microb's blog: Happy New Year

About one month since my last blog. What do I do with my time. Putting up Xmas decorations takes time. Three weeks of cloudy, wet weather does not help, nor does one week working through a cold make life easier. Must try and recap activities as this is really my gardening diary and not necessarily in chronological order.
Since my last blog we did have a long period of cloudy, wet weather. Forest paths turned to mud but new Hibiscus cuttings and anything else I put in ground loved it.
The New Hibiscus cuttings still have green leaves and are actually blooming from the storage of sap in the cuttings. Everyone agrees that Hibiscus cuttings will look good for a couple of months and then may just rot away or put out new roots so for now I have to wait and see
Had one more session at Mary Beths digging out more bamboo. This time I got two nice root ball of Nastus Elatus. One went in the Lost Garden, one in Piglets Garden. They look great. She has asked to go back again this month for more clearing of her fence line which will result in more plants coming my way.
My real problem now is lack of planting space. I keep getting cuttings and plants from various sources, keep poking and planting plants in spaces between other plants and the areas are filling in.
This week I traded a Candle Tree cutting from my tree with a friend and came home with Hibiscus and Coleus cuttings. Then visited a local nurseryman (story to follow) and came out of his property with Palm Tree seedlings, cuttings of rare trees and a promise of a future plant trade. I actually have two plants he does not have.
So the story on this new connection - A couple of weeks ago I was invited to join a group of friends to visit this nursery. We were to meet at this street corner at 9.30am. I got here at 9.15 and sat in my hot van until 10am only to find out that the group was running late but could not get hold of me. My cell phone ringer was off, my bad, but by that time I had returned home not too happy. So my friend who was leading the group suggest I make direct contact with the nursery owner and ask for a tour of my own. Turns out this was a great idea. I got a great tour of a nursery full of rare plants, I did not stop saying Wow the whole time. Thousands of different varieties in pots ready to sell on line to mainland customers, plus a tropical botanical garden worthy of national recognition. If anyone wants to follow Tom Piergrossi on facebook you will be amazed at his photos. Great new connection.
The order of Rainbow Bark Trees from the State Nursery will be ready for pick up next week, 9 months earlier than expected. 25 tree seedling for $25. Tom P. sells these for $15 each in four inch pots. So I will have another potting job next week.
The African seeds that were planted in my last blog have germinated. I have one set already planted up into four inch pots and three more varieties have germinated. Curious to see what we get but it is a little bit of tedious work. The Peruvian Fuchsias are growing like crazy. First set of seeds from these plants have germinated. Dozens of little green horrors threatening to need bigger pots in a couple of weeks.
We adopted a new guard dog a couple of weeks ago. Poor thing had been tied under a boat for 5 days at a time without care while owner went to work on the other side of the island. Just skin and bones. He is about 2 years old, probably German Shepherd / Doberman and should make 90lbs. He is my next Gym Membership. Has obviously had some training but can pull hard. Have not had him off the leash yet and he is too strong for my wife to walk him. Must get him fixed (which is part of the adoption fee we paid) and I think he will settle down.
Found some orchids blooming in the forest this week and a special Bromeliad is showing a bud. I found one miniature ginger starting to bloom so will post pics on line this week to get an ID. No idea where or who I got if from.
I have a group of friend wanting Candle tree cuttings (I trim mine every year after blooming) so will be having a garden tour group in about two weeks from now. So i have to dedicate time to trimming forest trails to make them visitor friendly.
All the bamboos are at rest right now so have to find time to mulch and fertilize about 70 plants. Looking forward to March through August to see new growth on maturing young plants.
Otherwise its business as usual. Skimming the ponds, enjoying the fish, cutting the grass, watering the plants in the greenhouses and planning another forest clearing session and putting up new fences to enclose more area to accommodate new plants. I have the new fence line visualized. Now I have to repeat the process I did a few months ago creating Piglets garden. Cut down the trees with help, stretch out the fence wire, put in the posts, secure the area from pigs and then clear it for planting. This new area is a recovery effort for an area that I had developed years ago so there are already bamboos, Vireya, a pond and a rain shelter in place. Hope to have project completed by the end of February.

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