Meet the Queens: (with Biggie and Smalls)

Introducing Biggie, Smalls, MoMo, Queenie, and Pot-Pot aka Jewelz

Two weeks ago we planted our first seeds for the season.  (Our in ground planting experiments were an epic failure to say the least, but that’ll be a later post.)  Last week, my daughter thought that our Queen Sophia Marigolds needed names. Completely a spur of the moment creation, I simply cut the paper and wrote the names as Justice spouted them off.

These are the best names EVER!   (My 29-year-old brain could never have chosen better names.)

A day later 4-year-old Justice changed her mind about the name Pot-Pot, and wanted to call it Jewelz.  The Sharpie and I agreed it was too late.  If you’re wondering why… I’m 5’2″ and I need a ladder to reach my marker collection, as Justice has artist tendencies.   Needless to say,  she continues to correct me every time I call it Pot Pot.

What a great idea  

Now we can easily keep track of which Queen is our most successful and possibly by the end of the season we can determine why.   All planted under exact circumstances.

There are no differences other than pot size. Which is significant, because it is a huge factor that needs to be considered when planting.

Like myself, many novice gardeners go and buy the cutest ‘lil pots that coordinate well and are totally in style, yet may have no business in your garden!  It all depends on what we plant in the pot after all.

In this case size does matter

…and we are gonna make sense of it this year.   Last year,  I stunted the growth of all of our flowers due to over planting and the use of small pots for plants that needed more space to grow.

Lesson learned.  This year we will discover exactly which size pot is best for the Queens.

MoMo has grown to what I call “massive status” in the last week. He’s ready to bloom already!  I can’t wait to show the updated pictures of MoMo. I’m not sure why but I keep calling MoMo a “him”… I think these names have actually given our plants personality… MoMo must be our Drag Queen!

Biggie is actually our smallest plant to date.

It’s gonna be an exciting season:)

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Enchantment Mix Cosmos

2011©Jennifer Martinez

The Enchantment Mix Cosmos took off faster than any other we planted this year.  A beautiful addition to a struggling garden.  I misread the Burpee seed packet: 4′ (feet) but I thought it said 4″ (inches) so I planted them in our smallest pots.  It didn’t take long to realize that these babies had out grown their intended size within the first few weeks after planting.  Oops.  Oh well, they are still our most healthy flowers to date.

The smaller pots stunted the growth of our Cosmos for the most part, however they have been our most productive plant this season.  I read online that Cosmos are generally wild growing flowers.  That is so true.  My initial plan was to keep them against our side wall that leads up to our front porch.  The area gets good morning sun and shade in the mid afternoon.  It was good for about 2 months, however once the flowers started blooming and the stems continued to grow taller and taller (2-4 feet) the tops started leaning.  I mean REALLY leaning. I’m talking V8 style lean.  Drove myself nuts trying to decide what I did wrong.   So a bit more research online and I understood the problem.

As a garden newbie and former black thumb, I assume that since these plants were tall they would benefit from the wall they rested upon. WRONG.  Basically the opposite is true.  What our tall and lanky Cosmos needed was more sunshine and wind.  That’s right, wind.

It scared me at first honestly, because I just knew that I’d regret moving the pots based on something I read online. But thank you to the random person on a random forum that lead me to find the saviors of our beloved babies.  Wind and sun.  What the wind does is make the stems stronger and thicker to be able to support blooms.  Exercise… it’s like Cosmo Calisthenics:)

So we moved the pots to the edge of the yard where they now enjoy full sun and wind all day.  Okinawa has no shortage of wind and rain so we’re in luck.  Speaking of rain, the Cosmos can go without water for longer than most other plants.  As long as they get a bit of aqua now and again they will do their own thing.  Not drought resistant though, because they will curl up and die after a week.  Mostly the blooms last 4 days before a new one takes it’s place.

From spring to autumn (that is if Okinawa had 4 seasons…) here is the gallery.  Click any image to enlarge.

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Time to go Carpet of Snow :(

2011©Jennifer Martinez

We’re back online and trying to catch up on all the progress we’ve made in our Okinawa garden.  We haven’t given up on our gardening duties but I’ve been too busy to blog.  Although to mark our success and failures we took plenty of pictures. We will NOT make the same mistakes next planting season.

If I knew when & where we went wrong, we may have may have actually had a Carpet of Snow.

What I know:

1.We did follow instructions to keep the plant in half sun/half shade.

2.The Alyssum grew fast and started to become very full. Which makes sense because they are ground cover/spreading  plants.  The flowers that did bloom were tiny and looked like a much smaller version of the picture on the Burpee seed packet.

