Varying Levels

When Hurricane Irene headed for the East Coast of the U.S. last weekend, I had to take my hanging baskets and wind chimes down. It was really just a precaution since we only had a bit of bluster; the forecasters said that the winds would gust up to forty mph. However, we’ve had as much as eighty mph since we’ve lived in this home with no problem—that’s not to say that others didn’t have problems with their trees or that it wasn’t scary, but that my garden and home were fine.

Though very crowded around my feet, without the hanging elements, the garden looked barren above—like a big gaping hole. I realized again how important it is to me to have a garden that surrounds me on various levels. I’ve never been satisfied with a flowerbed with ankle or knee-high plants that I peer down at. In art classes, we artists are always told, that we need to vary the view in our paintings in order to keep the eye interested, “Never make any two things (or lines), even if they are like things, exactly the same.”

My husband and I bought the wind chimes at a Renaissance Festival in 1979; they’ve held up remarkably well all these years. Still, I decided to restring the pipes before rehanging them; they’re strung with monofilament. I’m glad that I learned to tie knots in Girl Scouts and that my troop leader wouldn’t put up with “granny knots”!

Monofilament is a wonderful product; I use it a lot to hang things. It’s inexpensive, strong and nearly invisible.

Rose of China

It’s another Two-Red-Hibiscus-Day! Since I enjoy it so much, my hibiscus bush is my most photographed plant ever. In Spain, I discovered that it’s called “Flower of Peace”. Now I’ve found that it’s sometimes known in other places as “Rose of China”. Intriguing.

I discovered the name in a beautiful houseplant book by Reader’s Digest: The Complete Guide to Houseplants—The Easy Way to Choose and Grow Happy, Healthy Houseplants. It has large beautiful pictures and clear instructions. Information in books on houseplants often readily applies to outdoor container gardens as well.

I’m also pleased to read there that hibiscus bushes can live (indoors!) up to twenty years!

A Good Home

My indoor garden has expanded to include several of my neighbor’s special plant “babies”. I assured her when she couldn’t take them with her in her move last weekend that I would take good care of them—I am a plant person. We have lots of windows here with good light—that’s one of the reasons we moved here. I’m carefully determining the best spot for each plant.

This one is a Dracaena warnecki.

Thanks for entrusting them to me G.; I’ll give them a good home.

Pressed Down, Shaken Together & Overflowing

A friend asked if I grow herbs. Always. They’re easy enough and I enjoy them on my avocado sandwiches. I grow basil, chives, pineapple sage (this year I found some!) and oregano. When I mentioned oregano, my friend exclaimed, “Oh, that can sure take over!” The picture here of my Golden Oregano confirms its abundance. In a pot, however, that exuberance is “contained”.

Mexican Petunias can also turn up most anywhere if planted in a flowerbed. I don’t know if it spreads underground or by prolific seeding. My potted one has better manners--yet another benefit of container gardening.

Another Fleeting Beauty

At last! My Mexican Petunia has bloomed at last! The blooms only last a day and the delicate petals are already shriveling but they’re pretty, especially when a plant is covered with them. Happily, there are more on the way.

The plants didn’t seem to “feel” the earthquake but apparently the water main did…it’s broken again. At least the plants got their water since we fill jugs with faucet overflow—I rarely use water straight from the faucet for the plants, which benefits both the environment and our budget.

The Mexican Petunia has competition from the red hibiscus today. Thankfully, the glamorous hibiscus lasts longer. However, contrasts are unfair as they each have their own beauty, doing what they were created to do.

Room to Grow

My plant purchases from two weekends ago finally have bigger pots to help keep them from drying out and to give them room to grow. Lack of potting soil caused the delay. I finally got out to the largest corporation on earth, hoping to find plain potting soil. Unfortunately, every bag had fertilizer in it. I have my own, organic fertilizer—I didn’t want all that. At last, I found one that didn’t have fertilizer called “Moisture Control”. It’s supposed to keep the soil from being over or under-watered. I’m skeptical. It was all they had. We’ll see.


