Showing posts with label indoor plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indoor plants. Show all posts

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Spring Plans

Hi friends, 

Are you all looking forward to spring?  The community gardeners are gearing up and plans must be made because there is a contractual obligation to plant the garden by May 1st.  My nephew's girlfriend is still interested in gardening and so we're trying to get her a plot of her own. We should know soon enough. If she doesn't get one this year she can continue sharing mine. My DH Jonah also loves the garden and takes a walk to the garden and park every day in summer. This year he might also share a roundabout plot with another gardener so we can plant some veggies there.  

I didn't do much in my patio garden last year.  Largely because I heard the strata management was investigating the garden membranes and awaiting a report about whether they need replacement. It seems they do need replacement and one of options for strata members to consider is to do away with the gardens altogether with the exception of what you plant in a container.  Not everyone in the building has a garden that has a retaining walls, dirt and trees like I do. Some people have much smaller patios and no gardens, some have large patios and no gardens, some have enclosed sunrooms and no gardens and some have large patios and a decent sized garden. Over the years it seems like there are more and more rules to follow largely due to critters in the city. We can't even feed the birds or grow vegetables. We can still plant flowers.  I think most people with no garden will not support the idea of replacing everything for those that do because of the cost and also the cost of living increases. I'm okay with this outcome to be honest. I too don't want to be shelling out extra money for a garden I don't really enjoy with the unpredictable climate we've been having year after years for many years now. The decision about the garden will be made soon. In fact I'm surprised I haven't received notice of the Annual General Meeting though it should be delivered any day now.


I loved my garden when it's done well.  But I'm at the point where I really don't want the responsibility of the garden any more.  Not only is the weather very unpredictable but I'm not a natural gardener and I don't keep to a gardener's schedule very well.  I have one bush that has such extensive roots that it's very difficult to grow anything in the rest of the garden. I have another tree, my favourite Dogwood. It died last year after hanging on for several years. I'm not actually sure what happened to it because my neighbours Dogwood has done very well compared to mine but that corner of my garden isn't very good in general for growing as the sun very seldom reaches it and it remains cold a lot of the time. On my neighbour's side, the sun's rays reach her Dogwood tree a good deal of the time.  Perhaps that is why her tree is much healthier. 

There is also the building's structural issues to consider. I understand there are some concerns about the weight of the gardens and the impact on the structure. To be honest, I wondered about that when I first moved in.  Not only is the dirt very heavy, but some gardens like mine have bushes and trees planted in them. When you add the weight of all the watering, it can all get very heavy indeed.  So I've come to appreciate there are lots of good reasons for eliminating the buildings 'planted' gardens.

Indoors there are plans underway for gardening too.  I started buying plant soil so I can replant my succulents and tropical plants. I  got started on the planting but before I can finished I to find some of pots which I stored outdoors.  For now I've cleaned off the mantle. My it sure collected a lot of spilled dirt from the plants over the winter .  I've made do with the pots I had indoors but I may need to repot the one in the terra cotta planter.  I love terra cotta pots and largely use them outdoors.  The colour doesn't go well with the gray, white and black theme on the mantle.


I'm loving my new flameless LED candles.




Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Tuesday 4

 Hi and welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 kept alive in her memory by Annie from Cottage by the Sea.

This week's questions come from Pamela Steiner from Florida and the Open Doors and Closed Windows.

Here are this week's questions and my answers. I hope you will participate too.

1. In what part of the country is your current home located? North, South, East, West, Mid West,
coastal, rural, city, mountains or plains?
 
I live on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in the very far west of Canada. I don't literally live on the edge of the ocean but my city is located adjacent to the ocean.

 
 2. Why did you choose your present home, and how long have you lived there?
 
I chose my present home for many reasons, primarily location, size and view. My home is located in the centre of the city making it handy to get to downtown, the airport, the train station and the Greyhound bus, the latter of which is no longer servicing most of Canada.  It is also situated very handy to public transportation and unlike many who live in condos or in high rises, I have a spectacular view outside my window.  My home, though small, is not nearly as small as many other condos in the city and it came with a larger than normal patio, storage unit and parking spot. I thought all of these features would be great advantages for livability and for resale value. I moved in just before Y2K.

 
3. What do you like the most about your present home?
 
There are so many things to love about my home which is an apartment in a condo building.  I love that I do not have to shovel driveways when it snows or take care of all the exterior maintenance issues or common area issues.  The other things I love most about my home are the location,the big patio garden and the fact that virtually everything I need is within walking distance or a short drive away.




4. If money were no object, is there anything you would change about your present home, or would you keep it just the way it is?
 
There are so many things I love about my home but over the years I've come to feel it is a bit too small for my liking or my needs. I don't want to move out of the city to a find a larger space and I don't want the upkeep of a stand alone home. 
 
The thing I would like most is one more room for crafts and sewing and for overnight guests to sleep when they visit.  An addition to my home is out of the question given I live in a condo building.  If money were no object I would like to replace all the flooring which have mostly been replaced once already during my time here. I would also like to put in radiant heating in the common areas and update the kitchen and bathrooms.  
 
One thing I also miss is having a lot of space for plants.  I love plants of all kinds but one needs floor or shelf space. I'm doing some decluttering, reorganizing and so on to make more space for house plants.  My apartment is too cold and drafty for house plants but I will do my best to keep them alive. Here are some recent plant additions to my home.
 
 
 
Currently I am undertaking very small improvements to make things flow better and make the living spaces more enjoyable.

A view to downtown Vancouver from Spanish Banks.
 
 
 
I'm linking up with Tuesday 4.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

A Bit of Sunshine

We've broken records for rainfall in 2020 and I haven't felt much like taking photos.  When we get a few days of sunshine like we have over the past several days, it is a pure joy.

There were multiple signs of spring on a recent outing.  I don't think I've ever noticed these pussy willows in previous years.




I hurriedly snapped a few photos with my phone's camera of both the pussy willows and the croci.


Croci coming up

Indoors I'm babying these small Fiddle Leaf Fig plants purchased in December.  I've managed to keep them alive through the cold winter months and they will be ready to be repotted in a few weeks time.

Two new leaves have come out since mid-December (the small ones at the top).

When I purchased the two plants this one in the top photo didn't look like it would survive.  The large leaf at the top had some holes in it. I'm not sure what causes the problem but it doesn't seem to have gotten any worse. I've called her Mary.

The other plant looked healthier but was very slow to grow a new leaf. One has come out and a second one has been looking to sprout over the past week or more. It might take awhile longer.  I've called this one Harry and he is a big brother to Mary. 

I've heard it said that one should talk to their plants.  This idea has been around since the late 1800s and has actually been a subject of a small study. You can read more about it here.  I've never been one for talking to plants but I try it now and then. Truth be told, long ago when my late mom started growing indoor plants, she talked to them because she heard from someone that talking to them helped them grow.  She had tremendous success with her plants.


The smaller, lighter green leaf in front is the new one. Can you see the little green shoot coming out?

I'll be linking up with Skywatch Friday this week.

 Thank you for stopping by.

It Was a Spectacular Day! ~ Skywatch

Hello friends and fellow bloggers, It was a spectacular, sunny day where I live. It's still rather chilly from my point of view but the ...