on the deck

and odd grouping, but this is what I took a few pictures of yesterday. My young tomato plants-

with one little rue tucked among them- to have the coldframe shelter at night

and the geraniums. I'm starting to think of just keeping the four scions- which have recently moved up to a new larger pot-

and selling the older one. It just doesn't look - as lush and healthy.

Yes, it's got the tree shape but I'm starting to find it disturbing how straight upright the branches always grow after a trim- its pattern looks too much like trees that have been severely topped- and no matter how often I prop the branches apart with something, they always go straight up again, which I don't care for . . . And I find I'm always looking admiringly at the nice foliage of the younger one instead . . .

little geranium tree

Foliage is growing back on my trimmed mini geranium

it's leaves are still quite a bit smaller

than those of the scion I cut and grew this summer

semi- and succulents, old and new

A few small cuttings and plantlets I got from a friend of the family. I don't know their names, unfortunately. This one has round, flat leaves shaped like my 'ice plant' but a grassy green. It looks like another crassula of some kind.

and these tiny baby plants had grown from leaves that fell on the lady's table. The leaves had actually withered away, and the baby plants were holding themselves up with fine root hairs spread on the tabletop in her sunroom, between trailing stems. Lovely pale blue-green.

Not new- but replacing old. My kalanchoes had grown large enough to sport lots of babies on the leaf margins- and then started looking sickly, just like before. This time I simply cut them down (you can see the trimmed-off stems in here) and planted some of their largest babies.

I threw out the ponytail palm. After a summer languishing outside, it just didn't look like it would recover. Also tossed the string-of-pearls, it looked dead. Bummer. The first set of cuttings off my zebrina plant went into its pot:

I don't know what to do with my lithops anymore. It does not look good. It keeps sprouting new leaf pairs without any of them getting healthy. It's in the brightest window spot I have, yet still looks leggy and needy.

My oldest geranium, the one that's kind-of a bonsai, got its serious trim of the year:

Here's the best of its tops, which I stuck in a small pot to root

Older scion of it is still outside, obviously it loves the sun

Scented geranium is unhappy. I don't know if it was the switch to indoors, or I brought an insect pest in on it? Leaves keep yellowing and dropping. I'm trying to change its watering routine. Think it's too damp. Might move it into a smaller pot. Discouraged as I liked this plant.

Cuban oregano is looking pretty good.

Creeping charlie is glorious.

I am trying to save my elephant bush plant. It got hit really hard with some insect, outside on the porch this summer. It looks terrible. I'm taking cuttings of the few stems with decent-looking leaves, to see if I can restart it, but don't dare bring it inside yet to spread more ill...

trims

My mini geranium didn't get repotted, but I gave it a serious trim alongside the jade. I should have taken a photo before I started- it really was full of nice green rounded leaves! Now down to this.

I tried to apply some of the principles learned from a few bonsai books, hm.

Other side:

Wondering what would look like if next time around I make the cuts at an angle? Spread these stems more with cardboard pieces too.

trimming work

I've started bringing my mini geranium and stevia inside for the night, to avoid chill. Cut back the stevia down to the lower foliage that has sprouted at base (which also looks healthier than the top half). The tops I hung to dry for use in winter- it wasn't much, really.

Geranium looked like this after I cleaned off all the dried dead leaves on lower stems.

And so- after its annual trim.

Its leaves are rather small right now.

I see them right when I step outside the door onto my deck, with the little pond container between. It's so simple with just water lettuce and greater duckweed- but actually got a few compliments on it, my husband for one noticed and said "hey, that's pretty, the little pond."

geranium tree

spread the branches a bit more with little sticks

sun lovers (and one for shade)

Quite a few of my houseplants have show me how much happier they were to be outside for the summer. The mini geranium has been doing real well- there aren't even any pale or browning leaves from lack of light, blocked by their fellows. Enough light for all.

Coleus of course, is looking stupendous (even though I always fail to get a picture showing how nice it really is). I'm thinking of taking cuttings to overwinter new starts for next season...

Boston fern is gorgeous.

Maybe next year I will be brave enough to put the croton and some aloe veras outside, too.

tied down

I used an actual bonsai training method learned from books to spread the crown of my geranium "tree". Tied bits of string from the branches to the base of pot, to pull them down, thus widen the top and open up the foliage. I'm starting to really like its looks.

geranium tree

another pic of this, just because I'm so happy with it

spreaders

I cleaned up my Geranium a bit, removed some inner leaves that were turning yellow, removed one of the small lower branches entirely, and spread the crown with cardboard scrap. I'm surprised how well its taking shape! Here from both sides

and back in the window.

mini geranium

growing back already, from its recent trim

haircut

I started pulled dead foliage off the mother Geranium the other day, then started removing lower leaves to give it a more tree-like appearance, then went ahead and cut its head off.

Should have waited a few months probably, but it's done now! It will all grow back, but in the meantime looks empty. The pink wedge is to hold a branch further out, they always want to hug the main stem.

I saved a few pieces that came off the top, with the nicest shape, but as the temperatures have suddenly dropped at night again they look rather droopy (even though I block the drafts with panels of cardboard). It doesn't matter if I loose the cuttings. There will always be more.

geranium bonsai

A few weeks ago I cut back my miniature Geranium from this fullness

to this stunted tree-shape.

Now that it has a flush of tiny new leaves I took off the older, larger foliage to give it a uniform look. There were some tiny leaves coming out along the thickest "trunk" stems too, so I simply rubbed those off. It's coming along!

Some of the pieces that came off when I trimmed it have been stuck into small pots of soil, the lower leaves removed, to see if they take and start anew.

geranium

I haven't made much note of houseplants lately, but the mini-Geranium has gotten quite robust! It is full of nice large leaves with the vivid reddish half-moon markings. I turn it daily in the windowsill so I can enjoy looking at the "face" of the leaves, which themselves are always turning back towards the sun.

I am refraining from trimming it again yet because I've learned through many errors the past few years, that to develop a bonsai you don't try and make a small plant grow into the shape you want. You find a larger one, or let it grow to substantial size so the stem is thick, and then cut it down to make the miniature-tree form. Or at least, so the books advised me and I didn't really follow that until more recently with my jades (pics of those later).

So- to make this Geranium look like the stout little tree I want, I have to let it just grow freely for several years, because the food the leaves collect from sun will give it a thick stem/trunk. It's even got a funky little branch growing low off to one side, which kind of spoils the profile right now but I let it be.