Category: Propagation

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It lives!!! (Coryphantha sulcata)

On Thursday evening I was closing the plant window curtain when on a whim I checked the cactus tray. I have been watering the little shriveled Coryphantha sulcata seedling occasionally since there was still green, but I figured it was dead. It’s suddenly all plump and alive again!!!!!! Abby had the excellent suggestion that maybe the day length is now long enough for it to decide it’s spring and time to collect water again.
Since the cats have been in plant window a lot, I figured the baby might be safer outside in a more stable pot. So on Saturday (yesterday) I repotted it carefully into fresh cactus potting mix.
I have put it in the shade of the big planter, since my recent reading on baby cacti suggests that may best imitate a cactus seedling environment in the wild.
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05/26/2022

Thursday the 26th.

A winecup from two summers ago came back.
This true bug was relatively long and thin, and is standing on greeneyes. It flew away before I got a better picture.
Bee fly at woodland edge!
I’m hoping this could be inland sea oats that I seeded two years ago. Edit: Abby agrees.
There’s a passionvine label here but this could also be butterfly pea?? We’ll find out!!
Across the fence from mystery seedling is a known passionvine.
Showy milkweed has survived its planting.
I think these are the Mexican sage from Judy.
A small bee on coreopsis.
Mystery grass. I will note here when I hear back from the grass expert! (Then I can check here next year when I forget haha.). Edit: Mom says is the native little barley again. This one is a volunteer so I’m glad it does well here! Doesn’t get taller than the buffalo grass too so it can stay in the “lawn”.
Close up.
A small native legume whose name I’ve forgotten.  There are quite a few growing in the rainbow beds and in the backyard at the edge of the patio.
A lightning bug on a rain barrel.
A leaf miner in the native coral honeysuckle!
I think this dark spot is the larva, visible on underside of leaf.  So tiny!
Overall the coral honeysuckle is beginning to get going.  This one was from Judy!  Thanks Judy!
A wild grape that we dug from the front to make room for strawberries. Joke’s on us because there was root left up front and it’s now taking over the rain barrel stand too.
Another black nightshade. I think their tiny flowers are so pretty.
Elderberry just starting.
I think a mealy bug?  On ironweed stem.
Liatris mucronata from home from last summer.
Dicanthelium grass that came along with Liatris.
A tiny insect on ironweed.
Purple coneflower working its way towards blooming.
A mystery leaf.
The mystery leaf above came along with the transplanted wedge leaf Euphorbia.
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05/25/2022 last rain day

The Datura wrightii is still alive near the chimneys.
Rudbeckia amplexicaulis from home is starting to bloom! I put this by the bird bath.
Helianthus mollis coming up! The others I did from seeds in the Tupperware didn’t make it. This one came up on its own.
The second senna has gained another pair of leaves!
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2022/05/22 cool morning again

I sprinkled some grama grass seeds in this planter last winter so I am hopeful for this tiny grass sprout.
While it’s cool I decided I should go ahead and plant the showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa). Its root was all tangled at the bottom and the soil fell off. It looks like it wanted to send out a tap root anyways.
So, it’s safely in the ground now. It is supposed to continue cool for several days, with rain too, so hopefully it likes its new spot.
I tidied up the plant shelves here by removing some pots where seedlings died.
I moved the winecup tray onto the table…
…Because some critter went rooting around in it. Hmph. Very rude. I tried to re-cover the soil on the survivors of the 2-4 that were disturbed. Fortunately many were left alone.
Frogfruit has started blooming!
Someone wants me to make guest kitties appear more.
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2022/05/21 a cool afternoon, good for last plantings before summer heat

Weird fungus in front strawberry bed where sweetgum roots are rotting.
Potatoes!
Some eggs on the house.
Dayflower. Someday I’ll figure out if it’s the native or non native species.
A mystery that came along from Texas.
It turns out these tiny things are seedheads, so I completely missed it blooming.
I looked at it in the microscope to confirm they are seeds. Abby suggested a Nutallanthus sp which looks right. I can’t believe I somehow missed the flowers! Maybe while I was at home in Texas in April?
A non native rye. It’s pulled now. Thanks Jeanne!
Mystery grass, up close of seedheads. Abby has identified as Vulpia sp, but that genus contains both native and non native species.
The same Vulpia sp, outside.
Guest cat Shackleton wanted and got a leash walk today.
He loves a good dust patch.
At the end of the water hose is a small Datura wrightii that I figured I should plant while we have our probably last spell of cool weather for the spring. I left its sibling in a pot until I find out if this spot has enough sun.
A baby Dalea purpurea (purple prairie clover) in the prickly pear planter! This was from a free seed packet from prairie moon. I didn’t use any inoculum.
Abby very kindly gave me one of her two seedlings from her Rudbeckia maxima! Really excited to watch this one grow!!
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05/18/2022

