Plant Daddy

Blimp +++ No New Idea is Cheap.....

2012-02-08T13:09:00.005-05:00

Saw this blimp come floating above us at work this morning.
I thought my photos of it were pretty good.
No one else was on the ball today.

My bottom heating tents are working so good that now I have installed a total of three. Of course the costs keep rising along with the temperatures. But OMG do the plants like it. I personally hate the cold but now a chilling spell is welcomed by me since my systems are keeping the rooting going at summer rates.

New "and Imporoved" Propagation Tent...

2012-02-06T14:07:00.007-05:00

Finally got to make a new propagation tent for the research house. This one has new features including steel pipe roof girders, adjustable outer shade cloth, it is tall enough that so that 36 inch totem poles fit easily, the side walls are easily raised in one piece and best of all it has BOTTOM HEAT. Bottom heat is one of the best horticultural tools for propagtion - period. Below is the inside of the new empty tent.
So now the minimum soil temp is 75 - 77 degrees. This is critical when you are propagting pothos and other tropical aroid in the winter. Below is an interan view of the tent filled. Pretty exciting huh.

Here (below) is an exterior view of the tent with some goodies inside. They are doing very very well and it appears that additional watering will be minimal.

Can't Catch a Break or a Fish......

2012-01-30T12:44:00.002-05:00

Last week when we went to TPIE the weather was perfect for surf fishing....the water was clear.....just the right amount of waves.....but there were a lot of things to finish before the trip so no fish....

Now that there is some potential beach time...the winds are roaring and the surf is all stirred up so forget it....
It was that way most of the fall also....no fish....

Maybe fishing is just not meant to be.....

Oh well, I can work on my annual report....what a nice treat....no fish....

Anthurium Red Hot....

2012-01-26T14:12:00.001-05:00

Went to a local nursery today to check on a few things.....
They were growng Red Hot anthurium.....and quite a bit of pothos......

It was nice to see on of my kids in the field.......

More of TPIE 2012.......

2012-01-23T12:50:00.003-05:00

Not plants in this photo....but cute anyway...
There are always lots of blooming orchids and bromeliads at TPIE.....this year was no exception.....

Ahhhh.....here is someone with a nice adenium.......always my favorite....

Great show...expecially during the winter.....

TPIE 2012...........

2012-01-20T14:19:00.002-05:00

Mosaic Mom and I toodled down to Ft. Lauderdale this week for the Tropical Plant Industry Exposition (T.P.I.E.)...
There were lots of great plant to look at....
We enjoyed the visit and I got some inspiration and new ideas.....
Below are some amaryllis to enjoy.....I was more interested in the containers than the flowers....
It is fun to see how the containers affect a plant's overall appearance....lots of new things in that arena....
Marketing is more important than ever now....
More photos later....

I like the one on the left..........

2012-01-12T12:47:00.003-05:00

Below are 2 adenium interspecific hybrids from the same cross.....the one on the right has a more typical branching pattern whereas on the left the plant has many lateral shoots.....neither has been pruned....each plant has been dried down for 3 months and now repotted and starting a new growth flush....it will be interesting to see how they look when in bloom about 8 -10 weeks.from now....they will not be pruned before then...

Only two seedlings out 20 branched like the one on the left.....if each of the lateral shoots flower this should really be an amazing show...you can see it first here....

Student is Earning Her Stripes....

2012-01-10T14:31:00.002-05:00

My grad student has been busy the last 2 days measuring and weighing Adenium stems, leaves and flowers....
Today she was washing roots from 150 pots..........she got it done.......now they are being weighed....
This has been tedious work but the data will be great.....No one else has done this that we know of....
All the tops and roots will now be dried in separate bags and weighed again in a week or two...
Then the fun begins as she can look at all the numbers and see what story is there....
Then what....?????
She gets to do it again......repeat and verify.........repeat and verity...........repeat....

I haven't told her this part of the story yet......

One Adenium with caudex....one without......

2012-01-09T15:38:00.002-05:00

Here are 2 plants.......one lifted and the other not......I like the lifted ones.......Too tired today to add anymore comments.....

My New Photo Backdrop.......Finally......

2012-01-05T14:44:00.003-05:00

The new photo background is up and working so my graduate student can present good pictures to go a long with the numerical data........after 30 years plus we finally have an adequate background....in my opinion of course...
It is 12 feet long and 6 feet high......and can be moved.....it is boat deck carpet so it can be washed.....it even has grommets that we installed so we can stretch out the wrinkles....
So now we can line up all the treated plants and see the differences in photos....below is the installationwith some adenium...we often have no way to show treatment differences in a clear way (other than data of course)...but a photo is worth many words so we hope to make a lot of them....
Below is how the photos will look (we will remove the plants in front of course and only show those on the shelf).........then we can crop them and have some good stuff for publication....The background can hang there even if we overhead water.....no problem as that helps clean and removes wrinkles.....it is quite nice actually......total cost was $34.00 and sore knees that I got putting the grommets in on the floor.....

Close but It didn't Freeze....maybe frost tonight.....

2012-01-04T13:24:00.003-05:00

We got by without any ice...about 33-34 degrees...just enought breeze to hold up temps....
Other people near by had a pretty good freeze.....
It is all about location......and those microclimates.......
gee maybe we are in a warm spot after all these years....

The cauliflower should be really good now.....I'll take it.......

There were several large adenium left in the field........we will check them tonight......

