Sunday, November 7, 2021

Plant News


I spent all of yesterday morning in the garden, pulling the spent Michaelmas daisies and trying to cut back some of the overgrowth -- the dying inulas, lots of blackberry vines and ivy, one of the sunflowers. There's more to do, but I think it will wait until next week. I already have more than my allotted two bags of garden waste for this week's pickup.

While clearing underbrush I found this little hawkweed, or fox-and-cubs, in bloom. It seems late in the season so I was happy to come across it.


I also revealed this plant, which had been overshadowed by bigger shrubs. It's a lamium that I collected as a cutting while walking Olga several years ago. I put it in the ground and it grew for a while, and then it seemed to vanish. I thought it had died, but no -- it's back!



Indoors, three of our Thanksgiving cacti are blooming away. Another one, the smallest, which I grew from cuttings sent last year by blog reader Frances, is still working up some flowers but it has buds. Stay tuned!


Now, on to the plant rescue portion of the day. This is a mystery plant given to us many years ago -- when we first moved into this flat, actually -- by our friend Sally. We've never known what it is and we put it in the rock garden, where it seemed to do OK for a while. It's even hardy enough to live through our winters. But then it got overshadowed by the hydrangeas and lost among the other greenery, and I wasn't even sure it was still with us. Yesterday I located it and saw that it had been broken apart by some critter -- possibly a squirrel, possibly a fox, possibly Olga.

Anyway, I had to move it to a better place so I put it in a pot (along with a cyclamen growing so closely that I couldn't separate them). It's now in the dining room. I think I'll just keep it in a pot, actually. We'll see how it goes. I'm trying to root one of the broken bits too, in a separate pot.

Oh, and I discovered (after some research) what it is. It's Crassula sarcocaulis, a hardier relative of the jade plant.


Finally, here's a close-up of the abandoned prayer plant I adopted while walking Olga last weekend. My plant finder calls it a "rattlesnake plant," but it is indeed related to prayer plants. You can see the leaves are a bit brown at the edges -- that's probably either from too much sun or getting too dry. Hopefully I can rehabilitate it.

Last night Dave and I went out for my birthday. He bought me a beautiful shirt at Selfridges, and we tried to go to a bar near St. James's Palace that allegedly produces the best martinis in London -- but they were packed full so we went around the corner to another place. It was an Indian restaurant, but darned if they didn't also make a perfectly fine martini.

Then we went across the street where three drunk women asked us if we were Sid, or if we knew Sid. Images of Dan Rather and "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" came to mind, but they proved harmless. I assured them we did not know Sid. As Dave and I walked away, I heard one of them say to the others, "I think they're together."

We went to a French restaurant that was pretty good but had a weirdly cold-looking dining room. As I told Dave, it felt like a French restaurant in the Ukraine. But we enjoyed the food and we even took a taxi home, which is quite a luxury for us!

36 comments:

Moving with Mitchell said...

Your plant hospital is a wonder. I was trying to figure out what kind of plant had such incongruous leaves. Then you explained. I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. If you see Sid, give him my regards.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Back in the dark days of Margaret Thatcher, her government sold off the nationalised gas industry. People were invited to buy shares in the new company and the slogan employed in TV advertising at the time was, "If you see Sid, tell him!" Perhaps that was the "Sid" those women were referring to.

Colette said...

Thanksgiving cactus blossoms take on the most amazing shapes. I repotted one last year, and it still hasn't recovered. I don't think I'm going to get any blooms this year.

Mary said...

Glad you found some tasty birthday martinis even though the location wasn't in the original plan. Had to laugh at the "french restaurant in the Ukraine" vision. Reminds me of a restaurant in Germany some years ago. Just a tad spartan.

Must admit, when I got a bit too foot weary in London a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to catch a black cab (worth every £). Always have such great conversations with those cabbies. Usually East Enders who are surprised and happy to discover my roots there.

Ms. Moon said...

Oh! I can absolutely see the jade in that little plant. I think that your rattlesnake plant will thank you by growing prolifically.
Sounds like a fine birthday evening out! You made me giggle with your reporting of "I think they're together." Excellent observation skills, lady! So what did you order in the Ukrainian French restaurant?