A male velvet ant foraging on the widow sedum!
Milkvine are sprouting everywhere. Hope it’s a good year for milkweed tussock moths!
Yarrow from home is blooming.
The striped planthoppers are still out on ironweed today.
Greeneyes leaves are fuzzy and my watering spillage shows it off.
Rudbeckia lacinata from Abby is getting tall!
Texas buckeye has added some leaves and seems to be food for someone.
Carolina buckthorn from plant sale doing fine.
Mexican buckeye from plant sale doing fine.
Texas mallows are coming back up! At least three in the shade of the big red oak.
Thistle from home. Mom did a lovely post on these fine flowers recently. They are homes and food for many friends.
Mystery grass that came with the thistle soil. Possibly Canada wild rye. I have been asked to get better photos. Jeanne has kindly identified it as an annual native barley.
The beautyberry has perked up.
False garlic is going to seed! I took one pod across the patio to the “prairie” area and left the other here east of the patio.
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05/17/2022 I meant to plant more beans but I got distracted looking around

A new kind of plant in the plant window.
Widow sedum in full bloom with a background of Englemann daisies.
A second baby two leaf senna is coming up in a container!! This one is in yard soil instead of potting soil. Very excited.
Briar lounges on the buffalo grass with the widow sedums to her left and Englemann daisies behind her.
Going through the house to go see front yard, I glimpse the new plant. Hi Shacks!
Rainbow garden orange is considering blooming (butterfly milkweed).
Fluttermill Missouri primrose is living up to its name with new seedpods produced!
A Venus looking glass volunteered in the strawberry bed! I love these. Apparently they’re annuals.
This tiny native cucurbit vine appears every year and I adore it.
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05/13/2022 garden checkup

Sweet basil seedlings.
Butterfly milkweed is up in the backyard too but hasn’t flowered yet (same as front yard).
Yellow flax still blooming! It’s annual, so I hope the seeds like it enough here.
Whitlow-wort gone to seed. Another native annual from TX home.
False gaura that I planted from potted last night is doing well.
Texas verbena has bloomed! It’s a perennial.
The rattlebox had adorable seed pods as promised.
The Rocky mountain bee plant from the botany club plant sale is blooming! There were ants at the blooms.
The Phacelia is really fun.
The prairie bluet is flowering a bit. I’m worried since it’s early that this means it’s not happy. However, it’s a perennial, so hopefully it will do its thing now and be less worried next year.
The twice-moved yucca is making new little leaves!
This yucca is in the shade which I figure is probably okay at this age.  Many plants seem to like to have nurse plants.
The baby winecups are starting to get true leaves.
Second year for this mystery plant with no blooms.
It does have a square stem. Abby suggested Monarda, which I did seed here at one point, so fingers crossed!!
Slippery silk beans and several other varieties are up!!
The two leaf senna didn’t have a lot of roots when I planted it from a pot last night. So, I put two containers of water so it would gradually keep it damp for now so it can get established. It’s my only sprout from the seed and I love this plant! It’s a host for Cloudless Sulphur butterflies.
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05/12/2022 all the not dramatic regular stuff

Walking onions from garden, assorted farm share veggies, with glass noodles and chicken.
Pulled a lot more Maximilian sunflower this evening. I put it in a tub with some potting soil to keep until they can go to new homes.
I found a baby spittlebug on one sunflower stem! I took it over to the sunflowers we’re keeping so it can keep eating.
In the front yard, a few winecup seedlings are coming up in the ground cover orchard area.
More baby winecup!
I pulled up two more native black walnut seedlings and potted them.
Hopefully this one can make it with only half its remaining food. Anyways, this makes a total of four. I have found good homes for most or all of them now. Our lot is too small for another big tree.