Joe Seals

Wahlenbergia stricta (R.Br.) Sweet, Austral Bluebell (World flora) Wahlenbergia stricta (R.Br.) Sweet (Austral Bluebell). Family Campanulaceae. Genus Wahlenbergia. 'World flora

That's definitely Wahlenbergia stricta.

I'll try to be there.

Theoretically, it's originally native to Bangladesh, SE Asia, S. China, Taiwan, New Guinea, and N. Australia. It was carried to Hawaii and New Zealand by the Polynesians (Austronesians). In modern times, it has naturalized in almost every other tropical and wet subtropical county, including Belize.

There's two or three Heliconia species that look like that. I'd guess it's Heliconia psittacorum, which is also the most commonly grown. Common name: Parakeetflower.

PUTTING DOWN ROOTS – part 2 Practical Matters

The sixth [for paid subscribers; sorry]:

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WHAT'S LIVING IN YOUR SOIL - part 3 The True Spirit and Soul of the Garden -- Part 3

The fifth [free]:

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WHAT'S LIVING IN YOUR SOIL - part 2 The True Spirit and Soul of the Garden -- Part 2

The fourth [free]:

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WHAT'S LIVING IN YOUR SOIL - part 1 The True Spirit and Soul of the Garden -- Part 1

The third [free}:

joeseals.substack.com/p/whats-livi...

PUTTING DOWN ROOTS - part 1 That underground part does a lot more than you think

The second (for paid subscribers only; sorry]:

joeseals.substack.com/p/putting-do...

WHY WE SHOULDN’T TILL Disspelling the biggest myth in gardening

🌱🌾🌿 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #plantscience #plantbiology #horticulture #organic-gardening

Dec 5 is World Soil Day. A year ago, I wrote 6 articles on the most important components of a healthy soil and what gardeners can do to keep it healthy.

The first:

joeseals.substack.com/p/why-we-sho...

Early growth stage of Pulvinaria urbicola. It attacks hundreds of plant species, especially citrus and tropical indoor plants. Keep a close watch on your plants.

Yes, scale. For a specific ID, what's the plant and where's your garden?

Do succession. An early pot, a mid-season pot, and a late pot. Start a crop indoors in late March, the second in mid-April, and the third in early May. Give or take. They're generally day-length sensitive so they'll bloom closer to when they should bloom rather than to your schedule.

One of my favorite annuals. Bloom time is usually late-ish summer through fall but some areas can start in mid-summer. Sow seed direct in April/May-ish. Big pots, full sun, good putting mix, fert. Unless you're growing them for cuts, go with dwarf strains. If for cuts, check out Johnny's Seeds.

I have two cultivars growing in my Corvallis, OR garden. One (five plants) was planted last spring and watered to establish but hasn't been watered since June. The other (three plants) was planted in Early October just before a good rain (as planned) and received no water afterwards.

Madonna

Fascinating

Yes, indeed. I've never heard that common name.

Looks like Hatiora salicornioides, "Drunkard's Dream"

Chloe, my mini dog, likes it. She didn't like the mud and rocks that were there just 7 months ago. It's down to only 3 or 4 species now; that was part of the plan.

It's a garden in Scotland that's filled with plants from South Africa.

It's Jacquemontia pentanthos; the most common name is skyblue clustervine but it's in the Convolvulaceae, the morning glory family.

You can read the "last few sentences" by either scrolling down or by hitting the three dots and then scrolling.

First, the original (true?) Christmas cactus is a hybrid. It's a cross of Schlumbergera russelliana and Schlumbergera truncata. It has the official hybrid name of S. x buckleyi (synonym: S. bridgesii). Several newer hybrids involving S. closely related species have been created and they all now fall into what is called the "Buckleyi Group." Second, Thanksgiving Cactus is the species Schlumbergera truncata (yes, the same one that was used in creating the Christmas cactus). Third, the Easter Cactus is Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri. It's different in many ways with clearly distinct flowers and foliage and especially in the bloom time. Its flowers are filly starlike. The T and C are tubular and splayed. The flowers and foliage of the Christmas and Thanksgiving Cacti are close enough that they are often confused. Their differences are detailed in illustration. But morphological characteristics aside, it's the bloom time that often gets muddled. Thanksgiving cactus generally blooms around Thanksgiving, give or take. Care, a big factor here, can alter that timeline. Playing with light and watering schedule are the biggest influences and they can change the bloom schedule by up to three weeks one way or another (more if you have a greenhouse with substantial lighting equipment). Christmas cactus blooms around Christmas. With a big give or take. It's a hybrid to begin with and that makes any seed-grown progeny variable. Add in the many new hybrids and you have a wide range of possible bloom times. Such potential bloom times are generally controlled, however, by the greenhouse growers who produce them for sale at the appropriate holiday time. Even the Thanksgiving cactus can be tweaked to bloom at near Christmas time and sold as a Christmas cactus. Once you get it home and grow it into a second year, it'll revert to its expected time.

🌱🪴🌲🌾🌿🌴 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #horticulture #plantscience #botany

Plenty of indoor gardeners are now wondering why their Christmas cactus is blooming so early. It's a little complicated.

In addition to the annotated photo below, I've included detailed points in the ALT text.

Doubtful

and don't forget to label them.

I use burlap to line milk crates and fill them with coarse perlite. All available at most home/garden stores. I dip my dahlia tubers in a 10% bleach solution first. Too wet causes them to rot; too dry causes them to shrivel up.

By "garden," do you mean a landscape or a vegetable garden?

Police car moth (Gnophaela vermiculata)

Dracaena fragrans (D. deremensis) 'Warneckii'