Tuesday, March 17, 2009

It's Alive! It's Alive!

The rain knocked off some of the few blooms I had for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day so I thought I would follow up on a few previous posts. Y'all played the Dormant or Dead game so enthusiastically that I'll start with it.

First up is the Forsythia sage, shown above. I labeled it dormant, and I was right! Yea! (None of you disagreed with me on this, so we all get points for it.)

Next is the beautyberry: Alive! Alive! So in the wrong place now! (I moved it when I thought it was dead because I wasn't quite ready to give up on it, but I really didn't think it would recover so I planted it way too close to some other plants. Oh, well.)

The Mexican mint marigold is next. Most of you said it was tough and would recover.
You're right! It's not looking a lot better than it did in January, but it's definitely still alive. Or at least it was when I took this picture. I then moved it, again. There may be a final lightning round of Dormant or Dead.

And next, the plant that sparked the most debate both on and off my blog: the chile pequin.
The friend who gave it to me told me to treat it badly. I did, hacking half of it off. Lo and behold, the chile pequin likes it rough.

And then there's the Turk's cap.I know what you're thinking: Hey, no fair, those weren't part of the original game! So, sue me. I didn't include these because everything I read about Turk's cap suggested they were impossible to kill. I assumed they would live so I didn't bother tossing them into the dormant or dead pile. Well, I think both varieties--some red Turk's cap that had been growing wild behind my fence before I transplanted it here and two white Turk's cap I bought last year and moved from the front yard--are dead, without a doubt.

Moving on, my poor fig tree, which had its fill of Life in Texas, seems to have a better grip on the weather here than I do. I trimmed it for the first time ever in mid-January, and it seems to have liked it. Lots of little figs are covering the tree.

My last update is on some of the mystery plants from The Drought Is Over post. The one many of you identified as gaillardia (Indian blanket) bloomed, and it was not a gaillardia. It had tall white flowers and was ugly. So ugly that I didn't even take its picture. Before it could sow its evil seeds, I yanked it out. Unfortunately, in my haste, I also inadvertently yanked the passionflower plant growing next to it. And killed it too, no doubt about it.

I do have another mystery plant for you though:Thoughts?

And finally, the mystery plant that might be a buttercrunch lettuce.
Annie chastised me then for nibbling a bit of it. At the time I tasted I thought it wasn't a lettuce but now I'm not so sure. It looks exactly like a buttercrunch, doesn't it?

Can I eat it now, Annie?

6 comments:

  1. What a brilliant garden blog. Not to sure about the fish but hey ho.

    I have put your blog on my garden blogroll.

    Best wishes Blu

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  2. That is a bee-a-you-ti-ful lettuce, Vertie...but I really want you to wash it first ;-]

    LOL on you killing the Turkscap. Next you'll be claiming you can't keep Bermuda grass alive.

    There's something vaguely familiar about the other mystery plant. Is it in with the vegetables? Could it be a lived-over spinach? (JUST guess...don't go tasting it yet!)

    Your GrandAunt Annie

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  3. No idea on those two IDs but I'm glad to see the majority of your contestants turned our dormant and not dead.

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  4. Looks like New Zealand Spinach. Which is actually not a spinach and tastes pretty crappy, but edible and super hardy.

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  5. Thanks for the update on Dead or Dormant! I knew that chile pequin would make it. Okay, on plant ID, I'm probably crazy, but it looks like a dandelion to me. Can I bring over Harvey? He'll ID it a second. And then it'll be gone.

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