Thursday, November 7, 2019

Workplace Hazards; new plants make everything better

You would think that when my basement currently looks like this...

And this...

And this...

I would know I do not need more plants. But. But when you'd been sitting in front of your laptop screen for countless days on end, not leaving the house other than to go on a quick walk around the neighborhood, your mind does wander. Oh maybe I'll just take a quick peek at the Bird Rock Tropicals website. You know, just looking, a mental break from name checking, caption writing and formatting. Then you find yourself thinking about the fact you haven't visited a nursery in days (days I tell you!) and what the heck, it wouldn't be so bad if you ordered just a couple of things, right? Then just a few days later this shows up at your door...

These Aechmea recurvata v. recurvata were supper inexpensive and I think I'm going to pretend I live in Santa Barbara and plant them out in the garden next spring.

Here's the goal, I saw this flaming clump of goodness at San Marcos Growers.

I think I'm the only bromeliad lover who doesn't have a Billbergia 'Hallelujah'—problem solved.

I've ordered Aechmea recurvata v. benrathii before and love it. I would have gotten more than one, but that's all they had.

The plant I'm probably most excited about from this order is Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii (dark clone)...

It's small, but fabulous.

Okay, truth be told, I did make a quick outing the other day, to snap a couple of last-minute photos for the book. Wouldn't you know it, my route took me right by Portland Nursery! Of course I stopped in to check out the bromeliads. This beauty was labeled as Neoregelia eleutheropetala, which should color up to look like this. Pretty cool eh?

I also grabbed this unlabeled one. The stripes made it a must have.

Thinking about plants, writing about plants, it's only natural I would buy some plants...right?

—    —   —   —   —

Weather Diary, Nov 6: Hi 66, Low 43/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

18 comments:

  1. Beautiful choices! Your post almost makes me wish I was still lusting after Bromeliads -- well, Bromeliads that aren't Dyckias -- I still want all of those that I see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How did you cure the lust? Mine only seems to be getting stronger.

      Delete
  2. Oh, good. I can blame being stuck at a desk all day working with plant information on my inability to stop buying plants! I'm still hard into my recent carnivore obsession and wanting to buy more. I still have yet to grow Billbergia 'Hallelujah', but I have and love Neoregelia recurvata var. benrathii. Your unlabelled plant is another one of my favorites, Neoregelia pauciflora. I found mine at Portland Nursery, too, last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely! I'm surprised you don't have an order showing up weekly! (or maybe you do...). Thanks for the Neoregelia pauciflora ID.

      Delete
  3. I am impressed with your ability to largely restrict tender plant purchases to a couple of plant families; there's a level of control and focus in that, even if the numbers are high. I've also been buying too many indoor plants but without any such guardrails!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well now I want to see pictures of your purchases!

      Delete
  4. Hooray for new plants! Bromeliads are fabulous and one can never have too many; they just fit in anywhere and most don't mind being without soil. Who could ask for anything more?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, maybe the ability to grow them outdoors year round?

      Delete
  5. I know how exciting I get when a bulb purchase arrives in the mail, so I understand wanting to treat yourself. If one must have a collection of immense proportions, it might as well be plants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bulbs, now there's one I've never fallen prey to, but you're right, plant collections are the best!

      Delete
  6. I love your basement. Can envision what a great inspirational environment it was while you were writing. Consider the new plants a gift to yourself for all the hard work you put in on the book (or any other excuse will do too).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The basement was empty for many of those months, when the plants were outdoors, but I started and finished with them all around, it was definitely nice to have the inspiration. "or any other excuse will do too"....hahaha!

      Delete
  7. Very logical to me.Broms are habit forming for sure.I'm still trying to get things ready for cold and wet if/when it ever arrives in N. Cal. But maybe I should just take a peek at Bird Rock....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your basement is a winter wonderland. And you deserved a little plant shopping as a reward for all that work on your book. I'm very impressed by the color the Aechmea recurvata develops. As soon as you mentioned Bird Rock I started thinking about how I could pay a visit with just a few clicks but I think I should probably get back to planting what I have on hand first.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ha, plant addiction at its best! ;)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!