Why I Oughta...

I have a mixed record with house plants.  I am (usually) pretty good with what I'll call 'project house plants'.  Those are things like Amaryllis that I can grow from a bulb for Christmas that have a defined season and duration.  I've tried other houseplants and I usually get bored of them.  Nat, on the other hand, maintains a number of her own houseplants and she's been a good steward of the ones she's grown.  That includes some good runs with Orchids that she's nurtured into re-blooming.  But, I *do* have one houseplant that I've kept alive for a while.  In fact, I call this the eighth year of growing it:  my firesticks cactus.  Planted in a small orange pot back in the Spring of 2018.  It was small, green and maybe five inches tall .   Today, it is taller.  Fuller.  And more well-branched.    Below is a photo showing the current state of my Firesticks cactus as it lives out on our back stoop during the S...

Yesterday, I posted an update on the Flame Thrower coleus that is in a container (not-mixed) on our back stoop and provided a peek at something else planted (similarly in a container) next to it.  The red foliage of the coleus contrasted with the bright green of the neighbor.  The bright green (and yellow and orange - if you look closely) are from a Firesticks Cactus.  My Firesticks Cactus is now in "Year Seven".  Below, is a photo that shows the new growth that it has put on this Summer next to the Flame Thrower Coleus: Here's what it looked like when I first planted it in 2018 .  Tiny, and just green.   I moved this Firesticks outside more than a month ago.  It has spent the past 8 months in our basement, on a ledge near one of the windows.  When I introduced it outside, I started it in the full shade, underneath our raised planter box.  And, after a couple of weeks, moved it to part-sun.  Then, most-recently to the full sun loca...

I can't come across a silver foliage plant and not fall in love.  That's what happened at the orange Big Box store recently when I saw a rack of these things on the table: They look like a silver-colored rosemary plant.  But, when I looked at the label....it sure isn't rosemary.  Rather, it is something called an Icicles accent plant from Proven Winners - where they label it as a "licorice" plant .   I only bought one, but I should have bought even more.  So, this first one (for now), is headed into the large patio container along with the CrazyTunia.  See below for the early start to the container: I can see these as a bedding plant - in a lot of places.    Ground cover via annuals.