hectic

So, it has been a while since I last posted. I just haven't had much time or much in general to write about. I have been planting like mad lately and now I am in dire need of bringing more plants out to the new location. In the past two weeks I have only been able to make two trips out there and I have not brought very many plants either time. I have been making adjustments on the irrigation though. Everything seems to be working out well so far. Last I heard was that Saturday night those plants got six inches of rain in six hours! I hope none of the aloes got uprooted. Here at the home base I have been sewing loads and loads of seed flats & having the pleasure of watching the seedlings pop up. I can't wait till the weather gets cooler so the struggling fall vegetables and herbs can flourish. Luckily though, most of the fall bedding plants are happy as can be. I'm glad I got the seeds in the soil so early.
This past weekend was spent in Birmingham, Alabama. I had a very nice visit and was shocked at how much potential this town has. I am willing to bet it grows exponentially in the next five to ten years. While I was there I was able to take cuttings of several new types of Sedum, a native succulent growing on a granite bald probably in the Portulacaceae family, seeds to a beautiful Datura that was a perfect cross between the native white and that gaudy double purple and last but certainly not least Castanea dentata a.k.a. American Chestnut (The story of this tree has intrigued me almost all of my life click here for more). I believe that the seeds I aquired are American crossed with Chinese; however I must admit that most of the 30+ Chestnuts in the area did look as if they had the blight at one point in their life. This means that they are either true Americans or Chinese crosses from a time when the crosses didn't have a very good resistance to the blight. This is why I am going to be selling these fellas just south of their historical range. Hopefully they will have a better chance of living a blight free life this way. Send me an e-mail or comment if you want first dibs!
Your pic.-o-the post is of the succulent growing in habitat in Birmingham. I will eventually look it up. But if someone happens to know off hand I would be delighted to be informed. The other plant is Whitlow Wort (I ought to think about growing that one).

SQUILLY

I don't have much time before I fall asleep typing so I'll try & keep this one brief. Not much work was done plant wise this week. But I did get some plants moved to the new location. I finally set up irrigation at the new location. A spotted squill I gave to someone about three years ago was just severely thinned and the rest was given back to me. This means I will be selling loads of squill soon! This picture of the spotted or silver squill was taken without permission from this web site. I'll put up a picture of my own when I have more time. In the mean while tell this guy not to press charges, cause that would be a waste.

Find your happy place.

After a week of constant potting I'm ready for some change. I hope the plants are too. Today they are going to find their happy place! I made two trips moving the drought tolerant plants to the new location this past week. Thank goodness too. I was getting really cramped around here. Today will be split moving some one gallons into shade, consolidating flats of four inch & moving those flats off the lawn and onto the concrete where the one gallons were. The rest of the day & possibly into the night will be spend seeding flats. I will mostly be doing Swiss Chard, Brussel sprouts, Cilantro, Parsley, Dill, Calendula and I just might do an experiment with getting California poppies, Rose campion, Foxglove and Columbine to germinate in the heat.
Your picture for this post is of my newest mother plant. It is a type of Rain Lily called a Copper Lily (Habranthus tubispathus). I visited the city of Mansfield, La. a few weeks ago and these boogers were blooming like mad all over the place. I found a large patch on the side of a vacant Sonic restaurant where I gathered six bulbs. Hopefully they send off pups quickly or I won't have any to sell for years to come. I was also hoping I wouldn't be able to find it's scientific name because dubbing a plant 'Sonic Rain Lily' really appealed to me.