Hothouse Varieties

Another potentially record-breaking high is forecast for today, and still no air conditioning. I know that some people don’t have air conditioning at all but often their dwellings are built for better air flow or they have a cool basement.

I moved the bougainvillea hanging basket outdoors in order to access the fan; it seems happy enough. Unless the night temperatures drop again—they’re currently in the 50’s, I plan to leave it out there until next winter. Bougainvilleas can be pruned in the spring so I hope to do that soon, making way for more blooms.

Meanwhile, the other plants seem to be enjoying the “hothouse” indoors with daytime temperatures in the low 80’s and nights in the 70’s or perhaps 60’s. These temperatures fit very well with the care guidelines for tropical plants. There’s often an upside to life’s inconveniences. And hopefully this inner heat will be temporary.

My computer is working better now. I’m thankful it’s not like the early ones that had to be kept extremely cool!

More New Growth

The baby prayer plant is growing and now has four leaves! I’d like to say that it’s the first prayer plant I’ve grown from seed but the fact is that the seed planted itself—as it was created to do and I only watered it and gave it sunlight.


The bougainvillea has adjusted so well to its indoor spot that not only is it growing lots of new leaves (to replace the ones it dropped) but it’s growing new branches too! According to the Bougainvillea Growers International, they bloom on new growth!

I’m looking forward to today’s much warmer weather but not yet another day of water outage for pipe repairs. So far the water is still on.

What’s in Your Garden?

Yesterday at church, an elder’s sermon asked the question, “What’s in your garden?” What kinds of thoughts do you plant in the garden of your life; what kinds of TV programs are planted there? Are they the kind that bear good and wholesome fruit or are they more closely related to thorns?

Botanically, thorns are stems that have gone awry through mutation; they were originally created to be stems or branches bearing leaves and flowers but became instead, deadly barbs. Even beautifully flowering plants such as bougainvillea, roses and cacti can have ferocious thorns and must be handled carefully.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, the land became cursed and would no longer produce good things without a lot of hard work—along with “thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3:17-18). The ransom of the earth from the curse brought on by human sin is tied to the ransom of humans by Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 8:19-23). Perhaps then, it’s no coincidence that Jesus wore a crown of thorns when he died on the cross.

The above picture is my garden as it was last May— these days, weather and migration to the indoor garden have left it looking sparse. However, I found this morning that a miniature orange zinnia has bloomed. With temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s, spring just may return—and if not, I have some ideas…

Silver Glow

Here it is nearly Thanksgiving and the temperatures are in the 70’s again—eventually. The morning air is chilly but fresh, almost like spring but without allergies.

The pear tree’s branches know it’s autumn though with only a few leaves dangling, yet many new buds emerging (I used to think that trees went dormant once their leaves dropped but close observation told me the truth despite the analogies teachers like to make). It could even, like some cherry trees I saw, bloom in the mild weather. I used to be alarmed when I saw such a bonus, worrying about the trees’ spring display but they were fine.

The bougainvillea, though it has dropped a lot of leaves, is producing tiny new ones. To my amazement, the angelonias and pentas continue to bloom indoors; though the heliotrope is still opening a few flowers they’re no longer heliotrope but white.

All, including the two red hibiscus blossoms are enjoying the silver glow of the morning light. Fewer pear leaves means more sunlight that beams into and through the next room! It’s a balm to me as well. I’m beginning to produce more new leaves and flowers too—after dropping some old ones.

Safe Harbor

It began raining last night; I’m sure the water pipe repairmen digging a huge hole in the ground so deep that they had to look up to see out, were glad that they had filled it in before the rain started! Will “inclement” weather prevent them from digging and replacing the next part and leaving us once again without running water? A recorded message at the office hinted so. But I’ll still be prepared.

A fresh breeze blows through the dampness giving the air a comforting feel that reminds me of harboring at my grandmother’s house as a child too sick to go to school. It may have only been one cool rainy morning but the memory stuck as a good one.

