Creeper (Aptenia cordifolia)

Aptenia Cordifolia May 23, 2017

I don't have any original picture of this fun succulent creeper Aptenia Cordifolia when it was in it's pot. But back in it's hay day, this plant was in a pot and it would overgrow the sides and spill out. I would trim it back every winter, and it would start doing the same thing by spring. It was glorious.

This was of course back in our condo, we had an upper balcony that had sun almost all day but mostly afternoon/evening at peak hours of the day. I couldn't really grow flowers as I couldn't keep up with the amount of watering they were requiring. So I went all succulent to make it a little easier on myself. Which is how I found this guy.

I purchased it along with a bunch of other succulents the year we moved into the condo summer 2013 and have been it's keeper ever since. It did not do well in the move to Mission Viejo however, it was forgotten about a lot and unfortunately shrank down to nothing and was on the verge of death, it looked pretty pathetic. I decided since we had so much land available now, I'd put this little guy into the ground, fertilize, and see how it does.

So two months ago I placed it in a nice open area behind our mini water fountain. My hope was that it would eventually not only recover, but creep all over this open space back here and bloom it's pretty hot pink flowers. It has been two months and I am very pleased to see this little plant on the mend. Although it has not expanded it's territory much yet, it did recover it's lost foliage and is blooming (always a good sign). Will check back in after few more months and see how it's doing!

Aptenia Cordifolia July 23, 2017 (after 2 months)

My First Trip to Green Thumb Nursery

Through an OC gardening Facebook group I heard really good things about Green Thumb Nursery in Lake Forest. My husband and I have been on the lookout for an avocado tree (a very specific variety) so I thought I'd head over and take a look.

Green Thumb Nursery, Lake Forest, California.

It's a wonderland of magical healthy plants and gardens (and waterfalls which my 3 year old loved). It was terribly hot, I could have stayed for over an hour or more for sure but with the sun and kids, I had to be as quick as possible. But it was OH SO FUN.

Though I did find many varieties of avocado trees I did not purchase one. Decided to think on it more and do a little more research. But I did not walk out of there empty-handed! This flower I'd never heard of, the tag read Anchusa, it was $2.99 and covered in bees! Since my cucumbers had been having a few issues with pollination (lost some fruit that yellowed and fell off). I thought this was worth it try near my garden so I bought two. It was super pretty purple. The best part is the bees, it always has bees on it. In fact they were following me around while I was trying to plant it!

Anchusa (July 3, 2017)

 Also awesome trip because I finally found Persian Cucumbers! Had I know they were here all along I would have never wasted my time planting Japanese Cucumbers. Now I bought these and I have no room in my ground in-ground garden so I decided I'd have to figure out a pot situation for them. I didn't need this many, but I had to buy the pack. I ended up using 2 plants (technically 4 as each pocket has 2 plants), I gave one set to a friend, and the rest to my newphew who has taken up an interest in gardening lately.

Persian Cucumbers (July 3, 2017)

Several weeks after this trip I ended up finally buying a Earth Brown planting box. It was based on a "wicking" watering system. Which is where the bottom tray of the box is filled with several inches of water that eventually soaked up into the top soil through the "wicking" process. So the only watering you do is filling it up from a tube off the side so there is always water available for the plants. I also bought a small ladder trellis. This all may be for nothing, not sure if this will work or not but I am excited to try.

Earth Box Trial - Persian Cucumbers (July 11, 2017)