On a personal note...

I'm not currently in a good mood.

My job is high-stress and relatively low reward. I'm not a perfect person, even though the public seems to think therapists are perfect. We're still people.

On that cryptic note, I cannot wait to get back home to my plants. My boyfriend won't be there, but they always will be. Yes, sometimes they get silly and faint on me or allow a bug to suck on them. I'm proud of how they've grown since I've gotten them and they can't speak, but they let me know how they feel by growing or blooming or just plain living.

We can't ask these things of people.

Most plant people aren't necessarily considered "people persons". I am in the minority - I love people, love interacting with them. I live to make sure people are getting the services they need. However, plants have that certain pull. There's a certain grace about growing in the wind, or on a sill. There's a certain peace that washes over you when you see a successful plant grow.

I know it's weird, but sometimes when I get stressed, I'll look at Glasshouse Works or SRQ Hoyas. I won't buy anything but I'll look. I'll get tempted. I calm down and can get back to whatever it was I had to do.

Note to self:
Over the weekend, you re-potted Jasmine to a 6" pot. You also re-potted Diva and Russell into the same pots but into your mix. (Organic Mechanics soil amended with vermiculite and perlite in a 2:1:1). You still need to repot the Senecio radicans and Aloe 'California' - one for you, one for Kevin.

You gave a bath to N. wettsteinii, and did not see any further mealies. Keep checking for the next month or so. She stays in isolation.

Make sure you take Mimi down before you leave on Thursday. She will dry out before you get back on Sunday in that direct sun.

---

To end everything, what a nightmare of a day. I'll be glad to see it over.

The bane of my existence.

Dear mealybugs,

No, you cannot suck on my Nematanthus wettsteinii. I see you, and I killed you with rubbing alcohol. If you or your fuzzy friends wish to come back...I have neem and I have access to systemics. I will be watching.

For now,
Lauren

So disappointing, since it's been growing very well (was bought in a two inch pot and is now happy in a 5 inch pot) and is finally throwing out new buds. It's currently on the kitchen floor. It can't be near my Pothos or Sedum anymore. Shame. Queen Anne and Amelia will miss you.

On a brighter note, my friend Kevin and I are owners of a small beginners greenhouse and will be putting it outside once we get a lock on the gate. I bought a few cute plants that will be mostly outdoor plants. In Philly, we tend to get pretty hot summers so they should be fine all season.

That's it for now. I'm a dead woman walking - I refuse to put the air conditioner in and move my plants from that sill. Today is supposed to be nearing 90 and I didn't have a great night's sleep. I had dreams of mealybugs!

New plants and some signs the older ones aren't dying.

I can't stop dancing to Friendly Fires.

Anyway, here are my new plants:

Echeveria nodulosa. It was the only one there, and it was so beautiful...SNATCH.

Kalanchoe tubiflora. Apparently this is a weed in the ground and is pretty aggressive about getting around. Oh well, I like it! She will just have to be separated.

Senecio radicans/string of bananas. They had huge hanging baskets of it, but if it is anything like Senecio rowleyanus, no thanks. It grows quickly enough on it's own.

Portulacaria afra. I have the variegated version, which I do like better, but you know me. I have to collect each color...It's a 4-pack, so I'm going to pot up one for my friend and possibly my mom. I have to check if it's safe for cats first.

Hoya Krimson Princess. She is rather common, just like Miss Hoya, but that doesn't mean she isn't special! There were huge hanging baskets of her as well, but half the fun of Hoyas is growing them into big baskets like that. Carnosas are vigorous enough that in a year or so it will look just like the baskets. 

And for my plant events:

Look at this proud mama!

She got full afternoon sun and 1/2 strength fertilizer once a week (small pot) and there we go. Hoping for more!

Sally finally shows her true colors! For the longest, I didn't know what color blooms she would have. I had rescued her from my boyfriend's job a month ago and soon after she started budding. I rather like her bright pink self. I knew she'd be sassy.

And this is Miss Hoya, making me strain my arm by extending it fully so you can see her crazy vine. I thought Krimson Queen was a trailing plant?

And she still had enough energy to throw out a new, colored leaf. Now I'm glad I didn't buy the smaller, more colorful one. Miss Hoya has made my Hoya experience easier. She was a good intro plant.

Yes, Mimi has been pictured before. She lives for pictures...she is a diva, after all. This is her third round of blooms. When I took her home from the Philadelphia Flower Show, she had 7 blooms. Then she had 3. Now she has 10, with more on the way. She has been a pleasure to grow. We have a deal - I don't move her, she doesn't drop buds and she blooms profusely.

I have to admit that I've been slacking on the tending to my plants. My succulents are thinking eh, mom. That's okay, we like that. However, after coming home today my Hypoestes phyllostachya - who was fine this morning - straight up fainted on me. I kept her too dry. I immediate watered her and she perked back up. I'm sure I won't get away with that much, so I need to keep up with this.

