Looks Like

 I have a New Year's cactus. Who knew?

To my knowledge there are varieties that bloom at Easter and Christmas and those like mine that can't

read a calendar, takes on New Years.

Yesterday's Harvest

 another day's feast. This third generation of Summer Sandwich variety from cuttings is still

kicking it.

After a rough start, one of two possibilities, new potting mix that was allegedly from scratch,

as in being composted. I didn't think after getting it home that this compost was ripe enough.

The other factor might also have to been about the timing, as in season when these cuttings 

were put into this new medium.  The cuttings struggled in getting established, even with a

healthy set of roots that were water born. The growth of these cutting were slow and in my

eye, not healthy looking, as if they had a bad case of wilt.

The constant gardener that I am only took it as a challenge and motivated to get these cuttings

to produce, no matter what. Not matter how easy tomatoes grown from seed can be, they are

not always with a challenge.

You might ask, was it worth it...oh yeah! 

After cutting back this year's plants back to a salvageable scrappy bunch. I even planted some

new seeds along for insurance from this late Fall batch of tomatoes you see above. Also I've taken 

some cuttings from a two year old second generation cutting of this same variety.  

 

                      Snap shot of my indoors prop collection, tomato cuttings at bottom.

You see a pattern

here on how great this tomato is to me and what's gardening if there aren't challenges.

Orchid Showing Off?

 

Who is doing the showing off, me or the orchid?

Two Monstera Pups

 are better than one. I was beginning to wonder if they were going to any?

This monstera bromeliad lived up to it's naming reference. 

Five or six years in the making, if my memory serves me right. 

    

        Years ago a frog would be making the same perch but free to come and go as they please.

Yesterday's Success Or Folly

 Late in to our  Fall most growing things come into a slow down that meets with

our natural dry season. For me it means its time to test out new themes and or changes

in the landscape.

I sometimes beg for a change in my local landscape to help get into the mind of wanting

a change in my every day life,  no matter how minor or grand that might lead to.

Some people might rearrange furniture, you might get the idea.

This patch was covered with oak tree suckers as thick as a mat, a well trimmed mat mind you.

The short blue agave pups sprouting just past that large parent, barely shown above the mat

of mat suckers, until yesterday that is.  Having come back from a bicycle ride and I don't how 

you might get your ideas, mine are what I refer to pictures in my mind that lets me know what 

in this case what this patch will look like in the very near future, if that makes sense. 

I trimmed back the mat of oak suckers to give light and a visual impact to the young agave.

This spill over Blue Juniper that is still in it's pot is the second element to this transformation.

Along with some selective trimming this looks like it will be it's inground forever spot for this

spilt juniper.

All For The Love

 of Jack, that is Jack Fruit, as in Jack Fruit Tree that I started from seed.

When I learned that these trees grow fast, they weren't kidding. Last year 

this time It gets a similar lop off, standing nearly the same height as last

year at over twenty feet tall and instead of a single trunk there were two.

This time I had trimmed and tied it to reach my ideal of what I envisioning

and we did not disappoint, so says the constant gardener. Actually, the tree

had no say in this gardener's whim? No, just happens to be good at trimming

that a lot gardeners can never get enough of practice, imo.

 

 Every sculpture usually has at least one good side, and I would say that this is it. For those that

are not in the know, Jack is in the middle.

This pic shows where it was lopped off  and if you look closer you will see the tie backs. I

also took advantage of some of the drooping growth and trimmed around those to emphasize

this droop effect. Like an excellent hair trimming, one should not notice a trim and from this

view it looks pretty normal, if you ask me.

This trimming, sculpting did it's magic and in a day or two I will rub some dirt onto the bright

white cut  point at the top to not only darken up the unnatural cut point but let the bacteria 

in the soil do it's magic, to aid in the cuts healing.

Just one of many fruiting bodies over the past year that have yet to actually mature into it's iconic

humongous fruit known in this world. This stage has managed a minor sweet fragrance that only

adds to it's exotic nature. The size shown without a banana for scale, it's length about the size of 

an apple.

Foggy

 looking doesn't always mean that it is foggy out.

 

 

This foggy appearing photo gave me pause when I took a peek at it, to just how well the photo

and my intent came out. Looking at this picture and saying to myself, hey it's not foggy out and 

proceeded to wipe the lens, plural, there are three lenses.

 

Something portrait photographers did in the day was to smudge their lens with whatever they had

in their bag to create a similar effect. 

This composition was challenging enough, with only a dash off western sun to spotlight the new 

leaf and blossoms, little contrast and yet plenty of texture. While still wanting to record my

modifying this scenery by tilting over the cement pot and giving the pot the cornucopia of plant 

effect and on top of that to make it look like it's always been like this.

Thus presenting the first, hardly spontaneous, late Fall scenes from this constant's gardeners garden.

Hopefully more to come, or not...