Cauliflower Time......and more.........

2012-01-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

We have eaten 4 heads of cauliflower in the last 4 days.....
Temps may be frost/freezing for the next 2 mornings so these babies should get even better....
We just planted out another crop of cauliflower starts...
Might start another batch of seeds also....
Also there are strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, carrots and 10 different fresh herbs that we can harvest at will for the next several months....
Once the bellies are full we can go into the greenhouse and look at Adeniums in flower...
Plus the days are getting longer....
Our favorite time of the new year....
Above is the cauliflower variety 'Amazing'....it is quite vigorous and has produced well for us this year....

New Years Bonfire......

2011-12-31T18:09:00.002-05:00

We removed an oak tree last week and now are burning out the stump.....
The hard part was getting the chain saw to work after a 2 year rest....but it did just fine...
It has been great fire weather this week.....cool and calm....
Weiners and marshmellow gallore...
A good way to end the year....
Happy fires to everyone and my you have a great 2012.

Plantdaddy's Pancake Tip.....

2011-12-30T08:28:00.003-05:00

Don't mix up the corn starch and the baking powder...read the label first...

What you get is below....a nice cup mat...
Not good.....even the ants wouldn't eat it...
Batch #2 were perfect apple cinnamon pancakes...
They are all gone...

Z-shop Trick: Color Coded Rachets and Wrenches.........

2011-12-28T18:43:00.004-05:00

Working on restoring 240z cars has been great fun and very educational.
But it was often frustrating to find the proper ratchet or wrench size.
Fortunately these cars have bolts that mostly come in 4 sizes (10, 12, 14 and 17 mm).
So we painted our wrech sets where yellow = 10 mm, orange = 12 mm, blue = 14 mm and green = 17 mm. It makes finding the proper ratchet or wrench quick and easy.
After 3 years the sets lost most of their paint so I refreshed them this week (below).The color red was added to our selection this year and that = one half inch. That is an American size so I painted it red like in red white and blue. I just used it on our chain saw. I always thought this was a great idea and we should have patented it. Now I am starting to see colored sets in a few stores. Oh well, too late smart again.

Rare Evening Post.....Happy Gardening Days.

2011-12-23T19:14:00.007-05:00

After killing the garden in September with contaminated sprayer we are back.
All new plants and no spraying.
It was 86 degrees today.
I am eating radishes and carrots out of the ground and 3 kinds of peppers off the bush.
The load of fruit on our grape tomato selections are turning orange.
Herbs are the new fetish this year and we have about 15 different ones that we are learning about. The garden and greenhouses smell really nice.
So, here it is nearly Xmas and the loquats are in full flower (below) and already have fruit up to an inch long.
The oranges are tasting good as are strawberries.
Those are the highlights for now. Cauliflower next week if it ever cools down.

Adenium....Pain Filled Research....

2011-12-20T12:03:00.003-05:00

My student had grown a beautiful crop of 100 plants of Adenuim cv. Red...(photo below)...
They were in full flower and beautiful...many with over 100 open blooms each...
But for the sake of science we had to cut them off and separate into piles of leaves, flowers and stems....(below)...this was very painful to do both emotionally and physically......it took 3 days to complete.......
These piles were weighed and then placed into bags for drying and a second weighing....

Soon we will know about top, leaf, shoot and root weight ratios, and how this is affected by pot size and nutrition....no matter what it was hard to cut up these beautiful plants.
Below are the samples in bags ready for the oven....It has been a very busy week.......

To make up for this sacrifice for science we have another crop coming....Adenium cannot be stopped.....

Flash Z-Car Mob............

2011-12-12T14:02:00.003-05:00

Out of nowhere the Z boys showed up yesterday...
So we played in the nice warm weather......
All of a sudden cars were all over the yard....
Next thing we deicided to shoot some photos....
It was a Z-Car Flash Mob.......

So below are all of the 6 Z cars we have worked on for the past decade plus.....

...and now I know why my back hurts today..........pushing those things.........

Toasted Truck.....Chapter 2..........

2011-12-07T14:15:00.006-05:00

So after a wonderful chicken dinner break we went back to check on progress......
The friendly local sheriff deputy was there and said hi and that the tow truck was on its way.....
After an hour it arrived and it did so in grand style......with Xmas lights.........it was getting dark now.

It took them awhile to hook their hoist up to the still hot truck axils.......it was even darker....the Xmas lights were really getting showy and cool to look at........we wanted to buy the truck just for the lights...........

btw...... Very nice group of tow truck people..........they had been in a parade yesterday and had not removed the lights......we thought the extra lights were great for safety on this country road.........

As you can tell by the darkness they had a little trouble finally getting hooked up.......But they finally did and went away safely...

Sunday Happenings.....Truck Toast.....

2011-12-06T12:12:00.004-05:00

Around 4:00 pm I was watering a tree in the yard and heard a little commotion out by the highway.....
Gee there was a truck on fire......gee that is our fence and trees on the left.........
Gee Mosaic Mom's chicken dinner was just ready to eat......well that had to wait.......
Along came the fire truck to save our trees (the truck was toast).....
That is the poor driver below........he had just bought the truck last week and was going get a load of material to take to Sarasota.
He was so sad and we felt really bad for him. What are you going to do I asked.....'start over, I can't quit now' he said....

One good thing was that the newly filled 30 gallon diesel tank did not explode......

Then the sun started to set and things got really interesting...........stay tuned.....film tomorrow......

