Lab Work Time

We're getting ready to put some more Venus flytrap seeds in tissue culture, so last weekend we mixed and prepared the growing medium.  It's quite a process, but rather fun.

We take safety seriously when performing our lab work.  But not our hair.

Wakeup Carnivorous Plants!

It's time for the carnivorous plants to wakeup from dormancy, come out of the basement, and get out into the real sun.  Most of them are already showing new growth, and the little Pingicula grandiflora is blooming!

The ping!  (The little black dots on the leaves in the background are tiny bugs the ping "caught" over the winter in the root cellar.)

Garden Report for March and Early April

Yay for spring!  Lots of stuff is coming up in the garden, and some things are blooming!

The first flowers to bloom are the crocuses, dwarf iris, and scilla.

Crocuses:

If you follow me on Instagram, you already saw this photo of a sneaky purple crocus.

Favorites of March 2015

It's (kind of) the beginning of a new month.  You know what that means.  Favorites time.

Chicago Trip: Part 2

So, yesterday I shared with you what my family and I did on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday while in Chicago a few weeks ago.  Today, I'm going to tell you about what we did on Saturday and Sunday.  Warning: lots of photos incoming.

First Signs of Spring in the Garden

I have some exciting news!  It's spring, and I have the crocuses to prove it!

Did you notice the little white one over on the right?

Cats and Plants

Just a short post with some fun photos.

I often wake up to Emma thinking she should be sleeping on my pillow.

Charlie sometimes falls asleep on his face.

There's life in that jar!  (These are some of the venus fly traps we put in tissue culture.)

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Some New Stuff and Some Lab Work

I got some cool new stuff fairly recently that I wanted to show off.

Mid/Late Fall Garden 2014

This is a continuation of yesterday's garden post.  It had been so long since I uploaded a garden post, that I needed to break it up into two parts!

Photos are chronological:

Mid September

I planted some new daylilies and bulbs.  I get very dirty when I garden.

These are daylilies "Nosferatu", "Barracuda Bay", and "Eleanor"

Hydrangea

I love how the blooms change from white to dusty pink in the fall.

We acquired a new Venus Fly Trap.  Variety: "Angel Wings"  This is a rare fly trap that has traps that are so convex that they can't close -- the closed trap is a new baby trap that hasn't opened up yet.

Early October

Chrysanthemum

This is the flower from the "Judith Hindle" pitcher plant.

"Judith Hindle" is the tall ruffly pitcher plant.

Sarracenia leucophylla

Sarracenia minor

Venus Fly Trap "Maroon Monster"

Hydrangea

 The hydrangea blooms darkened and got very pink in October.

Late October

Hydrangea

The leaves on the hydrangea bushes turned yellow while the blooms stayed pink.  I think the effect is stunning.

We bought a tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes)!

I love the way a carpet of fallen leaves looks.

I guess I didn't take too many late October garden pictures.

Early November

Hydrangea

The hydrangeas are done, but I think the blooms still look cool, even though they are brown.

Chrysanthemum

Hosta

I think the hosta are pretty when they turn yellow.

Japanese Maple

We took all of the carnivorous plants in now that it is getting quite cold at night.

Whew!  That's a lot of changes in the garden!  Thank you for taking both yesterday's and today's garden tours with me!

Late Summer/Early Fall Garden 2014

I haven't done a garden update in ages.  The last one I posted was in August!  So naturally, lots has happened in the past couple of months.  Some late-blooming flowers bloomed, bulbs were planted, and carnivorous plants ate their fill before being taken inside for winter dormancy (we are putting them in the fruit cellar where it doesn't get warm, but doesn't get freezing for the winter).

Photos are chronological:

Late August 

Hydrangea

I wish I knew the variety, but it was in the garden when we bought our house, so I didn't choose it.

Sedum "Purple Emperor"

The bees love this one!

Hosta

I don't know the variety -- these were extra divisions from the Women's Club garden (we live down the street from the Women's Garden).

Early September

Toad Lily "Gilt Edge"

Sedum "Autumn Joy"

Chelone (aka Turtlehead) "Hot Lips"

The Caladiums were still going strong at this point.

Here are more panoramic type photos of the garden:

I decided to break up this garden post into two parts because it was getting so long.  Stay tuned for part two (mid and late fall) tomorrow!

Mid-Summer 2014 Garden (Pic Heavy)

It's been quite a while since I took you on a garden tour.  Lots has been happening, so tons of photographs today.

I think this is from mid-June when the orange Asiatic lilies were blooming.

Bright orange Asiatic lilies

The alliums (those orbs on tall stalks) grew a little wonky.

But they popped open and were nice and large.

Orange daylilies and various hosta, along with hydrangea bushes

Daylily buds with some heuchera in the back

The hosta along the driveway look nice and lush.

Balloon Flower buds look like balloons.

And then they open and look like this.

This little guy was an annual snapdragon from last year that spent the winter in the garage and survived!

Biiiiig hosta (I can't remember the variety of this hosta.)

Huge hosta leaves!

Huge 'Southern Comfort' heuchera leaves

Spotted lungwort foliage

'Fire and Ice' hosta

This is a perennial snapdragon from Spain.

I love how interactive snapdragon blooms are.  Pinch the "cheeks" and the "mouth" opens!

The daylilies started blooming.

The catmint in the sun garden finally bloomed.

Even the carnivorous plants bloomed.

Venus Fly Trap

Sarracenia purpurea (pitcher plant) flower

Close up photo of the pitcher plant flower

tropical Sundew

The pot of Caladiums looks pretty cool.  Charlie wants to come outside and check them out.

I have a whole post dedicated to all the spectacular daylilies here.

Thanks for taking today's extra long garden tour!