Five years later.....

Amazingly after a few years of neglect, some of my hoyas are still alive.  I have had to cut down my collection over the years.  Hopefully fewer plants will lead to less neglect.

Hoyas blooming in July

I have never had so many hoya's in bloom at the same time before. It must be the maritime sun.....lol. My lacunosa is in constant bloom......walking by it at night is so nice since it fills the air with a lilac scent. My carnosa, that had no peduncles when i brought it here, now has at least six peduncles all bearing flowers at some time or another. This one hangs at my back door, and fills the air with a chocolately aroma.


My hoya meliflua (name I received it as) has finally bloomed. It's been a couple years since I received it, and since then it has grown quite nicely. It needs a bit more space than most of my hoya's.....and loves to tangle its four foot vines around almost anything.





A first time bloomer for me is my hoya parviflora.....i expected a bit more from this hoya, thinking the flowers were bigger than what they are. They are smaller than my lacunosa, making it very difficult to photograph. It has a nice floral scent.


My hoya heutchkeliana is also blooming. This is a cute little one with pink urn shaped flowers that smell just like buttered popcorn.

Spring has sprung outside and in my house!

After dissapearing from the blog scene for a while......I am back.  Nothing was really happening in my plant world, and life got pretty busy there for a while.  I moved again into a more permanent house, and my plants love it!  After watching them all do nothing or die for months, it has been nice to see them take off in this new house.  The lighting in this place is close to perfect, its almost like having a sunroom.

Quince Tree

Hoya Carnosa

So here's a few pic's of everything that is starting to bloom.....some in the house, some outside.  Spring in the maritimes is just the most beautifu season I have ever seen.....much different than out West.

This is the first time I have ever seen one of these bugs in my life......needless to say, I stayed in that night.....it died on my steps, and was pretty nasty to wake up to.  I am told it's a June bug......it definetely looks like it crawled up from hell and onto my screen door.  I didnt know what the hell I was looking at when I saw it.....thought I was hallucinating little devil bugs.....lol.

African Violet

Tulips

African Violet

Quince tree flowers

Hoya Carnosa

Hoya Meliflua

My first hoya (compacta).......dead

This was the hoya that started it all........from this hoya grew an obsession. I saw my first hoya flowers on this hoya compacta, and I will never forget the chocolate scent.

I have been having a lot of trouble with many of my plants lately, the past six months has proved to be quite challenging. I have no way of being able to pinpoint the problem, since there are so many factors involved: humidity is different, windows & sunlight are different, the heating of my house has changed (baseboard heaters now.....below each window, plants don't like that too much either), the windows are draftier.....etc. Add on the fact that I have let some of them go pretty dry, possibly too dry.


It could be root rot for all i know, but I am pretty confident that it isn't over watering, since i am a chronic underwaterer. Most of the plants that are dying or have died already, die the same way. Starting from the bottom and working its way down the stems, the leaves die and fall off. The stems go soft until the plant is pretty much dead. BUT.....in the end, the woody part of the plant becomes hollow inside, it doesn't seem to be rotting away. Root rot happens kind of like this, but it's also possible that it went too dry, and the roots are unable to nourish itself.

Luckily I have another hoya compacta, although this one was much nicer.

If anyone knows what is happening to my plants, please let me know......if you have advice, please share it........it's very discouraging watching my plants die.

Longicaulis & Aeschynanthus Flowers

I am really starting to miss writing in my blog, I tend to favor the good things that happen around my house, but since I moved to the East coast, I am having a lot of plant troubles......which is really discouraging. I will have to start writing about the good, the bad, and the ugly.


My Christmas cacti (actually Thanksgiving cactus) are starting to get buds. Oddly enough, only the ones in the bedroom are forming buds. this is most likely because it is the only room that does not have any artificial light interrupting, giving them 12 hours of darkness. I have a few in the kitchen, the living room and the bathroom that are not getting buds, but they never get 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness. I am planning to put the others in there as well after I make room for them.



This xmas cactus was the fastest one to grow buds. It showed its first flowers a couple weeks ago and it is still growing new buds,

This lipstick plant bloomed last year about the same time as it is now. Must be a winter thing, becuse it hasnt been exposed to c0ol temps, and it also has not had any special light treatment.
I found a website about lipstick plants a while ago, it said that they werent sure there are triggers too.

i know a couple people that check my blog every day and I have got to aploigize, I have been dealing with a multiple crashes ]\ I thinkI should get up and going.........Thanks for checking on me everyone, I lost my bookmarks too, so please leave a comment that links back to ur site.

Trees, trees, trees!

Trees, trees, trees!

Everything is littered with red and orange leaves........it is really pretty.

This is my other favorite tree, I see it outside all the time. Even when the tree wasn't losing all its leaves. There is some kind of climbing plant holding on to the stump. I am thinking Virginia creeper, or clematis.......I'll have to look it up because I don't think these turn red. Anyways, I just like this tree, and the vine growing up it.


Alberta didn"t have such an array of color when Autumn arrived. Here in NS, the fall colors are bold and varied. Some of these trees are bigger than anything I have seen in life.

I think the vivid colors are amazing........reds, golds and oranges.....green.
.

This one of my favorite pictures(pic above) The oranges, greens and the blue sky.

