a little short of a year ago i decided bonsai was going to be added to my list of hobbies. got a snow rose and a zelkova from a really cool nursery. both about seven years old. read a ton of guide books from the library as well as online content.
around the same time, started desert roses and japanese winsteria (oops, won't get blooms this decade) from seeds. tried to do cuttings of the full sized japanese maple in my front yard and failed. started straifying bunch of seeds in my fridge, where they still are. recently started another batch of desert roses and some plumeria rubra.
i've concluded that flowers are my hobby for now, not specifically bonsai. because even maintaining and developing well started, nursery-bought bonsai plants is difficult. but it doesn't seem like we have a general plant thread in LAVA.
that's skill. with winter coming and the looming reality of having to move it back inside, i fear for my serissa's life. was so pretty when i bought it, covered in those tiny white stars. that lasted a few weeks and since then it's a constant struggle to keep it healthy.
my grow station ...
those seedlings on the top are some of the plumeria. hopefully assorted flower variations, as the seeds were advertised. will be about three years before i find out.
would post more photos, like of specific plants, but i don't really have the internet and it's dark for photos right now. so soon to come.
actually i have two pics from my general, nursery-stocked flower garden that i took for Kenickie earlier this week ...
NSFW:
a hibiscus flower
i forget what this thing is called. they grow as towers and i use pepper stakes to hold them up. super pretty flowers that last no time before they rain petals on the garden floor.
i forget what this thing is called. they grow as towers and i use pepper stakes to hold them up. super pretty flowers that last no time before they rain petals on the garden floor.
i have a fondness for asparagus ferns, only reason i say this is ai have a mini one growing in a pot on my desk and it looks just like a little tree too!
it was actually an accidental off-cut from a larger plant that managed to retain some roots and has fared rather well!
someone once told me that you can grow asparagus from asparagus ferns but that can't be right, can it?
those crazy pepper stake flowrs came back this year. surprised me, i got one more but looking at this thread now see i bought another of the same flower color so i?ll be getting yet another that is maybe the most beautiful color of them all. but those are silly games.
serious plants. bought an autumn moon japanese maple at the end of last year. hibernated in my garagage over the winter and just recently put out its leaves again. i reported it tonight. it?s a popular tree to bonsai but i will simply be container growing, as the risk of killing a beautiful, expensive tree because i?m out if town for a weekend is too much.
made the soil myself. 5 part pine bark, 1 part medium grit. 1 part medium pumice, 1 part organic potting soil. is my rendition of a more aggressive mix called ?gritty mix? that enthusiasts rave about online. their version involves no potting so at all, which seems dangerous to me. again, i don?t want my tree dead if im unable to water it for 48 hours.
planted a ton of other flowrs this evening as well but it?s night and wanna give them a week or two to adjust before photographing.
thrilled a significant number of my anna flowers aka plumeria seedlings made it through the winter despite looking dead in dormancy. they started putting out new growth a week or two ago so i?ve moved them to outdoor shade and soon will step up to full sun. they take a couple seasons to bloom and will be worth the wait.
thanks. while i'm usually all about flowers, i think its leaves are as beautiful. it's way fucked up now. i moved to an apartment in chicago. and although i have a set of windows that get tons of light, it's really not an indoor plant. but that's not what fucked it. i went out of town for about two months, and during that time it came out of dormancy. all its new buds died (except for one) due to lack of water. most of the plant tissue is dead. i started snapping pieces off to see how far down the damage goes, and got way far into the plant before i decided to stop without ever finding living tissue. one little set of leaves near the base (but above the graft) is all there is now. it's been like that for a couple months, so maybe it is going to live until next season when it can create some new growth. sucks.
i'm trying to sell that seedling shelf unit now. my craigslist listing says you need a trailer or pickup right at the top, yet everyone who calls doesn't have one. i gave away 90 percent of my plants. kept one anna flower and one desert rose. and the orchids, because those are fine with less light. i miss my yard.
lavender will grow indoors. cultivar i have is "goodwin creek." was raised as a little tree instead of a bush, which is awesome. will post a pic tomorrow.
