Friday randomness: updates, discoveries and a reminder

Remember the sad Ligularia dentata 'Othello' I shared back on April 4th? (here) It had accidentally been deprived of sunlight, with a cinder-block placed over the top of it's container. It's made quite the recovery, with its leaves now looking like a smaller, glossier, version of normal.

The stems are still on the pink side, but also looking much better. Here's hoping it will continue to recover.

Another update: back on March 20th (here) I shared the news I was thinking of eliminating my Grevillea australis. Well, it's gone.

The nearby Nolina 'La Siberica' instantly looked better.

Before

After...

I was afraid the hole left by the Grevillea would have me regretting my decision, but it did not. I love the change, and the Grevillea didn't just end up in the yard waste bin, a friend dug it out in an effort to save it. Sadly it came out of the ground bare-root but he immediately potted it up and watered it well, fingers crossed it survives.

This little number will be planted in it's place (along with perhaps a couple of containers moving in, cause you know....cramscape!). What is this cutie?

Yep, pretty cool eh?

Now we're flashing way back. I was given a flowering stem of Globba winitii last September and featured it in a "Vase on Monday" post (here). Months went by and the stem still looked good. I finally pulled it out of the vase and discovered roots, a lot of them. I intended to pot it up but kept forgetting to do so. It wasn't until early February that I finally did. Here's what it looks like now.

That little nubbin might be new.

And the little green bits at the bottom of the bloom definitely are. I'll be keeping an eye on this and once I see definite signs of new growth I'll pot it up again and let it spend summer outside.

This vase full Alternanthera Little Ruby cuttings has been sitting on my kitchen counter since last fall. The vase is full of roots, I really need to pot them up. I bought the original Alternanthera in Washington DC, at last year's Garden Bloggers Fling. I loved that dark foliage but knew the plant was toast once winter hit. I accidentally discovered how easy it was to root cuttings (another Monday Vase post) and have three other plants already thriving in containers in the basement. Yay! One plant makes four...and I hope to never be without this one again.

Those who follow me on Instagram saw this image after I rescued a bunch of Echium wildpretti at a friend's house (on March 23rd).

This is what they look like now. Sad, but not dead!

They're gonna pull through just fine.

These plants have such a long tap-root it's nearly impossible to get more than a piece of it.

But since I've done this before (the plants below were dug from the same garden last summer) I knew they'd pull through, and my garden is gonna be Echium-riffic this summer!

Here's a shady corner of my garden, behind the garage. It's become a holding area for plant purchases that I haven't gotten in the ground yet.

Another shady area, under Clifford — the Magnolia macrophylla. I could stare at this vignette all day long.

There is some bad news in there though. Something (I suspect cutworms) has been eating the base of several of the Syneilesis aconitifolia, just cutting them down.

Munching is also occuring on my Symphytum × uplandicum 'Axminster Gold'. I have tried looking for the culprit but come up empty.

Not so here! A (formerly gorgeous) Verbascum seedling had turned into Swiss cheese. I got lucky when I went to cut off the offending foliage and discovered not one, but five cutworms in action.

The little bastards went on an all-expenses-paid vacation in the yard waste container. Anyone have advice on dealing with cutworms?

This discovery was of the positive kind. See those little bits that look like corn kernels?

They're seeds from last year's fallen Poncirus trifoliata fruit. I have no idea if that slug has helped to strip away the skin and pulp or if mother nature has done that with the weather. I'll be curious to see if I get any Poncirus babies (but I'm not holding my breath).

One last thing Two last things before I wrap up this rambling, random, post — a reminder. This weekend is the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's spring plant sale, Hortlandia. It's at the Portland EXPO Center and you really should make plans to attend if you're in the area. More info here, hope to see you there!

And if you're in the Los Angeles area stop by a sure-to-be-fabulous pop-up shop some friends of mine are having. I'll try not to be jealous you got to visit...

Weather Diary, April 12: Hi 51, Low 42/ Precip .15"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden (dg). Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.