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Some Christmas cacti bloom at Christmas, some are known as Thanksgiving cacti because they bloom early, and some hold off until Easter. Mine bloom best when they are most neglected, especially if I've left them outside over the summer and neglected to bring them in until frost is imminent.
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My car was left in the driveway and had frost over the back window.
So, I am supposed to bring what's left of my Christmas Cactus indoors?

Okay, I will.

There is a daylight lamp I can put next to it.

And maybe feed it.
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I don't think I've ever fed mine lol
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I am going to have a talk with it.
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Nacy, that’s brilliant.
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Ours is obviously a Thanksgiving cactus. Its right up almost touching an east window. I usually forget to feed them.

I want a salmon one too and have a place I will try one when I can find it. I've never put one outside.
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My sad uncooperative Christmas cactus has been on my screened porch since spring, receiving plenty of natural sunlight. We haven’t had our first freeze yet, though that should happen this week, so it’s been outdoors with light all season. I did the putting it in a closet for provoking blooms, as I’ve done several times. No matter, it’s still green and bloomless as it’s always been. I’m pretty convinced it’s a dud. My dad used to say for frustrating garden plants “it needs to be fertilized with Roundup” ha! I haven’t gone that far, but I’m definitely giving it the side eye
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I don’t know why mine bloom at all. One was a rescue from my DD. All the leaves from the soil to about 6” up have cat gnaw marks. The other we found in the basement when we finally moved in 4 months after buying the house. I think it had lived down there, all alone, without attention. I’m glad they left it but I wish they had taken the piano.
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Peasuep,
About sprinkler systems.
A neighbor did not turn off or adjust their sprinkler system at winter time.
They would go on at 4:00 a.m., overflow the walkway, and freeze into a section of ice, causing a slip and fall hazard on the walkway.
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Maybe I will buy a Christmas Cactus to keep the other one company.
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Good one, Send. I’m going to start a notebook to remind myself next summer when I’m schlepping hoses and practicing my sailor language!
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We had quite a rain/wind storm here last night. I went out in the deluge to drag a big Redwood branch off the driveway but today I need to walk around the property to assess damage. Thank goodness DD gave me a good pair of tall rubber boots and a small chainsaw as housewarming gifts.
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Most of it hit North of us, Nacy. I heard that there are power outages and flooding Portland to Seattle and on the coast.
Not bad at all here, just a few limbs down. The silver lining for me is that most of the remaining leaves were blown off the trees at once so a couple hours of blowing between showers and I should have them off the driveway and down in the ravine.

I hope your neighbors get their burnt roof tarped before your rain hits. I feel so bad for them - their holidays are not going to be very pleasant.
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It’s time to pull out the garden design books!
I like this time of year when I don’t feel pressure to work outside so I have time to plan the big things I need to do next year. It’s also good to note and reflect on what I accomplished this year, otherwise it’s hard to see progress.
Next year is going to be a big ‘surface’ year. I need to start putting aside $ for gravel and compost and figuring out how many cubic yards I will need of each. I am really, really bad at that. I mean REALLY.
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My garden designs consist of ….that’s pretty , let’s plant and see if that lives .
I do pay attention to shade and sun etc .
But my successes are hit or miss . I’d guess 70% success rate .
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Way, that’s a good way to garden and I should try it.
Most everything here is viewed from a distance so I use the ‘squinty blob’ technique. I point my eyes toward a bed and squint, then try to imagine the general shape and foliage color and texture that will look good with what’s already there. The problem with that is I’m actually planting for the next owner unless I buy everything BIG.
Maybe I’m going at it backwards……
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My garden is like Way’s. “Ooooooo pretty. Where can I put you?” Except the poor plant trembles with fear.
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I am learning about garden evolution since moving here. It’s not a concept I’m comfortable with yet. It’s my own fault that I’m making it hard on myself…in a way. Our forest is OLD and regenerating. We lost two trees uncomfortably close to the house the first year because they were unhealthy, having started in the understory and never reaching the sunlight. So I had a tree company come in and take out 16 more that were doomed to fail. They also selectively cut limbs of the some of the giant trees to protect them from wind. The result is more sun on the beds and some unhappy shade plants. Oh well. I should get good at it just about the time I can’t do it anymore!
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As gardens/lots get older you really have to do some clean up work - trees especially. We have lots of poplars at the lake and they only last so long. It can be a safety issue. R has taken down many. The back of the lot is relatively tree free so will be the best place for a veggie garden. I want woodland/shade flowers in the treed part. And roses and delphiniums and hostas where ever they will grow!

