The News from South Philly

I went through the Class of 2011 part 1 like the Grim Reaper. Twenty-six hippeastrum bulblets are lying in the discard pile and the six largest have been repotted in palatial digs. They're sharing a deep 8" pot, plenty of lebensraum. Most of the bulblets I kept had put out six leaves and were more than an inch in diameter. I cut the leaves back to about 6" apiece to reduce stress on the roots and will probably give them a shot of Miracle-Gro in a couple of weeks.

My neighbor Sybil has expressed an interest in some of the culls, which makes me feel a little less like a mass murderer of helpless children.

Class of 2011 part 2 will be next, but I am a little fearful that I don't have enough baked potting soil to re-pot them yet. I'm not looking forward to the smell a second time. There are only eight of them, so no culling will take place. Besides, they're a cross of two exotics and I want to see what each one turns into.

Class of 2012, all eight of them, still have some breathing room in their pots.

I didn't ride my bike today and spent most of the day in my office chair and now my back is killing me.

A friend of mine suggested I might like the Barsetshire novels of Angela Thirkell. On her recommendation I borrowed High Rising from the library and liked it very much. Our library has some gaps in its collection which I may have to remedy by buying crummy used paperbacks at a pittance from ABE, but I've put in a request for one to be delivered to my local branch library rather than pedaling over to the main library to get it. I've also downloaded the complete works of Anthony Trollope to my smartphone and will start on his six Barsetshire novels while I wait.

I don't feel like woodshedding tonight. I think I'll go downstairs, make a fish chowder for dinner (tomato based) and read Trollope while listening to Pandora. Won't that be nice?