Today's deep thoughts about plants

[Azuleja]

Spiny, it started out pretty smooth with only a little mutation. Now it's going bonkers. Every leaf is a little different. Here's another.

[Steph115]

How cool. I love it! I can't help but picture several circumferential pairs of lips... delightfully creepy.

[Azuleja]

Agave 'Leo' is still small but is making pups in its 4" pot. Such a tough little thing, I keep it in morning to late afternoon full sun. No one knows its parentage, although I was told A. americana protoamericana is in the mix. I don't know if there's any truth to it. Mikey Dude, are you around? I'd like to know how yours looks after another season in the ground.

[Azuleja]

Some seedlings are a little more interesting than others. I transferred a bunch of these to 6 packs yesterday. I know it's early, but my ovatifolias really took off after I separated them.

[Stan]

Strangely,I don't find myself especially jealous of gardeners with mega gardens. I find getting wistful that I'm not around 30 and getting serious at it like they are. It would be nice too to say "I grew this from seed" more often. Time is not on my side as the Stones sang. Well,not nearly enough time.

[Azuleja]

It takes a little bit of optimism to plant a seed. Anything could happen to any one of us any day. My white wisteria makes beautiful big disc shaped seeds. I thought about planting some and then read that they may not bloom for 8 years. I was like, oh hell no.

[Azuleja]

I finally remembered to go look at our moonflowers at night. Stan, you can grow these from seed in one season They'll perfume the whole yard, which is helpful if your neighbor grows stapeliads, like GeeS.

[Spination]

It takes a little bit of optimism to plant a seed. Anything could happen to any one of us any day. My white wisteria makes beautiful big disc shaped seeds. I thought about planting some and then read that they may not bloom for 8 years. I was like, oh hell no.

LOL. But...the flip side is....8 years from now, you may be kicking yourself. You might think...why, oh why didn't I plant those darn seeds 8 years ago?

[Azuleja]

Probably not for a wisteria, but certainly for something harder to come by.

[toditd]

It takes a little bit of optimism to plant a seed. Anything could happen to any one of us any day. My white wisteria makes beautiful big disc shaped seeds. I thought about planting some and then read that they may not bloom for 8 years. I was like, oh hell no.

Yeah, but you do grow many agaves. And those "century plants" won't bloom for 100 years! So with that perspective, what's a measly 8 years?
(Although, I guess you could say that the agave is a flower in and of itself. Heck, it's even called a rosette.)

[Azuleja]

I wish some of them wouldn't bloom for 100 years.

Growing these plants has really improved my appreciation for summer. Where I wither they thrive and it certainly brings joy to hot days. This one is filling out a bit and has been a fun one to grow.

[Gee.S]

I've often thought the world needs more gorgons.

[Stan]

Jeez,I've broken my Medusa's over the years. Dog knocks them over and I backed into the other one. All my fancy,whimsical terra cotta pot planters never last. I need the concrete versions!

[Azuleja]

Grrrr. It pays to touch your plants. My in ground A. parryi truncata felt distinctly loose today. So much so that I was able to tip it upwards and see the hole directly underneath where a pocket gopher had tunneled up and gnawed off half its roots and some of its underbody. There are no other holes or mounds nearby, very ninja operation. I've set a trap and once its caught, I'll be digging out the plant to see if it can be salvaged and rerooted.

[Azuleja]

It's late but I decided to check my trap before bed and oh yeah, I caught me a big one.

[mickthecactus]

Gosh, the things you guys have to contend with.

[Azuleja]

I feel like I can maybe turn this around.

[Spination]

Yes, I would turn it around the other way too...

Sorry... couldn't resist.

Hopefully, it will recover, and good you caught the little B... er... critter responsible.

[Azuleja]

How's this?

[Spination]

It's a beauty. Looks like you still have enough root left to plant it and expect recovery.

[Azuleja]

It's drying out now. I think it'll be okay. I've never seen gophers where I planted it so I didn't use a basket.

[Spination]

That looks totally salvageable. So, I guess it's going to be a basket-case when it goes back in-ground? I've used chicken wire in the past, but never for an Agave to date. If I had to deal with that though, that's definitely what I would do.

[Agavemonger]

Yeah, I agree; just plant it back up in a pot temporarily and treat it normal. You probably have enough time left in the season to re-establish this plant outside.

The Monger

[Azuleja]

Yesterday was Ruth Bancroft's 109th birthday. Here is the post from the RBG Instagram account. What an incredible person!

[Spination]

That's awesome!