Contrasts in the Greenhouse.....

2011-12-02T11:06:00.002-05:00

This adenium hybrid has been in full bloom for months now.......photo today.......
Hard to be to cranky when this plant is there to greet you each morning....
Now right next to the blooming fanatic are some relatives that have been put to bed for the next few months.
They are not as pretty now but will be come next May....and that is why I love these plants....

Something is not right here......

2011-12-01T14:56:00.003-05:00

Thought I might have found a new colored pothos vine............until it moved........"Oh brother" said Mr. Snake....."here comes the crazy man with the broom again".......

Some days none of us can win...........

... and Here We Have Adenium 'Red'....

2011-11-29T10:56:00.004-05:00

My student and I have been growing some of the Adenium cultivar Red.
Damn they are beautiful.!!!!!!
Below are a couple of photos taken this morning of plants growing in 6-inch and 8-inch pots.
Some plants have over 60 open flowers and they will keep doing that until we cut them off to weigh the tops and roots.
Yes, it will be tough to sacrifice them for science.

Adenium are awesome flowering plants.
Too bad you never see them in stores like this.

Maybe someday they will - at least that is our goal.......

First the Clouds then the Chilly...........

2011-11-28T14:29:00.005-05:00

Chilly is coming.........
Here is another cloud photo taken from my office 5 minutes ago..........

The coldest air this fall is coming......it is 20 degrees colder in west Florida than in Central Florida at this moment.......

Here it is 80 now but dropping fast......soon to be in the 40s............

It will be windy and brisk in a couple of hours.....

At least we had some good warm weather the past few weeks to get our garden back on track.....

Glad most things are in the greenhouse.....

The tomatoes and peppers are coming......

That ain't no Cow..........

2011-11-16T15:10:00.002-05:00

Just never know what might show up in your neighbor's field.....
Sure is a pretty thing though.........and big.......

Anthurium 'Red Hot'

2011-11-15T12:24:00.002-05:00

I do not do much Anthurium research the moment.
However, 'Red Hot' will always be a favorite.
It performs well in the Florida heat and is a constant bloomer.

The Zoo ... Day Three....

2011-11-10T13:17:00.006-05:00

Here is a bird.......a dirty buzzard bird...
A nice water park for the kids was cool.......

The biggest chess board I have seen....a pretty large butterfly also..... That is all.......no we did not look at many animals.......too busy looking a plants and driving the Segway....

More Central Florida Zoo ... 2011

2011-11-09T13:01:00.004-05:00

There was a nice bee hive near the building that housed the insect collections.........
Then a few nice plants near the gate that opens to the zoo part itself...

There were lots of overhead cables and stuff for kids to play on...really a nice place for kids....

Cental FL Zoo - 2011

2011-11-08T13:28:00.005-05:00

The zoo trip with mosaic mom was really fun.........below is the main entrance way.......it leads up to the insect building....
Here are a couple of photos of the insect collection....it was quite impressive....

A little art work near the ceiling....

Lots of these big predators around down here... I think some of these guys have been in our garden at night lately....

More later......

Rain lilies........

2011-11-03T14:56:00.002-04:00

We had some pretty good rain a couple of weeks ago which led to a late October flowering of our rain lilies...
They come out of no where and require no care....
Hard to beat these little guys...

Cool Clouds this Morning....

2011-10-26T11:48:00.003-04:00

There were really neat clouds this morning.
Looking to the west I saw the pattern below.
Note the large patch of blue sky directly overhead.
Looking east (I was in the exact same spot but turned around 180 degrees) this cloud patter was coming.....

About 1 hour later the two patterns had almost met...the birdhouse is still there...

We really get to see some amazing stuff down here....

Washing Adenium Roots....&....Bones....

2011-10-25T13:54:00.004-04:00

My little kitty buddy ‘Bones’ was neutered yesterday...
This morning he was doing pretty well and we walked and played some...
and then he was off hunting ....
Anyway, I hope he was hunting and not looking for kinder pastures...

Above: Here is an 8-inch pot of Adenium as it was in the greenhouse this morning...
No flowers since we had taken cuttings for an experiment...

Above: Here is the same plant 5 minutes later after a root wash...
This particular cultivar makes really big roots compared to others...
I am not sure which is cooler with Adenium, the flowers or the caudex...

Above: is the plant from above and 3 more of its buddies...

Back to Plants................Then and Now

2011-10-17T13:31:00.002-04:00

Below is some pothos breeding stock planted so they root onto moss covered poles that are 9 feet tall....the moss is held in place by shade fabric that is stapled to the poles....on top of the pole is an irrigation dripper that runs a few minutes each day to keep the moss damp.....

Here are the same plants today........almost ready for flowering induction treatments.......

2011-10-13T14:01:00.010-04:00

Even with 3.5 inches of rain our lizard was high and dry.....

2011-10-10T12:38:00.002-04:00

It was a completely cloudy/rainy weekend where we got 3.5 inches of rain...........
that was actually less than half of what other people got in this area.......guess we are still in the desert.......

Mosiac Mom has a lizard living in an old bird house that we moved up near the carport.....
Look closely and you can see him sitting on the front porch....
I like lizards and think that a line of lizard houses would be cool......they are neater than birds.......
Anyway this guy lives in his house and comes out everyday to sunbathe and eat insects.......sounds good to me....

Meanwhile back at FNATS 2011....

