Kaseys Korner

'Black Panther' Streptocarpus

I thought about starting this post out with something exhilarating like "there's a 'Black Panther'  lounging on my kitchen counter," but I knew I couldn't fool you.  Besides, if there was truly a feline of that nature in my house, I would not be on the computer.  You can bet your best perennials on that.  However, there is a 'Black Panther' of the Streptocarpus nature blooming by my kitchen sink ~ I even have proof:

I can tell you, it's soothing my already winter-weary gardener's soul and it's a lot less threatening than the feline variety! 

Have you noticed how anything dark purple, automatically gets assigned the name "black?"  Everything I've ever grown (from tulips to iris & violas, etc.) that are supposed to be "black" turn out to be deep purple.  Not that I'm complaining ~ I just find it interesting.

If the lighting isn't as good, the blooms can appear to be rather black (as in the photo above).  The moment the sun hits tho, they are decidedly purple!

 

I'll probably continue to purchase plants prefaced with that color since they intrigue me ~ I have no idea why??  Experience tells me not to be disappointed tho if the flower doesn't bloom true to the name.

Maybe someday I'll be in for a surprise?  There's always the possibility.  That's the fun of the hunt, right?  Have you had anything bloom in that elusive of all colors??  I'd sure love to hear so I can track it down!

How to thrill your cat

in one easy step ~ no subscriptions to "cat TV" required.  Here's how ~ you're on the edge of your seat, aren't you!??  Sow some cat grass seed.  No matter what other expression you think you might see, let me reassure you, this is the face of one ecstatic cat:

Oh yeah.  He's just discovered a brand, spankin' new container of freshly sprouted cat grass.  Planted with love.  By his human Mom.  :-)  Life is good.

Chow time. 

"Mom" is happy to do this for him.  It keeps him from snacking on her other houseplants (with exception of occasional deviate behavior ~ remember when he chewed the orchid buds???)  And grass growing in a glass container is pretty: 

Don't you think??  (Check out the water droplets clinging to some of the blades)  It also keeps his digestive track healthy so "Mom" doesn't wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of vomiting...  You all know the sound.  Ugh.

 

Let's not forget how therapeutic it is.  Sowing seed off and on all winter keeps a gardeners mind healthy, wealthy and sane.  Cheers to that.

Everyone's happy here...at least until the grass is gone.

It'll do (for now)

referring to my makeshift winter "greenhouse" which is really my bathroom.  Since I don't have a real greenhouse (still on my wish list) I have to make do with the best light in my house.  Wouldn't you know it's in the master bathroom?  We'll take what we can get, right?  The small hallway is lit up by one large, glass block, south-facing window and one smaller east facing window.  Both windows are letting in considerably more light since my new neighbors revved up their chain saw (the photo below was taken on a cloudy day and you can see how bright it is).  While that's positive for my winter assemblage of bulbs and tropicals, it's still a sore subject with me.  Enough said ~ why did I even bring it up??  For optimum storage, I place both of my 3-rung vintage step ladders side-by-side then load 'em up with amaryllis, clivias, orchids & cat grass (you have to keep the cat happy so he won't chew on everything else, right?):

There's even one tiny sprig of a 'Triloba' passion vine that I'm nursing along.  I hope it can make it indoors since it failed miserably outside.  Passion vines and I did not see eye to eye this year because 'Maypop'  crashed on me too.  Back to the amaryllis, some are new while others are being "nursed" along (because they hardly produced any leaves over the summer to feed the bulbs).  Two in the latter category are 'Sumatra' and 'Night Star.'  Do you remember them from last fall/winter??  

(Sumatra)

(Night Star)

They both have exotic spidery flowers so maybe they need a different treatment than the bulbs I'm more familiar with??  Jump right in if you know the answer ~ I'm a willing pupil.  Otherwise research is in order to learn more about their care requirements.  They were so stunning in bloom that I'd hate to lose them.  All the sleeping my daughter is doing during her recovery has allowed me to get the new amaryllis bulbs planted up & the old ones re-potted:

The four bulbs pictured above are new and will give me something to look forward to over the long winter months.  Included in one of the pots is my first ever double amaryllis!  How fun is that?  Something else exciting is the discovery of a bud on my only 'Paph' orchid.  I bought it for 50% off this spring (because it had just finished blooming) so if I can get the bud to blooming stage, it will be my first time seeing the flower.  Good thing I have everything settled in because our weatherman forecasted 10" to 20" of snow over the next two days.  Remind me again what season are we in?? 