Bob said...

I find it amazing that you can take a plant, put it in your yard and then it kind of dies or disappears and then one year it's just back unexpectedly. We have that happen frequently with plants Carlos puts in the ground.
Sounds like a lovely birthday night out and I love the woman who said "I think they're together."
Made me wonder if Sid had a someone.

Ellen D. said...

You certainly do care about your plants. It seems as if each one gets special attention from you! No wonder your plants do well. A lot of my indoor plants are plastic which tells you something about my gardening skills! :)
Glad you enjoyed your birthday celebration!

ellen abbott said...

I was out in the yard yesterday too. Tried to do some weeding in the daylily bed but it was really a little too wet. So instead i cleaned out the small flower bed that I plant pansies in every fall since I had bought 3 6-packs that morning. Now to get them planted today after it warms up a bit out there. Sounds like you birthday celebration was fine.

Pixie said...

You have a green thumb that I'm sure all of your plants appreciate, especially the ones that you rescue. Happy belated birthday!

Anonymous said...

I'm always so surprised by all the plants you have and that you know what all of them are and how to care for them. You are quite the gardener.
I had a good laugh remembering "Kenneth, what's the frequency?"

Margaret said...

Sounds like a great birthday, full of adventure and good food and drinks.

Debby said...

I'd forgotten all about that incident. Reading about it made me realize that the crazies have been around for longer than I'd thought...and they seem to have greatly increased their ranks.

Amazing array of plants you've got. Right now I've got a well budded hibiscus that has put on a wonderful display, one flower at a time. My Thanksgiving cactus is also in bloom as well as my african violets. I love have flowers when it is cold and miserable outside!

Michael said...

Sounds like you had a great birthday celebration! You sure do have a way with plants!

Sharon said...

It sounds like you had a great birthday celebration. I heard about that martini bar in the "London" episode of "Somebody Feed Phil". It's on my list of places to visit on my next trip.

Kelly said...

Your gardening skills continue to impress me. I like that you seem to have things to share with us year round! I really like the coloring on the Lamium leaves.

Sounds like you had a very nice birthday celebration! (good job, Dave!)

Edna B said...

Your plants are amazing. It sounds like you had a really nice birthday. Awesome! Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

The Bug said...

I'm glad you & Dave look like a couple when you're out and about :)

Janie Junebug said...

Happy Birthday! I wonder if Sid ever showed up.

Love,
Janie

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, now that I've potted them up, I'm thinking I should have worked harder to separate them. They look sort of stupid like that.

Steve Reed said...

Well THERE's a link I'd never have considered! Something tells me these women weren't interested in buying stock.

Steve Reed said...

I bet it WILL recover, though. They're pretty durable plants.

Steve Reed said...

It can be fun to talk to them, but sometimes it's hard through that plastic barrier!

Steve Reed said...

I got French onion soup to start, and skate as my main course, with a "Mont Blanc" chestnut dessert. The soup was the best part.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, it's like the conditions change just enough to encourage the plant to grow. It's bewildering!

Steve Reed said...

Ha! The secret to plants is to give them just enough attention. They don't want too much, but they also don't want too little. Basically I ignore ours all week and then water them on weekends, and that seems to work.

Steve Reed said...

It always feels good to get stuff done in the garden!

Steve Reed said...

Well, I don't always report on the failures. :)

Steve Reed said...

After Kenneth, I have always been wary of people who come up to me on the street and say strange things!

Steve Reed said...

It was indeed!

Steve Reed said...

Well, there's no doubt that mental health care is grossly underfunded and unavailable for many people, so they wind up just wandering the streets. Yes, flowers make a huge difference in the winter!

Steve Reed said...

It was indeed a good birthday!

Steve Reed said...

Oh, interesting! I hadn't even heard of this place before a co-worker told me about it a week ago, and then Dave tried to take me there!

Steve Reed said...

There's always something going on out there, even in the colder months!

Steve Reed said...

Thanks!

Steve Reed said...

Ha! Yeah, that's good to know. And we weren't even holding hands! LOL

Steve Reed said...

I wonder, too! And was Sid meeting with all THREE of them?