I potted the peppermint and a heliotrope. If you’ve ever wondered what the color fashion and interior design call heliotrope looks like—here it is, a medium violet/purple.

We had a pretty strong rare earthquake tremor here yesterday but I didn’t feel it and none of my pots look out of place, so they don’t seem to have felt it either.

Mystery Singer

This morning the air was so cool, the four o’clocks were still open. What a bonus! Last night however, when I opened the garden door to see them I was surprised to find the answer to a mystery!

Our attention (my husband and my) was diverted to a small, round green frog sitting on a green garden chair—I need to be careful when I sit! I had heard a frog “singing” on the balcony for some time but my diligent searches hadn’t found it. Night or day, we’d hear a high- pitched croak--not from a large bullfrog (thankfully!) but from something smaller. Yet it seemed bigger than the other two tiny frog residents of past seasons since the sound could be heard even indoors! This frog’s length is about the diameter of a half dollar.

My husband ran for the camera but by the time I got it set up, our frog friend had jumped away. I followed it but it jumped again to cower under a plant saucer. It’s nice to meet you; I really won’t hurt you…

Late Bloomers

“Four o’clocks” remind me my first apartment. The old house, which had been divided into apartments still had a little strip of “yard” beyond the
parking lot, filled with the afternoon and evening-blooming flowers.

A few years ago, I bought a seed packet to grow my first ones but they’re such heavy seed producers and ready volunteers (though I often direct a few of the seeds into the soil to make sure)that I haven’t needed to buy any more.


My four o’clocks tend to get leggy and “cascade” (the “in” word), down the balcony. At first I thought that was a good thing so that they could be enjoyed from below until the night I remembered to go out to see them. I discovered they were in total darkness where no one can see them; so I pulled them in and propped them up on a rail where I can see them.
Now I can readily see their pink and peppermint-spotted white night blooms. Unlike morning glories, the flowers can reopen for a second performance.

I’m sad to say that my hydrangea rooting experiment didn’t work. Though the tops of the cuttings kept turning black, I held out hope that the tiny sprouts of new growth would prevail. Unfortunately, the heavy heat and humidity prevailed; the cuttings are now entirely black.

The good news is that my Mexican Petunia has budded! Okay, so I did fertilize it. Apparently even weeds need nutrients.

Plenteous Pentas

I finally added a deep pink penta to my garden; the first one hadn’t yet opened when I bought it so I couldn’t tell that it was more of a “sweet” pink. Oh well, butterflies like them. Butterflies may enjoy dining on the nectar of pentas but they must not have gotten the invitation to mine; I haven’t seen a single one.

Nevertheless, the pentas' clusters of star-shaped blossoms are pretty, long lasting, bloom often and grow well. When I bought the "sweet" pink one it was the size of this deep pink one (that I got for half price!); now it has multiple branches and blooms. They like having more room to grow.

I thought I could stay outside longer this morning to write since it’s cooler but the humidity smothered that plan.

I haven’t seen any more caterpillars or grasshoppers, no lizards—just lots of tiny white flying insects. I don’t use chemicals and to a point, I reason that these creatures have a right to be outdoors. However, they don’t need to be attacking my plants; they especially like my petunias. Maybe I’ll get some fly paper.

Lazarus Update

Lazarus airplane plant is doing remarkably well. It’s once grey-green and shriveled leaves are now a robust green. Though initially larger than its brothers (or should I say sisters since airplane plants have “babies”) it’s not quite as healthy yet. Lazarus’ fully green leaves still droop while the other plants hold their leaves firmly up. I’ll know the plant’s fully recovered when it begins producing new leaves; then it will be moving beyond survival mode.


Was it a stick I saw or a dead leaf? I looked more closely and discovered that a caterpillar had chopped off a third of my chives clump! I found the severed strands on the wooden balcony floor—I guess I’ll be having chives for lunch. At times like these, I’m very glad for “vegetable soap”! If possible, I don’t harm “var-mints” (as the Old West movies used to say), so I sent the thing to reside in a bush below.

I heard birdsong this morning that rang like a crystal goblet.