Easter chick

A heartfelt wish this Easter morning, that everyone enjoys a nice day.  Whatever it is you do.  Hopefully it involves a little chocolate tho!! 

 

or a little butterfly chasing (like this vintage chick is thinking of doing).  I'm floating along in a blissful state this AM (that has nothing to do with chocolate, believe it or not) because yesterday, I got an amazing deal on a clivia:

 

Obviously, it's not blooming so I don't know what color it is but it really doesn't matter.  I've jumped in feet first because it was $5.98!!!!!!!  I think the girl at the cash register charged me incorrectly.  Ya think so????   Today, after the eggs have been found and some chocolate has been consumed, I will be researching clivias, re-potting this little baby and marveling at my incredible luck.  Happy Easter one and all!!

fairest of them all????

while most of us wait and watch for spring to unfurl itself outdoors, I've also been watching another beauty indoors.  Lucky me, finding Amaryllis Papillio on clearance after the holidays and adding it to my growing collection of bulbs.  Considered one of the most exotic amaryllis on the market, you can understand my thrill at seeing a bloom stalk develop.  Two months after purchase, I was rewarded with this:

 

Look at the exquisite combination of cream, Burgundy & green.  Well, maybe you can't see the cream so much in this first photo but it's definitely making an appearance here:

Even in bud form, you can tell it's going to be spectacularly beautiful.  and photogenic.  I couldn't quit snapping pictures!

 

Okay, I'll quit with the buds.  Let's get to the really good stuff ~ the slow reveal.  Like a demure maiden, she takes her time:

 

giving us a glimpse of the unparalleled beauty yet to come.  and just for fun, a side view:

 

Then, this morning, after all week of waiting and watching (and testing my patience) I was rewarded.  I can only compare it to a much anticipated present that once unwrapped, is everything you dreamed it to be.  She is just that glorious:

 

Wow, takes your breath away, doesn't it?  I've read that 'Papillio butterfly' is a bit more difficult to get to re-bloom.  I sure hope that isn't true.  I think, now that I've seen her firsthand, I would despair if I couldn't coax another bloom from her.   We'll see.  For now, the plan is to take her outdoors this summer, with the rest of my bulbs, fertilize her to the max, then hope like heck for the best.  What do you think, fairest of them all or just top ten??

garden therapy

Do you ever get one of those days where you feel absolutely desperate to visit the greenhouse just to see what's there?  I had one of those yesterday.  It's way too early in my zone to be planting but I couldn't stand it anymore.  I had to go.  I'd be lying if I told you it was anything other than therapeutic!  I feel totally refreshed today.  That makes it worth it, right??  Contributing to that feeling of well being are my few purchases, the first of which is some orchid gladiolus bulbs.  Aren't they pretty?

I love the white edging around the petals.  I think they'll be stunning in bloom.  I also purchased two orchids.  One was not in bloom so it was half price ($14.00).  It's companion was blooming and absolutely spectacular.  I hope mine will be the same someday.  For now, it's just spotted leaves:

 

I think I'm catching the orchid "bug," don't you think??  Yikes.  That's kind of scary.  I resisted for so long.  My final purchase will probably cinch it, another tiny little orchid (all of 6" high) with exquisite little yellow blooms:

 

So dainty and cheery.  I've given my cat strict orders to keep a one yard radius from both of these orchids.  I hope he was listening...

 

These orchids were strategically placed by the register, and just like kids can't resist the candy at the grocery store check out, I succumbed too.  Whoever thought up that marketing plan, was counting on customers like me. 

 

Oh well, it's making me happy sitting near my kitchen sink this morning so I think it was worth the splurge.  I hope I'm not the only one with no willpower when it comes to a beautiful flower?