2011-10-07T14:06:00.003-04:00

Below: I got to see one of my kids at the entrance to the convention center...that is a planting of Aglaonema 'Silver Bay'...They looked really good.....there also was a distant planting of my other kids Aglaonema 'Golden Bay' or 'Emerald Bay' but they were too far away to tell for sure (it is one BIG convention center) and I forgot to go and look closer on the way home as I was too tired to walk that extra mile.....
Below is the carpet in the hotel across the street where we ate lunch.....I like bright happy colors.....

Below: I really like all the colored clippers under the ARS display sign.... They are my favorite and get used by my hands all the time.... I want one of each color....

The Week of Dead.........

2011-10-06T14:34:00.003-04:00

What a week of dead.......
Garden dead.....I am thorough.....
Main water line to house dead.....not our fault.......my plumbing is going also.....
Pool pump dead.....normal around here.......
Water heater would be dead but was saved by Mosaic Mom at 3:00 am....she is a HERO.....

On the LIFE side of things.....
Bones has become the "golf cart buddy".......
He comes running now when we say here kitty kitty golf cart ride......
Then he hops into his little compartment say lets go.....Above he is wondering what the holdup is..........
What a week.........what a good kitty kitty.......

FNATS 2011.....

2011-09-30T15:15:00.007-04:00

Mosaic Mom and I atended the Florida Nursery trade show in Orlando yesterday.
We got to see lots of big trees and palms....

Lots of flowers....

Lots of assorted plants....

and even the famous Mahindra tractor.......we really liked this one below.

All and all it was a great trip..........

Closer and Closer............

2011-09-28T13:20:00.002-04:00

to the first fall surf fishing trip.........
Look at that beautiful water.......I would love to relive that day again.......
Soon.........Soon........

Ahh the memories............

The First Zuchinni is Toast - 34 days......

2011-09-21T15:02:00.001-04:00

Seed planted 8-18-2011.
Fruit harvested 9-21-2011.
YUM.

Adenium Experiments in Progress.......

2011-09-20T13:31:00.003-04:00

Here are a few photos (taken yesterday) of some adenium experiments .....some in progress and some almost ready to go.....
Below are some "Ice Pink' plants ready for the treatment....not sure which treatments yet......
Here (below) are some of the cultivar Red that are not quite ready for abuse yet....

Here (below again) are some larger Reds in 8-inch pots and some in 6-inch pots on drip irrigation and 4 different slow release fertilizer rates. This experiment is 8 week old. Open flowers are counted weekly plus a bunch of other data is taken every 4 weeks. This test should run another 4-8 weeks.

Back to Zucchini............

2011-09-19T15:04:00.002-04:00

Here is the up to date data..........

Zucchini 'Elite' (seed packs say 48-55 days to flower)......

Seed Planted 8-18-2011
First Male flower 9-15-2011
First Female flower 9-17-2011
First Pollination 9-17-2011 ............that is "30 days" from seed planting to pollination......
Second pollination 9-18 and third pollination 9-19-2011.....
First Harvest (SOON)...........probably in 5-7 days.......

I think we are doing pretty well so far...........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

September Seeds............What a Deal......

2011-09-16T13:22:00.005-04:00

We have some really fine Magnolia cultivars at work these days (upper photo)..........
These really are nice trees with a lot of bronze coloring on the undersides of the leaves.....
They are setting seed now and of course, since I cannot help myself, that leads to the photos below.....
Here are the seed that were harvested today...

Next step is to put the seed in a plastic bag filled with moistened peat and place in the refrigerator for about 10 weeks or more...

Then plant and wait for the magic to happen....

Several babies from the above seed head may be growing around my home in the years to come.....

Seed are still one of life's best bargains........

In "My World" it is Boys Before Girls.......

2011-09-15T12:22:00.003-04:00

I should say "in my Zucchini world" that is........
In our garden Zucchini always start off with male flowers.....several days before the females come along....
So to outsmart them tricky girls we harvest the male flowers (below) and put them in the refrigerator to store the pollen until the females decide to wake up and get with it.....
So below you can see the first male of the 2011 fall gardening season has been harvested, placed on a section moistened paper towel in a plastic container.......the cover will be added and placed in the refrigerator.....
The male flowers and their pollen will keep for up to a week....
Here is a close up to the male flower and its pollen........btw...the petals have been cut back for easier storage.
Now we just wait for the first female flower to show her pretty stigma....
Of course if we get both male and female flowers the same day we use the fresh pollen....
The excess males are again stored waiting for a solitary females.....
We discard the older males when we have an excess of fresh ones.....

Soon I get to eat delicious zucchini fries..........I hope......

The September Scene..........

2011-09-14T13:45:00.002-04:00

Come September everyone down here seems to be hot and tired......

Hot is self explanatory.........there is faint hope for cool but it never quite makes it.....a couple of mornings in the 60's but they disappear as fast as they came....... then the heat sets in once more.......seemingly forever.........OMG maybe in October.......this time for sure......forget it..............

Tired comes from the hot.........months of hot.........too hot to work or play........maybe I can surf fish............Oh hell the water temp is 84.......want to eat something out of that bathtub.............

Of course in the pool 84 is far too cold.........so we put on pool cover so it reaches 92.......that is nice.........it even matches the outside air temp.........

Now I am confused........not sure where this is going but I am going to put my feet up and think about November........

My Pet Cameleon ........ at Last....