Even on the ground, things are turning colors.......It is just a beautiful sight

Random Happening's......it's been too long!

It's been way too long since I have made a post on my blog......I am just really finding it hard to write about plants that aren't doing too much, but recuperating from their move. They seem to be adjusting all right now, and some plants are getting a few flowers.



This is my Alsobia Dianthiflora .......the one I nearly killed last year. It is only throwing out a few buds, but a few is better than none. This pot of Alsobia is kept by a north window, whereas my other one is kept closer to a south window......the one with the lower light conditions is the one getting the flowers.


It isn't really visible in the picture, but there are tiny pink flecks in the throat of the flower. It is one of the prettiest flowers I have in my collection.



This is a pic of the seedlings I am growing of the fruit called "pitahaya" or dragon fruit. Officaially called Hylocereus Undatus. They are not the fastest growing plants, and it might take around three years to see a flower, but it's worth it, because these are really amazing plants.



I had to throw this pic in a post. Before I moved I had never seen anything like this in my life. There was a tree, and all over the tree was these golf ball sized spiky things. Turns out to be a Chestnut tree......I am not sure whether they are edible ye, but if they are, I am going to try and grab a few, and cook them up. Locally, these chestnuts make great children's war ammo.....lol.

African Violet Flowers Slide Show

This slide show thing has got me fascinated, I remember doing this in college with power point, and it could get pretty tricky trying to learn all the bells and whistles of the program. Nowadays, it is just too easy.

This slide show is all African Violet Flowers from my newly destroyed collection. I may never see these ones bloom again.....unless I got a leaf before they all rotted and babies spring for me. Enjoy!!

CopyCat slideshow

Ya, Ya....I am a copycat. I have nothing blooming or really happening, but while blog reading today, I came across this post, and absolutely loved the sideshow, so I had to do my own. Mine is different in the sense that I did a puzzle sort of slide show, so it makes for a bit of a guessing game.

Look for an AV slide show in the days to come too, I just can't resist.

I didn't know they existed........miniature vases

I had always thought it was a good idea......but I had no idea someone actually thought of it. For some time I have used small votive candle holders for smaller type flowers with short stems, or even for a small flower or two. But even then, a votive candle holder didn't always work.

Today, while browsing through quite a nice store with of the neater knick knacks of the world, I found these; one and a half inch miniature vases. The pic doesn't give these half the justice they deserve, but let me tell you, I went to buy one, and then thought, geez, I really should get two.

They really are the coolest little knick knacks I have seen for indoor plant fanatics in a long time. I have always wanted small mini vases, for say the odd African Violet flower you want to show off, or the odd short stemmed flower you want to pick outside. Not only are they a perfect size, but since they are vase like at the top, they keep the small flowers centered, and in a bouquet-esque bunch.

I am so happy to have found them, and I couldn't wait to show them off to people that would actually appreciate them.......the family I was with at the time, thought I was nuts, like they always do when I talk plants.

Aeschynanthus Longicaulis Seed Pods

Well I completely forgot about this post, so I figure I better get it up. It was such a cool plant event at the time, and then with moving I completely forgot about it. I didn't notice this until I went to water the plant one day and saw a long string of fluff coming off the plant. When I went to wipe it away, I found it to be attached.


I have no idea what could have pollinated this, but I do remember trying to do it myself once or twice, so maybe I was successful. Other than that, it was strictly an indoor plant, and the only insects around would be the odd moth or housefly.


I collected the seeds in a baggie, and I had intentions of sending it to the gesneriad seed bank, but I didn't even find the baggie until yesterday when I was unpacking plants. I am not sure if they are still viable, but I am going to try and plant a few over the next few days, and if they are still viable, I might still send them off to the seed bank.


I have to admit that it was quite a unique thing to see, it's not something one sees everyday. The next time I get flowers on any of my lipstick plants, I am definetely going to try and cross them again, with hopes that maybe it was me and not a stray bug. All I did was take one flower off, remove the outer flower petals, and inserted the one into the other, and moved it around. We all know how it's done......lol. Complete botanical porn......for the gardener of course.

Wildflowers around Amherst

So this is where I am now, across the country from where I was originally. I spent close to $400 shipping hoya's and plants across the country.....I know crazy, but I love them.....lol. I think I can finally start getting back to my plants again after a bit of a hiatus.


It's a beautiful place here, I went from a zone 2 to like a zone 5.....what an incredible variety of plants I can grow now outside.....lol. The wildflowers that grow around here are amazing! I think the pic above is of morning glory......let me know if I am wrong someone.......I need some id's on these ones.


I am not sure what the above yellow flowers are, but they are everywhere, and they are quite rampant. I think they are just beautiful. Anyone have an id??


These pink and white flowers are everywhere too, and ants seem to love them. Again I don't have an id, but I sure do think they are pretty. I am amazed at the flowers that grow wild here.



These couple pics of the yellow flowers are again nameless for now to me. They are quite big, and they make a nice little bouquet of flowers for kids to pick and bring home......lol. They are growing wild everywhere too. The sides of the road are scattered with yellow and purple flowers. It is just a beautiful part of the country.


Even the odd things you can find on a walk in the woods here are amazing. Here is an old tree house many many years old we found out back of the house. It is overgrown and broken, but still a beautiful sight to see on a summer day's walk.