Air Plants

I've been wanting to put plants in the entryway since I first painted in here. For Christmas this year, Nick's mom gave me this candle holder, and I thought it would be the perfect home for some cute plants eventually! We did light the candles a few times, but usually we forgot to replace the burnt-out tealights until we wanted to light them again, and it just ended up not getting used as much as I wanted to. I thought about tiny succulents, but I didn't want to try to cram them into too small of a space and not give them any room to grow. I came across an article with links to these air plants on Amazon, and I haven't seen any in my local nurseries, so it seemed like a good way to get some cool plants for cheap. (I also found the same seller on Etsy and they have a good selection there too!)

Air plants are really cool! If you haven't heard about them, they require no soil, just water and sun, so you can put them anywhere that gets good light. I filled our glass votive holders with pebbles and just have my air plants sitting on top of them. I mist them once or twice a week and soak them for half an hour every few weeks and them seem to be very happy!

They were shipped in individually labeled paper bags and were all in great condition. At least one of these is supposed to turn red when it's about to bloom, so I'm excited for that to happen! I love new plants, especially new kinds of plants.

Spring is Here Again!

Springtime means new plants! We went to two different events at the Zilker Botanical Garden in the past several weeks and got some really fun things.

First, Zilker Garden Fest! We've grown one pepper plant and lots of herbs before, but we finally picked up some fat pepper and tomato seedlings for the first time. We're waiting until we put up a fence on the back of the property so we can take down the chain link and use that space for a raised bed since that gets the best light, but we don't want to take up the only space puppies can play without supervision with a bunch of garden beds, so we just opted for large containers until the fencing situation changes. Every single plant now has flowers so they are definitely happy on the deck in pots!

Our ZGF haul - three peppers, two tomatoes, a succulent, and basil from the Travis County Master Gardener Association (TCMGA)

From left to right: Garden Salsa Hybrid pepper, Cubanelle pepper, & Big Bertha pepper

The chicken wire cages prevent the squirrels from bothering our cute little plants. Here are the Celebrity Hybrid and Black Cherry Heirloom tomatoes right after planting as well.

Here they are today! Very happy!

 

Donkey's Tail from the TCMGA. I split off one of its pups into its own tiny pot to get two out of this one!

East Austin Succulents was at the fest as well, so I was able to replace the poor Desert Rose that I killed a few weeks ago :( I think I know how to not kill this one...

Along with basil, I also picked up some sage and mint plants for our herb planters. The mint has exploded! I've been making mojitos and mint juleps for weeks and it's only growing stronger, so I'm gonna have to have a few mint parties.

 The weekend after the ZGF was the Cactus & Succulent Show & Sale, also at the botanical garden.

The near box is Angela's haul (Clockwise from the top: perhaps a Black Prince Echeveria, Echinocerus chloranthus, Panda kalanchoe, Tiger Jaws, Anacampseros rufescens). She got some really good ones! $16 for all of these I believe. We only got a few for ourselves that are in the far box (Pencil cactus, Big Needle Cactus, Elkhorn succulent) because we already seem to have a succulent problem... but of course now I'm jealous of the cool ones Angela got. 

This Pencil Cactus was the weirdest we got by far. It had a flower on it when we got it and we'll see if it ever flowers again.

I looove the way they all looked on this windowsill together. I will have no choice but to add more to my collection now that Angela took hers away because they just look so cool in a group!

Also I never posted about our most recent trip to East Austin Succulents! This is the trip that started Angela's plant obsession. I think I've created a monster. Muahaha.

Really though, look how cute they all are even before they are potted! Angela has good taste in plants and I'm always jealous of the ones she picks! I need to get some of those for myself too, especially the tiny Portulaca in the bottom row. It's like the tiniest tree and it's totally adorable.

Echeveria harmsii

Lizard Lips Aloe

I thought this was a Hobbit Jade but it turns out it's a Gollum Jade. Who names these things???

Little Spikey Aloe. I love the glass container for this one and I'll have to use more glass containers in the future because it's really cool looking.

The last few plants are from various stores & events, but I didn't want to leave them out because I love them! Plants are so awesome you guys. Not pictured is a string of pearls that got badly infested with gnats. I wanted one for so long and it died almost as soon as I got it :(

I love asparagus ferns, so I got a tiny one that I'm going to grow big and strong in my hanging pot right outside the back door. So far the squirrels don't seem to care about this one, which is good, because this spot was hell for a couple of others and they almost killed my Heart Leaf Ice Plant for good when it was here!

We got this cool echeveria (secunda perhaps?) in a terrarium from the Renegade Craft Fair that was here in Austin.

I didn't know this air plant would look so cool when it bloomed! We got this one for free when we bought the echeveria.