2011-09-12T11:41:00.006-04:00

I bought one at the Oregon State Fair when I was a kid......
It did not fare well......
Now I have them in my greenhouse at home.....usually in some shade of green....
They are fun to have and remind me of 25 cents lost in an earlier time......
I do not purchase anything living a fairs anywhere.....

The cameleons tend to escape the wrath of Bones.......unlike the other lizards.....and that is cool....

Like cameleons...."Stay beneath the radar" .......that is my motto..........

Friday Fittonia............

2011-09-09T12:52:00.002-04:00

We keep a small collecton of Fittonia in the research greenhouse...........a nice spot of color...........

New Building at the Research Center......

2011-09-08T13:47:00.005-04:00

This is a full replica of a home to be used to instruct pest control people how and where to treat for various bugs.....
They could have used our house if need be.........we have it all......

Maybe I can live there once I retire........I can be pesty...........

A Dry Summer ...........

2011-09-06T13:26:00.002-04:00

It has been a long hot and dry summer so far..........the photo below shows a rain storm from last May.............
There has not been anything like it since........wish there was......
The pumps are getting tired....

New Stuff at Work ...'Roses in the Round' Progress....

2011-08-31T13:56:00.004-04:00

One day there will be a rose trial garden at the research center........
After a few months of no activity, today a crew was working on the irrigation system.......
The beds will consist of 3 complete circles with cut through pathways......
I like to code things so to me this is "Roses in the Round"....
The garden will be planted and maintained by a local nursery.....
It should me a nice teaching aid and tour site.....
I do not grow roses at home since they require too much input.....
These should enjoyable without the hassel.........I like easy these days.......

Bones......now.....then.....now.....

2011-08-29T15:16:00.005-04:00

Now:
Then:

Now:

Plant background provided by plantdaddy............

Hurricane Irene Clouds...........

2011-08-25T13:32:00.005-04:00

It is breezy and cloudy today thanks to hurricane Irene.
It is 250 miles east of us but we are seeing some effects.
There is a nice breeze to keep the gnats out of your face and great clouds to admire.
I do not like hurricaness (just in case you wondered) but their clouds are really amazing.
Below are a couple of cloud photos I took a work 15 minutes ago.
It is impressive that a storm can have this effect and still be so far away.

There sits our generator. Hopefully it will not be needed this time. Unfortunately there are 6 more hurricane packed weeks to go this year. Time will tell.

Visited a New Nursery Today..........

2011-08-23T14:16:00.005-04:00

Went to a nursery that I had not been to before. The owners produce only Pothos and Dieffenbachia and they do a really nice job. The plants looked clean, healthy and had great foliar color. They also had the biggest great dane that I have seen - easily 150 lbs... Thank goodness I get along with dogs......
The photos here were taken this morning as I toured the nursery. Nice plants....!!!!!

These growers are going to trial grow a couple of my new pothos varieties...

At least I know that my babies are in the hands of people who know what they are doing.

My Paulownia tomentosa (Princess or Empress tree)..........

2011-08-22T11:09:00.004-04:00

I picked up a small tree last March from a friend in north Florida and planted it out in our field a month later....
It was 18 inches high and weak stemmed...so I shook the trunk daily to stimulate strength and now it is 7 feet tall with a 1.5 inch diameter trunk......btw....stem shaking to increase tensile strength really works.......especially with my tomatoes.....

Anyway, when I was a kid they used to advertise this tree as the worlds fastest growing tree....(on the back of Parade magazine)......I used to stare at the photo in a state of awe.........now, a few decades later, I stare at it live everyday when I water it.........This is my kind of plant - it responds to care and grows fast.....I am shooting for 20 feet of growth in 2 years........
Hey we all need goals.........and besides, down here we need SHADE..........FAST.........

Adenium bouquet for Friday..............

2011-08-19T13:49:00.001-04:00

Here are some adenium babies that I get to look at every day......ahhhhhhhhhh.....
Sure beats looking at the world news headlines...........

Organic Gardening Talk............

2011-08-18T13:35:00.004-04:00

Mosaic Mom and I attended a talk last night dealing with orgainic gardening......
It was very good and we gained a lot of new ideas.....
Below are a few photos from where we were for the talk........
I am going to plant my seeds this week for the fall garden..........now I can get a 2 week head start instead of wating until labor day......That was worth the price of admission right there...........

It was a good night that will pay off for many years.........

Flat Grafting Adenium........that is what is new for me.....

2011-08-16T13:15:00.003-04:00

I learned this unusual grafting method on the adenium forum......start with a plant that has a nice caudex like the one below.....
Wack off the tops...........
Then place a 0naked stem piece with 2-3 buds (scion) on top of the freshly cut base......the diameter of the scion does not have to match the base diameter......it can be 1/2 the diameter and still work fine.....the sizes will equalize after a year or so.......cover with plastic that serves to hold the scion to the bottom stem.....wait 3 weeks. uncover it and in another 3 weeks what you get is below.........

Now this will be new adenium that has both a nice caudex and good flowers......go get the rest of the details at the "adenium forum"........actually it is the "adenium and pachypodium forum".....some good stuff there.......

This could be a really good teaching tool for a grafting class..........imho.....

Bones is advancing rapidly.............

2011-08-09T14:53:00.003-04:00

Trees are no longer a barrier.........birds and squirrels beware........too late for the lizards..........

So far he has had no trouble getting down.........

Crape Myrtles......Reaching for the Sky.............

