Succulents: 6 Weeks Later

So, it's been six weeks since we planted our succulents on the patio and I want to share with you how they're doing!!!

I didn't really start doing the top down photos until about a week after they were all first planted, so unfortunately you can't really see the before and after as well with this pot.  You can tell the succulents have really started to fill in the empty spaces!

This was the only pre planted pot we purchased, and it's been doing really well!  I had to turn it a little bit and get it closer to the sunny spots on the patio, but it seems to be doing really nicely.  The one side that was away from the sun originally started to seem like it was dying a bit so I weeded out the dead leaves and left the stalks to hopefully rebound.

This pot is so cute - I love the flat leaves that are a little green/blue/violet.  They are so cool!!!  Again, I accidentally took the first photos from the side, but this is the pot that has had the least growth of all of them.  Hopefully that's because these are more spring/summer growing succulents and we'll see more activity once winter is over.

The coup de gras - my standing pot.  This pot has OBVIOUSLY had some explosive growth in the last six weeks.  The agave has all but taken over the empty spots and the little flat leafed plant has grown at least three inches taller in the last six weeks.  I see this pot the most because it is so visible through our sliding glass door, and it's the pot I am the most proud of for sure.

More updates to come in another six weeks!!!

Succulents and Cactus

With all of Sam's free time, we're working on cultivating hobbies that we both enjoy.  

One of the things I suggested is gardening.

I love gardening!  

I wish we had a real backyard so I could really do some serious landscaping, and it turns out Sam really likes outdoor home improvement activities.  Win-win!  

I've had a couple of different plants since I moved to Southern California.  There were some short-lived  geraniums on the Newport Peninsula that fried in the all-day direct sunlight.  Then I had an orchid that lived for about 2 years but couldn't find the right amount of sunlight in our current apartment. 

So far, my biggest success has come from a rubber plant my brought down after we moved into our apartment.  It's managed to survive (barely) for 2 years despite numerous periods of neglect.  Which got me thinking, maybe we needed to rethink the kinds of plants we were trying to cultivate.  Perhaps we should move away from the florals in favor of succulents.

So Sam agreed to check out succulents with me this morning and we headed to Lowes to see what we could find.  When we arrived, Sam found some cactus plants that looked pretty neat next to the succulents.  He also found some really neat pots that fit in with the ones we already have as well as the patio furniture for housing potted plants at different heights.  Major win-win!

Interestingly enough, we bought one pre-potted compilation of low-moisture succulents and cacti but we bought loose plants to put into 3 additional pots.  It's the perfect mix of do it yourself meets prefabrication.  And they are actually pretty cool looking when you mix them together.

 So hopefully we'll have better luck with these bad boys than I have had with previous iterations of potted plants and patio gardening.  At the very least, hopefully Hunter won't be eating these plants since these plants have spikes and prickly needles. 

Spring Time in SoCal

Spring has officially sprung here in Southern California... that's evident in our blooming patio.  I am really pleased that the hydrangea came back after going dormant during the winter months.  It has been a real joy watching the leaves grow out from bare stems and the little buds open up into small pedals.  There is even the slightest hue of pink coming through in the flowers.  I clearly need to treat the soil again soon to increase the acidity and turn the flowers blue- my favorite color for hydrangeas.  I also should probably treat the whole patio with Miracle Grow, I think I'm a little behind on the weekly nutrient boost.  Oops!  We'll see how they turn out, I am really hoping for a deep blue-purple color.  Worst case scenario I'll just head back to Lowes and consult with their Garden department to see what can be done.

These beautiful pink flowers are absolutely gorgeous.  It's funny, Mom brought this Rubber Plant down to me last year at Thanksgiving and they've done remarkably well ever since.  A few months ago I repotted this bad boy in a pot with a drain hole and that has made a world of difference.  When I pulled the plant out of the last pot, I was shocked to see that the roots hadn't been able to spread out into the bottom of the pot because there was no way for the water to get down to the bottom of the pot.  Since the repotting it has been nothing but growth for the Rubber Plant.  It has grown at least an inch in all directions and the blooms have been more vibrant than ever before... that could also be due to the Miracle Grow.

Downton Abbey

So this weekend I am recovering from the exhaustion of last weekend in NOLA.  I am very overloaded and overwhelmed at work and at home.  But at least now I'm relaxing on the couch and mostly caught up from the craziness.

Yesterday I spent the day doing long overdue housework.  It amazes me how much nicer everything looks when the dishes are put away, the carpet vacuumed and the laundry done.  I don't blame Sam, but my goodness, I wish that he would have the decency to pick up after himself a bit more.  It's tough to come home and have a kinds of things going on for me to clean up.

I also stopped at Lowes and picked up some plant food for our budding hydrangeas and rubber plant.  I also bought some soil acidifier to help turn my hydrangeas blue.  Apparently that is what keeps the blooms blue!  I sometimes wish we had a bigger patio area so that I could put more garden in.  Of course, now that Hunter likes to eat most leaves it might not be so great to have a garden.  But I suppose I could train him to keep away from all of them.

Sam really wants to move somewhere with a yard for Hunter, nothing too big, but somewhere were he can runaround.  Obviously I think that would be ideal, but I also think that Hunter prefers to be with us as opposed to outside alone.  It would be great if I could get a doggie door and have him potty outside by himself while I'm at work, and let himself out to sit out into the sun in the afternoon.

Today I bought the first three seasons of Downton Abbey on our AppleTV.  Mom and Nonna just love it and I have lots of friends who are in love with it too.  So here I am, a bit late to the party, but catching up with the masses.  I am enjoying it so far, and I can see why ladies enjoy it.  It reminds me a lot of A Game of Thrones to be honest... all the chivalry, the royalty, the servants being treated as family.

I think I will like it quite a bit!