Welcome Back to the Garden

 2021 has been a wild ride and we’re only half way through. But summer is here now and the sun is shinning – sometimes.

Texas has been having a strange year. The freeze in February was devastating for the residents of the Lone Star State. Even as we rejoice that the sun is finally shinning outside again, a lot of us are still finding damage and destruction as result of the freeze.

Texas growers love their tropical plants. Plumerias, palms, cacti, and succulents are very popular around the state for gardening and landscaping. Cacti that stood as tall as six to seven feet in height are now mushy and brown, laying limp on the ground. Palm trees, a very popular landscaping tree, are being propped up by wires and 2x4’s as homeowners try to save them. And even inside greenhouses, growers are finding their plumerias suffering root rot and freeze.

The garden shops in the area have put up signs apologizing for their lack of stock due to so many plants dying off in greenhouses. This means the prices of their plants has increased.

But people are ready to move forward. Gardeners are doing their best to save what they can, to propagate a new generation of plants from those they lost and bring beauty back from a bleak moment.

While I was lucky during the February freeze, my garden did suffer all the same. My sensitive – and tropical – plants were the hardest hit. The crab claw “Cotton Candy”, the pitcher plant, the Emina fern, dwarf pomegranate tree, several variegated succulents, string of pearls, and spineless yucca all died. Some of them died quickly while others seemed to go into shock and no amount of TLC could bring them back from the edge.

The established plumerias did a lot better than the cacti, but my Kimo cuttings that started rooting during the summer did not do as well as the others. Thankfully, they made it to the summer but Kimo #2 did have to be trimmed back due to root damage and I’ve had to restart the rooting process.

Similarly, the California elephant ear started to waiver during the winter, but I managed to keep him going and he made it through. He even outgrew his tiny nursery pot and is now spreading out to overtake a 1.5-gallon pot. He’s flourishing outside.

Probably because May has been a downpour! We’ve had rain and thunderstorms for almost the whole month. We’ve had some dry days in between (thankfully Mother’s Day was nice and sunny!) but the ground hasn’t had time to dry yet. But the California elephant ear and my “Prince Tut” dwarf papyrus are living their best life out in the wet weather.

I found this dwarf papyrus on a clearance rack at Lowes. It had some damaged leaves and dried up “umbrellas” on one side but was completely salvageable. Obviously, Lowes didn’t have as much faith because they only wanted $1 for the plant. Jokes on them! I was happy to part with one dollar for a Prince Tut papyrus because I had the perfect goldfish shaped pot at home for this aquatic lover boy. And with all this on-going rain, Prince Tut is a happy boy that’s doubled in size. You can’t even tell he ever had damage or lost several of his shoots.

I’ve moved my wire rack outside to hold my plumerias. At this time I have 10 plumerias. There’s the established plumerias (Jungle Jack’s Firestorm, Thai Firestorm, the Mystery color), the two Kimo cuttings, and the NOIDS: Yellow, Red, Pink, and White.

NOID is “No ID” as in they are unknown varieties of plumeria and are only marked by their colors. I found the yellow and the red NOIDS at Doan Nursery in Irving. They have roots but are still delicate right now and could probably be toppled by a strong wind, so I am being very careful with them.

The white and pink are cuttings I am attempting to bag root. I got the cuttings from an Etsy grower in Florida. The white is unique because it is a center cutting, meaning it came from the center of the branch and has no tips. This should be challenging but fun.

A few other new arrivals in the garden is this gorgeous coral red hibiscus from Tradewinds called “Starry Wind”. She’s an amazing bloomer and has brilliant bright flowers. I bought her on Mother’s Day while I was out plant shopping with my mom. She bought a hibiscus earlier to take home to West Virginia and I was so incredibly jealous, I had to get my own.

I also brought a beautiful, luscious fuchsia into the garden but once again, Hot Porch claims another victim. Despite being a semi-tropical plant (fuchsias are from Hispaniola a.k.a. the Dominican Republic) and with me trying to give the fuchsia as much shade as possible on the porch, the heat and what sun we did get sucked the life out of her. I’ve placed her under my grow lights in the office to attempt to give her a fighting chance but I fear she’s gone too far to save.

I’m actually quite sad about the fuchsia. My gramma used to have fuchsias hanging from her porch every summer. She loved sitting under their heavy, drooping pink blossoms and watch the Ruby-throated hummingbirds buzz from flower to flower. Fuchsias are a bright spot in my childhood that I can always connect to good memories and I had hoped to bring some of that brightness into my own home.

I think its safe to say that I should really stick to cacti, succulents, and tropical plants in my outdoor garden for now, since they’re the only thing that seems to be able to survive the Hot Porch.  

 

Indoors, the houseplants are fairing far better. My Hawaiian umbrella plant and the Rattlesnake plant both need repotting this year. The Rattlesnake plant had a rough winter and lost most of his leaves that he’s still kicking and has some brand-new shoots coming in. The Alocasia never falter the whole year and looks just as gorgeous as the day I brought him home in October. The Chinese Money Plant (or UFO Plant, as I prefer) is really starting to spread out and is growing some impressively large leaves.

Speaking of large leaves, the Monstera a.k.a. “The Cookie Monster” needs to be repotted. I’ve already dragged my husband into this daunting task to assist me. I am planning to take on this job over the Memorial Day weekend.

I’ve been very careful with adding new indoor plants as I have limited room in the house as my plants from last year grow. I’ve only add one new plant so far, a Peperomia “Frost”. He’s claimed a spot in the window next to the Lucky Bamboos (“Larry” and “Curly”) and the remaining succulents.

I do have a wish list for more plants for this year, including a few more Jungle Jack plumerias, a stingray alocasia, and a bird of paradise Regina, but I am definitely being pickier this year. I want more of my plants to flourish and I want to understand my plants more this year rather than just adding them in because they look cool.

What are your goals this year?

Until we meet again, keep growing.