2011-08-04T15:12:00.003-04:00

Some of the crape myrtles at work have been revitalized and are flowering well......
Their colors look neat against the blue sky and white clouds.....

I just wish there were more clouds and less blue sky..........HOT blue sky I should add.......

OMG its Crape Myrtle Time Again.....

2011-08-03T14:10:00.002-04:00

Time to pollinate a few crape myrtle flowers....
It has been a few years since the last ones so why bother you might ask...
Good question....the answer.....because they are there, I can do it and as we say "this time for sure" its gonna be good.....

Happy Birthday Squeak............

2011-08-02T10:19:00.007-04:00

Happy Birthday Helen..........enjoy and be safe out there today............

At home you had a birthday visitor this morning......
He started in the trees (below) and worked his way closer..........must have been looking for cake.....
Here he is checking out 'Bones'........

That didn't work so now he is checking out the pool............

I got this closeup just as he turned is head the other way..........almost had the facial shot..........

Anyway just another day at home..........but different.........

Have a great day Squeak.............I love Ya..........

May you have a h-OWL-ing good time..............daD

My Weekend of Big and Small Repairs................

2011-08-01T13:22:00.005-04:00

First it was the big mower belt.....(bottom photo).
No problem, big parts easy to figure out.......
Started strong but wilted fast as it was 105 in the Z- shop......

It went well until a large spring (size of a corn cob) fell out from somewhere............impossible to reattach........
Had to cut out a "door" in the steel housing to fix spring.........then used big hammer "coax" it into place.....it controlled the self adjusting idler pulley.....then had to use "come along" to stretch the pulley spring to get bet attached........
This happened over the course of a day and a half due to frustration and HEAT...........
But, I finished and the mower worked fine........mowed for 3 hours.....did the "A" job.......butt too sore to sit rest of weekend..........

After resting, I felt cocky so decided to fix pressure washer............i.e. redo the carburator.........never done this before.....
See the parts below (this morning).......HELP.....I have learned to take lots of photos as you go so maybe I can get things back together.....This could get interesting.........All these tiny tiny parts...........

Mower deck with housing removed to show worn belt........I was smart enough to take photos before removing the old belt.....
Much easier to work with BIG parts.............more painful though............

I do love my digital camera and the machine diagrams on the internet...............

Yeah, yeah, more adenium flowers............has to be.....

2011-07-29T13:17:00.001-04:00

Adenium Brain Freeze........

2011-07-28T12:38:00.003-04:00

I have had adenium on the brain lately............
too many ideas...........a few research breakthroughs.........
several potential publications..........all the usual.......this is getting quite exciting......
Below (and above) are a couple of important adeniums used in my genetic research......

They are special plants...........beautiful to look at and to research.........and the data is even better..........

Gopher Hole.............

2011-07-27T15:01:00.002-04:00

Our gophers are bigger than yours........
Gopher tourtise that is.........

Our Garden on 7-15-11......for the record.....

2011-07-19T15:09:00.004-04:00

I made the title as a gardening reference for next year.......
We still have peppers, okra and eggplant that are doing well.....and,
the sweet potatoes are going crazy (as in crazy good).........
also mosaic mom's sunflowers just started blooming.....

Below is a photo of one of my Adenium hybrids that I am playing with at this time.....
It might have potential.....at least for seed production anyway.......

It is a nice reddish color with overlapping petals - a trait I seem to like..............

My 3 Step Program for Bad Plants......

2011-07-14T12:27:00.011-04:00

Life as a plant in my research greenhouse can be brutal......
"Do as we want of pay the price" that is our charge.....
Any recalcitrant plants must go thru a 3 step program.....

Step 1: Pilerized...

Step 2. Dumsterized......

3. Laid to resterized.........

Community service message for the good of the general public: This is necessary to stop spread of bugs and diseases and from keeping unfit plants out of the market place.

VET Trip.............wait a minute.....

2011-07-13T14:00:00.003-04:00

Took Bones to the vet yesterday...
The vet really seems to like Bones.......
The Vet has a yellow male tabby cat of his own.....
He says this is the best kind of cat....
He claims the Bones is a great cat and that they had a great time with him -
(Bones stays with them while I am at work).....
Then I gave him $70....
What a racket.....I pay him to play with my cat......
He says to bring Bones back SOON so they can play again......
Wait a minute.....
Maybe I should offer to play with the vet's cat......

Heartleaf Philodendron.....small, medium and large......

2011-07-12T10:34:00.005-04:00

Here are 3 forms of heartleaf philodendron that I found in the research greenhouse yesterday.

1. Small narrow leaves.....unique secondary branching habit.....

2. A little wider leaf but still small compared to normal.....these guys also branch naturally......

3. The big guy (below) has larger leaves and shorter internodes than standard heartleaf....

Adenium.........more than just flowers.........Caudex

2011-07-11T10:37:00.004-04:00

From time to time I toss in a few photos of Adenium flowers. They can be really nice.
Adenium also have a very interesting swollen base called a caudex (plural = caudices).
However, in my opinion, it is the caudices that make these plants special.
Following intensive study for the past 2 years I have found that certain crosses make incredible caudices.
For example, the plant in the first 2 photos below is in a 3 gallon pot and is about 1.5 years old.
Closer view of caudex from above photo.

Below is another vigorous hybrid with a nice caudex in an 8-inch pot.

Because of very detailed and time consuming "old fashioned traditional genetic engineering"I can now easily produce hybrids that make a large caudex.

