Why I Oughta...

Just when things were going swimmingly with dahlia season pop'ing off, we have a setback.  And, this one was an accident.  I planted a number of dahlias in the Pizza Oven Bed.  I called it the "Pizza Oven West Bed" because it is, well...West of the oven.  And, that makes them *close* to tree swing.  Which, up until this week hasn't been an issue.  But...kids will be kids.  And, one-way-or-the-other, someone found themselves in, amongst the dahlias.  And, unfortunately....that means that two of them had stems that were cracked off.   A Milena Fluer decorative dahlia.  And, Rip City.  Or... what I was sold as Rip City (but I'm pretty sure isn't really Rip City.) Here, below, are a couple of photos.  Milena Fleur on the left.  "Rip City" on the right.  Both were cut down by about half.     Below are a couple more photos showing the close-ups of the cracks.   And, here below, are a couple of...

One step forward, one step back.  So it goes with indoor, container gardening it seems.  Just yesterday, I posted an update on my oldest Staghorn Fern and how it was putting on the first basal frond since I've owned it.  Today...showing a photo of a setback:  my Creeping Fig Vine Mickey Topiary took a hit. It seems that I let it dry out and the vine has gone dry across a huge amount of the face of the frame.  I THINK that I caught it just in time and watered it to keep the vine alive.  In part.   See below for the current state: You can see the dry parts of the vine with dead leaves.  But, also..what seems like a little bit of new, growth (the lighter green leaves).  I brought this inside back in October and it was THRIVING.  Look at this photo to see the post-Summer flush growth of Creeping Fig Vine .  I've been trying to keep the topiary watered in since the incident, but this really is a product of my plants being sent down...