to Lynn and plantmanager :

I'm going to check the Sempervivum database for the one I have : #39 "Rollers" Jovibarba / Bronze Globe

When I was taking them out of the bag (the shipment from Daniel) one of them hopped right out of the bag and hit the surface I was working on, and rolled away somewhere on the greenhouse floor. I squatted down and searched for it carefully, looking at everything for about 5 minutes to see if I could spot it. The greenhouse floor has concrete pavers for a walkway, and outside of that is crushed gravel, and a lot of debris. The nearest place that I thought it rolled to was a nearby faucet with hose attached and directly beneath that a fairly large sword fern that has grown there spontaneously (by itself). I looked under some of the fronds but could not find it. I think it will be perfectly happy where it's hiding, and will be able to thrive. Amazing little plants, the way they can travel so far away from the mother.

If I had a lot of "Rollers" in my greenhouse, I'm afraid that the little mice who live there also, would carry them away and stash them for their overwintering cache. They are snacking on Nicotiana rustica seed capsules and fruits of Solanum americanum (American black nightshade) that I have growing in pots in the greenhouse. Last Winter / this Spring they carried off several small tubers of Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) that I had overwintering in the greenhouse for Spring planting this year. I had to put a stop to that by covering the flat with a window screen. So I can only imagine what they would do with "Rollers" - stash them everywhere imaginable in the greenhouse. I decided not to prevent them from their activities (with traps or poison) since that is their environment too, and we can share it. Also under the benches I have what I identified as Oregon ensatina : a small purplish brown salamander which has been on this property since we moved here in 1968. The first time I saw it was inside the water meter enclosure out by the street, where they live in the moist soil and debris. I also have a type of cave cricket living under the benches, which also lives in the crawl space of the house.

Tai doesn't seem too interested in this thread or this forum, and I'm disappointed that she has made only 3 or 4 posts (at the most) here, the last one showing a picture frame with the named Sempervivum cultivars all jumble together inside it, after we discussed here at the greenhouse how to write the cultivar number on the tiny clay pots, which will reference the cultivar list that I will be making, then giving her several bags, each containing one cultivar, so she can take them home or to her shop and plant them in her pots. I heard her say nothing about planting them all in a picture frame. When I looked at her last post with the picture frame, there they all are, sitting in a jumble, willy nilly, all mixed together. I'm thinking to myself "hmmm … " after all the effort to keep the cultivars separate, and her purchase of the tiny clay pots, etc.

I'm thinking "hmmm… why didn't she just tell me that she changed her mind about how we planned to do this and do that …" ??? Why did she come to me for help in the first place, when she could have gone to any garden center and buy a bunch of stuff to put in picture frames, or whatever. I don't get it. Anyway, I sent her a Tree-Mail stating pretty much what I just laid out above, asking her to reply with an explanation. I told her that I have to turn my attention to harvesting my yard and garden once I get the rest of Daniel's sempervivums planted in soil. I'm not going to let Daniel's time go to waste, since I know that her personally, by his own hand, wrote the cultivar names on each bag. So after they are all planted in soil, I will keep them locked in the greenhouse so I can get to other things (harvest).

That is the situation now at the present time : Tuesday 24 September 2019 / 12:26 AM local time

TaiSung said:
Hey there!

Hello Tai, My name is Lee Ann. I am NickyNick's "adopted" daughter in California. I don't know who adopted who first but that is another story. He has mentioned you thoughout the years and its so nice to finally put a face to your name. Your vertical frame garden is a lovely idea, beautiful and inspiring.

I am really interested in putting together some Sempervivium rock gardens at my new property in Henleyville, CA so Im going to enjoy reading this thread for inspiration.

Do you recommend growing them in pots at first to establish roots then transplanting them into the various themes with in rocks structures? I wish I could easily find some of the very basic ones I've done in the past with some chick and hens. ( I think that is what they are called) . I had no idea there were so many varieties of succulents to play with like are being mentioned here. Like a mix of art and gardening. I want to show this to my soon to be 6 yr old daughter and her 2.5 yr old sister. They would just love this.