Of course these crosses generally do not have great flowers.....grrrrr..........

Summer Strawberries.........Cycle of Life..

2011-07-08T12:57:00.004-04:00

I cleaned up the strawberry stock plants yesterday - there are still a few tiny berries on them.
That means I took off the old leaves and thinned them out.
Tossed in some fertilizer and a copper spray due to all the rain.
Now we wait for new runners to develop so we can cut and root them for next years plants.
Then we toss the old plants.
This little cycle has worked for 5 years with the same plants.
Of course we only grow a dozen plants.
These plants give us all the berries we can stand from January thru May.
We pick a lot, eat a lot and freeze the rest of the berries for MM's fresh strawberry jam.
Awesome.......

The New Kitty........Big dreams....

2011-07-07T12:28:00.003-04:00

'Bones' is a real active little kitten.
He runs and chases everything - boundless energy - always looking for new prey.
So far our lizard population in the greenhouses has taken a pretty good hit.
But.............this morning I caught him stalking the sand hill cranes.
Maybe he is getting a little over confident.
Kind of reminds me of the song about the "Ram and the Dam".

What a Playhouse.............

2011-07-01T13:07:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine works in a private company's research greenhouse. What a place !!!!.......
Maybe I can retire and become his assistant one day.....

Lots of different colorful foliage and flowers........

Yum, yum, yum..............

Crape Myrtle and the Adenium connection........

2011-06-28T14:14:00.002-04:00

There is an interesting techniuque for inducing polyploidy that I am trying on Adenium.....way too soon to see if it works with crape myrtle but we may try later this summer once fresh seed are available.....plus I just found a research paper that describes how to do flow cytometry to test for ploidy change in crape myrtle.......so here we go again.........maybe.........
Just another long term idea to keep life amusing..............

Verbenas...........

2011-06-27T14:33:00.002-04:00

Here are a few different Verbena that were collected for our enjoyment............
They do quite well in the Florida summer..........compared to many other flowering plants that is.......
This summer has been a real test so far............wish I was Verbena tough.........

Friday Flowers at Work..........

2011-06-24T14:31:00.005-04:00

Rangoon Creeper:

Allamanda (close):

Allamanda (farther):

Coral Vine:

These plants from work were photographed 15 minutes ago........they are all in full sun and have been subjected to 95 degree temps for the last 2 weeks.........they are doing well.........me not so good.........I guess the fact that they have more genes than me is paying off.........

Mosaic Mom's Flowers............

2011-06-23T14:27:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple of photos of Mosaci Mom's flowers......
They are great.....

btw......I think they should breed for "Flowering Coleus" instead of just "Foliage Coleus"........

A Couple of my Adenium Pets.............

2011-06-21T12:16:00.003-04:00

Here are a two of the Adenium that I am playing with........it is fun to see what how you can manipulate a plant both morphologically and genetically........

I like the flower shape of this one.......
The flower shape below is quite different.........

I want to see what the hybrids will look like............

My Mail Order Adenium Daddy Plant...........

2011-06-15T15:25:00.005-04:00

Last week I received an Adenium cutting in the mail from a fellow hybridizer (photo above).
The stem had 8 flowers that survived the cross country trip.
I have since used all 8 flowers to make 8 pollinations.
After 4 days it looks like a few seed pods are starting to develop.
It is tough to wait 4-6 months for the seeds and then another year to see what the hybrids do.
But these seeds will be special, as the babies will be.
In the meantime I will tend to all the other parents and babies that crowd my greenhouse.

The Busy Little Red Wheelbarrow............

2011-06-13T12:14:00.007-04:00

In the background rests the poor little red wheelbarrow.......
That poor thing worked a week to haul away our old nursery outhouse......
It was a nice outhouse made with lots of heavy concrete blocks.....
See what the poor guy did below.....
But the little guy kept chipping away and makeing trip after trip to the dump pile......
and now he is quietly resting in the shade.....

Here he stands triumphantly on the concrete floor.........waiting to give the final blow......

Here he his taking a break and sizing up the remaining walls..............

Now the little 'barrow is checking out the job ahead.......and a big job it is to be.............

Big Daddy Cloud...............

2011-06-10T12:30:00.002-04:00

Here is a cloud that will make you take notice.......finally heading into the rainy season.........grass mowing season........the humidity season and the mosquito season.......

Meet Bony ...............

2011-06-08T15:03:00.005-04:00

Here is another photo Bony - the new stray kitten that chose our shed to hide in..........After a week, Bony has gotten stronger, more confident and now is in the investigative mode.......he is staring at the 2 sand hill cranes by our bird feeder.....not quite ready to bring them down......but maybe after a few more pounds......
Bony is a survivor.......hope to keep his luck going.......but after going to check out a velvet ant and a large hornet this morning I am getting a little nervous......

Next we are going to visit the swimming pool.......He might like it................

Adenium 'Calypso'.............

2011-06-07T14:46:00.001-04:00

That is my baby..........no wonder I enjoy these plants so much................the flowering goes on and on and on and on.......

A Good Squirrel...............Foxy

2011-06-06T13:11:00.002-04:00

Every so often a fox squirrel visits and hangs around for a few days.....they are so cool.....
2x big as gray squirrels and not afraid of much.....of course we call him/her "Foxy".
We especially love how all the pesky gray squirrels disappear when Foxy is around.

Gee, wish we could hire him on a full time basis.

