My Not-so-green thumb

Love List:
#2 - Hens and Chicks

As hard as I have tried over the years, I really struggle to keep most plants alive. From bonsai trees to bamboo plants to even hydrangea, I have managed to nearly, if not completely, kill most plants put into my care for longer than a few weeks. The only plants that I have ever had success with are Hens and chicks.

Perhaps I should mention that these plants seem to do the best when they are almost completely left alone. Once rooted, you can water them about once every two weeks and they will do far better than if you preen over them. I should know; I have taken both approaches with them.

I can remember my mother growing them when I was little, as well as mothers of my friends. You plant one and within a few months, it's sprouting babies and then those babies are having babies and before you know it, you have pots spilling over the sides with these rosettes.

It saddens me that I have to greatly condense my collection, as I have spent the last five years growing and proudly showing interested friends my "babies". A number of my mother hens I received from my mother and my father is cringing at the idea that I will be bringing back more pots than I have taken from here in these past years. Sarah, who is also a fan of hens and chicks, will be taking several pots off of my hands, but I am still not all that sure what do with the rest of them.

This was my apartment garden of them back in 2005. It has nearly tripled in size now. I will be so sad to see so much of it go . . . But they are easy to grow and easy to find. Especially easy for me to love.

Adoption day

I met someone today. She was quiet and sweet and somewhat discarded into the clearance rack at Lowe's Home Improvement store. I haven't named her but here she is:





She's a Kalanchoe, a flowering succulent and I hope that she has a long life in my garden. She actually was pretty big, easily capable of being broken into three smaller plants and I really don't know why she was on the clearance rack. Possibly because so many of her flowers were in bloom. Kalanchoes tend to be pretty hard to get to flower again after they do the first time. It involves tricking them into thinking they are in winter by putting them in a dark place for months at a time, kind of like getting a bird to sleep by putting a blanket over it's cage.

I was out and about today running errands and stopped to give my grandmother a pedicure before she heads out for the East Coast. She leaves on Wednesday and will stay back there with various numbers of her other children until we all join her in New York next month. A month to be exact. Wow. Then I stopped at Lowe's and Fred Meyer's in hopes of finding new sempervivum (hens and chicks). A few years ago, every place I went that sold plants had so many of them to choose from but this year . . . zilch.

I did find an Emerald Empress at Fred Meyer's and a Stonecrop sedum too . . . but it took some hunting. I am really hoping that more will come in soon or I can get some new babies from friends gardens . . . (hint, hint, hint fellow lovers).

Children of the Child-less

My sedum and Hen and chicks are going absolutely nuts this season, flourishing and blooming in ways I never thought they would. Last year they were neglected a bit too much due to wedding stuff, but this year, they are getting my full and loving attention. Since we've moved and are now on the top floor, our patio is flooded with afternoon light . . .

 







If this is what they look like at the start of June, I cannot wait to see what they'll look like by August. That last one is about the size of my hand.