Buddha Belly Bamboo

It's true nature is beginning to reveal it's self. It's my understanding that this
plant needs to be stressed a bit in order to form it's distinct 'Belly' characteristics.
A year pot bound and almost a year in the ground to where it will get stressed
by it's relatively dryer conditions should be enough of stress to kick it in 'Belly'
mode. Not to mention an extended dry and heat wave that gave it that only
added that one two push. Time will tell.

Blackberry Lily - Iris domestica (formerly known as Belamcanda chinensis) aka Leopard Lily

First time blooming this year. Set against my being distracted with a 

building project going on I didn't even notice the commencement of these

blooms similar to the one shown in the first picture.

This tall bloom must be close to four feet. Didn't see that one coming
either. With our daily rains to, you would think that this plant to had
benefited from our generous rain fall.

Pictures of an opened specimen soon to follow.

The Last Blooming Amyrilla Never Ending

First there was this one taken on May 27th, which is ridiculously late in the
season.

 

Second one sided but that picture got lost in a phone reset and even though I

swear that I had loaded it onto my PC.

For the record, it looks similar to the one above but set back and to the left.

First week of June to best recollection.

Today I see several more blooms which blows a way my Last Bloom

observations. For the keen eyed observer , you will find a new bud in

the background to the Amyrilla shown in the foreground.

 

I see at least three more buds in this picture, taken today on Jun 10th.

Spaghetti Squash Update2

Nearly two and a half
weeks later and a weeks
worth of rain. Viola!

Putting down a pad of
newspaper for it's
reading pleasure? Not!

Another spritz of milk
to keep at bay, powdery
mildew, for the few
leaves that remain.
Just long enough to
sustain these babies to maturity, only to be eaten by another.

Gave these a much needed boost of nitrogen as these fruits suck the life out
it's life giving life form.

My Exclusive Camry Potting Bench

This car is twenty years old, so what's another scratch.

Still have to pot up those tomato cuttings and not shown
are two other candidates for division and repotting.

Spaghetti Squash Update

Don't be fooled by my Bee illustration above, a real
one is located underneath the illustration but only out
of focus and looking a lot worse than intended.

I tried to capture this busy bee who had all of these
blooms to visit, to show what a fortunate bee this must be.
Just weeks ago I had hundreds if not thousands of bees
in close proximity. I think if they stuck around these here
blooms would have been a great practice for the new bees...hint
hint.

Couldn't help wonder if this bee might have been left behind when
our colony of bees decided to move on.

Powdery Mildew is rearing it's ugly spottiness. Started to spray with a
watered down powdered milk in hopes to keepin it from getting much worse.
This is the first time using milk and it smells good, well like milk. I was
directed to spray this when the sun is out and didn't have any adverse
consequences.   The sun doesn't burn off the dew until after ten in the
morning which doesn't help matters along with the fact that this plant in
general is prone to powdery mildew. Needless to say not watering the leaves
will help to.

What's gardening without it's challenges.

80% Chance ... Is A Big Motivator

Last night's chance of rain motivated me into a lot of gardening
tasks. The past week I've been gathering up supplies needed that
were not on hand to complete these intentions. As the clouds
darkened the skies as predicted. Remember, 80% chance!

Imagining what could benefit from a nice sip of rain water.
But why stop there when we can add some of today's find
of Kelp liquid fertilizer. Yup, you heard it here. Hey, not only
can humans benefit from Kelp's nutrients. Why not make it
available to our plants.  

If that wasn't enough, an expected package of rock dust, alleged
pulverized overburden left overs from a once active Glacier. This
product was ground down to the consistency of ground cinnamon.
Making it, in time more readily available and complimenting our
potted medium's bio mass.

Throw in a bag of composted material other than from my own.
We are adding more diversity of nutrients that normally would
be found locally. My own compost is in progress and got shot of
this trifecta of ingredients, which may be better at digesting these
foreign ingredients, as it morphs into some black gold. 

An hour in my chair underneath my carport dividing pots of orchids,
ferns and repotting my Cacoa tree. The need to share this new bounty
of new ingredients is another motivating factor to all of the potted plants
that have managed to survive this solitary confinement existence.

A sip of Kelp a bite of compost. The only missing thing is, some rain.

Well the rain never came but what transpired in this time frame was
better than what could have fell out of the sky.

If only plants could talk.