Class Flashback......some flowers............

2011-06-03T13:49:00.005-04:00

and Last Friday it Rained.............and rained.......

2011-05-31T14:55:00.005-04:00

Are you cold? Well we have had 37 days in the 90's so far this year. Dry and Hot but finally ....
We had a nice 2 inches plus of rain last Friday.......
Water filled all the low spots in the back yards.

The trees are much happier this week.

Of course our work shed flooded and the Z shop flooded. At lease we did not have to top off the swimming pool. Its temperature dropped from 91 to 88 degrees though (that is freezing by our standards).

btw...............It is in the 90's again today.............

Out of it.........

2011-05-26T12:28:00.004-04:00

I have been consumed with Adenium fever the past week as we try to figure out some of the genetics of these things. Not even sure what day it is or how does mosaic mom put up with this. Now I have to read scientific papers and stuff to figure out what is going on. Worse yet I have an adenium expert awaiting my answers. Is this stressful or what......NO.....but it sure keeps your mind busy.....what a gift all of this research stuff is.....
Above is one of my two colored Adenium graphs........not bad but there is much room for improvement....hopefully some more can be made this summer......this is more play than work but still take time.....

The Ultimate Butterfly Garden.......

2011-05-20T15:24:00.001-04:00

Butterfly gardening is real popular these days.
Below is one of the best originals.
Make one of these using butterfly attracting plants why not.....

This is how the surf looks today............

2011-05-19T14:48:00.002-04:00

So sad to look at this and be office locked.
It is perfect over there.
Why did I have to look.
Damn internet anyway..........very counter productive........
So sad.

But isn't that a thing of beauty....my little feet want to play in the water....

Ahhhhh probably sharks in there anyway....

I will just stay here and work....
SAFETY.....

I Think It is Done Now............

2011-05-18T15:10:00.003-04:00

While I rested and answerd email this morning my grad student finished cutting the shade cloth for our little research booths.

While I was visiting with the faculty and staff at our annual noon luncheon she attached the cloth.

As I was resting after lunch she went and took a bunch of data on other tests.

I need more grad students.

Change in Outdoor Research Plot...........

2011-05-17T14:39:00.004-04:00

Here is outdoor research plot this afternoon......

Below is the same plot yesterday..........I'm pooped....

Graduate students can be real killers you know....the final work is not yet completed but my part is now done..........

Around the Research Center Today........

2011-05-11T14:48:00.003-04:00

Below are some Salvia getting different watering rates............the closest ones are the happiest....
Here are some daylilies being tested for disease resistance.......

I have always been drawn to yellow.........

Where are They Now............????

2011-05-10T14:02:00.003-04:00

the student planters that is.........after sitting in the booth at the Apopka Art and Foliage show for 3 days the planters have returned and are sitting in front of the main teaching building.

They add a nice touch of color.

I am really starting to like the colored pots also. You just never know.

Oakland Florida Street Trees..............

2011-05-05T12:13:00.003-04:00

Hard to beat these street trees..........

These types of trees will be a thing of the past soon I am afraid.....

Views around Apopka............

2011-05-04T14:59:00.006-04:00

Saw this little snapper yesterday............that was my mood this morning but it seems to have moved on just like he did........
View of a nice central Florida lake........

Here is some central Florida landscape..

Here is a nice pond that I would like to fish in....

Of course lots of creatures like to live in and around these nice little lakes.....this one had a nice manmade path all around it.......However, I would say walker or jogger beware.........

Florida Trees...............

2011-05-03T15:16:00.003-04:00

Saw some nice trees today...........took a few photos...........very relaxing stuff............

Class over...now what......

2011-05-02T14:23:00.002-04:00

Oh YEAH.......it is summer now........stay inside and write something....... anything.....it beats going outside..........

Ahhhhh but the POOL is COOL...sort of....91 degrees sort of........ahhhhh leave the cover off for a while now.........ahhhhh that is better only 88 degrees..............PERFECT for that 3:00 swim....

Things always feel better after a little soak and stretch in the pool........I guess summer has its perks after all..

It's a Blackberry Weekend..........

2011-04-29T11:32:00.003-04:00

The blackberries are ready........we must pick this weekend.........
Oh my aching back...........
Oh my aching belly..........
Oh Boy.!!!!!!!!!!

Yup...It is Blackberry Season.............

2011-04-27T15:33:00.001-04:00

Yes, they are ripening fast in the blistering sun.........fortunately there still is enough moisture in the soil to support nice fat berries...Yum, Yum............

Corn Pollen.............

2011-04-22T13:40:00.006-04:00

Are your eyes feeling a little itchy these days...........maybe it is corn pollen...... The pollen below is from the tassels from 12 corn plants. Imagine the pollen from a 100 acre field on a dry windy day. Makes my eyes water just thinking about it.

Here is how to harvest your own pollen for pollination.
Step 2: Above: pollen dropped from 12 corn tassels that were cut off in the morning and placed in water jars on newspaper for the day. This is the pollen collected that evening. Not the depression in the column of pollen - it is about 1 cm deep.

Step 3: Funnel the pollen into a salt shaker. I use one with smaller openings in the lid.

Step 4: Here is one days collection of pollen. There are several anthers sitting on top of the yellow pollen pile.

Now take this pollen and sprinkle on the nice recepting female silks. Then take a shower....

Step 1: Cut of the tassel with exposed anthers and place in jars containing water.