I just love the energy they give off... a peaceful Asian or zen meditation feel. I want to start growing them now. I will have to ask Nick where to get starts and of course im going to keep my eye out for them everywhere i go. Anyhow. So happy to see you here and finally meet you.
Lee Ann

sacredorigin said:

Hello Tai, My name is Lee Ann. I am NickyNick's "adopted" daughter in California. I don't know who adopted who first but that is another story. He has mentioned you thoughout the years and its so nice to finally put a face to your name. Your vertical frame garden is a lovely idea, beautiful and inspiring.

I am really interested in putting together some Sempervivium rock gardens at my new property in Henleyville, CA so Im going to enjoy reading this thread for inspiration.

Do you recommend growing them in pots at first to establish roots then transplanting them into the various themes with in rocks structures? I wish I could easily find some of the very basic ones I've done in the past with some chick and hens. ( I think that is what they are called) . I had no idea there were so many varieties of succulents to play with like are being mentioned here. Like a mix of art and gardening. I want to show this to my soon to be 6 yr old daughter and her 2.5 yr old sister. They would just love this.

I just love the energy they give off... a peaceful Asian or zen meditation feel. I want to start growing them now. I will have to ask Nick where to get starts and of course im going to keep my eye out for them everywhere i go. Anyhow. So happy to see you here and finally meet you.
Lee Ann

Hey there Lee Ann,
It's good to meet you too. About the method of establishing roots ...think it's ok to plant them where you want and let them grow roots that way. They're so hardy they can grow on most anything.
Take care and chat soon!

NickyNick said:to Lynn and plantmanager :

I'm going to check the Sempervivum database for the one I have : #39 "Rollers" Jovibarba / Bronze Globe

When I was taking them out of the bag (the shipment from Daniel) one of them hopped right out of the bag and hit the surface I was working on, and rolled away somewhere on the greenhouse floor. I squatted down and searched for it carefully, looking at everything for about 5 minutes to see if I could spot it. The greenhouse floor has concrete pavers for a walkway, and outside of that is crushed gravel, and a lot of debris. The nearest place that I thought it rolled to was a nearby faucet with hose attached and directly beneath that a fairly large sword fern that has grown there spontaneously (by itself). I looked under some of the fronds but could not find it. I think it will be perfectly happy where it's hiding, and will be able to thrive. Amazing little plants, the way they can travel so far away from the mother.

If I had a lot of "Rollers" in my greenhouse, I'm afraid that the little mice who live there also, would carry them away and stash them for their overwintering cache. They are snacking on Nicotiana rustica seed capsules and fruits of Solanum americanum (American black nightshade) that I have growing in pots in the greenhouse. Last Winter / this Spring they carried off several small tubers of Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) that I had overwintering in the greenhouse for Spring planting this year. I had to put a stop to that by covering the flat with a window screen. So I can only imagine what they would do with "Rollers" - stash them everywhere imaginable in the greenhouse. I decided not to prevent them from their activities (with traps or poison) since that is their environment too, and we can share it. Also under the benches I have what I identified as Oregon ensatina : a small purplish brown salamander which has been on this property since we moved here in 1968. The first time I saw it was inside the water meter enclosure out by the street, where they live in the moist soil and debris. I also have a type of cave cricket living under the benches, which also lives in the crawl space of the house.

Tai doesn't seem too interested in this thread or this forum, and I'm disappointed that she has made only 3 or 4 posts (at the most) here, the last one showing a picture frame with the named Sempervivum cultivars all jumble together inside it, after we discussed here at the greenhouse how to write the cultivar number on the tiny clay pots, which will reference the cultivar list that I will be making, then giving her several bags, each containing one cultivar, so she can take them home or to her shop and plant them in her pots. I heard her say nothing about planting them all in a picture frame. When I looked at her last post with the picture frame, there they all are, sitting in a jumble, willy nilly, all mixed together. I'm thinking to myself "hmmm … " after all the effort to keep the cultivars separate, and her purchase of the tiny clay pots, etc.

I'm thinking "hmmm… why didn't she just tell me that she changed her mind about how we planned to do this and do that …" ??? Why did she come to me for help in the first place, when she could have gone to any garden center and buy a bunch of stuff to put in picture frames, or whatever. I don't get it. Anyway, I sent her a Tree-Mail stating pretty much what I just laid out above, asking her to reply with an explanation. I told her that I have to turn my attention to harvesting my yard and garden once I get the rest of Daniel's sempervivums planted in soil. I'm not going to let Daniel's time go to waste, since I know that her personally, by his own hand, wrote the cultivar names on each bag. So after they are all planted in soil, I will keep them locked in the greenhouse so I can get to other things (harvest).

