Some fine gravel and dried fungus amongst us to add some Bonsai mystique.
Paths will be added and so I will pause....
to provide paths to here and there for those that need some traditional guidance.
While the rest go their merry way, you know who you are.
Oh yeah, that top tier as seen below on this shaggy Cacao has vanished. It was messing
with it's mojo.
Ok you gardening angels, do your magic.
Looking good in royal blue too. From cuttings in water to potted soil.
This Parsley Arailia is one of the best in home or at work potted plant as long as you give
it what it needs, da! And that is, you ask? Lite coarse potting soil, and African Violet
mix does best that as a good mix of perlite. This specimen is prone to root rot, ya you.
Your watering these too much. A lite mix can only do so much.
Last Frog invitation.
New horizons and the best of luck buddy. Your the oldest and I hope the wisest.
The obligatory send off pics in the dead of night and a light drizzle of rain.
Let me introduce the Tad Forest of Props and then some. Tads get a forest-side view.
Latest addition to the props forest is a Violet bush seedling in the forefront and center. Still
have three items in water getting their root on.
I missed Winky's scale up the glass period and catch it in it's mermaid/man pose.
Don't look to close, but Winky is missing it's left eye, hence the name. I know, why bring attention
to this anomaly of sorts. Looking back some earlier pics just at the time it's hind legs were
merging I can now see that it was missing in it's earlier development. BTW this is my oldest froglet in
captivity, coming in at fifty days and only days away to being released to that big urban world
of mine.
Looking good Winky.
My previous ramblings about this potted Cacao tree looking like a Bonsai. Well
that thought planted a seed to take the next step further.
My ulterior motive here
is to lighten the weight of this potted tree and what
better way to than eliminating some dead weight. Starting with a trimmed
down planter, literally speaking. How about some grips, sacrificing an
electrical extension cord and thank you for that! I tried cutting
down the original pot but it was too flimsy. If there is one thing to come out of this
knowing that a plant needs to feel secure and what better way do this is to have a solid
base and to add to that is some secure tie downs until this plant can grow it's own.
That's the plan.
Trimmed planter and some added grips.
Some really gnarley roots and speaking of roots not a whole lot going on there considering the
size planter it was in. That in it's self knocks off at least twenty-five pounds right there. Whoo hoo!
Those engineered grips might be over kill but I have a tendency to over engineer my constructs.
Speaking of engineering, lets gets some tie downs going.
Would you look at that gnarl. Sweet! These tie downs aren't wrapped around the major roots, they
are only angering and will be able to removed at a future date when and if this specimen survives
this whimsy.
Adding some very light and course soil.
Taking a break from this rambling to wrap these grips, fitting of this living sculpture.
Some night photography to get the full picture and conclude this rambling.
for a true authentic Bonsai. I don't think you will hear the Cacao tree complaining.
This afternoon's progress.
If things go south I can always lop off the top tier of this plant should emergency mergers
warrant it.
I must check up on my 54th frog, aka 57thTad and now known as Winky and that's another
whole other ramble *wink wink*.
it would lighten the weight for as many times this pampered plant gets hauled indoors
per season. Five seasons old as of June.
too much.
Number 56 tad being photo bombed by Number 57 in the blur.
Practicing it's hang-ten or should I say hang-six outside the water.
Getting better at this but will have a change of mind and head back into the drink.
Gaining it's confidence back with some underwater hang-six.
Look Ma no tail, just a stubby.
Just chillin at the top.
Freedom, in broad daylight even. Which light do I stare into?
Number 57 now has the place all it's own. Now lets get going on developing them legs.
might have.
Be amazed little one!
Nah...I'll just sit here and chill. Nice!
To my best at accounting of tadpoles. There are fityseven total tads. One
tad went down the kitchen drain. Looking back, as many water changes at the sink,
this could have been prevented by using a strainer in the sink's drain to prevent
this over enthusiastic tadpole mimicking a trout jumping a sluice on my
pouring the tads from their vessel into a net. While three froglets were found floating
dead in the water, of those, two were skeletonize, cannibalistic opportunist!
