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Garden Diary - September 2, 2018 - Potting, Repotting and Cleaning




The sun comes up later now , but the mornings are staying cooler longer,
which allows me to get much more done. Yesterday, I had an orgy of transplanting rooted cuttings and repotting potbound plants.


What Was I Thinking?

I had one of those WWIT moments yesterday, and had to spend a couple of hours cleaning up the aftermath. This spring, with all the rain, I didn't get to lay new cardboard in the courtyard. Instead, during an obvious brain-dead moment, I decided to let basket grass grow as a ground cover. 

Big mistake -- BIG -- HUUUGE!

Luckily, it's easy to pull up, so I did just that, pulled up huge clumps of it. I spread it out on bare spots in the lawn so at least there will be something growing there. The next door cat is not going to like that, because those are where she goes potty (which is probably why nothing will grow there). Also pulled up some Little Ruby alternanthera and sweet potato vines that I stupidly planted in the courtyard, and still can't get completely rid of. After all this pulling, I put down new cardboard to ensure they don't grow back. 

Potting and Repotting

I got all 54 of the water-rooted butterfly weeds planted. Of course, I have no clue which are yellow and which are red, so I'm sure to have some mixed pots. The sickliest looking ones got stuck out into the ground in the garden in clumps. I'm hoping being outside makes them try harder to live. I waited too long to plant them, and was neglectful in changing the water, so they look pretty pathetic. 

On the other hand, the plants I cut them from look healthy and happy and are starting to bloom again. I hope to get some more Monarchs in this fall to lay eggs, although most of them got eaten by lizards and toads this spring. I'll be transplanting the milkweed to a safer place inside the courtyard as I redo that once it gets cooler. 

I transplanted nine small cranberry hibiscus (H. acetosella) in a cell pack. Some of them were iffy, but in my experience, they are hard to kill. The one I have planted outside is the first one of these I've gotten to grow successfully. It's really beautiful, and I did my last pinch on it last week so it will have time to bloom in the fall. 

I noticed the cane begonia was drooping and getting crooked from trying to get sun, so I repotted and staked it. It really doesn't have a good place with prefect sunlight to live, so I'll have to eventually cut it back. The cuttings from it I stuck this spring aren't doing all that well. They basically haven't grown at all. Next year, I'm building a shade canopy for my tropicals, so it will go there where it can get better sun and not be so leggy.

I gave the Clerodendrum "Bleeding Heart" cutting a new pot with fresh soil, because it really just isn't growing at all. When I pulled it out, it had very few roots, after being in that 3" pot for a year. So strange. I hope the fresh soil helps.

More Repotting Yet to Do

I repotted some sanseveria today, but I don't have a lot of soil left, so some of them went into plain garden soil. Should be fine until I can get some more soil. I still have more to do. I got the Devil's Horn ones done, now I need to do the Silver Queens, which I did last year, and they're already outgrowing their pots. 

I'm running out of space in the "nursery" and there is much more dividing and repotting to do. Guess I'm going to have to try to sell some of these early to make room.

Well, enough for now. I can't wait until next month when it gets much cooler and I can start digging again. So much to do!

Happy Gardening!

2 comments :

Danieal Brian said...

The work changed into very thoughtfully achieved and you could tell how thorough and professional the task becomes.

Brian Joseph said...

You did a great job. If the work is done on time, it will be easier later. Well Done