PS  I've been a little slow with my blogging & visiting lately.  Hang in there with me.  I think I'll get squared away soon and be around more. 

flowering houseplants

I think I'm going to embarrass myself this morning.  As much as I love plants/flowers, I think it's only when they're in my garden.  Houseplants have never really been my thing (other than indoor bulbs).  I don't know why that is ~ you would think one would beget an interest in the other?  Whatever.  Amazingly, despite my neglect & ignorance, I have a houseplant blooming at the moment.  Heaven help it.  I don't even know what it is other than a palm of some kind.  That's where the embarrassment comes in, I know it's quite a common houseplant, so I'm sure many of you can help me out with the name:

 

A month or so ago, I noticed stalks appearing amongst the fronds:

 

The stalks were pretty nondescript (at least to me) so I didn't think much about it.  Until I looked again and noticed all the little "knobs" on the stalks had changed to tiny white flowers:

 

It certainly has never done that before (and I've kept it alive for a number of years).  It wouldn't be me to not subject the flowers to the macro lens for a closer look, would it??!! 

 

and another shot really close, just for your viewing pleasure:

 

Isn't it interesting looking?  The fact that it could flower gives me hope.  Hope that I'll do better, hope that I'll pay more attention, hope that I can develop more of an interest.  I know houseplants are good for our environment so I should like them.  And the flowering aspect may have just appealed to the gardener in me....

PS  I could have included these blooms in my GBBD post yesterday, but I thought it was worthy of it's own entry.

a taste for the finer things

apparently my cat and I have that in common, much to my chagrin.  On the cats part, that is.  As you all know I purchased a "mystery" orchid in September that was on clearance at Lowes:

 

It was my first attempt at growing orchids so I was beyond thrilled when it sent out a shoot a month or two later:

 

Over the next several weeks I watched that shoot grow longer and longer until it reached approximately 10" and started developing buds:

The buds were coming along nicely, fattening up for the beautiful display ahead:

when my sweet kitty (who knows he is loved because he still resides at this address even after such an egregious offense) developed a taste for Orchids as well.  Notice what happened next:

 

Yes, that's exactly right.  He ate the tip of the bloom shoot.  Can anyone get me a valium?!!  Just kidding.  So NOT funny tho.  I was beside myself for the better part of the day.  Then I decided to let it go, what else could I do?  The damage was done.  Hopefully Orchids are forgiving plants.    Meanwhile the two buds that remained untouched during the nibbling incident continued to develop and I continued to photograph their progress.  Long story short, we have a happy ending:

 

The first bud has opened and the mystery is solved.  We know what color it is, what it looks like, etc., etc., now.  While I was secretly hoping it would be pink, I honestly can say I am thrilled it was happy enough with the conditions in my home that it decided to even grow and flower.   Let's take one more look:

 

Simply stunning.  We'll see what happens next.  With kids and pets, you have to expect the unexpected, right?  Moral of the story, at this point (and it took me a while to get here), I'm happy I was left with two buds so that I could at least see what I had purchased.  I can live with that and I am thrilled at my one (with a second in waiting) exquisite blossom.  All is well for now.

Footnote to the Cat:  From here-on-out could you please confine your gastronomic explorations to the oat grass I plant specifically for you.  Much obliged.

PS.  You all knew what was going to happen before I finished my story, didn't you?  When I mentioned "cat" & "orchid" in the opening lines, you knew....

Magnifying the Christmas cactus

I am starting to believe the Christmas cactus is a marvelous wonder of nature.  You may be wondering what took me so long to arrive at that conclusion??  That, my fellow plant lovers, I don't have an answer to.   I've always thought they were pretty but I never studied them until I bought the one last week (as a stocking stuffer).  In its current temporary position on my kitchen counter, near the sink, I've had the opportunity to really look at it (while washing the dishes.)  I've been amazed at exactly how exquisite the blooms are when the petals are fully open and folded back:

 

I need to bone up on my botany terms but I think these are the anthers and the stigma??  Help me if I'm wrong, please!  I won't be offended.  Don't you just love a macro lense??  The stigma is the size of a pinhead in real life and just glancing at it doesn't do it justice.  It needs magnification:

 

Wowee.  It looks like crushed pink glass molded together, doesn't it?  Have you noticed that before (all you Christmas cactus lovers)??  It was news to me.  I love the anthers even:

 

I will never, ever look at them the same again.  They are exotic beauties, like the tropicals I love to grow in containers outside.  It's been eye-opening.  and now I'm wondering if I'll be able to stuff it in the stocking and give it away afterall??  Did you read that Mom?!!