I'll start out with a simple request. Please pray for my hen and chicks.
In case you aren't familiar with
succulents, these are hen and chicks. Named so because the big plant (the hen) shoots off smaller versions of itself (the chicks). And they snuggle in a pot. So cute. But my little hen...not so cute. She started to rot due to her soil being the wrong mix and staying too wet. So we tried our best to help her out. We removed some of the chicks in the off chance that she doesn't make it and we mixed her damp soil with more sand and rocks. I do not have a green thumb, so she may very well need a miracle to make it.
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| Isaac's chick |
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| Annie's chick |
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| Transplanted chicks |
With our little plot of land, we've been enjoying some gardening. We are currently sprouting our fall/winter garden in our sunroom. Where that will go, I'm not sure. But we're getting ready for some lettuce and chard. Yum. We have also spent a little time cultivating a butterfly garden. Here are some photos:
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| Mystic Blue Spire Salvia |
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| Turk's cap |
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| Who can identify this butterfly? |
Hibiscus, zinnias, and other types of salvia are also growing in our garden. We've also installed a couple of old dry logs that serve the purpose of giving the butterflies a place to sun themselves. When we have overripe fruit (juicy fruits are the best) we cut it open and leave it out there and watch the butterflies land on the fruit to drink the juice. Yellowjackets also like overripe fruit.
As do lizards...who knew? Some of the most notable visitors to our little garden have been Cloudless Sulphurs and various Swallowtails (the hummingbirds actually chase these bigger butterflies away). The butterfly in the photo is quite common here, as is the Hackberry.
Here's a list of Houston butterflies and moths. Want to check out butterflies in your area?
Here you go.
We are still enjoying the hummingbirds, which have grown in number now that migration is happening. The cooler weather also brought another deer family to the backyard. The most we've seen at one time is five (two does and three fawns). And we've got bees in our future! Buzz, buzz.
So, what have you got growing in your garden? Or your flower beds? Or your indoor pots?
I've got an African Violet, which I need to take to Marma, because it's not doing well here and some kind of orchid that friends gave us as a housewarming gift. It's not really a gift for me though, as I tend to kill EVERY plant that enters this house! Marma has saved several of mine so far :) I hope the hen survives!!!
ReplyDeleteThere is DEFINITELY hope for your hen as well as her chicks. Just put the "tail" down in some relatively dry soil. They need consistent moisture but not much moisture. They can grow outside as well as in a pot. I harvested a whole "family" of hen and chicks from the motel where J & T used to manage. They were out by the road in a gravelly place that never got watered (only rained on once in awhile and you know that isn't much in Idaho." I put them in our flowerbed near a shrub and they're sprouting babies like crazy. Sometimes it looks like the hen is dying after she sprouts a bunch of chicks and "blooms." It is a natural process so that might have been what happened to hyour hen. Lylyly (and never give up!)
ReplyDeleteGood to know! I tried to google what a dying hen and chick actually looked like, but it seemed like no one has posted a picture of that. I read some descriptions, but it wasn't that helpful. Hopefully her frightful looking leaves were just because she was makin' babies.
DeleteNicnic, I'm not even going to go near an African violet. (Unless I'm at Marma's house and can't help the close proximity). Succulents are supposed to be easy to take care of because they require poor soil, little water, and lots of sunshine. But you see how easy it is for me to take care of them...