July Plant Roundup

July was an interesting month for my garden. It's the rainy season, so everything's a little greener. I also had to adjust the placement of some plants because it gets very windy when there's a typhoon.

Some plants still continued to bloom even with the weird weather -

We harvested some bell peppers and cherry tomatoes -

And I still managed to grow some new plants from seed -

Curry

A variety of orange

I hope to harvest some mustasa to make our favorite dish soon!

#BeKind #StaySafe

How Long it Took to Clear and Save Mom's Plants

Every plant on the frontage of my childhood home was planted by my Mom. It changes every few years. Everytime I visited she was doing some gardening. She was still gardening the day before she passed away. I knew it her plants are very important to her, so we've been doing the herculean task of saving what we could.

I tried to bargain with the contractor if we could leave the frontage plants alone. They explained that they had to construct a new front wall and it would affect the structure if they're not able to clear the area. I've been propagating some of the plants the past few months as back-up. Luckily, our gardener was finally available last week and helped set-up plants to propagate. 

It took three full days to clear the front lawn. My Mom packed in a lot of plants and some had poked the front wall already. We bought several large pots and soil and prioritized what plants to keep. The gardeners helped pot the plants and we hope they'll grow this rainy season. The back-up plants I propagated the past few months have rooted and are growing nicely. I just need to make sure they are watered regularly, so we can transplant them eventually. 

My current small garden is now full of Mom's plants. The gardeners said we look like we're selling plants (haha). I know it's just a small fraction of what Mom had in her garden. I'm just grateful we're able to save her hardwork. She loved her plants dearly and she'll be happy to know we have a starter set we can bring back when we move back home. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Should I Collect Pink Plants?

I didn't have that many plants before, but my Mom kept sneaking in some plants in our house. The number exponentially grew when we had to rescue her plants from my childhood home.

My Mom loved flowering (especially orchids) and ornamental plants. Years ago she brought a pot with aglaonema and two other plants. It grew and I eventually repotted them individually. The aglaonema was much more charming when it grew. 

This is where it started back in 2022:

And what it looks like now (there's a few more posts):

The desert rose plants we rescued from Mom's garden have been blooming a lot. So far all are a dark shades of pink (more fuschia).

The bougainvillea cuttings I propagated have been producing dark pink leaves.

I also love this bi-color caladium. They're growing so big and beautiful!

The Calathea plant I bought from a neighbor has pink streaks. It also grew so big!

Let's not forget my beautiful pink Gumamela.

And Mom's Buddha belly plant that produces pinkish Orange flowers consistently.

I have a few more which I got from Ikea and a garden nursery, but I'm still trying to keep them alive, haha.

Should I make a pink plant collection?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Don't Throw Eggshells

My boys support my gardening adventures and one of the things they do is set aside egg shells for me. We wash the shells and then boil it. Once it's dry I use a grinder to break it down further.

I think the egg shells I mixed in the soil for the bell pepper sprouts helped make it grow properly. I haven't encountered the previous issues I had when I tried growing bell peppers.

I also learned to save the water from boiling egg shells. I let it cool and then I use it to water plants. It's adds nutrients for the plants. I just make sure to add fertilizer once a week, so the plants don't burn from too much fertilizer.

I'll also try making the more potent fertilizer. It's the one with vinegar, but I need to research again how to make it. There's a lot of stuff in your kitchen you can use to enrich your plants, so save your eggshells :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Bought Plants at Ikea

At the end of the long trek across Ikea, you'll find their gardening stuff. I usually ignore the artificial plants and expensive pots. What I check out are the small live plants they sell. They have ornamental plants and succulents that range from PhP49 to 199. The prices are competitive with nursery plants, sometimes even cheaper. 

I picked up a couple of plants. What got me excited was the kokedama money tree. I've been planning to make one, but I just don't have the time. This will do for now and I hope I don't kill this plant! The last money tree I got from Ikea lasted a couple of months. I just overwatered it, haha.

I still have to research about the other plants to see how best to care for them. Wish me luck!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Inheritance

I got the rest of my "inheritance" today.

Mom's plants and old pots.

My parents told me when I was growing up that the only inheritance they could give us is our education. All of us finished our studies and we all managed on our own to go to grad school too. 

We weren't Nepo baby rich. We got by through Dad and Mom's hardwork. Mom retired when I was born, but she helped manage Dad's law office and did some trading (buy and sell of office supplies). We had a comfortable life and that's enough when you live simply.

Dad didn't keep a lot of earthly items. I only found his neckties and a couple of tie clips. His clothes and shoes were gone when I cleared the childhood home. His treasure? His law books and documents. I sent useful law books to his Alma Mater and just kept a few key ones. Old law documents have been shredded. I asked a lawyer what I should do with it and he said we can just shred it since the courts and notarized docs are also kept by the justice system.

Mom's treasure. Her garden and craft materials. I finished sorting the craft materials last October and have been working to rescue her plants for two years now. It's a lot of work, but I know Mom loved her garden (sometimes more than me, haha). She had been passing potter plants to me since we got home and I know she wanted me to continue her work. 

I know Mom has been watching me. I've only so far been unsuccessful with all her orchids, but most of her ornamental plants have recovered from neglect. The boys got some more plants and empty pots today and I'm happy I have more gardening work to do. I'll do my best to save the plants Mom left. The huge, huge flowering tree beside my childhood home is definitely one remembrance of Mom's epic green thumb.

#BeKind #StaySafe