Tag: rebloom

Jazzed!

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Wow! I haven’t blogged since school started nearly 2 weeks ago? I’m not really surprised. It’s overwhelming to be short of faculty and it never seems to stop. On top of that, there was my daylily repotting project 2 weekends ago (20 of 70 done) and camping last weekend. Twenty more this weekend.

Purple Corn Dancer 8.19.20

I have four buds left – all Purple Corn Dancer. It is really winding down. With the drought – I hold little hope of rebloom, even from the yellow trumpets. So, why and I jazzed? Because there is LOTS of new growth in several of the daylilies I repotted two weeks ago.

Purple Thunderbird 8.19.20

The season shifts. Now, my daylilies are plants to be nurtured. This is a great time to put out a little growth because first freeze is still 5 weeks or so away and the days will be warm enough until mid to late October for the cultivators to grow into the next season. Then, will come the snow . . and mulching . . . and freezing temps. I won’t pay much attention to the daylilies – maybe genealogy and movies to pass the dreary hours of being reliant on my furnace for comfort. A few pots will move to the back porch for the winter- my barometer on spring is watching the porch lilies. Then, finally, the porch lilies have enough growth to move outside in late February and little by little the green appears. Then, it is time to sit on the porch, again – and hope for scapes to show soon. After that, three months of bloom season and heat. And, after that, the cycle begins anew. Let’s hope for a little rain and moisture in all of that.

Navajo Curls 8.20.20

A Thanksgiving Cactus By Any Other Name Would Bloom as Bright

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Happy Thanksgiving! It’s a day full of cooking and Thanksgiving cactus. I think I’ve seen a few dozen photos of humungous once on my succulent feeds lately.

Pink and cream Thanksgiving cactus.

I have 4 of them myself. They are different from Christmas cactus because the leaves have several points on the end. Christmas cactus are smoother- and harder to find in my experience.

Bright pink Thanksgiving cactus.

I don’t have to do much special to get them to bloom, although they bloom more prolifically if they spend a few weeks in the poinsettia bloom-forcing closet. They sometimes rebloom in spring under those lights. They like equinox length days.

Red Thanksgiving cactus bud.

Christmas cactus and Thanksgiving cactus are clearly close kin. Siblings. Cousins to these two holiday bloomers are Easter and Orchid cactus. They are similar in that they grow in trees (epiphytes) and are fed by rain and the debris it provides.

Furry leaf tips on my Easter cactus.

I have had my Easter cactus a few years and it didn’t rebloom until I hung it in a planter from my outside plant hanger. It bloomed in June in the high desert without much water.

Easter cactus reblooming last summer.

Anyway, it almost looks furry at the joints. And the flowers look more like daisies to me.

Orchid cactus bloom.

My orchid cactus bloomed for the first time this year. (I started it as a cutting 2 years ago.) It tried to bud in August, but it shriveled. It budded again in September and bloomed after freeze in my kitchen.

Orchid cactus foliage (much larger than its colorful cousins).

My only recipe for success is summer outside in the brilliant Colorado high desert. And, the bloom closet for the holiday cactus. Honestly, they are kind of plain most of the year, but the bright blooms seem to make them worth the wait.

Do you have a Thanksgiving cactus? What is your favorite color?

Stay of Execution

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So, my day job is busy, although the buzz of the term is settling down some.  My evening job this week is tweaking the new drip system.  Last night, it was staples and stakes.  Tonight, I tried sprayer heads on a couple of the larger pots that were hogging water.  I think the little sprayers will work better without a much water waste.

I can’t believe I still have 7 in bloom today.  But, the buds become rare and every day I say goodbye to at least one cultivator for another year.

Purple Corn Dancer is in 2 locations and so she has most of her buds left in location #2.

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Purple Corn Dancer 8.27

Frans Hals has maybe 10 buds left – +/-

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Frans Hals 8.27

Purple Grasshopper and Ruby Stella have a handful of buds left.

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Purple Grasshopper 8.27

I think both Navajo Curls and Cripple Creek have a bud or two left.

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Navajo Curls 8.27

Purple Thunderbird maybe has one bud left (max).

PurpleThunderbird8.27.1.jpg

And, then it ends.  Except that I found one of my Lowe’s Stella hybrid rebloomers with a new scape.  It only has a few buds, but it is still 90 degrees.  So, my hope is that the new drip system might give me a few more reblooms.  My stay of execution.

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Ruby Stella 8.27

My poinsettias seem to be perking up – but it is not a good year for them.  I need to start forcing the big ones so they can all cycle through the bloom closet.

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El Desperado 8.27

I’m camping this weekend and maybe looking for succulents down in SW Colorado.  Oh, and I mail ordered my first air plants.  They should be here tomorrow.  I was reading that too many varieties of plant detracts from all of them.  I honestly am OK with having less and getting more air plants and succulents.  All my super market specials make the place look cluttered  . . . we will see.  The long and boring winter is less than 4 months away.  My stay of execution is only temporary.