My garden at the house changed a lot over 40 years. We started with nothing in front but a small fence which we knocked down. Now there are two corner beds with junipers and some flowering plants, and a couple of fir trees, and a Mountain ash - nice for colour. Right in front of the deck are roses and japanese anemones which I want to plant at the lake as well. The back has changed to be trees and shrubs, hardy roses and a few perennials - low maintenance but the Manitoba maple is a pain. The main tree is nice but the seedlings grow everywhere. Someone else's problem now.

Moving the hellebore discussion here - I don't know how well it will do as a house plant, but I believe it's possible to keep it going indoors till next spring. Then it could go out on the balcony or get planted at the lot. It's a bit cold for them here but in a sheltered location it may do OK. Worth trying I think. Meanwhile they remind me of my japanese anemones which is nice and, thankfully the cat is losing interest in it.

Love hoyas too. We have one slip from R's uncle - a regular green one and the variegated one we picked up the other day. Uncle M has fluorescent bulbs in his garage (which he uses as a greenhouse) and plants grow like crazy in there. Apparently the parent hoya is all over the place. Looking forward to the hoyas blooming. I want a couple of anthuriums and african violets. I think they will bloom if placed by the windows.
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Golden, your lake property sounds like a great place to play. Are there already native woodland things growing? Is there a lot you can keep or are you starting from scratch? Do you have to fight deer? It doesn’t sound like it if you’re putting in roses and hostas.

I leave the veggie gardening DD. She built some great raised beds last year and is learning as she goes. Over the years in the high desert we narrowed down our vegetable gardening to tomatoes, herbs, zucchini, rhubarb and incredible beets. Seems those things really like sandy, volcanic soil. I wouldn’t know where to begin with veggies here in this sloppy clay even if we didn’t have to compete with the deer.

The first house I bought had large Mountain Ash trees on both sides of the front walk. Beautiful trees especially in the Fall but it wore me out trying to keep the crushed berries from being tracked into the house.
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Just saw this.

Psue - nothing very interesting - more weeds than anything and poplar trees and tansy. There probably are some Alberta roses which are worth keeping. In the area there are nice wildflowers like Prairie lilies and Canadian anemones. I don't think there are any deer. We never saw any over the years.

Raised beds are great. I'm sure your dd will do well with them. You had lovely veggies at your old house. There are veggies that grow in clay soil.

Love Mountain ashes. Our berries stay on the tree and look lovely when the snow falls. I wouldn't care for cleaning them up off the driveway.

I am so excited that my hellebore has lovely seed pods - about 8 to a flower head. Apparently you have to sow them as soon as they ripen. They don't keep/store well and they can produce plants which flower in different colours from the parent plant. You know I have to try this.

Down to 3 catalpa seedlings and I think one is on it's way out. The attrition in nature is so high, I am not discouraged, but expect this. Hopefully we will save one or two. If not I will start again with fresh seeds. I have learned a few things about what they like and don't like.
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Golden, I am pretty sure the wild rose I had in my high desert garden was an Alberta rose. It was in the wrong place and I tried to move it but the transplanted part died and the original plant resprouted with vigor! So I let it go and trained it into a tree rose and it was gorgeous; honestly one of my favorite things in my jewel box garden.
I googled prairie lilies - they’re beautiful. Very striking. I wonder if they would grow down here.
I have a bed of anemones but they are not the compact variety you speak of. They are tall and pink and I have to shoo the deer away from the buds. They grow in a bed with forgot-me-nots, a variegated grass and the native pink bleeding heart which is a really pretty combination. I can’t take credit for it though; that goes to the previous owner.

