microb's blog: I need to be potty trained

Took three more of my Heliconias to the zoo last Tuesday. Finished planting up along the parking lot fence. Watered the planters in front of the Hawaiian Owl (Puueo) and the Toucan Aviaries. Finished up the session by weeding around Heliconias near the Jade vine arbor.
Forest work continues. Piglets Garden now has pathways marked out with surveyors tape (dayglo yellow) Started planting various plants,ornamental pineapples, a large Bali white Stripe bamboo, a few Costus and some more White Clover Hedyciums (butterfly ginger). Part of the interior fence has been removed. Lots more chainsaw work and raking of debris still to be done. The pathway from the stream bridge to Piglet's is getting muddy in places.
Traded some plants with a connection from Facebook. He and his partner (nice lady from Canada)enjoyed a walk through the Tropical rainforest. Now they want to add the garden tour to their list of experiences for their B&B Guests. It looks like it could be lucrative. He also wants to build a Folly on his property from Bamboo and we are negotiating a price for ten 20ft lengths.
Now for the Potty Training - my neighbor sent me a link to someone on Facebook selling 3 gallon plastic pots for 20c each. This guy was going to be in the parking lot behind Sears 5pm yesterday. These pots are so cheap its almost too good to be true. But no way of verifying offer and its an 18 mile drive down to Hilo. My neighbor was also interested in a purchase but no sure if he would be in town. So made the decision to take a drive. Arrived there at 4.30pm and there he was. A pickup was piled high with 1000 pots packed in lots of 25 for $5. So I purchased 75. I was the first customer and the second customer to drive up was my neighbor. The guy said he had 3000 to sell and next week he might be back but the price would double. Still a great deal. So now my neighbor and I are trying decide if we will go back for more next week. Checked all pots for Fire Ants. All clean.
OK so I have a plan to fill these pots with soil dug from the garden and then plant Heliconias which I will be digging out from a nursery for free this coming Thursday. All I need is 75 pieces of rhizome. Place the pots around the forest and leave them alone for 12-18 months. Total investment including gas about $40. When ready I sell them for $10 a pot. Sounds like a plan.
Question is why does my neighbor need more. He has a small house and very neat yard full of large clumps of bamboo.
Somehow we both need training to resist buying more pots. My potting greenhouse is overflowing with 2" pots, azalea pots, orchid pots, hanging pots, 1/2, 1,2,3,4 and five gallon pots, square pots, concrete pots, clay pots - I'm going potty already.
Something is wrong with our weather. Our bamboo growing season started in March. This morning I go around the yard and find new shoots on Alfonse Karr, Java Black, Black Asper and Bali White Stripe. This is latest I've seen new shoots. No complaints.
Most plants are not blooming at the moment. Best period to see tropical Heliconias, gingers and Costus in bloom is between June and August. Still some surprises to be found. A few orchids are blooming on trees in the forest, the Azaleas are now blooming well and the Camelias are in bud.
We have a wild guava tree growing wild in the forest. Very invasive. This is a heavy fruiting year. The ripe fruit are now falling and you can smell them and feel them squish underfoot. They bring with them a healthy crop of minute fruit flies. These fruit flies get through the screens of the house and you find them on your food and flying around the lights in the evening.
Spent today trimming weeds from around plants at various locations around the garden. Some pathways are almost impassable. I don't like being indiscriminate but I'm using a pair of shears to trim each side of the pathways regardless of whether weeds or not. Bamboos, azaleas, costus - all getting cut back, and I'm not keeping the cutting for propagation. Just too much work.
Annual trimming the Brazilian Cloak Bush is underway. Arm fulls of branches going onto the green waste pile. Some will root and grow.
Getting the Orchid Cactus greenhouse under control. Cleaning up the plants, putting up new hangers and trying to keep the weeds down.
Amorphophallus are starting to go dormant. This years growth is dying back and soon the tubers will be resting. I've added three or four new varieties this year so I'm hoping to see some different blooms next year. Lets see if I can find some photos. Have to do photos later. For some reason the files and images have no words so I can't select the files I need to search. Hope its not a major problem. Had to reboot the computer to get access to pics so now I'm in "edit" mode
First one Brazilian Cloak Bush

Next are fencing around Piglets Garden with my wife giving perspective









This cats been riding in the wheelbarrow for years









Its a long way to push a wheelbarrow through the forest



Stepping stones to the Lost Garden

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