Winding down into Fall...

Well, I fell as though I just got started doing my blog again here and we are starting to wind down the growing season.  I've done some fun things this year, some not so fun, and a lot of busy work to get things back in order since my come back from the diabetic doldrums that hit me so hard earlier this year.  I've also done some "not so smart" things, like the one I'm about to show you here.

About two weeks ago, I acquired some seeds from an Orange "Pride of Barbados" tree.
 I've always wanted to have one of these beautiful trees to go along with my yellow one.  There is just one problem.  The plant that I've been calling "Yellow Pride of Barbados" isn't a variety of "Pride of Barbados" at all.  It's actually known as a "Desert Bird of Paradise" plant.  The entire time I've been doing this blog, I've been giving it the wrong name.

Last of the Desert Bird of Paradise blossoms

In my exitement of procuring these "Pride of Barbados" seeds though, I let my zeal for having them get the better of me and I went ahead and planted the seeds.  Now they have sprouted!!  When I first realized they were coming up I was so very excited, but now I'm feeling trepidation.  What on earth was I thinking when I planted tree seedlings in October????  How am I going to keep these poor babies alive all through the winter when I don't even have heat in my apartment?

Well, I'm not sure, but you all know me and it will be a really cold day in hell when I just let a plant die because I was too stupid to plant it during the right season.  I am so looking forward to showing you all what this "Dwarf Poinciana" looks like, so I will just have to find a way to make it happen.  This is one of my absolute favorites of all desert growing, flowering trees and a MUST HAVE in my backyard.  

Orange Dwarf Poinciana seedlings-aka Pride of Barbados

These "Pride of Barbados (Dwarf Poinciana) seeds have to be some of the easiest seeds to start out of any seed I've ever planted.  All I did to get them going was to nick each individual seed very slightly with a razor blade and stick them under about 1" of soil.  I think that I probably should have used less soil to cover the seeds, but I find that a little deeper seems to make for stronger stalks when things do come up.

The whole concept of "Nicking" seeds tends to freak some people out--scare them.  Many wonder "why would I want to cut into my seed?' or "wouldn't that hurt the seed?"  Well, I guess that yes, it could hurt the seed, but you have to understand that you don't really want to cut the seeds, but rather just the outer casing of the seeds.  Inside the case there is sometimes green stuff and if you cut too deep you actually could hurt it, but if you know what your intentions are, why you are doing it, and trust that you have a grasp on the situation then you'll be fine.  KNOW that you are only going to cut the seed case and that's exactly what you will do.  The idea behind it is that you want to get water into the case to soften it up and to provide the water and nourishment to make the seed start faster.  It works!  Don't be afraid to try it.  Most times you have more than one seed, so if you make a monster mistake it's not a huge loss.

I've really not had much else going on in the garden as of late.  Fall, for me, is a time of basic clean up and preparation for winter.  I use this time to transplant whatever needs to be changed.  This week found new homes for a lot of plants that grew immensely over the past season.  My baby yellow plumeria, my old man cactus, and my Alligator Aloe plant all were moved into larger pots this week.  I also transplanted my conglomerate of 10 Pony Tail Palms (In one clump!) into 6 individual pots, leaving one pot with the 4 most mature palms together.  I hear that those plants are prized in clump plantings, but ten in one?  What a waste.

I have a surprise coming up.  We decided to plant a specific vegetable for fall harvest this year and it's doing marvelously.  We're growing Acorn Squash, and I have an upcoming post started that I will finish in the next day or so.  Keep your eyes open for it!

Until next time, Ciao, and Happy Gardening!