The plants don’t know when to quit! Even the cress is still alive after flowering and making tall stalks of seed pods. The Ginkgo is continuing to put out new leaves, and the tomato has grown to gargantuan proportions. Things still aren’t ready to be eaten quite yet, but they’re all having a wonderful time.
If you’ve got a garden you want to show off, don’t hesitate to write your own Six on Saturday post! They’re easy to make and I’d certainly enjoy taking a look at more gardens. If you want to learn how they work, check out where it all started!
1
The Ginkgo Biloba is an absolute cutie. When the leaves are fresh, they’re hydrophobic. If you water it from above, the water will just bounce out to the sides and never touch the dirt below. As they get about a month old, they start to cling to the water just a little bit – not enough to let it run down into the dirt, but enough that it doesn’t all fall away. This is maybe my favorite time for Ginkgo leaves. The color is still the deep green of the fresh leaves, though without the smooth rubbery look of the newest leaves. They’re not turning yellow yet, or developing spots. A happy middle ground of green.
2
The Billy Ball (craspedia) leaves continue to grow oddly. When I first got the seedlings started, they were remarkably dependent on proper temperature to grow. If they fell below about 55F, they withered. Once they got established and transplanted up a few pot sizes, they started being more reliant on sunlight. The seedlings with the most light were growing remarkably faster than those with even an hour less. Now that they’re all living outside, they’re responding to light and moisture. The soil has to stay moist (but not wet), and they have to get at least 5 hours of light a day. None of them are sending up flower stalks yet, but I’m hoping the higher angle of the sun in summer will be enough to grow some yellow orbs of happiness.
3
I finally got a tomato plant to grow to a respectable size on the balcony! Last year’s tomatoes were plagued by disease, and never got more than about 2 feet tall. The leaves withered almost as soon as they sprouted – either from white mold or some other cause I couldn’t figure out. I almost certainly was not watering them properly, and hadn’t given them nearly enough room for roots. This year I’ve learned from my mistakes, and can proudly say that I have a very tall tomato plant (still without any actual tomatoes, though).
4
The bloodleaf is pretty firmly in love with its new pot, and I’m loving that. It likes to be stuffed in the corner, under the partial shade of the olive tree. I’m guessing the humidity is a little higher when it’s back there, right next to the tomato – the leaves aren’t browning or crisping like they had been last year. I’m hoping that this spot will let it survive the ravages of summer with a little less damage. The mulching really helped too… but if I really want to figure out whether it’s the mulch or the location, I’ll have to take one away and see how it responds. This plant is too pretty to experiment on, though. I’m happy that it’s happy.
5
I’m having to prune the thyme every season now, or else it takes over the pot. Even the mint plant is getting crowded out, and the rosemary hasn’t grown more than a fraction of an inch through the entire start of Spring. I can firmly say that thyme is one of the most aggressive plants I’ve ever grown. It’s hard to think this started from a half-dead cutting that was intended for food.
6
Cacti are always such lovely plants to look at. This one (a cow’s horn euphorbia, I think?) is growing one large ‘leaf’ and nothing else. No pup, no offshoots. It just wants to send one thick arm straight into the sky. Somehow, despite its thickness and waxy exterior, it’s still translucent when the sun hits it just right. The thinness is starting to make me worry that I might not be giving it enough water, but it’s so abundantly green and happy that I think it’s just a translucent cactus. Time will tell, and I’ll give it all the time it needs to figure that out!
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a pleasant time checking out the plants. If you’re in the mood for more nature, please stay in touch!
Mindful Foliage 