I've just been so busy. In the last month, I have worked at least 6 days a week for most of it. I've just got off call Wednesday. I work tomorrow, and I know I have a responsibility to not only take care of myself, but keep up with my family and friends. Plants are very important to me, as well, and I will just have to find a balance.

Things may be even more hectic in the coming weeks. My mother's birthday is next week, my 3-year anniversary the week after, and I'm going to visit a friend that same weekend. Between that, I'm setting up the greenhouse with a friend out in our concrete slab and helping my mother spruce up the yard.

I hope everyone stays blessed! Until next time.

Eugh.

So, I was looking at buying plants yesterday (I was looking for a heavy pot to settle down Jazzy's top-heaviness and maybe some trellises but then Lowe's had to have a brand new shipment of succulents...) and I had just bought a Hoya Krimson Princess at Home Depot when I saw the same plant at Lowe's.

Me: Honey! Look, they have the same plant here and they look healthier.
My boyfriend (from now to be MBF): [looks up from phone near the cart] Cool!
Me: I can't just return the other plant, what do I do?
MBF: I don't know...I'm not going to enable you. (I already had 4 plants in the cart as it was.)
Me: [sees...things...on the plant I'm holding up] WHAT IS THIS?
MBF: (after a closer look) Looks like mites.
Me: EUGH!!!!!!!! Should I tell an employee?
MBF: They're not going to do anything about it.
Me: You're right.

Shame, really, because the variegation on the KP was just gorgeous. They had hanging baskets at both places but I really don't have the space for another Hoya that wants to grow towards the ceiling/floor, depending on it's growth habit.

I wish I had a picture of the mites. They were like cockroaches that didn't scram when you turn on the lights - they just SAT on the leaf like, 'Yo. 'Sup?'

The reason why I'm all EUGH is 1) I'm a new gardener blessed with nothing more than weird looking bugs I can't identify and one mealybug I effectively killed and 2) I hate bugs, but love gardening 3) Lowe's doesn't usually display such obviously infested plants. This Lowe's has more of an issue keeping the darn things alive. They're generally healthy plants bug-wise.

They had some really nice, semi hard to find plants. I had to put down a Kalanchoe eriophylla because the white leaves had some sort of brown-green coloration on the bottom leaves. I didn't know if they were fungus, so I just left it alone.

I should have got some photos for the passovers.

Anyway, I will be posting later today with pics of the new plants as well as some exciting new plant events.

Plant jamboree.

This Aglaonema 'Silver Bay' is named Bernie. You know, after one of the greatest Flyers goalies ever. I think he quite likes being named Bernie.

This Crassula perforata was a surprise. An employee at Urban Jungle knocked it off the mother plant and said, "Do you want it?" So I took it home and stuck it in the dirt with my wandering jew cutting. It wasn't particularly moist nor in a particularly large amount of sun, but sure enough last night I saw some good roots on it! It now has its own pot.

Now for the big guns. My new Hoya haul from Joni @ SRQ Hoyas.

H. cumingiana, H. lacunosa 'sno caps', and H. fitchii.

H. fitchii, with his beautiful veined leaves.

H. lacunosa 'sno caps', a hanging Hoya that I love for the speckled foliage.

H. cumingiana. I was looking at Joni's collection and these leaves struck me for some reason. I tend to like thick, green, stiff leaves. This might make sense now.

I also have some preety exciting plant events going on at this moment, but I took time out from my plant check to make this post. All around excitement at casa di Lauren. I should be making another post soon with random plant happenings. Especially Miss Hoya trying to grow towards the ceiling.

What do I hate more than anything?

I have made my peace with bees and spiders. Don't climb on me and don't set up shop in my toothbrush cup and you're not dead.

I, however, cannot stand houseflies.

I left for work today not seeing one fly. I came home to A DOZEN. Yes, TWELVE. I live near a store and I'm convinced they had something to do with it. I don't just get a dozen flies for no reason. So, my plant check was abruptly cut short.

For the record, Febreeze paired with Glade works wonders if you don't have a fly swatter.

It's bad enough the crappy Miracle Gro I used to pot my first few plants breed fungus gnats! I will never use MG soil again.

Die, flies. You carry and breed disease.

Don't write when you're deliriously tired...

1. I just spent $46 on 3 Hoyas.

2. I just pruned a E. Milii that had a wiggly...thing...on the bract. It wasn't a mealy, nor a spider mite, nor an aphid/whitefly/scale. It looked like a grub and did not respond to neem OR rubbing alcohol. So that bract went bye bye. I don't mind the plant being without flowers so long as the wiggly things are gone.

3. I'm also the new owner of a Sedum NOID (which fell a few times coming home and now likes to slump...), another Ledebouria Socialis (which has little bulbs under it and I accidentally removed one, but put it in the soil next to the mama), and a Aglaonema which is most likely 'Jubilee'. It's 'Silver Bay'.

4. Plants have really been an outlet for stress for me lately. My job is high-stress and while I'm blessed to have a full time paying job, I need a vacation. That's in less than 3 weeks!

That's it for now. I'm really tired. Goodnight.