Plant Daddy

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Cool Phlox Today.

Nice and cool today. Overcast, slight breeze, nice change. Feels good to go in the greenhouse.

For a break, I took my golf cart at work and drove around several natural clumps of native Phlox in the fields near work today. Came upon a different type of flower color that I had not seen before. Ended up finding 4 different plants with the same change in the flower. Quite cool. I need to mark them and collect the seed later for our field at home. It sure is an easy way to breed - cool. Next time I will take some photos for the blog.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Steamy Tuesday

The heat and humidity are on the rise. First day of sweating in the greenhouse. Just think, it is only going to get worse and worse. Then we get to have some hurricanes to cool things off. At least the plants love it. Ahhhhh, looks like time to catch up on a winter's worth of paperwork.

Why didn't I put air conditioning in the greenbean? 'cause I am cheap and lazy. Will have to start using the "2-90" cooing unit (2 windows down at 90 mph). At least I can keep up with the traffic flow - maybe.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Must Keep Moving.

Busy. I can't sit still at home or work. No naps, just running from one job to the next. Must keep moving. That energy sapping virus that was hanging on all winter must have moved on also. It has been replaced by the long sought after spring fever. Energy is a great thing. Hope it hangs around. That sums it up.

Work is frantic. Potting, pruning, fertilizing and pollinating. Forget the stupid paperwork or answering the phone. Spring is crazy but wonderful. Things are starting to grow. Several pothos and philly mutants are looking good. Must increase them fast for evaluation. The work is slow since every move must be recorded and labelled. Must keep moving.

Will finally start doing some long term tissue culture research with a new lab person. It will fill in the missing links. We now will be able to start the mutants from scratch and follow their life cycles from the lab through the greenhouse finishing phase. There are many new discoveries to be found in the next couple of years. Seeds are coming from new plants. Must keep moving.

So everything is great. Got a little tired today finally. Must rest during this rainy night so I can hit is hard tomorrow. Have 75 different Aglaonema hybrids to propagate for disease resistance research. My new propagation chambers are almost full and we will need more. Must keep moving.

Would like to go surf fishing but too busy. Maybe next week if weather breaks. Has been too windy lately. Just like the little fishes I have to keep moving. Am moving to the couch now so catch you later. I love the spring.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Fit for a King.

Worked in the greenhouse for 7 hours yesterday. Potted, pruned, fertilized and mixed soil. Loved it.

Got home and hit the mother load. Mosaic Mom had created another masterpiece. Meatloaf, Harvard beets, Frozen peas and mashed potatoes. Didn't move the rest of the night. Loved it.

Sweet Sound of Music.

Last weekend was to die for --- just perfect weather. Clear calm and 72. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Had a busy day in the Z shop Saturday. Ended up with an AM/FM/CD player in the greenbean. Two 6 x 9” speakers really set it off. No more road noise due to 18 FM and 6 AM channels fixed. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh nothing like elevator music as the ‘bean hits 110.

May eventually add two front speakers but this is great for now. Saved about $70 by buying the radio and speakers separately on eBay. EBay is excellent if you have a specific product in mind.

March winds have returned today.

Donald fixed my old riding mower. It runs great and the $40 bill sure beat $1700 for a new one. Must be sure to take care of it. Hadn’t used it in over a year. He guarantees his work. Good man. Got lucky on this one.

Tuesday, March 01, 2005


Things are getting pretty busy in the Z shop. Posted by Hello