I've planted lettuce in a grow box. We got sprouts in 2 days!

So, what do you do when they get bigger? Or do you just continue to grow them in the mat?

Cheryl...you rock!!!


May the rest of the week bring happiness!

A daylily


Before the rain, after is still laid over crimson clover


Red Lion amaryllis, purple hummingbird sage

Burgundy lorapetulum thru, so the leaves turn darker



Still blooming are the cyclamen, trailing vinca, pansies, petunias, and a whiff of honeysuckle around here somewhere.
native lance leaf coreopsis and fleabane


and harder to see, lyre leaf sage

Iluvtobake said:So, what do you do when they get bigger? Or do you just continue to grow them in the mat?

My dad sent me 3 Grow Boxes from agardenpatch.com. IDK much about them but there is 12" of soil under the mat, The seeds are growing in soil. The mat I guess keeps weeds away? Also there is a fertilizer packet that runs down the center under the mat. Supposedly, the roots head to the center to get fed? It is an experiment for me. Plus, a few have told me I am too late planting lettuce. BAH! Rulesz-Schmoolz, I say!

I have the grow boxes from my mom, Cheryl. I have found they are too constantly wet for a lot of plants. The only ones I have found that do well are plants that like a lot of water. I have rotted out a lot of plants trying to grow them in the grow boxes.

Thanks for the heads up @Plantmanager Karen. I might decrease the water in the well as time goes on. Haven't decided what to grow in the other two. I have such limited sunlight and space in general.

Maybe brasiloptunia Brazilian Prickly Pear) flowers?

Wow. What a difference a few weeks or even just a few days can make! I've been so busy making the plant sales list ( not) that I haven't been outside for a couple weeks. Actually to the delight of some of my friends I had laryngitis.

So yesterday I walked out back and suddenly realized that it was a jungle out there. Lots of green, blooms just barely starting.

salvia greggii


another one but hot pink. lost the tag right after planting.



bronze fennel



another picture of the fennel that shows new growth. first year I saw it I thought it was one of those wooly caterpillars.



celery (ha ha) Gregg's mistflower



oakleaf hydrangea really greening up




So anyway, all of the above grew in the last couple weeks. Yay!

So this isn't blooming, at least not yet, but it sure does like my perennial bed. I know it's not a Duelberg or a 'Black and Blue' but it's dancing around both of them. I really hope it's not American Germander or something else that I would prefer to have growing elsewhere. (Note that I didn't call it a weed.)

I'm giving y'all the first chance to ID it because I figure that it's a Texas native. The stem feels kinda rubbery, if that helps.

Thoughts?

@kittriana,

I'm happy to see that grown loropetalum. I see them around here at brand new builder homes. They disappear. I don't know if the deer eventually get them or if we just have the wrong conditions. I recently bought two. One is a cute dwarf that is supposed to stay small.. I have decided to plant the large one in morning sun only. Not sure where to put the little guy.

8b, ugh doesn't help in Texas - the dwarf are used in partial shade under these big ol trees for hedges. Needs a bit more water than crepes. My zone is now considered 9a, but I have micro climates in the yard.

So many surprises out in the garden. Previously I posted a picture of a red bloom on a salvia greggii. Thought I ought to post a picture of the whole plant that has that one lonely bloom.




Now this has got to be my biggest surprise and it's got me scratching my head as to what, if anything, I should do about it. What seems like forever ago someone gave me 2 or 3 day lilies. I'd never grown any before plus I was battling a squirrel over one of them. So I think I've maybe gotten a couple sickly looking blooms, one per year. I always need more room and was going to put the bulbs out of their (and my) misery. Well look at them now!



I'm pretty sure they're to close but I'm open to advice. Very open.

Don't move them til after the blooms die. Otherwise, they are kinda like a grass. My salvia didn't all die, I have had blooms since last summer, its salvia gregii, and it teases the hummingbird into thinking the crimson clover is a nectar flower...

https://www.wildflower.org/tex... Her's a link to what's blooming now and where in TX.

My indigofera has started blooming. Love the lime green leaves with the pink bloom

Bubbles, thanks for the link. I was surprised to see rain lilies in the top 20. I love them and my neighbor across the street has them. Took a picture of one the other day.

Brazilian Prickly Pear, brasiloptunia bloom.

@ShadyGreenThumb
Cheryl,
How large a plant is the brasiloptunia? Does it grow under shady conditions? Cool-looking plant.

@needrain Donald. It's a Full Sun cactus. It's in with all my plumeria. It winters over in the gh. I "inherited " this one from DD2 who thinks I'm a Foster Mom to her plants everytime she moves. Ha. This optunia can get very tall, but I keep it in a small pot. For one, the 1" thorns on the trunk makes it hard to transplant, and 2) I cant manage a tall plant. Want to try a cutting?