My son's legacy plant from his grandma (it thrived on her kitchen table in a small pot for a decade with northern light) is a schefflera that has not thrived tended by me. Since a 4 foot tall schefflera grows beautifully in a neighbor's yard with northern exposure, it seemed okay to put it outdoors in a 5 gallon tub with the same environment. First ( Read more... )

For two years, my sister and I each nursed a white geranium along. We live 200 miles apart. She has the greener thumb, but hers died and so did mine despite all tries to encourage them. Our other pinks, purples and scarlet ones did wonderfully well with amazing flowers each year and constant growth to their maximum spread in the same environment ( Read more... )

I harvested Greek oregano this morning, right before it blossomed. I set it into drying trays in the garage, which is perfect for our low humidity summer. The oregano stems that remain after cutting may even produce a second crop ( Read more... )

Thirty-six quarts canned and put away. This morning's harvest was only 1/3 of the previous harvest. I wonder if this picking corresponds to a heat wave months ago. When it's really hot the tomato flowers don't set fruit.

No worries, as there are still lots of green tomatoes and probably 6 weeks before first frost.

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I live in Sunset zone 17 (USDA zone, um, 9b). Basically brussels sprouts and broccoli country. And yet I have never successfully grown a head of broccoli or cauliflower in my yard. My broccoli and cauliflower grow small, bolt early, and never head properly. Their leaves taste good, though. I do grow kale but it's smallish. My kohlrabi and turnips ( Read more... )

I gave my mom a small Cassia Surattenis two years ago for her birthday (November) I did purchase a smaller than desired plant (5 gallon) as they were hard to find that year. Since planting it two years ago it has bloomed with its amaizing yellow flowers in fall and summer but it has not grown. It is supposed to grow to 12-15 feet and it is supposed ( Read more... )

So the last post about leaves and mulch made me think ( Read more... )

I think this plant first appeared in my yard after I planted a mix of Texas wildflowers or they might have been in some compost. These have thrived and I love them but I don't know what they are. They are about 2' tall at most and have smooth stems with no thorns. They don't start growing until it is hot and they start blooming about August here in ( Read more... )

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