microb's blog: Still going

About two weeks since my last blog. Time flies.
I've had three more Heliconia harvesting sessions with my neighbors. I think I have about 30 clumps. 2 weeks ago donated six to the zoo. I donated those plants plus 6 clumps of blue walking iris. Spent a couple of hours in the hot sun trying to find soil in the planting area next to the monkey enclosure The zoo is located on old lava flows so you only have to go down a couple of inches to find solid rock. I was able to get everything into reasonable growing soil and cinder. I think they will be OK. I tried to suggest to the boss that she should get the County to bring in a couple of loads of top soil if they want to develop the gardens. This past Tuesday at the zoo was a bit damp with very few visitors. I arrived at about 8.15am. Apart from a lady in the gift shop the zoo as empty, they don't open to 9am, so I had a good walk around totally on my own. It was like being alone in the jungle, tigers, monkeys, peacocks, parrots. Then a took a break during a rain shower mid morning, took shelter in a viewing area next to the tiger enclosure and it was just me, a gentle shower and two tigers roaming their outdoor enclosure.
In my garden it has been business as usual. Lots more trees cut down and forest cleared. A new garden is under development which seems to be morphing into "Middle Earth" garden. My wife supports the idea of using an igloo dog kennel, covering it with soil and forest debris, covering it with growing ferns and bromeliads and putting a hobbit door on the front. Might just work.
A few more amaryllis blooms have appeared and I counted 30 buds on the Orchid Cactus plants. They are early this year.
Amorphophallus bulbs are showing signs of new growth so I will have to clean up their pots and monitor progress.
My orchid expert friend returned from a two week trip to orchid nurseries in South America. He promised me some Fushcia seeds from Peru but I think they were wrapped in tissue too long. They did not look good but they are in soil to give them a chance.
Fuschia seedlings from my plants are doing well. Three more pots of seeds were started this week. White ginger seeds from The Gardens are doing well. The first batch of seedlings are now in their own pots and about 1 inch high. Seedlings from the second batch are just poking through.
I scored three Malibar Chestnut seeds from a neighbor yesterday so they went into pots.
The new bamboo shelter in the forest is just about complete

New orchids spikes are blooming in the forest.
Giganteus Bamboo shown in my last blog now has two more shoots. The first one is now almost three feet tall.
Weather has continued cold and damp. I don't like it and the plants don't either. Even the fish in our ponds have gone lethargic with no sun to heat the water. I did notice to new water lily buds on pond #2 yesterday so looking forward to seeing their color. The night blooming white one in the wheelbarrow pond continues to bloom.
I may have made a mistake this week by getting my own, time consuming, Facebook page. Still learning the ins and outs, I think I have 13 friends and I've joined 4 "groups" two focused on bamboo growing. If this new activity takes up too much time I think I will "unfriend" myself!
I will try and be a little more focused on my next blog but its difficult to cast the aging mind back 2 weeks. I'm sure lots more has happened than I have recorded here.

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