ginger!!

I thought this was never going to sprout and about ready to dump the pot (threw out the box planter of Carrots which was not growing well at all, just yesterday, I am becoming ruthless!) but it is sprouting now! I am so excited. I know this plant will do well in the shade of my balcony, need more like that.

The picture is not great, I can't get my camera to focus on the green stem instead of the rim of the pot behind it, but will get better pictures when the foliage opens.

bye

A few more of my plants have gone out the door, this time to a neighbor. Elderly woman across the hall who recently gave me some flower pots. She spied me in the hall the other day and said "are you the lady with all the plants?" I smiled and said yes (I like that identity!) and she asked if I have any extra plants could she have a few? she loves plants but doesn't have any now (from moving, I suppose). So I picked out these to give away:

A miniature Rose (I have one remaining for myself, blooming nicely now), a nice Spider Plant (I still have the three huge parents and two pots of offspring), an SIP planted with the speckled Pothos, a mini Geranium cutting (the parent plant is so huge I'm thinking of cutting more soon) and a pot of Palms. She was thrilled. The rose and spider plant sit on her balcony now and my mood lifts every time I walk up to the building and see the rose that was mine but now is hers, nodding through the railings.

done

Cyclamen has finished its blooming season. It lasted about two months. I still enjoy the delicate pattern on the leaves. Now it is bare of flowers, but the last full view was like this:

pretty green

Stevia never fails me. It is just growing and growing.

stout poinsettia

The Poinsettia is regrowing quickly; I really like the stage it is in right now. I forsee this one having a tree-like shape years down the road if I keep cutting it back every spring...

young plants

Little Geranium grown from a recent cutting is doing well!

I also have started rooting a piece of my Arrowhead plant, which is looking lovely.

hopes

The Cosmos I planted are looking scrawny, but the one Tithonia is nice and big. I have hopes for flowers!

veggies?

Well, my little attempt at growing vegetables on the balcony is mostly a failure. The Potato plant is scrawny, the Carrots stunted (not enough sun) and my Green Beans, while producing, don't quite look healthy. I've sprayed neem oil against aphids and other critters, but think the plants also need more room; I've got them quite crowded out here.

So am tossing a few. The Garlics are ready to harvest and the Borage is looking sickly so I'm going to upend those soon. I never got to eat any Lettuce; the spring was so warm it bolted before the leaves were any good size.

I do have some decent Swiss Chard almost ready to eat, and most of the herbs are still going strong. Green Onions and Broccoli continue to do well; Chives are flowering (crummy picture)!

I need to be more selective next year and grow less plants, for better health.

rose!

My Miniature Roses have gone from this:

to this!

state of the ferns

Of all the Ferns I have, the Boston Fern is doing the best right now. It's full of new growth. Most of the divisions off it have failed, though. I've only got two little ferns regrowing.

The Autumn Ferns have grown quite a bit.

And sadly, my pretty rabbit's-foot Fern is failing. I simply can't keep up with its humidity requirements... I keep forgetting to mist it.

pinks!

Just a few weeks ago I only had one pink Petunia flowering;

now there's an entire window-box full! So lovely.

new plants

A while back I acquired a handful of new plants from a friend who knew someone that moved and abandoned them; I simply didn't have time to post on it yet. My favorite is this pretty pink-and-green plant. I'm fairly sure it's a variety of Rex Begonia [it's a Coleus]

something about the growth habit and shape of the stem is very like my little Sweedish Begonia (which is still growing!)

I also now have this one; I think it's a Ponytail Palm. Some of the foliage got damaged in transit in the car, but I'm wondering if I can trim it and get new growth.

Lastly, I got an overgrown pot of Pothos. I upended it all and regrouped the plants; the traditional solid-colored leaves went into an SIP I gave to my friend; this one with speckled leaves (which I don't find quite as attractive) I've kept for a while.

poinsettia anew

I was rather enjoying the view of the red Poinsettia leaves from above for a while, while the lower ones continued to drop giving it a very scrawny appearance.

 About a month ago I cut it down severely, and set out of the way in a corner to go dormant. It didn't last long in that state, is already sprouting new growth!

norfolk pine

I have finally done what considered for a long time, divided my Norfolk Island Pine

into two separate pots, smaller groupings.

Rather regret doing so, now. It was not easy and I'm afraid the plant (or some of the individuals) might not survive the treatment. The roots were so entertwined I had to cut them apart and a few of the individuals ended up without much roots left at all. I've misted them heavily but it's something I often forget to do of late, so the plants have been drying up and dropping foliage. I'm no longer sure if I will hold onto this plant....

It doesn't do so well as a living christmas tree as I had hoped. The branches are simply too fragile to bear much weight and mine still have scars and broken stems from wearing decorations in december. I haven't done well by the poor thing.