Let’s plant!

 I’ve been making a daily inspection of the plants at our house.  Last summer, we hired a neighbor kid to clean out the iris bed.  We gave away at least 40, replanted a bunch in the back, and finally had Tyler dump the dirt with bulbs and roots in the back yard.  Surprise!  We have loads of irises. Sadly, we don’t have a lovely, manicured yard—just loads of irises.  The small porch and back deck are crowded with pots and planters.

 I have had success with amaryllis bulbs, snake plants, and Purple Heart plants.  I over-winter a bunch of plants and have had good results getting orchids to rebloom.  No, I don’t have a green thumb. Aside from the orchids, most of my plants thrive on neglect.  

Now is supposed to be a good time to propagate plants.  We’ve been propagating Purple Heart every spring for years.  How?  We cut back the plant and put the cuttings in soil and  keep them moist for a few weeks.  

I’m trying this method with Kalanchoe.  I cut off some pieces and jammed them in moist soil.  Period.

I like to start herbs from seeds.  I plant seeds outside in boxes and keep them moist.

I bought bag of begonia and canna bulbs.  The canna are just starting to emerge; the begonias are coming in.

Ironically, this year, I’m struggling to get the zinnias to sprout.  Zinnias!  I bought a big, two-pound bag.  I’ve reseeded several pots three or four times!  

Did you know you can divide amaryllis bulbs?  Right now I have five bulbs, which re-bloom on their own. I may need another bag of soil.   (BTW we don’t keep all of these plants.  We give them away all the time.  Don’t forget your parting gift!)  

Everyday Science: Plants

 Last summer, we hired a neighborhood kid to help divide our iris bed, which was a mess.  We gave away over 50 bulbs, moved several to the back garden, and mulched the existing bed.  There were broken pieces of bulbs in the dirt, which were spread over the backyard.  Surprise!  The backyard has about 50 irises.  I’ll post another photo when they bloom.  

Here is the original bed of irises—after we cleaned out the weeds and divided the bulbs. 

I bought a bag of zinnia seeds to try.  Usually, I buy small, seed packets.  Zinnias are hearty; I want pots and pots of flowers on the back deck.  The irises inspired plans for seeds.

It’s too early in our area to start seeds.  I need to wait another month before planting.   Your kiddos can germinate seeds in a Petrie dish,  a plastic bag, or a CD case.  I have leftover seeds from last year. Use old or new packets of seeds to do this Seed Germination Inquiry Lab, which has kiddos calculate the percents of seeds which germinate.  See how well the seedlings transfer into pots.  

A few years ago, I bought a pot of daffodils for  a Daffodil Flower Dissection lab in Biology.  

Below are the daffodils, now.  Daffodils double.   The backyard soil is challenging for plants—even weeds.  The soil quality is poor and soggy.  We gave up on lovely beds of plants.  Now, the existing plants all play survivor in the backyard.  I recommend irises.

I have good luck with amaryllis bulbs, too.  A friend buys the bulbs for her daughter every Christmas.  She gives me the waxed bulbs after Christmas.  I remove the wax from the bulb and stick it in potting soil in a planter.  The Amarylis like a bit of neglect.  The bulbs will bloom again—likely long after Christmas.  I have five plants, right now.  Two are going to bloom again soon.

Frankly, I like low maintenance plants.  Period.  One more easy plant is Spiderwort or Purple Heart.  We trim the plant and stick the trimming in moist soil. Voila!  More plants.  I foist plants on guests as lovely, parting gifts.  The Purple Heart plants look sad right now because it’s cold outside.  The big plant was too heavy to haul into the garage for a few days.  There were so many cuttings, my husband, Rob, just moved them close to the house.  They are playing survivor in the deck.  I’ll post pix again when it warms up.  But all the small plants were just cuttings from the large plant.  Make plants projects for your kiddos!  Which ones propagate?  How can you coax the bulb to bloom again?  This is science!

Gardening is Science!

 Often home-school families neglect to add informal science to their portfolios.  Gardening counts as science!  Why are the hostas brown? When should I sow different seeds?  Why should we use peat pots? How do I get the orchids to bloom again?  Which plants over-winter?  Every aspect of gardening is scientific.  

My husband and I admire resilient plants.  We bought purple heart plants.  Like snake plants, Purple heart plants are hard to kill.  We cut back plants we over-wintered indoors.  The cuttings go into moist dirt and propagate.   The plants hand out on the back deck until they look more attractive.  Then I’ll move them to the front porch.  Make gardening a family project.  What do you plant to grow?  What are the best growing conditions for these plants?  Does the garden spot get enough sun?  How often do you need to water?  Should you cover the garden in straw?  Do you need to fertilize?  

Start with a few pots and a plan!  For years, my son, Josh, germinated and grew four o’clock plants.  My husband always wants marigolds.  Are these exciting flowers?  No.  But it’s fun to watch plants grow.  Any plant.  Rob and I are on an annual quest for ripe tomatoes; although generally, we have more success with cucumbers.  Our local Dollar Tree store has seed packs for $0.25.  I’m going to sow tons of herbs, vegetables, and flowers.  As soon as it warms up a bit more, I’m pulling out all of our pots!  Below are pix from our yard, deck, garage, and morning room.

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How are the plant propagations going?

 Earlier this year, I wrote a post about plants and mentioned propagating Purple Heart and Kalanchoe plants. By propagate I mean I clipped off branches, stuck them in dirt, and kept the soil moist.  So far, so good.  The first photo has the parent plants.  The remainder are propagations.  Take a look!