Bright Green.

My brain has moved into spring time mode. I can't get any knitting done and all I think about are flowers, plants, and the outside. Even in the rain, which is currently pouring down, I just want to be outside with my hands in the dirt. I have big plans to install a 2ft by 8 ft raised bed on the side of my house this weekend. I'm still in the planning stages, but am imagining a thriving row of tomatoes, peppers, squash, green beans, cucumber an onions all right outside my window. Until it's built, I've been focusing my energy on the greenery inside the house.

We have a plant predator in our house. He's large, white, and hairy, and been known to gnaw plants to death. Evidence:

 Even despite the plant eater, this guy is trying to thrive. Notice the new growth in the center. This happened after I moved it from the coffee table to the kitchen counter, and from the counter to on top of the 6 ft tall bookcase.

To deter this behavior, I've planted some wheat grass, known to be tasty to the guys who eat your plants. Hopefully if he eats HIS stuff he'll leave MY plants alone.

It's already growing after only two days in (or on) the soil!


My other plants are doing quite well and managing to resist attack. I propagated a jade cutting from an old plant in the office and it's enjoying it's new home in the basement.

I put some root hormone on three leaves from the original plant and they are all growing teeny tiny roots. Someday, ten years from now, I'll have new jade plants! I knocked a leaf (or are they petals?) off of this guy when I was planting him. It was the best thing I could have done. Now he is sprouting a new branch from the leaf node.

Last fall I broke up my snake plant and put the new pup into a pot by itself. I had heard that you could start a new plant from a cutting of an old leaf. It's taken about six months, but I finally have some starts!


My office used to have a 10 ft tall coffee tree in our office. Three years ago they planted some of the coffee beans and now we have 12 or so plants around the office. We had a pretty good harvest again this year and I decided to plant some beans of my own. I have four small pots in the office window that are starting to come up, and about eight beans planted in a pot in my kitchen window at home. 

So far no luck on the guys at home. I think there isn't enough heat for them? Hope the still come up, even if it takes them a lot longer.


Notice the two spider plants, also from the office plant, loving the predator-free windowsill.




A prize to whoever can identify the next plant I propagated. I was given a 4 ft stalk by my coworker. It came from a plant that lives in the corner of his office, without sunlight, that had grown to 6 ft tall. I chopped it into five sections and have two of them rooting in soil, two in water, and one outside that I shoved into a planter leftover from last years tomatoes.

(Isn't that plant predator huge? He can pack a whole lot of wheat grass in those fat sacks.)

Cookies, focaccia bread, or muffins to the winning guess. Or a jar of homemade marmalade, if it sets up. But that's another post.