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Photos of subjects other than carnivorous plants, such as orchids, landscapes, etc.

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By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#209744
Thank you ironjaws. :) I'm excited for you, I really hope your P. Sethos thrives in the perlite. I'm going to be trying an interesting mix a friend uses for his Mexican pings for that little division in the photos: perlite, silica sand and crushed egg shells. I'll document it and see how it does when I finally get around to repotting.

Bought some really fine grade silica sand, aquarium grade. Looks like pure silica to me, must be inert to be safe for aquariums so I'll see how we go.
By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#210207
Haven't forgotten about this, been a bit up and down. Am hoping to get some photos today of stuff but not rightly sure if up to all the work LOL. I took a photo of Heen, sister's dog, when they visited on Monday so I'll post that in the meantime. She's getting big!

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Biiiiiiiiiiig smile!
By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#210301
Back to original post...

Hey killerplants4realz, thanks for your comments. :) And thank you for the encouragement. Still feeling rather unwell but I'll be absolutely fine, thought it was about time I did another proper update lol.

I forgot to show you all the final "Crater Cake"...
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It was delicious. Nom.

Our weather has been a bit unpredictable lately, we've had the tail-end of an ex-hurricane, torrential downpours, scorching sun... the wildflowers don't seem to mind - though they are natives so it's understandable. It looks like other sprouts are doing well, the corncockle plants are still throwing out flowers, too.
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Last summer my mother took me out in my wheelchair to the local Homebase and we passed swathes of buddleia plants absolutely swarming with butterflies - tortoiseshells, red admirals and peacocks - it was amazing! We have a buddleia "black knight"? in the garden that I chose last year, apparently butterflies prefer darker flowers. Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of these plants and bought a smaller, less invasive variety - it's a dwarf buddleia that only grows to 80 cm high and 70 cm wide, it doesn't reproduce via seed; the name is "blue chip" (it has lilacy-blue flowers)... it's pretty tiny right now but in a couple of years should be a mound of colour. We have a pot in the front garden for it. In the meantime this baby plant is taking refuge in an old orchid pot.
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Can't wait to have this guy grow out! It's already got lots of new shoots.

Indoors, Skatty seems to be feeling a bit like me today.
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And my alpine strawberry plant is still losing fruit, not sure what's going on... I'll try fertilizing it again but I do wonder if its resident shield bug might have had something to do with it; I kept forgetting he was there, or I'd have let him outside sooner. Thankfully he was within easy reach today and finally escaped the dusty palace of my bedroom windowsill. Boy, do I feel for this guy!
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The D. capensis will surely need repotting this spring... what am I going to do with all these? LOL! It seems I've only had capensis 'alba' germinate, although I also planted capensis 'wide leaf'. Oh well - I'm not complaining! Look at them! Big hairy mass of tentacles!
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I have reasonably big hands for a lady of my age and stature, but I thought I'd use them to show you all how big the D. dielsiana have gotten! So thrilled by their progress!
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And... some even more exciting news...
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FLOWER STALK! This is the first seed-to-flower carnivorous plant I have germinated - praise the Lord! Soooo happy with this.

My Mexican Pinguicula are still doing well... one of the many reasons I love these plants is that they don't suddenly keel over if I'm having a flare up of health issues and struggle to water them. Looking forward to repotting and seeing how the divisions do in this new mix I'm thinking about... here are some P. Tina divisions...
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And Beatrice, in all "her" puuuurtiness.
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I'm considering starting a quest to re-acquire a Pinguicula ibarrae... I sent an email to a nursery but didn't get a reply, unfortunately. Hmmm!
Grey, Grey liked this
By bvalente
Posts:  892
Joined:  Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:58 pm
#210400
ironjaws wrote:That crater cake looks delicious!

Heen is just a cutie. Your alba capensis are looking great, as are your pings. I love your updates, they are incredibly entertaining and super clever! Take care, Grey! :D
As soon as I saw the cake I was thinking the same thing :lol: The plants look great! Love the pings :D
bvalente liked this
By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#210965
Back to original post...

Thank you both. :D It brings me great joy to know that you like the photos. I'm going to be changing some album names on Photobucket so there is a mild possibility (strong possibility LOL) that some of them may disappear for a short while... juuuuust so you know. If you spot any please feel free to nudge me about it. Small number of photos today, trying to get back into the habit of updating.

A few days ago we acquired a sofa for our conservatory. Sooo comfy! Skatty loves it and has barely left it since it arrived! I think he even relegated Misi to the floor because he likes it so much. This little guy is going to the vet today to get his heart checked (he has a murmur and they don't know the cause), so here's hoping he'll be all right. He's purry, as always.
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Both Drosera dielsiana have flower stalks now. I've read an article that states many D. dielsiana plants are actually D. natalensis... to be honest I can't tell the two apart but I bought dielsiana so I assume that's what I have. I find it curious how they are coloured differently despite growing in the same spot. You can see a tiny dielsiana under the leaves of the plant on the right. I'm considering repotting these plants in the spring into a smaller container because all the plant life in this pot is growing in one place, so it seems like a shame to keep them in that massive pot. Not sure about the recommended depth for this species. Any ideas?
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And the Drosera capensis are a messy... mess as ever!
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P. Tina division; I have three of these, they seem to be doing well. Hoping to repot them soon (random time of year to do it but I'd like to do it while I remember) in a new mineral mix, and test orchid ferts on them.
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P. Tina mother plant.
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Aaand here's Beatrice!
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Grey, Grey liked this
By ironjaws
Posts:  574
Joined:  Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:28 am
#211234
I LOVE the photos, Grey! And the narrative is funny, clever and I always either crack a smile or laugh out loud or both :) .