3. At one point I pulled a dying piece out during thinning and may have damaged root. (Not to mention I waited a month too long to thin.) However this was only in one of the 3 pots.

4. We had a series of over water / under water indecisiveness… thanks to internet searches.

5. The pretty, bright green petals that once were… quickly dried, curled,  and shriveled up until falling off completely.

6. Taking matters into my own hands I decided I’d add more soil mixed with Miracle Gro Blood Meal.  Now I had no clue what it needed to survive so I gave it a shot. This unopened bag of organic matter was just staring me in the face.

Conclusions or lack there of … we’ll call my best guess

Theory 1: Unknowingly sentencing the Alyssum to death by over crowding pots that were too small to begin with.

Theory 2: Planting a few months too late.  The Okinawa heat is NO JOKE! We are much closer to the equator than North America, where this flower is said to bloom very well with little effort.  So this leads me to believe that if we had given the Alyssum an earlier start closer to March/April instead of June/July they may have thrived.

Theory 3: Alyssum do not do well with organic matter Blood Meal.  (Note to self: research the effects of this product on this plant)

After countless attempts to bring back a struggling plant… I gave up.

Time to let nature take it’s course and see what happens.  While the plant is still green, it’s dried up and very unhappy.  No blooms, no foliage, no leaves, no petals; just a maze of little twiggy green stems.  Looking more like an ugly weed.

However I’ve noticed that there are beautiful weeds that fool me into watering them!  Weeds really do get a bad wrap. Although since I’ve quit maintaining the Alyssum pots, I’ve noticed that weeds are starting to grow freely.  (Notice the clovers and other strange growth in the last few pictures below) Really we could play the which plant does not belong game.

Either way the Alyssum adventure is over for us.  At least until next year.

PS. My little helper turned 4 and now could care less about our garden most days. She waters her feet and likes to cut the Zinnias and Cosmos. Which are coming up on the blogroll in the next few posts.

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So let’s take a look at the Alyssum from start to finish:

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez - iPhone 3GS - Diptic App

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

2011©Jennifer Martinez

The Strong Survive? We Shall See

Alyssum Carpet of Snow

First to bloom were  the Alyssum and they seem to be holding up well so far.  The seed packet says they are spreading plants and are good for use as a ground cover.  Once they take off I have a feeling we may not be able to see the pots anymore!  We shall see.

2011©Jennifer Martinez - Shot on iPhone 3GS - Collage designed on Diptic App

Viola Helen Mount

After all other Violas drown in flooded pots from Tropical Storm Maeri, we were left with a sole survivor (below left).  For a few days it thrived. This plant has sprouted taller than expected and is very sturdy.  The stem is very stiff and strong like a tree trunk.

Not capturing a photo during the week after the storm is disappointing to me, because it was truly a beautiful plant.  Honestly I took its rapid growth for granted assuming if it’s this pretty today just think what next week will bring. By the time my camera snapped it was too late.  The leaves had started turning a lighter colored green and thinning out.  It’s not looking good for our survivor.

But… we shall see.

2011©Jennifer Martinez - Shot on iPhone 3GS - Collage designed on Diptic App

The small specks of green growth (above right) are new violas sprouting  in the same soil. Replanting plans got put off by our daily life and we never got around to emptying these dainty tin pots.  Before we new it new life had shown its beautiful face!

Snowdrift Marigold Stems Turn White

After researching what could possibly turn a flowers stem white, I came up short. Rephrasing that 10 times or more and searching through tons of articles all contradicting each other, I quit.  Not the first time that internet research has failed me.  Makes me think it’s time to take a trip to an old-fashioned place we call the Library.

2011©Jennifer Martinez - Shot on iPhone 3GS - Collage designed on Diptic App

What I was able to determine is that one of the following is probably true:

1. Too much water
2. Not enough Water
3. A case of Root Rot (moldy soil and roots, etc) which is a huge possibility due to the humidity in Okinawa, however the soil seems well-drained and dry 2 inches below the surface.
4. Mites (which are nearly invisible to the human eye) are destroying our prize marigolds.

We will keep a close eye on our previously favored plants and try to determine what is causing this ugly white stem. Hopefully we can solve this problem before it’s too late.  But again, we shall see.

Note to self: No more playing favorites.  All flowers are created equal.

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Resist the Urge

Two days without watering with the hose & the rain has come again… big time!

It’s been tough since planting last month. The rain has fallen extensively since Typhoon Songda and then Tropical Storm Maeri.

Previously watering once or twice per day due to the heat quickly drying out the soil. Until we noticed leaves turning a lighter shade of green and a few edges starting to brown.