That is the situation now at the present time : Tuesday 24 September 2019 / 12:26 AM local time

Hey Nick,

Here's the picture of the tiny clay pots with the quarter to reference the size. The sempervivums in the frame are not the plants that Daniel sent, those are from Portland Nursery. Sorry it's taken a bit to get the picture out there. I was procrastinating on that and don't have a good internet connection at my apartment.
Here they are so far in my salon's front window.
I look forward to planting some more now that you've organized them out by their Cultivar names,thanks.

So sad ☹

After such a beautiful greeting from LeeAnn, all that my daughter can do is put up a BIG BLOCK of quote in her face, and type a few meager words ... I'm feeling that Tai is disrespecting LeeAnn - what else can I feel. I know how busy LeeAnn is, with her two children, trying to move her nursery from Redding to Henleyville, having to deal with power shut-offs, hired help (to fix her mobile home) running off with $600 that she gave him to buy more materials, etc. etc. etc. And to take all that time for such a beautiful greeting while her younger one is waking from a nap .... she told all this to me herself. And such a loser reply from my daughter ...

Anyway, here's my current situation :










All of Daniel's semps have been planted in soil and I have a sharp pain in my knee, so I'm spending the rest of the day off my feet.

Tai ~ I'm going to call your mom in North Powder and consult with her ...

OK so Tai and I posted at the same time, and she beat me by a micro-second !

Tai your guardian spirit, or mine, intervened just now

Looking at your post (just previous to mine): I can only say that I'm EXTREMELY PLEASED and will let your mom alone to take care of the busy details of her day.

That's exactly what I wanted to see - that quarter (25 cent coin) in the pic shows how tiny the plants and pots actually are, and such a careful job you did in planting them! And that table with broken china, etc. - really a nice touch.

OK so you will be able to come back for more little sempervivums whenever you're ready - all planted in soil and easy to see, and we know where to get a resupply (Daniel in SC) ☺ ☯

Tai and Nick they all look great.
Nick your greenhouse is filling up quick.

Yes - not "is filling up quick" but "is extremely over-full"

☺

Tai that is a wonderful display of tiny pots with great semps. May I make a suggestion?

Yes please do (I will answer for Tai so your suggestion will be posted and waiting for her; it may take her a while for her to get back online since she has a very bad internet connection where she is) - go ahead Lynn

valleylynn said:Tai, I am loving the beautiful frame. Will you be filling the entire frame? And thank you for the great idea of using the plastic mesh bags from produce. Great idea.

I'm going to keep it halfway filled and plant some more inside. It's an experiment so we'll see how it turns out. Thanks for asking !
Tai

It might show the plants better if you do a top dressing of small gravel, or #2 chicken grit. It would keep the bottom of the leaves from sitting on soil and also showcase the rosettes. Or you could use colored glass or stones.

try to go with the chicken grit it's easy to work with.

It is my top dressing of choice. Easy to find, I like that it is crushed granite. The semps seem to like it. I don't even remove the dust. I figure it adds minerals for the plants.

Yes, I agree. For my Lithops I had to go to a special place in north Portland that sells supplies for industrial sandblasting and buy 100 lb. bags of a light amber-colored quartz sand. I think they sell a type of sand at Safeway that they use in the bottom of bird cages that is similar to what I was using. The grit is much larger than ordinary beach sand - it would be more properly described as a "fine gravel"

Look on ebay.com for > "decorative sand / gravel" and see what there is. Don't get any of that artificially colored stuff. There may be different types of natural gravels such as limestone, quartz, etc. (different colors)

Tai ~ I did a LOT of searches on ebay for the type of gravel that would be nice for a top dressing for your tiny potted plants. Most of the product available originates in China. DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM CHINA! ☹

