houseplant blooms

My little zygo has flowered-

the pink blossoms so perfect they look fake

'Frosted Brandy' will open any day now!

short n sweet

Pulled carrots the day before. They're better after some cold nights (our days are still very warm)

Short ones.

They got diced up into a meat pie.

violet collection

Only one is blooming now- 'Bob Serbin'- and it sure is eye-catching.

Some closeups

It looks like 'Frosted Brandy' will be next- forming a bud.

I wasn't too fond of its droopy habit before- but it's looking nicer now.

My favorite is still the slightly petite 'Crackerjack Red'.

These two- another 'Bob Serbin' and one 'Lavender Magic' have longer petioles and stand more upright. I thought they needed more light but even moving them around hasn't changed the growth habit. They also both have multiple crowns forming faster than the others.

Little 'Royal Rage' is getting slightly larger

The newest one- 'Lady in Red' has some tiny leaves now.

Here's my oldest one, the unnamed purple- its leaves seem smaller lately.

And I still have nine leaf cuttings under glass. They're almost a year old now. Surprised more haven't just rotted. I'd give up on them, except for that sansevieria that showed me how long a cutting can wait for the right conditions to grow.

I made some Things-

Outside- a bench! from planks left over when my husband repaired our deck. Had some assistance with the power tools- saw, drill and screwdriver- but I sketched it out, measured, cut a few things by hand, braced things and hammered some nails, ha.

It still needs to be scrubbed clean and maybe stained or painted, I haven't decided yet.

Two of the legs are propped on paving stones because it's on a slope. Not sure yet what part of the yard to sit it in- although I already enjoyed some time out there with a book- it's kind of nice to look across the lawn at the garden, from a different viewpoint. 

I'd like to surround it with ostrich ferns and lenten roses, a carpet of aguja underneath. We'll see. Very pleased how sturdy it came out, and a perfect fit for my short legs! (Those of you who, like me, often find their feet dangling, will know how important this is for comfort).

Also, in the bedroom I put up a pole to hang some plants. 

This is one of those things that looks better in person than a photo, though I admit it's not great. After several tries to put hooks in the ceiling or above the window into a stud, I gave up and just propped this pole on top of the doorframe. It holds up my lipstick plant-

smaller creeping charlie (this one needs some TLC)

goldfish plant

and the sprawling trandescantia zebrina- which I trimmed back a lot. Will replant the cuttings into the pot once they show first roots in a jar.

I needed more space on the bookshelf tops for the african violets!

some progress-

My little madagascar palm definitely has more leaves, but they're also getting some leaf-tip burn. Less water still, I think.

Thanksgiving cactus buds are getting pinker!

Little bird-nest sansevieria is in a low level out-of-the-way spot so I wasn't sure for a while how it's doing- but definitely has grown more

and it's even got new foliage crown sprouting

dried herbs

The bay leaf sprigs I cut and hung to dry weeks ago are brittle now- I put them in one of my empty jars to save. Here next to some stems of sage cut today as I prepped the herb bed against cold- I put these in water see how long they'll stay fresh for some cooking (have plenty enough dried already for through winter)

All the herbs I have on shelf- left to right bay leaf, dill, epazote, 

lower shelf parsley, sage

Closeup because I love seeing the leaf textures through the thick blue glass- 

I miss having thyme, rosemary and stevia. Also the salad burnet . . . 

dwarf sag

Over a week ago I got some dwarf saggittaria from a fellow aquarium keeper, through the mail.

For years I never thought of trying this in my tanks. People use it in high-tech setups to make a carpet filling in the foreground substrate. But I learned recently that it can grow fine in a low tech setup, it will just get taller- which is what I want! - and it can also do okay with temps down into to the low sixties. Max height is twelve inches, so this might work perfectly in my unheated window tank.

I planted it in the middle, where all the weighed-down hornwort stems have finally come out. Same as last time, I floated the plants for a good long while with occasional additions of tank water to the bag, to give them a gradual acclimation. I haven't seen any melt. I expect them to grow rather slowly, at least until summer comes again.

Looking down at the middle:

inside now

Brought the last few potted plants indoors for winter- my chives (already cut down twice to use on potatoes and fish)

Ice plant- looking great after a summer outdoors

and a few more sweet potato vine cuttings- just in time, as the cold finally killed those out on the deck. Coleus has died back outside, too. Time to do a bit more cleanup.

fall mums

Cut a few to make little bouquets inside. One bunch mostly the pale pink (which blooms the most prolifically outside)

Two smaller bunches- the dusky rose 

and purplish pink (I don't know if chrysanthemum colors have specific names, maybe I'll look at tags closer when I buy a few more next year).