Mystery Plant Unmasked

Feels like a sunflower--can almost see the seeds forming at the base of
each tiny flower.

It gave itself away. If one waits long enough, all is revealed. So I watched.  The petals fell rather quickly from the radiant blossom  And then the tiny flowerettes opened on what looked like seeds. Dahlias do not produce seeds. These seeds were separate and sturdy, sunflower like.

Same veins as a sunflower leaf

The leaves were furry, similar to heart-shaped ones of the sunflower family.  One central leader stem had multiple flowers sprouting from the stalk.

Shouting a vibrant "Mexican" to the sunflower name.

Playing on the hunch from my plant-wise friend, I added Mexican to the sunflower search and found many pictures that looked just like my specimen.  Comments on the previous blog say that it reseeds and grows again year after year. Comments also suggest naming the flower myself and giving starts to all my friends.  Sign up now if you'd like me to send you seeds for this drought-loving pretty.

Yup, African Violets Do "It"

African Violet from Nesrin

Now I'm curious. Those pretty yellow buttons in the middle of an African Violet blossom are up to something, and I think I know what it's about--violet sex.

Filaments grow up and press their anthers together.
The double pods are not visible because of the lighting.

This plant is the one from Nesrin, my Turkish friend.  It sits on my kitchen counter.  When I make the time, it's lovely to sit and just drink in the details created by this magnificent being.  High contrast colors grab the eye immediately--purple and yellow--a stunning combination.  The yellow pulls me in. Closer.  Deeper.  The tiny, yellow, four-bump pod has two stems not one!  How can that be?

Light-colored, swollen ovary at the base of the style.  Pollen-bearing
anthers pressed together on their two filaments.

With a toothpick and gentle prodding, I pry between the stems (filaments) at the base of the bumps (anthers). They hold fast. An older, wilting blossom allows the prod to separate the bumps, and pollen spills out. "Sperm." The style rises out of the center with the furry ovary next to the flower and the stigma out on the end waving its stickiness to attract the pollen. Pretty explicit viewing for Things I get to do today.

Anthers that for some reason did not make the connection--
one above the style and one below.  Some sort of
interruptus, I suppose.

Hedge Warrior

I thought I'd have to go it alone.  The job had to be done.  Rats could live under the debris, so the dead twigs, branches, and leaf litter had to be removed from the ground for a length of the "hedge."  One yard-debris can at a time, once a week, over a period of a month or so and the task would be finished.

Nina, the brave spider hunter/gatherer and my coworker on a tough job

The Giant Sequoia growing in the hen yard has gradually extended its reach, covering a portion of the Arbor Vitae hedge that marks the back line of our city lot.  Apparently the hedge prefers sun because the Sequoia-shaded side of the hedge died.  When the brown foliage and branches were removed, they were dumped conveniently into a pile at the base of the hedge trunks.  And so the mess was created.  A truism:  the easy way is the hard way.  With rats always being in season where there are chickens, and with Hobo spiders starting their mating march, now would be the best time to correct the "easy" and careless haven for pests we had created several years before.  So it is that the sweatiest of Things I get to do today is drag the yard debris bin to the back of our property and fill it up.

Armed with gloves, lopers and a watchful eye for little things that scurry about and bite, I started to work.  Moments later, Nina Simone Hen hustled over, bravely scratching about and eating everything crawling about that had lived under the debris. My hero: this courageous, hungry warrior hen!

Fresh Dirt and a Cheap Hair Cut

Benign neglect, but neglect just the same 

I pulled it up by the top and looked.  Covered with damp earth were the little roots I was hoping for.  Pulling up a plant to see how it is doing is not a "Gardner's Bible" recommendation, but the pineapple tops were not actually secured in the soil.  By tipping them sideways and taking a peek, I could see three or four tiny whitish roots coming out from where the leaves had once been.

Little roots popping out the sides

Several months ago when the pineapple seed experiment went South, the pineapple top experiment began.  Now through occasional care and frequent neglect, it appears that they have survived and have even grown.  How amazing!

 Always remove the dead or dried leaves or twigs from a plant.
Leaving only the green is a vast improvement.
It's easier to tend something that looks good.
I'll pay closer attention now and actually care for them.

To honor their wondrous efforts in holding on and, indeed, growing this long, Things I get to do today seemed appropriate to include giving them fresh dirt and a hair cut.

The Garlic Cure

It takes care of everything.  That's a fact.  Once I sat down with the garlic, I felt better immediately.

For some strange reason none of the Things I get to do today did I really want to do. A bit of crankiness has settled in as well.

It was amazing to have the scratchy ennui fade as soon as my fingers were busy slipping the dirt-crusted papery skin off each head of garlic.  Might want to hang some around my neck when I'm done.

Little bulblets, taken from the knobby "knees" of the garlic stem will be planted for next season.

HELP!

Handy Andy needs your help!  Please pool your information and knowledge, drop me a comment and solve this puzzling garden mystery.

Too tall for a pumpkin!

My friend Nesrin from Turkey left me two plants a week before she and her family headed home to the other side of the world.  One was an African Violet--easy enough for me to identify.  The other plant was seven inches tall in a four-inch pot.  The leaves are deeply lobed, dusty greyish-green and covered with a velvety fur.  The plant came to Nesrin through her daughter's school field trip to a pumpkin patch, if I remember correctly.  The family thought it was a pumpkin or gourd.

After a month or so in the ground, the plant's continued upright growth convinced me that it was not even third cousins once removed from the squash family.  A plant-wise friend suggested yesterday that it is a Mexican Dahlia.  My on-line search could find no foliage that is similar at all to this.  Nor could I find anything that has the velvet leaf texture.

Deep, ornate leaf lobes

Dahlia-like flowers

Things I get to do today include setting aside my pride and asking for your help.  Feedback from all of you would be most appreciated.

 

Looking Forward to New Year's Day

The bent heads are filled and ready to harvest.

It is 86 degrees today.  That's a considerable distance from winter and winter holidays.  But I'm already planning ahead.  You see, the Things I get to do today are pre-prepare our newly traditional New Year's Day breakfast: waffles made from wheat that has sprouted up about my yard from the straw mulch around the strawberries and vegetables.

The idea came from Anastasia, a Divine Gardener, who's instructions can be found in the Ringing Cedars of Russia* series.  She suggests growing a square meter of grain, making it into flour, then including it in a family meal as a celebration. My version of her idea became waffles for breakfast on the first morning of the new year.

So today the wheat heads were removed from the stalks. They will continue to dry. New Year's Eve we'll thrash the wheat and grind the flour. The next morning we'll add whipped cream and maple syrup for the finest first breakfast of the year.

 *By Vladimir Megre'.

The chickens gleaned the bits left behind on purpose for them.
They get to celebrate early because there will be no waffles for them.