This Jackfruit tree, one of three is the finest and well what with the limited sun exposure
in my yard. (this double spacing is annoying )
Of the three, this the only one with the tripled lobe leaves. While the other to trees
are just single. These were all started from seed, which could have bearing. Time,
as always ,will tell.
This Elderberry wilding is taking well to potted culture since it was dug up from my
other neighbor's yard. It even has a companion Bald Cypress seedling volunteer
sprout keeping it company.
I have nine mature Bald Cypress that I've planted on my property and they
produce plenty of cones and the squirrels aren't complaining. I could count
the volunteer seedlings on one hand in their twenty plus years life span. So
this rare find could only be a good thing, maybe not for the seedling though.
This Elderberry specimen will test my form over function plant sensibility.
In one word, weedy is how I would describe it.
Their blossoms are legendary and is the main reason for my having this in my landscape.
This flower cutting was taken a couple weeks ago and it is a late season bloom that had
it's first bloom at the beginning of March.
Once again, time will tell if I even have enough sun to make this plant bloom.
If I only had a time machine.
Last weeks observation was worth another peek. To my surprise what I thought
might have been an aborted pup is not only green and vibrant but there are now
three pups instead of three at this Clivia's base.
Bouya!
Didn't think that these two greenies shouldn't have to wait any longer for their release to
the great urban outdoors.
There's no mistaking these for twins, says the red-eyed frog to the ambered eyed one. You're
almost pickle green to I must be getting hungry. Hungry for the great outdoors.
Under the cover of early morning, next to the stately potted Afrocarpus. Home to one other said
frog gets two more.
Now who's greener?
One of these looked for a short bit to as if it was going to get this far.
I had it in ICU for a day with it's buddy.
The one that has accomplished it's hang ten while the dizzy one is splayed out on the ground
with the least effort. Before arriving here it was spin swimming as if it's GPS or inner gyroscope
was on the blink. I didn't this was a fitting ending for a frog in a Talenti container so I scupped
it up and placed it back into it's container high up top the rock. Where it and it's mate chilled
through the transformation with flying green colors as shown above.
The ambered eyed one with all the distinct aberrations might have been one of the several tiny
tads that were part of this school of tads and that brings our total of Fifty-Three and three
more to go where one froglet as already scaled the mighty wall of glass.
will be the Fifty-seventh, if all goes well.
This party will bring the total of forty-six frogs off to a jumping start in life.
We had another tad death, which makes it three and I don't think I was including
them in my total count. An Accountant I am not and this release fell on around
the 7th of August.
First I would like to introduce Bendy the beautiful mermaid tad. First one in the
world that made up this last party. Close your eyes, because it's a stunner. Slowly
open your eyes, less you go blind by it's beauty.
I know, right?
Front end says this way and the back end has other plans and look at those curves. Hey, it got this
far with no problems.
Look you all, no curves, as it mourns, it's uniqueness.
Another night release and entirely new location, side of house next to drive way.
Wow, and you guys thought climbing a sliver of concrete was fun.
Sometimes little hoppers need a helping hand. Notice the begonia leaves, they are from my
graduating class of plant props. So these frogs from the graduating class of fast tracked
home school.
This one was so happy it peed on it's self.
Which brings me to the Plus one. I thought all six had been released and to only find out
that this wee one hopped back on board. As I sat their container on the counter for a rince
and wipe down I spied this guy but it was on the wrong side of the glass, as in on the
outside of the glass. I immediately grab it gently and walked out the back door to be
re-released, hence the Plus One by it's lonesome, next to this beautiful potted Afrocarpus
and that leaves me with five remaining tadpoles, or pollywogs as we would call them when
first introduced to these wee ones, when I was a wee one.
Fresh digs and if you look to the right you will see the next candidate in making that fateful climb.
Or so I thought at the time.
