Plantopia

Cacta Sapien is one of my favorites.  I say that about all of them & that’s true, but Cacta is just fun.  Many of my favorite plants are cacti, Ancestor, Spokey, Thankful. Ancestor is a plant that belonged to my grandmother’s grandmother.  I remember sitting next to Ancestor and having conversations with Ki because my grandma had told me that plants like when you talk to them.  The Ancestor I have is a piece that broke off the original that my aunt still has.  I’ve had Ancestor for about 7 years now. Spokey is a cacti that I grew from a seed when I was either a freshman or sophomore in high school and worked in a greenhouse.  At this point in Spokey’s life I have to wear leather gloves to work with ki.  Spokey’s spines are about 3 inches long. Thankful is a thanksgiving cactus that I rescued from clearance, nursed back to health, almost accidentally killed, and then nursed back to health again.  Thankful blesses me with beautiful white blooms several times a year, including right n

 Perhaps the most photogenic of the Asteraceae family, the Sunflower is quite beloved.  Some are big and showy, some are petite and showy. Sunflower was one of the first plants I grew from a seed.  I still love to grow them.  They’re a favorite of my son also. And my daughter.  She actually gave out seeds at her wedding.  It’s interesting to watch a sunflower follow the sun across the sky.  It’s interesting to watch the sprout and grow.  They feed pollinators, they feed birds, they even feed us.  No wonder they are so beloved, they’re super plants.

 Yesterday’s walk was lovely.  We visited some old friends, a feral old pear tree, a lovely myrtlewood tree, some sprightly dandelions, and our favorite yuccas that we fangirl over all the time.  It was threatening rain so a found a bit of material to make a cape for sprout from.

 Today’s adventure was a mushroom walk around our neighborhood.  We didn’t find any fly agaric, you know the pretty red capped mushrooms, but we found plenty of others.  Some were babies just popping out.  Some were sadly ripped out of the ground.  We like mushrooms, they’re very photogenic, and they help plants communicate with each other.  I also believe they are a sign of healthy soil, it means there is is mycelium running through the soil which is always a good thing.

 My Grandma-In-Law loved dahlias.  She had dahlias that she’d had for years & years.  Her yard flooded every winter so in the fall she’d  dig them up & carefully clean and store them in marked paper bags in the garage.  In the spring she’d take them back to their places and replant them with a little composted chicken manure for a snack.  After she passed a granddaughter came and got all the corms.  But every year I add a new dahlia to my yard in her honor.  I have quite a few now, they’ve naturalized in my yard as it doesn’t flood.  They always bring a smile to my face as they remind me of her.

Oldest grandson, the youngest doesn’t hold still long enough. The lovely pear tree. The very productive apple tree. Today we ventured to Sweet Home, OR to visit the grandsons.  They have a great old apple tree & a pear tree in their backyard that we visited with.  They were getting ready to rest after working hard all year producing fruit, so we’ll check back with them in the spring.