However, I prefer to be indoors in such weather; the larger heliotrope plant seems to be happier indoors too. The bougainvillea however, is going through its annual leaf drop. It does well enough indoors, even blooms a little but invariably drops its leaves when its environment changes, then grows new ones. It seems that I’m forever picking up leaves but at least it doesn’t have to have a litter box or be walked.

It’s a Jungle in Here!

Saturday evening prior to freezing temperatures, I made “The Great Plant Haul.”
In an hour or so of clearing spaces, cleaning saucers, and heaving plants, I brought in all the plants that would still be too cold-- even under the covers. Though the freeze was too cold too soon (as was the snow on the upper east coast) I decided it was time to bring them in for wintering-over. For the most part, once they’re in—they’re in for the duration since it takes so much time and effort to haul them back and forth.

This year, I’ve brought in more plants than usual, wanting to “protect my investment”; maybe I won’t have to buy new ones next spring. As it turns out, some of the new to me plants do well as houseplants. For example, one houseplant book says that pentas bloom in December and January; what a treat to have them bloom all spring and summer then indoors in winter too (maybe they actually will)!

The plants are definitely too crowded so I’ll have to continue to discover better configurations to spread out “the jungle.”

Late Sleepers

I hadn’t had to cover the garden for a couple weeks but last night’s cold told me it was time. It’s usually a hassle to take everything down and cover it but this time, experience made it go quickly.

Since the temperature was to be only in the mid-30’s at 7 am, I left them covered until it warmed more, so they got to “sleep in." The sun doesn’t make its way over the roof to the garden until early afternoon.

I’ll have to bring more plants indoors soon—the ones that will last the winter in furnace-dry air. I’ve tried bringing oregano in, but it gets too dry; it has a better survival rate outdoors. I’ll need to plan a space for each plant that meets its needs for light and my need for it to fit in with the décor; I prefer to not have plants bunched up by a window without design.


I always bring the bougainvillea in. I just found some tiny beginnings of blossoms (bracts)! Bougainvillea’s space has been taken up by books during the summer as most any space in our home may well be. Oh well, it’s time to sort through the bookcases anyway. I used to buy books without knowing much about them; now I’m a lot more selective.

Bougainvillea Beginnings

I’ve had a special fondness for bougainvillea since my teens when my family made several trips to New Orleans. Always a lover of color, the bright magenta flowers trailing from Jackson Square wrought iron balconies caught my attention—permanently. When I met a Katrina evacuee and listened to her stories, I also asked if the bougainvillea had survived. Yes! A symbol of hope.

I was thrilled to find, when invited to merienda at a home in Spain, this huge, gorgeous, mother-of-all-bougainvillea! This picture is only a small portion!

I’ve been growing my own hanging baskets of bougainvillea for a few years and this is how the latest one bloomed last year. I bring it in for the winter and even get a few blooms indoors. But this year, once I set it out in the spring, it’s had nothing but leaves! I’ve watered it, fertilized it and given it plenty of sun but got nothing. I’ve even reminded it that it has everything it needs in order to do what it was created to do. Nothing.


Until today. When I brought it down off its hook to water it, eureka, I found the beginnings of a blossom (technically a bract as with poinsettias)! At last!

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

Another Month Another Grasshopper

While watering my hanging bougainvillea, I spotted yet another grasshopper! I could tell it was a different one because it was slightly smaller. I again put on my gloves and scooped it into a small plastic pot but alas, it turned up again on a Mexican Petunia leaf. I grabbed my camera and actually got a picture—sort of, of the pesky creature then scooped it up again and sent it flying. And sent it flying...and sent it flying. Finally!



My nasturtium had been doing so well in its trailing;“Would it bloom soon?”
Then the other day, I noticed something under my foot. The nasturtium. Did it trail that long? As I looked closer, I saw that it had been severed, undoubtedly by another caterpillar (cutworm?). This time I haven’t seen the culprit.

I can still put the leaves in a salad. I got out the seed pack and promptly planted more. Gardening, like life, is like that; some things are beyond control—or the “control” is worse than the original problem (in this case chemical pesticides). You just have to pick things up and start over—and keep going.