Southwest Colorado. The Four-Corners is in an exceptional drought just south of us. I didn’t shovel snow once all winter. My strawberries and ice plant felt it. I winter watered the daylilies at least once a month. I’m hoping my blooms don’t suffer. It will be a bad fire season.

My last post was in the late fall about Santa’s Pants. Unfortunately, that plant was one of my few losses this year. After those blooms faded and I got my poinsettias to rebloom, I needed projects to get me through the winter. I took on orchids. Not just orchids, but learning about different types of media. For some reason, I was drawn to water culture.

My first partial water culture plant was a vanda. Man, I nearly killed that thing. It lost most its roots and got stem rot. I finally found a group dedicated to water culture orchids on Facebook. From there, I watched YouTubes . . . I got smarter. My vanda is alive and putting out new roots, living on my porch now.

I started trying phalaenopsis orchids in water culture. Winter is a bad time to start cause old roots rot while they grow new roots that are adapted to water. Only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the root goes in the water. Oh, and I tried an oncidium in water . . . it flourished so now I have 3. In fact, I have quite a collection now. Three phals are from last year. I currently have about 2 dozen phals, 3 dendrobiums, 3 oncidiums, 2 miltoniopsis, 2 cymbidiums, 2 cattleya, 1 common ground orchid, 1 paph, 1 phrag, and the 2 vandas. Oh, and some very small baby cuttings of Pleurothallis sclerophylla, Masdevallia, Liparis, Bulbophyllum, and Coelogynes.

Not all are in water culture. I learned about growing in semi-hydro (lava rock with some water at the bottom). And, I have a few around in regular wood chips or moss. I love the way the roots look in a container . . . reminds me of a placenta.

I like orchids for much the same reason that I love daylilies – big, colorful blooms. Some of the species even have similar strap leaves. Interestingly, neither species can produce a true blue flower. What I find enticing about orchids is that the blooms last for months. And, some species bloom year around. Mostly, they bloom fall-spring, which makes them a good match for my summer daylilies. They teach patience, though, as buds, roots and leaves take forever to do their thing. Daylilies teach us to live in the moment because nothing lasts forever.

I wanted to log in and start gearing up for blogging season. I hope you enjoy my winter bloomers. Most will rest and grow new leaves and roots for the fall bloom whilst we enjoy the upcoming daylilies. Do you prefer orchids or daylilies?

Colorado Kid Daylilies

A Blog About My Western Colorado Daylily Adventure

Tag: Orchids