Robins...........dirty birds....

There have been a lot of Robins migrating thru lately and yesterday several hit the bird bath....
Guess they needed it.......fun to watch......

New Magnolias at Work...........

Glad I am not on the planting team...........I like to plant things but not quite this big.....
They are pretty though........just think that I turned down some for free.....sometimes free is not a good thing.....

Classy Class Plants..........

The plants in class look pretty %&$* good.......
This greehouse is an great place to go now to get into the spring thing....
Above: Sweet potaters plus others...........

Above: Petunias and coleus...

Above: Zinnia - one of Mosaic Mom's favorites.......

The problem now is......what next..........we need to hold these plants to finish a future class project.........of course watering and the bug thing get hairy as temps increase.....

Camellias: Looks like another plant we get to Gibb........

One of the students in class yesterday talked about Camellias........in the talk the mention of how flower buds are "gibbed" to hasten bloom opening and flower size.....I had heard of it before but never knew the details..

"Gibbed" refers to the application of gibberellic acid (GA) to a vegetative bud (actully to the cap that remains once the vegetatie bud is removed) adjacent to the flower bud...That part I got, but there was no mention of the GA rate....so after reading several reports on the subject I finally found a formula for the rate........it was 20 milligrams per 1.5 milliliters....then apply 1 drop to the bud.....

Well after some calculation we deteremined that the actual rate of GA was 13,333 ppm.....now that is one whopping amount.....the most we have ever applied to any aroids was 2500 ppm and I considered that HUGE..........
I wonder how that treatment was ever developed........it really is amazing.....

The bottom line is: teaching expands your mind and let the students talk as you will learn. So now I have another line of thinking to get me in trouble.....you see there are several Camellia japonica in plantings outside my office....and I have this idea............

Whiting Delight...........Fillets Tonight........

Monday was good fishing weather so I went regardless of class preparations for today....
Caught 20 whiting or so.......beautiful day.......fish for dinner tonight......Ohhhhhhh I have to go teach now.....
Found the best spot on the beach to set up......

Later in the day my new best friends came home with me....now that is what friends are for.....

Friday's Mixed Bag............

Here are a few photos from the past week.
1. Lilies at the big Box place.....
2. Cosmos at another Huge Box..........

3. Bromeliads at simlar sized places of business.

4. Students in lab taking measurements of the rapidly growing annuals and perennials.

5. Have a good weekend everyone...

A Big Box of Dieffenbachia 'Sparkles'

Was at a local Big Box store the other day and there was a fresh batch of my baby Dieffenbachia 'Sparkles'. They really looked good. Pristine condition. I will check on them in a couple of weeks to see if they are being looked after. 'Sparkles' is a really pretty plant and I see more and more of them these days. It is taking off at 10 years after release. Well, I don't move that fast either.
The Spathiphyllum on the top shelf (below) had been induced to flower with gibberellic acid. I will take credit for that also.

Gee, maybe I am in a preachy mood today........not really.......just trying to get fired up to teach in the next 30 minutes.

It's PEACHY Here Today......

Not a bad view for February 7th...........I can deal with it.........
This is an old peach at work.....almost past its peak flowering......

Mice 1: Sunflowers 0.

Here is what happens when you try to germinate sunflowers in a warm greenhouse in Florida in the winter.....Little critters come along at night and till the soil...........
These were planted by the landscape crew at work last week.

The mice were not interested in the Cosmos though............but I was...........to be continued.....

Plants are looking good today in the teaching greenhouse...

The plants were are growing for class are fast compared to foliage plants... Some will finish in 5-6 weeks.... My research plants all take that many months to mature - the FAST ones that is....

Anyway they are fun to grow and enjoy.....we have 51 different species and cultivars and 5 plants of each type.

Making Babies from my Babies.....

Here are a couple of photos in a nursery that specializes in propagating some of my hybrid Agalonema.