'Calico Queen' and 'Wind Song'

Today was the day that my Calico Queen decided to make her debut.  I originally had doubts about this one but she is a beauty.  It is hard to tell from the picture but the innermost petals all has a cerise edging to them.

'Calico Queen'

Today I took a trip to visit an epi grower friend because I had to return a plant that bloomed incorrectly and came home with more plants, cuttings, and starters.  Where am I going to fit all of the plants I have purchased over the last 2 months?  I need to sell some more cuttings on eBay to support my epi growing habit!!

She had one of the plants waiting for me, upon my arrival, as it had just recently bloomed.  She knew I would want it :)  It was labeled 'Wind Song' but had a virused / variegated bloom.  Wow.  I love the variegated - highly veined flowers.  The bloom was mostly spent so this is the best picture that I could get.

'Wind Song'

The Last 5 Days

My family and I have been on vacation along the Central Coast of California for the last 5 days.  We left early Wednesday morning but just before we left I was able to capture 'Movie Star' on camera.  This is the 5th (I think) and last bloom from her for the season.  My 'Vanilla Sunset' and

'Movie Star'

Here are a couple of pictures that we took from the coast.  Enjoy!

'China Cove'

This was in Point Lobos State Reserve in Carmel, CA.  I had read a lot about this place online and an so glad that we were able to make it here.  This cove had a LONG set of stairs so we were able to make it down to the white sand and crystal clear water.  It was cold but that did not stop my kiddos from rolling up their pants and splashing around.  I did not know that you could access the water otherwise we might have come more prepared.  This is a MUST SEE place!!  

'Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park' 

This awesome viewpoint was in Big Sur.  You exit onto the East side of the Hwy 1 into the park and park in one of the 2 parking lots.  Then you walk a short way through a tunnel under the 1 to get to this spot.  There were several other trails originating from the parking lots that headed along the lively creek that was feeding this waterfall.  We did not have time to explore them :( 

'Bixby Bridge'

Beautiful coastline!  You can see the wild yellow mustard in the foreground and the bridge in the background.  We had already crossed it and were heading South.  There were many places to pull to the side of the highway but from experience it was easier to access the pullouts while heading South.  This way you did not have to cross lanes getting in and out.


Upon our return I was very anxious to get out to the shade house to see if there were any surprises for me.  And yes there were....in full bloom was Grace Ann and Mr. P (bloom #2).  The first bloom was already expired but bloom#2 was awesome.  The 2nd bloom from 'Unbeatable' was also expired.  I had really been waiting for that one but what can you do.  'Sakurahime', 'Slightly Sassy', and 'Vanilla Sunset' should be blooming in the next couple of days.

'Mr. P'

The photo shows more orange but it was a bit more on the reddish side.

'Grace Ann'

The first word that comes to mind in describing this bloom is graceful.  It is very well formed and has beautiful coloring.  Stunning!

'Marilyn Monroe' and 'White Splendor'

Happy Sunday!  Here is what is in bloom for me today :0)

'Marilyn Monroe'

I sat for several minutes in front of this flower just admiring her beauty.

She even had a slight fragrance to her - a kind of perfume scent that was ever so subtle.  

Bought this just about 3 weeks ago.  It is a big, mature, blooming size plant.

It came home with a single bud on it and I had been checking out the bud

everyday since.  

'White Splendor'

I have had this since it was a wee little plant.  Once big enough, 

it has given me a single bloom for the last 3 years.

'Movie Star' and 'Hawaiian Monarch'

I have been awaiting the arrival of these two for awhile now.  Today was the day!

'Hawaiian Monarch'

This one started off as I cutting that I acquired, I already forgot from where,

in 2004.  It had never bloomed before today -- most likely because of neglect.  

However, I have been repotting, fertilizing, and giving my plants the care 

that they need and this is how they reward me :)  This is medium size bloom.  

I love how the throat appears to have green and yellow in it.  'Over the Top' was my

new favorite since it bloomed but now this is it!

'Movie Star'

This is bloom #3 for this plant.  It still has 2 more to go.

Buds

Even though we are almost 2 weeks into July I still have many buds on multiple epis.  I cannot remember having so many buds so late into the season like this before....but I am not complaining :o)  I took my camera out with me into the yard this morning and below are pictures of some of what I found.  I did not get pictures of baby 'Primary Ingnition' and his 5 siblings and baby "Slightly Sassy'.

baby 'Marilyn Monroe'

baby 'Meadowlark'

However,  I believe this one to have been labeled incorrectly

as it looks very much to be red/magenta.

baby 'Sakurahime'

baby 'Hawaiian Monarch'

baby 'Movie Star'

This plant has 4 other buds!

baby 'Calico Queen'

baby 'Frida Kahlo'

baby 'Mr. P or Kimono'

The pot is labeled Kimono but the last bloom was Mr. P.  

There might be both in here...not quite sure :)

baby 'Norma Cantafio'

There are at least 8 buds on this plant.

baby 'unknown' red

baby 'Unbeatable'

baby 'Vanilla Sunset'

There are 3 other buds besides this one.

baby 'White Splendor'

Blooms from 2012

The following are pictures of my epiphyllum blooms that made their debut in the 2012 blooming season.  I still have about 10 plants with buds on them.  I look forward to posting more pictures in the weeks to come.

