"Il faut cultiver notre jardin" - Candide
The sun shines, the birds sing, the trees are starting to flower, signs of spring in the Golden State. The recent spate of 70 degree days has prompted me to revamp the garden. 
Garden might be a stretch in what one would call my collection of plants in pots, but it’s all I’ve got as my own patch of green, so garden it is. With the growing number of people living in apartment buildings in the ever expanding cities there are plenty of interesting ways to green up the balcony.
My goal was to pretty things up a bit and give the leafy guys more room to spread the roots. I went to Home Depot and loaded up on pots, plant stands, soil and food. I had planned on getting a larger pot for the Hebe, which has suddenly had a growth spurt. But the larger pots were, just a bit too large so its new home is a pot only slight larger the old, but now matches the azalea’s. Maybe the extra inch of new soil will give the roots a little more room, but in any case the plant itself doesn’t seem to be suffering, just needed a little sprucing up. The Azalea itself is in need of some love.
Apparently, the azalea likes an acid trip now and then so the plant food I had been giving it wasn’t doing much good. I have probably been watering it too much and while it was full of flowers in early January it’s now largely a pile of brown sticks. There are a few recent sparks of new leaf which gives me some hope. With new azalea food, and a stand which will allow more sun the prognosis is good, but check back in six months for an update.
The catnip has a nice new home in a much larger terracotta pot, also elevated nicely on a plant stand. Very few leaves survived the winter but the plant has a good track record of coming back so I have every confidence in its recovery.
The herb garden stays much the same as ever. A new basil plant is needed, but its still a bit early for the fragile herb. The rosemary and oregano are as strong as ever while the sage, thyme and mint seem to be coming back after dying off a bit over the winter. By summer the pot should be full once more. It’s only a small green spot in the sea of concrete, but it’s my garden and so I cultivate it.
Garden might be a stretch in what one would call my collection of plants in pots, but it’s all I’ve got as my own patch of green, so garden it is. With the growing number of people living in apartment buildings in the ever expanding cities there are plenty of interesting ways to green up the balcony.My goal was to pretty things up a bit and give the leafy guys more room to spread the roots. I went to Home Depot and loaded up on pots, plant stands, soil and food. I had planned on getting a larger pot for the Hebe, which has suddenly had a growth spurt. But the larger pots were, just a bit too large so its new home is a pot only slight larger the old, but now matches the azalea’s. Maybe the extra inch of new soil will give the roots a little more room, but in any case the plant itself doesn’t seem to be suffering, just needed a little sprucing up. The Azalea itself is in need of some love.
Apparently, the azalea likes an acid trip now and then so the plant food I had been giving it wasn’t doing much good. I have probably been watering it too much and while it was full of flowers in early January it’s now largely a pile of brown sticks. There are a few recent sparks of new leaf which gives me some hope. With new azalea food, and a stand which will allow more sun the prognosis is good, but check back in six months for an update.
The catnip has a nice new home in a much larger terracotta pot, also elevated nicely on a plant stand. Very few leaves survived the winter but the plant has a good track record of coming back so I have every confidence in its recovery.
The herb garden stays much the same as ever. A new basil plant is needed, but its still a bit early for the fragile herb. The rosemary and oregano are as strong as ever while the sage, thyme and mint seem to be coming back after dying off a bit over the winter. By summer the pot should be full once more. It’s only a small green spot in the sea of concrete, but it’s my garden and so I cultivate it.
| 20:42
1 Comments:
I'm looking forward to the Spring myself. Moreso than you California sun brats. I'd like this to be the year of the backyard, and to turn around some of the clay spots.
I'm also curious about the flowers you put in the ground - if any of them will make a showing. I know they are not supposed to, but I suspect they will.
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