Tidbits from the Garden

Wandering through Lowe's the other day and I came across some fairly well neglected African Violets for sale...  It's been a while since I've had inside plants as our cats make it fairly hard to do, but with the sunroom now actually converted into a real sunroom, I thought it might be nice to get back to some of the indoor gardening I used to love so much.  Of course, back then I let the violets take over, and did a lot of propagation from leaf cuttings and whatnot, but I'm sure I can keep myself under control....right? right?

These are "my ladies" this morning after I had spent some time grooming them and whatnot - they looked TONS better than they had when I brought them home yesterday...

I made my own potting mix using Sphagnum Peat, Vermiculite and Perlite - found some violet self-watering pots at Calloway's this afternoon and went to work - got them all re-potted and they are happily soaking up the sun and warmth in the sunroom.

I actually ordered some miniature violets plus wicking pots for them to go in from The Violet Barn in New York this afternoon.  Some hybrid varieties the growers have come up with themselves.

 Rob's Boondoggle

 Rob's Chilly Willy

 Rob's Fuddy Duddy

Rob's Mad Cat

I'm really interested to see how they package the whole plants for shipping, and also to see if the miniatures are as easy to propagate as the larger varieties.  Maybe I'll have some nice gifts for friends in a few months.  =)

Meanwhile, the gardens are doing wonderfully with this cooler weather, and I need to start cataloging what I have that is perennial and what will die here pretty soon that I'll have to replace in the Spring.  Got ideas for building a small greenhouse, but that's probably a springtime project as well.  I'm also looking at building a raised bed to do some different gardening techniques using potted Plumerias in the spring as well.  There's a local grower here in Garland that I'm hoping to get some tips and starter plants from.

That's all for now, hope you enjoyed the flowers!!!