I narrowed it down to two products originating in U.S.A. and natural stone. This first listing has different sizes available. What you want is > Pepper Pea Gravel ~1/8"

ebay.com >

1/2lb Natural Stones and Pea Gravel for Bonsai Terrarium Succulent Air Plant
US $2.50
Shipping: $5.99 Standard Shipping
[total > $8.49]
Natural high-quality and organic substrate ranging from soil to sand in different colors. Each has its own unique features and blends that make it a valuable accent. A Creative and fun way for endless landscaping possibilities. Perfect for crafts and DIY terrarium projects.
Natural product - colors and sizes may vary.
Please wash/rinse and dry before putting in terrarium/aquarium, color different when wet.
*NOTE: If you want it as clean as possible, please wash/rinse and dry several times before putting it in terrarium/aquarium to avoid unnecessary debris.
--
Sizes Available:
--
Pepper Pea Gravel ~1/8"
Pearl White ~3/4"
Shale Pink ~3/4"
3"x5" bags / 225 g

____________________________

This second listing is also natural stone, from U.S.A.

ebay.com >

Terrariums 1 Lb Washed Pea Gravel Succulent Pebbles And Rocks For Plants Fairy
US $12.99
Shipping: FAST 'N FREE
___________________________

So if you want to try them, you make the purchase for both items, and I will reimburse you. I want to see for myself what they look like as a surface dressing in the tiny pots. Together that would give you 1½ pounds of material in different colors (natural stone) and if used sparingly just to cover the surface of the soil, it would cover many of those tiny pots. That added touch is just added to your selling price, which wouldn't be much, really, if spread out over multiple items. I think you could cover about 100 of those tiny pots easily.

total for BOTH of the above listings: $21.48

[ $24.48 / 100 = $0.22 ea. ]

So you just add 22 cents to your selling price for each item (your plants in tiny pots) and you will have it covered.

Tai, I really like your broken pot display!

LeeAnn, it sounds like you have a lot to deal with right now too.

I have always considered my big brother super smart, and really an expert in many areas, especially with it comes to plants, and really just about everything.
I think Tai will benefit from that knowledge, and we all appreciate and respect that knowledge.
I wish I were half as smart!

Thank you Nick for everything you do, and especially you vast knowledge, and I know you get impatient with me.
I get that way too, so I know it must be very difficult sometimes, when so things seem so simple to you.

Anyway, Nick, you grow an amazing variety of plants, and I especially like your grapes!


See you later today.
RR

to RROWLETT :

Something clicked yesterday : ☯

[from Wikipedia] :
Taijitu
18th-century representation of the taijitu of Zhao Huiqian (1370s)
☯
Modern "yin-yang symbol"
Taijitu (Chinese name)
Traditional Chinese 太極圖
Simplified Chinese 太极图
Korean name : Hangul 태극도
Ming period author Lai Zhide (1525–1604) simplified the taijitu to a design of two interlocking spirals. In the Ming era, the combination of the two interlocking spirals of the taijitu with two black-and-white dots superimposed on them became identified with the He tu or "Yellow River diagram" (河圖).
Ornamental patterns with visual similarity to the "yin-yang symbol" are found in archaeological artefacts of European prehistory; such designs are sometimes descriptively dubbed "yin yang symbols" in archaeological literature by modern scholars."
[end of Wiki quote]

Basically, the symbol shows the balance of dark and light, good and bad (evil), etc., and within each half is a dot of the opposite. It is symbolic of opposites that are balanced, but within which is embedded a small spot of the other; a little bad with the good, a little darkness with the light, etc.

Yesterday, it ☯ suddenly "clicked" into reversal, like reversed polarity. Things which seemed to be going very badly all day suddenly changed to the total opposite, for me, anyway. And I hope for everybody.

Like those grapes. Usually they are the first ones to drop from the vines, rotten or something, before getting to the ripening stage. This year, all of the others have molded and spoiled from the recent heavy rains, but most of the Canadice (pink seedless) has not only stood up well, but continues to ripen - a few clusters have withered and spoiled, but many have not. Maybe it's symbolic of something? Whose to say ...

You're embarrassing me with those "compliments" - just say it like it is : NickyNick is weird, unpredictable and what most people would call "anti-social" (unless you get to know him better)

see you later this afternoon ☺

I actually believe what I said is true.
Your last post, and all of the others prove it...

RROWLETT : where did you get that little quotation from? Nice ☺