Plant updates...

Spent part of my afternoon out in the yard...

first a quick shot of the gloriosa lilies sent to me by Julie over at A Succulent Life... 2 of the 3 stems have made it, and they're starting to climb... and even putting out some buds! I can hardly wait!

And now we have to check in with Claudes Home for Wayward Plants... I have been planning on extending the border on my front yard for a couple of years now... and I started digging today... with bermuda grass lawns, it has to be done very thoroughly... you have to get down in the dirt and break up each clod with your hands, and make sure you get all the grass stolons out. Which can be tricky... Bermuda stolons have hard pointed growing tips... they can pierce right through a cactus!
Anyway... I got the larger of the rescued Sago's in the ground...

It'll look better after I get more dug up, and mulch, and other plants around it... hope he's happy...

The other sago still needs some love... he put out exactly 1 small and stunted leaf... but today I noticed that there's some more coming out... maybe these will be more normal sized...

just stuff...

Just some shots around the yard... this pic is a little overexposed, it doesn't really show the firecracker red of the bloom... but you get the idea... Cleistocactus winteri, aka golden rat tail or my preferred common name, golden cat tail... click the label if you want to see past pics of the whole plant...

And of course, the Prickly pears are in bloom... I was worried that I was going to lose a lot of blooms and therefore fruits... which are very important to me for making jelly, but it turned out not so much.

Now this is a foundling from the side of the road, and I'm gonna see if I can do something with it... an Areca palm... Chrysalindocarpus lutescens. They make decent parlor palms... and if I was a little bit further south, decent yard palms to 10' tall... but this guy has been neglected.

Step 1: cut off anything that is obviously dead and leave anything that is green...

I realize that the couple of leaves left are in pretty bad shape, but there's enough green on them to still be doing SOME photosynthesis... and since they're the only leaves left, I'm leaving them for now...

SAGO UPDATE

The second Sago did eventually put up new fronds... kinda... it seems to be putting up 1 - count them ONE, new leaves. One of it's four remaining leaves has died off. The other three... beat up as they are, are staying on there for photosynthesising purposes. I just don't feel like further weakening an already obviously weak plant... of course, this is way too much bother for most people, but I seem to find a perverse pleasure in reviving the near deceased...

The other plant however is doing just fine! Remarkably fine, actually, and he's about ready to find a permanent home in the yard.

Hoping everyone is having a great Memorial day, complete with Bar-B-Que and lots of family and friends.

Later!

Random pics and stuff...

just some random pics around the yard... not sure that there's anything all that interesting going on...

This is an actual Mansfield Cemetary cactus blooming in the back... not bad for a cutting that is a little less than a year old, huh? As you can see, he's already growing offsets, and the smaller cutting directly next to him is more typical of the cuttings that I have... still too small, but I expect big things from them next year...

And the winter may have killed my Variagated Agave americana... but the roots have evidently survived underground and are starting to resprout... how cool is that? I'll probably take one inside this winter, as they're evidently not as hardy as the unvariagated form. The web-sites aren't in agreement as to exactly how hardy they are... so we'll not take any chances...

And here's a common everyday thistle by the side of the road. I've always been fond of thistle. I have no real reason why, just am...

And here's the new growth on the Sago Palm... The other rescued sago may be showing some signs of stirring to life... but it's very subtle... anyway... as soon as these leaves get up and hardened off, I'll cut off the older beat up leaves, what few are left, and try to find a place in the yard to put this guy... where he'll sit for at least 3 months before he puts up another whirl of leaves... they don't grow their leaves one at a time, but rather in periodic bursts. Sometimes only one group a year, and never it seems more than 3 a year. hmmmmm.

Anyway... no day off for me this week... I've got to work on Monday for someone who's got a Dr's appointment... oh well...

Look what I found scrounging around...

I was driving to the grocery store on trash day about a month ago... when I happened to see these by the road.

two badly treated cycas revoluta... more commonly known as sago palm. (of course a real sago palm is another plant entirely, but that's what these are called) It would appear that our rather hellacious winter had killed all of last years more tender growth, and had prompted a home-owner to just give up hope, so out they went to the curb.

Where I picked them up. That's because I'm pretty sure that if there's any green left on a plant, there is a chance that it can be recovered.

Well, as I said above, this was a month ago. And they've been sitting there looking like... well like that up there. Nothing. I suppose some gardeners would be discouraged. I however grow cactus. I'm used to plants sitting around doing nothing but looking like an unfriendly thorny lump for long stretches of time.

But then today... I saw this...

See that in the middle there? It's new growth! Specifically, it's new growth on the plant in the top right hand side of the first pic.

The other plant... well not so much yet...

But I'm not giving up hope yet. It still has those green leaves after all. And even if it's main growing tip never stirs to life, the plant can produce new growing tips off from the roots...

And why go through all this trouble? Lots of reasons.

1) I'm an experimental type of gardener. I like to do things just to see what happens

2) This plant is considered pretty drought tolerant, and if I get it in the ground it is reasonably hardy in my area.

3) Cycads are some of the oldest species of plants on the planet

4) While they're technically not a cactus or a succulent, they are however prickly enough to fit into my Prickly Plant theme and finally...

5) These are damned expensive plants!

That price tag was from last year, they've gone up a little last time I checked.

I see from my tiny bit of research that they like sandy, quick draining soils with some organic matter mixed in. Quite frankly, that describes the topsoil that you buy from the nurseries locally...

Anyway... my experience is more in the cacti realm... any wisdom from anybody out there?