2011©Jennifer Martinez - shot on iPhone 3GS

Honestly, I am unsure what is normal when growing plants and flowers, but instinct and a bit of internet research tells me they need to dry out a bit.

Rain and then hose water maybe too much.  Granted we only watered with the garden hose on days when the rain was a mere sprinkle, but who knows… We definitely don’t want to drown our new sproutlings.

Resist the urge to water, at least for a few days.

2011©Jennifer Martinez - shot on iPhone 3GS

Moving out of the Danger Zone

2011©Jennifer Martinez - shot on iPhone 3GS

The only thing to do was try to dump the water out without spilling too much soil and prop the pot up to allow the water to drain out faster.

2011©Jennifer Martinez - shot on iPhone 3GS

Double Edged Sword

The Good News: the garden hose allows me to stay in control

The Bad News:  learning to give up said control at the sporadic whim of Mother Nature

Tropical Storm Meari Proves Fatal

Our garden was off to a great start. Giving credit mostly to the moisture in the air and warm weather in Okinawa. Quickly I’m learning that this weather can be a double edged sword. With the close enough to the equator sun on one side and the flood our garden mid-afternoon monsoons on the other.   (Combined with tropical storms and typhoons… don’t forget we live smack dab in the middle of Typhoon Alley!)

Weeks of Drought

Both beds full of potted seeds growing faster than expected.  Proper amounts of sunshine, shade, and hose water daily. The first 2 weeks after planting we had no rain, and we’ve used the hose more often than expected. 

Days of  Wind and Rain

The everyday moisture and humidity is wonderful majority of the time. The rain helps until it floods the pots and the ground underneath.  Then the sun returns in full force soaking up every nutrient the plant was given in a matter of hours.

Due to the fact that I’ve never gardened before, it’s extremely hard for me to tell if the plants are waterlogged under the soil.  If the top soil is the only remaining dry spot or if it’s dry all the way through.  The soil has sunk down and settled into a compact mud that cracks at the first sign of sun.  It feels soft when I push my thumb into the dirt, unfortunately I don’t know what any of it means.  If only I could see what is really going on inside the pots within the soil.

Quickly I’m learning that if not careful this heavy rainfall, followed by high heat can be dangerous and life threatening to our poor little plants.  At the moment it’s just tough to tell what they need. It’s not as simple as wet and dry soil. For now, I’ll need to do some research on how to keep our new garden progressing.

 

Day 3: Pot Shopping

Shot with iPhone - 3GS 2011©Jennifer Martinez

Rained out again today, however we did get a few things accomplished.  Shopped for flower pots and supplies. Researched a bit to try to find a quick fix for our water drainage problem… nothing yet.

Shot with iPhone 3GS - 2011©Jennifer Martinez

My first idea was to possibly elevate the garden either with levels of rock & soil, like a filtration system of sorts and surround the bed with a fancy, solid fence type thing (maybe called a border, idk).  Thinking that maybe I could poke a few holes in it and use plastic piping with in & out holes to let the water disperse itself out.  To drain both out of the flower bed and into the drier soil areas of the bed.  Since water travels along the path of least resistance I’d think this would work.

However my husband thinks the rocks will flood up, and spill out every time it rains, defeating the purpose of my idea… so I’m stumped for the moment. It was difficult to google a solution, especially since I don’t know the proper terminology to search! One day I hope I know the answer to all of these questions.  If my gardening grandmothers, Charlotte and Tina, weren’t thousands of miles away in the USA,  I’d call them knowing for sure they’d have good solutions.  It’s tough to get ahold of them because even in this new day and age, neither of them is on Facebook! I may have to bust out the good ‘ol fashioned pen and paper.

Slim selection of flower pots and none of the rectangle pots that I’d prefer to use.  The prices are steep; the cheap, uglies are still $5 plus and the tiny ones are of no use to me at all.  All the colors are very neutral and that’s ok for me, but the nice ones start around $40.  I think I’ll save the fancy shmancy stuff for when we actually own a home, and aren’t limited by the rules of the base housing.

Next,  a slideshow of  some of the pots that may be options for our first flower beds. Also Jiffy Pot instructions for reference:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The reason I’m looking at pots… While I originally planned our garden to grow directly from the ground… I am basically considering all options to solve  the issue of water draining off the roof and into the bed and potentially flooding our new seedlings.  I’d like to at least say I was able to grow flowers before they die. Chances are as soon as I think I’ve got it, a typhoon will sweep through.  But, I really hope not.

Let my flowers GROW… 

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