Friday, February 29, 2008

Things are popping up all over

These are fun times in the greenhouses. Flowers are appearing all over the place and beginning to show themselves. But over on the back table, a slower but fascinating process is exhibited. The Lithops are growing. As Meg Lynch, Horticulture editor, noted in her blog,
"On March 1...the green one, which I dubbed Gerard, “started to open a pinhole and that turned into a large oval-shaped separation and inside there are what look like tiny Gerards.” I had been hoping it was going to flower. But it was just going through the routine of a living stone: to shed its leaves each year, revealing new leaves inside. Sometimes they open to show more pairs than the last year, and form large clumps this way. (Gerard has held steady at two pairs.)
To me this is one of the most fantastic of growth processes around and never fails to amaze me.
But I guess I'm easily entertained. I can hear it now. "What do you do for entertainment?" "I go out and watch the Lithops grow!"

Sunday, February 17, 2008

I'm back!

I apologize for not posting anything for so long. Has it really been that long? I could say I've just been terribly busy, and that would be true, but not a valid excuse.

We just received a huge order of wholesale plants which we've been potting up - about 400 plants in two days...and more are coming. It's a lot of work, but it also allows me to spend more time with the plants and observe the plants budding up.

I'm back, and I'll post some photos tomorrow.