I do not blame Skatty for loving that comfy couch. Seriously, comfy couch+dappled sunlight=nap time!

I have no experience with D. dielsana, although it is odd that they are different colors.
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By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#211326
Back to original post...

So happy to read it, ironjaws. Thank you. :) I don't have many photos today, they're cat-based as I'm feeling a bit catty today. Skatty's trip to the vet went well, but not overly good news. He has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is the thickening of the heart walls; the heart murmur is the result of incorrect blood flow. He's on some meds now but he'll gradually worsen. He seems fine in himself at the moment, been immensely cuddly and happy to be his usual silly self (sniffing cobwebs then sneezing as loud as a human, for instance). We're hopeful for the future, the meds he's taking now (and those he will start soon) should help him breathe easily and stop blood clots (associated with his condition).

Misi also loves the sofa; mum took this photo a few days ago.
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I think Skatty knew something was going on yesterday morning. The look on his face is priceless...
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Also, laser eyes and disappearing ears. I love camera flash. From this angle Skatty looks a bit on the large size. He's not, lol. He's in good health, apart from his heart.
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When he got home yesterday, he was happy to sit with his favourite "I don't like you but I do" cat, Misi, on the beloved sofa.
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There's some lovely sun today, Misi is making the most of it.
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And a random photo I took of Skatty with the camera zoom.
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My mum's little camera gives really high quality zoomed in pictures, here's the full-sized version of a photo I took earlier in the year; the smaller image is in one of these updates but you can't see the full detail that this tiny device provides. It's amazing.
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Grey liked this
By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#211942
Back to original post...

Not many photos this week but an update is an update. :)

Our hedgehog cafe is flourishing. I think mum took this photo a few days ago, I don't remember... it was either her or me.
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All of a sudden: exploded tribble! Er, no, actually, this mess of damp brown hair is from my own head. Had a whopping 6/7 inches or so taken off last night. Oohh I feel so much lighter... but... my hair... my haaaiiirrrrrrr! :cry:
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The wildflowers are still doing their thing. The corncockle is going over now but we have some other plants coming through and flowering. Such a delight!
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Random photo of some of our marigolds; slugs and snails all but decimated these guys the night after they were added to the garden but as you can see they've come back with gusto!
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And out of the depths of the garden... between the bushy undergrowth of the... bush and the greenery of the greenhouse there was... Skatty.
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He's a pretty boy. (And looks good against the contrasting background of my amazing stripey cat socks and grey booties!)
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Seems to be responding to his medication, he hasn't had a coughing fit for nearly a week! Praise the Lord!

Last but not least, the D. dielsiana. No flowers yet but the buds on the plant to the left will likely open in the next day or two.
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Woohoo!
Grey, Grey liked this
By bvalente
Posts:  892
Joined:  Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:58 pm
#211953
I love hedgehogs! I think they would be a pretty neat pet to have. What are the requirements for them and temperament like?

I would get one but I have an English Bulldog and they tend to play rough so I wouldn't want my pup to get hurt with the quills.
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By katya_dog1
Posts:  2412
Joined:  Sat Aug 09, 2014 1:45 pm
#211975
Hedgehogs. I wonder if they taste good? 8-) Just kidding! :lol: I rescued two baby squirrels that were attacked by an owl.... Ironically, both of them had wounds where the owl had picked them up and dropped them out of the tree. Small wounds.
We have a squirrel rehabilitator in our neighborhood who I delivered them to and they are doing fine. She said that she has seen owls and foxes in her backyard, and she is about 100 feet from a main road! Probably the result of the squirrel cage in her backyard. Sadly, I climbed the tree that the squirrel nest was in and the baby in the nest was dead. Oh well, I rescued two.
katya_dog1 liked this
By katya_dog1
Posts:  2412
Joined:  Sat Aug 09, 2014 1:45 pm
#211976
Looking forward to more updates, especially on the D. Capensis seedlings!
By Grey
Posts:  3255
Joined:  Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm
#212028
bvalente wrote:I love hedgehogs! ...
These are wild hedgehogs that visit our garden, but you can acquire pygmy varieties... they are so adorable. Hedgehogs here in the UK are actually endangered, so it's a real joy to have so many visiting our garden on a regular basis. We know for a fact we have at least four individuals (as the photo shows), but it's possible we may have as many as five or six as the sizes vary between all of them... although with such a bountiful cat bowl of biscuits, the youngsters must be growing very quickly.
katya_dog1 wrote:Hedgehogs. ...
Oh bless you, I bet that was a wonderful experience. I'm sorry to read about the other baby, but by rescuing two you did do a fantastic job. :) My mother once found a baby chaffinch lying on the ground at her workplace so she brought him home; we called around and found a wildlife rehabilitation facility somewhat locally and sent him there. Unfortunately he didn't make it, but such is the nature of baby wildlife. We have some photos, I named him "Chirpy"... he looked like a grumpy man.

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