'Unbeatable'

'Color Wheel'

'Cooperii'

'Easter Bunny'

'Front Runner'

'Movie Star'

'Over the Top'

'Pink Cloud'

'Royal Heir' variegated

'Sonoma Sunshine'

'Unknown'

Mini Epiphyllum Shade House

This past Sunday, my wonderful hubby built me a mini shade house for my epiphyllums. We've had this empty space behind our jacuzzi that we have never used for much. Now it is my little shade house...yay!!  I just bought about 60+ epiphyllum plants and cuttings from a local lady who is selling off part of her collection.  I have been collecting on a small scale since 2001 but now with the acquisition of these plants I am now big time :) I got some pretty awesome hybrids.  I will post pictures of my blooms from this past season soon.  The gazebo over the non-function jacuzzi and my shade house are both FULL --- bursting at the seams with epis.  Wouldn't have it any other way :)

Before.

After.

A bunting for Lilah!

After surfing the net for several days to give me ideas as to how to decorate for Lilah's first birthday I decided to make her a bunting. I used one of my vintage sheets as inspiration. I made several trips to Joann's an here is what a came up with :)

to be continued.

MEGA BLOKS AND LEGOS, Oh no!!

I have been on summer vacation since June 11. In order to keep my 5 kiddos (who are also on summer vacation) busy I have been scanning CL for super buys. I was focused on Legos/building blocks since my 2 year old was playing with some at the dentist and had a blast. We already had a basic set of Legos but they were kindof boring in my opinion. Our set only contained red, blue, yellow, and green pieces and did not have any cars, people, or extras of the sort.

On Thursday I came across a lady that was selling a collection of Mega Bloks sets. She wanted $50 but took $40 :) We have been playing with them ever since. Here is what was included: Spidey & Friends Skatepark bucket, Diego's Rescue Pack Vehicle, Diego's Animal Rescue Center, Luigi's Tire Garage Set, Mater's Gas Corner, Cruisin' Lightning McQueen, Supercharged Mack & Lightning McQueen, and a Caterpillar Material Hauler. After looking them up online I came up with a retail cost of $301.95 + tax for all these items. What a buy. She had even kept all of the covers to the sets so we could see how all the pieces went together.

15 minutes before heading over to her house to buy the blocks, my daughter and I swung by The Salvation Army thrift shop and picked up this great little table @ 30% off for a total of $15. I had read some blogs talking about how they had converted thrift tables to lego tables and I wanted to do something similar. We'll see if I get around to doing that. Either way, the table is pretty cute in its as-is condition.

Yay for berries!

I bought a thornless blackberry plant 2 years ago (2009) at Lowe's. It did not do much and by winter looked like it had died. Last year it came back and did not do much more than that. Now this year is a different story. The bush now has bunches of berries all over it. It started flowering in April and now some of the berries have started to turn color. I am so excited!! I cannot wait until they are ready to harvest.

Pyrex and Tomatoes

I have become addicted to collecting vintage pyrex. I found this Pyrex Cinderella oval casserole #043 at the swap meet yesterday morning. $4.00 - what a bargain. My collection is growing and so I have had to be very creative in where I am storing all of my pieces. I wish I had more space to showcase them. Anyone have any ideas on how to do this in a small kitchen?

Today was the first day that I had harvested any tomatoes. The reds are Costoluto Genovese. They are perfectly ripe and smell wonderfully. I cannot wait to try one. The others popped up in my garden on their own. I am not sure why color of pear they are. I am going to let these ripen indoors and I will share once I know.

Vintage sheet goodness!!!!! I am officially addicted to collecting these treasures.

Slim Pickins'

I worked in the garden last weekend in preparation for a party and I picked the last of the tomatoes that remained. This was it. Not too many as you can see.

I harvested all the tomatillos since the plant had died off completely. My daughter picked a bunch of green onions and I picked a couple of serrano chilis.....Salsa was just around the corner.

Gone Thrifting!

I have been really into thrifting lately. I have been on the lookout for vinatge pyrex and vintage linens. On Thursday I went to a thrift store that I had found by accident and oh boy did I score. I ended up with all the sheets above and several other pillowcases not shown. One of the sheets was Vera Neumann.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

I replanted my epidendrums. They were in two large pots and many of the canes were dead. The red and purple are currently in bloom.

Friday, July 30

Our mammoth sunflower plant is growing like a weed. We planted all our sunflowers along a fence on the east side of our house and several of the flowers (including this one) are facing east which means that they are looking into our neighbors yard. I planted 4 different types. Mammoth, Mammoth Grey Stripe, Autumn Beauty, and Velvet Queen. Only one of the 4 mammoth seeds made it so I am not sure which one of the mammoths my plant is.

Our spaghetti squash plant has

its 2nd blossom today. We planted this one from seed (Burpee) that we bought at Target. It grew too big for that part of the garden that it was in so I transplanted it to this location. It looked like it was going to die for several days afterwards but it has bounced right back and is getting bigger by the day. Hopefully we'll have some little squashes sometime soon.