Air Plants - are still alive !

So I think I bought these Air Plants about a year ago ..... whenever I have bought these , I have usually ended up just watching them slowly wither away .
 I must be doing something right , because look at them now .....not a lot of difference you might say ...except that they are still here !

 Here they are having their , just ever so slightly , warmer than tepid soak over night in the kitchen sink .

In the morning , I gently shake off the water, carefully pat with a paper towel and then leave them to finish off and readjust while I have my cup of tea .

I  muddled up their plant labels , so cant tell you what they are , except that they are all possibly varieties of Tillandsias .
 I love epiphytic plants...that grow up on the branches of trees and on cliffs amongst ferns lichens and moss ....mostly coming from Rain Forests and mountain sides in South America . I have quite a collection of Epiphyllums up in the greenhouse ....so I thought I,d give these a go .
 My only concern with them is "Are they being ethically sourced ?" With respect for the environment..that being the beautiful rain forests...the so called "Lungs of the our planet Earth " .

I feel uncomfortable that they have had all their roots / aerial roots cut off . I know that they dont actually put their roots into the ground , but the aerial roots are important ......anyway , that is just me having a moan !
 I love the way the one above sparkles in the light as if sprinkled with glitter .

 This one had a hole in the main part of the plant , I discovered this when I opened the packet . We bought them whilst on holiday , so too far to return it..I thought this would be the first one to pop it's clogs .
 I didn't give up on it though and now it has a little pup/side shoot .

 I found this beautiful piece of  drift-wood on the beach and I am thinking of attaching my plants on to it and suspending it in the window ....somehow .
 Thing is ....the plants need to easily be taken off for their fortnightly soak ....hmmm ...
 The sun is shining here in Mullion today , blue sky....just back from church ...going to sit in the Summer house and do my embroidery .
 Have a peaceful Sunday all  .  love Debbie x

Re-potting Schlumbergera truncata

  I am re-potting 4  Schlumbergera truncata otherwise known as Christmas cacti , into a nice new hanging basket .
 Also re-potting one small Rhipsalidopsis gaertnerii otherwise known as the Easter Cactus into a slightly bigger pot . This one is a piece from one of my mum's cacti so very special to me . They are so called , because this is roughly when they flower .

 They are all different colours and it should look pretty when they flower .
Behind I am preparing a window box full of Begonias and  Pelargoniums which I have saved for several years now.

 I have used Multi -purpose compost and perlite...which is making the basket heavy ..I only remembered this at this point ....I,m worrying about my kidney cancer scan with contrast coming up on Monday ... I am so scared I can hardly think straight  at the moment .

 I have hung the basket up in the porch , I think I will get a stronger hook for it though .

 The plants look happier already . When the weather warms up a bit more I will hang it outside  and all through the summer .
 Through my kitchen window I am delighted to see the Woodpeckers are back .
 Hope you had a lovely Easter .....wish me luck....say a prayer for me .

Planting my Colocasia esculenta

So first things first , a load of washing and another and then to hang out on the line ....we woke up to a glorious sunny morning ... so I like to get my washing done and out on the line good and early . I also scrubbed the kitchen floor and polished my Cornish Piskie bellows that I found in a wondeful bric-a-brac shop in Charmouth .
We,ve been pretty much relaxing for the rest of the day and I,ve just been pottering about  .
 I bought a nice Woodlodge terracotta pot , handmade and which is supposed to be frost free from Trevena Cross Nursery in Breage and a bag of compost in readiness to plant my Colocasia esculenta corm .

                                                    Top of corm .

 I have grown one of these before but lost it over winter because I had tried to keep it ticking over in it's pot in the greenhouse . Actually I,ve now been told that you treat these like Dahlias in the late Autumn you dig them up cut off the leaves and roots and let them dry out . Store them in a box of perlite or dry compost and start them off again in the Spring .
 Anyway the first thing one has to decide is ...which is the top and which is the bottom ?
 With my one, it is very difficult to tell ..but the smooth side with the concentric rings is the top  ....see picture above .......

 
                                          This is the bottom side up .
It usually has little holes or is pitted and some hair like roots.  Mine was the last corm in the box  and is a bit on the small side and it is very difficult to tell which side is top from bottom . You can plant it on it's side if you are not sure .

    

So I lined the bottom of my pot with newspaper and put some of the chippings from the drive on the bottom .  I usually get told off for doing this , but he didn't notice me doing it this time ...he he he !

I pretty sure that this is the top , if you look closely you can see little "eyes" which I think are where the shoots/new leaves will grow out from . The one in the right hand bottom corner is even slightly green .

   Here it is all nicely nestled into the compost ... mmm .....I love the fragrance of the earth .

 Beautiful thing . I will be coming along to check on you often , waiting excitedly for those first new shoots .

 So then I thought I,d give it a drink of water and the rose fell off the watering can ...compost went everywhere and the corm turned upside down ....

 I had to re-settle it with some more compost ....laughing at myself ..I wheeled it up to the greenhouse . The greenhouse is really quite warm after all the sunshine today , but I think it will be cold tonight if the sky stays clear .
 I put the pot on a large block of  polystyrene and will cover it with newspaper over night .

                     Blue sky here in Mullion today ,such a lovely day !

                                                          Primroses .

                                                       Cowslips .

                      I,m keeping everything under fleece again tonight .