My Tiny Red Rose

So far this year I haven't done much with flower gardening. My African violets are doing nicely. Only 2 of my orchards are still living while the unliving still populate my very expensive orchard pots. I buy the best of everything for my orchards and they reward me drying up and dying. I don't know what I do wrong--probably everything. I spray. I water. I feed. I change potting mixtures.

For companions for my tomatoes I planted marigolds. Good old faithful marigolds. Decorative and useful.

My miniature rose that I got as a gift is outside in its container and is sporting a beautiful red rose the size of a half dollar. Another bud is getting ready to open. Hope it makes it. My once green thumb of which I was very proud is now a dusty brown. When I first got the rose plant it was full of buds and was lovely until it took one look at me and started to go downhill. Moving it out into the sun I hoped to revive it. So far, so good.

Now about my latest present--a gardenia plant. It was also full of buds when I got it for Mother's Day. One did open and bloom. Alas, just the one. Even back in the days when my thumb was magnificently green gardenia plants did not take to me. Maybe I can still coax this one along.

Temperature has gotten hot as it does in Southern California, but with this crazy weather these days one can never predict what will happen. I wish it would rain the way it does back East or the way I hear it does on the Northwest coast.

African Violets -- Sure Winners

Years ago I was very proud of the African violets that I grew. I thought it might be fun and rewarding to grow them once again. These are very easy and rewarding plants that need minimal care as long as you understand them and their needs.

In nature they grow on the floor of the forests under the shade of the canopy. So we know to keep them out of the hot boiling sun. and in dappled sunlight or in a partially shaded window. Most people water them from the bottom as water droplets on a delicate leaf will act as a magnifying glass and will cause an ugly burn. Howerver they do need to be watered from the top every now and then in order to leach out any salts and chemicals. Every week or so they enjoy a bit of special African violet fertilizer. You can even give them a dop or two of fertilizer with each watering if you wish. Just check the amount of fertilizer suggested on the bottle. It is always better to give less fertilizer but more ofter. See how your plants respond to their feeding and listen to them.

Just today I learned something new on AVInternaltinal (Yahoo Groups). It is a good idea to remove the old leaves from the bottom of the plant. Carefully bend the leaves to the side while gently pulling the old leaf. It will break off cleanly from the crown leaving no stub. This is supposed to promote new growth. You can remove up to 3 leaves a month from the bottom row. I am going to try this, so wish me an my plants luck.

I also learned that the old leaves have already produced blooms and will not do so again so we need new growth in order to have more flowers.

I'll post again with some tricks that I have use to train African violets to grow in perfect rosettes.