Indoor gardening

[lblanchard]

It's a lovely faux-spring day today, with temps in the 50s, and I really should be out, but I'm wiped from the dash across the finish line with a grant proposal. Shaping and writing it became exclusively my responsibility at the eleventh hour. I'm too old to pull three consecutive almost-all-nighters. By the third day of three hours' sleep the night before, I was so tired I fell off my bike on the way home from dropping off the proposal. I simply couldn't muster the strength to get under way -- the bike and I toppled over. For a change, I'm barely bruised, so there are little mercies.

The days are lengthening perceptibly, though, and my plants are starting to respond. The hippeastrum seedlings (above, right) are crowding themselves in their little flat and will probably need to be re-potted next month. There are signs of growth on five of the adolescent hippeastrum and two of the three adults. I should probably bring in the others, but have been putting it off. No germination in the pansies yet, but my last little sage cutting has finally put out roots so I potted it up today. Another begonia cutting has put out exuberant roots and will need to be potted as well. The trailing rosemary that I forgot to water appears to be well and truly dead. The rescue rosemary from the community garden (both plants) are all right. I lost one or two coleus cuttings but they were duplicates, and the rest seem fine. The Christmas cactus flower I fertilized has definitely fruited -- the ovary is big and fat and reddish. I think it takes a year for the fruit to ripen, but I have patience.

EDITED TO ADD: Some time during the holidays, when a Schlumbergera in a hanging basket was in full bloom on the side to the window, I decided to turn it 180 degrees so I could enjoy the flowers. Now the other side has put out buds and started to bloom. Gee-darn, a whole nother two weeks of Schlumberger-y goodness!

Time for a nap, though, I think. One night's sleep hasn't quite made up for three mostly sleepless nights.

We're not over our Paris TX fantasy yet, although the rumor that it may be a dry town has cooled it a bit.

Comments

[sueschus.livejournal.com]

A dry Paris does ruin the fantasy a bit. How about Italy? Italy, Texas is roughly halfway between Dallas and Waco in Ellis County, which isn't on the dry counties of Texas list. However, there are some weird little quirks in various towns themselves. One must visit and drink in person. (Google "dry counties, Texas")

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I don't know that Paris is dry. Lamar County isn't on the dry list. Google turned up an article from Feb 2009 about Paris voting about selling beer/wine in supermarkets. Perhaps by now they do.

One of the things I like about Paris is that it is flat as a pancake -- nice for a geezerette on a bike.

[sueschus.livejournal.com]

Not sure if it's still true but there was a restriction on selling beer/wine in supermarkets before noon on Sundays. So far I've never felt the need for either first thing on Sunday mornings so can't verify.

Look at Italy on Google Earth - trees, green and not in the Hill Country per se.