Thats so awesome about your hellebores! I’ve never propagated them from seed - - I’ve never propagated anything but vegetables and blue flax from seed. I think you need to have an ultra-green thumb to be successful, which you clearly do. Oh wait….moon flowers. I’ve grown them from seed but eradicated them from my garden when my GD was a toddler and prone to eating things she shouldn’t.
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In the New Year,
I am thinking about starting a miniature terrarium garden in tiny corked bottles for indoors.

Less physical labor, less watering. It could be a good hobby.
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🤔🙂🌸
I beg your garden?
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psue - missed your last post here. I think the Alberta roses are pretty tough. I have seen pale pink and also dark pink ones. The Prairie lily has quite a wide range so they may grow where you are. The Japanese anemone I had are not compact but grow on slim stems and wave in the breeze They are like wood anemones and white. Pink would be beautiful. That bed sounds so lovely.

The hellebore is a phoenix. It sat for a while and looked dead so I asked R to clean out the roots so we could use the pot for the seeds. It was too root bound so we stuck the seeds in and they did nothing. But, I saw a small green shoot rising out of the old plant and brought it to his attention. "I pulled about 30 of those out when I was trying to get the root out", says he. "Aaargh," says I. "If there is life I always give it a chance."

So I kept it watered and that shoot died but not too long after another raised it's head and I now have 4-5 very healthy looking fresh green shoots a few inches high growing in the pot. Think what it would have been like with 30 more!!! I'm looking forward to seeing what it does. maybe it will even flower.

Two of the Catalpa seedlings are surviving. I think they have gone dormant as they haven't changed since December. I am hoping they will revive in the spring. If not we will germinate more seeds.

send - a terrarium would be great! Are you really going to try it? Less big muscle activity and more small muscle activity.

My poor spider plant is the object of kitty love. She so misses the outdoors and is crawling onto it and sitting or lying in it each day for a while, as well as munching on a few leaves. It's a bit flattened but is surviving. She nearly chomped a Christmas cactus flower but I caught her in time.
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nacy - That's interesting about your cat going crazy over a palm tree. I hope your mom likes it and it survives. 🌴

Forgot to add that I have a poplar tree growing in my living room. My Schefflera (umbrella plant) is over 6' tall and needed some support or R said he could bring me a shoot he cut out of the farm lawn. Great!

The shoot is over 6 " tall and straight. We stuck it in the pot and forgot about it until I noticed a crown of green leaves at the top of it. I have a tall lamp with a grow light in it and it seems the poplar shoot loves it. I think I will just leave it there and hope it doesn't grow too much.
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I also have a super tall schefflera hanging out indoors for the winter, it’s about 8 feet or so, one of the few I’ve brought in that doesn’t seem to mind the natural gas heat. My other one is in the garage. I literally sawed it off with one of hubby’s saws a few years ago. It came right back with new growth in no time. They have a real will to live
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😉
If the world ends,
I'll be in the garden, busy gardening.
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daughter - that sounds like one big plant and very strong. I never knew they could grow outside in the spring and summer. I may put one out on the balcony this spring and see what happens.

boj - good way to go!
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Going to need therapy to figure this one out.

We want to attract pollinators.
We want to attract bugs that eat mosquitos.
We may want to attract bees (if we are not allergic).

Searching for plants to attract dragonflies (they eat mosquitos),
I ran across this:
These plants attract dragonflies, including ones that also attract the insects they prey on.


Attract more bugs?

I may need to go back and reread that.
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