I’ve been listening to ‘On the Nature of
Daylight’ by Max Richter… probably stuck with me from ‘The Leftovers’ movie I
saw yesterday, or perhaps 'Arrival' seen years ago, but still remembered.
It is sublimely sad and haunting in a lonely way. Describes
perfectly how I feel at this moment.
It is so difficult pulling myself out of this funk a lifetime of years has buried me into, but I keep trying.
It is equally difficult to pull happiness out of the air I breathe in order to create a life that is sun shiny bright to write about when I feel only pain.
This is a downer, but it is me at the moment.
It's not recommended tripping over an insignificant step stool, as the
consequences have been so painful, it is common to rehash them in terms of a
hellish nightmare.
The
pain of the fall and the triggering of my pinched nerve pain, well it was
difficult to separate the two for a week.
Ultimately the pinched nerve pain elevated itself into optimum mode, and
required a steroid shot to soothe it back down.
The
real pain was waiting around the corner when my sciatica nerve became so
excruciatingly horrible, I wanted to die with each footstep I managed to
take.
After
several weeks, I can walk with a knife twisting through my ankle feeling with
each step, but hey, I’m getting used to the pain as if I was born with it. It will be Hallelujah time when it is no
more.
My birthday came and went along with my incomplete blog post. A card did appear from my cats but debunked by Charlotte tattling on her daddy buying his version of card for the kitties.
She
washed her butt and as she meandered out of my sight down that dark hallway, I
could hear her whisper “Get real! What
is one day from another… it’s just one day from another. We’re lucky to have eighteen years, while you so
extravagantly have seventy-seven-years so far.”
Growing plants in the
house… well, I don’t recall how I chucked them out of existence, but it must
have been brutal at the time, as I have nothing left to ever suggest they even
existed.
Fast
forward twenty years…
Eleven
have been mail ordered this past six months… okay, fifteen originally, but two
met an untimely death when they became so leggy I put myself out of misery, and
they became yesterday’s trash. Two
others were duplicates that were to be planted as two to a pot, but they became
quite robust so only one per pot and the other two were tucked with sadness
into the bottom of the kitchen waste bin.
A
terrible end…
My
bad.
Peperomia Fraseri
Recovering from third planting.
Toothpicks holding it up
until rooted well :)
The
internet literally has about 3,830,000 opinions for how to mix the potting soil
for these little buggers. They will
typically grow on trees, rotten logs, bark, and rocks, which makes these plants
both epiphytes and lithophytes, depending on where they’re growing.
I
think all of mine grow south of the equator, as they have been growing and
blooming this winter. So… after much
reading, most of it wasted, these are my conclusions.
I
think by now my husband would be nodding off in indifference, so if you wish to
join him, have at it.
I
originally began planting them in wonderfully thick raku planters made by Letsgetmuddy on Etsy, using Fox Farm Ocean Forest potting soil. This soil creates surface tension preventing
water from freely soaking into the soil.
I think this is a problem that happens to most soils in pots.
I water, wait awhile, then water again so the soil will soak it all in well. It’s a
pain in the neck, but necessary.
I
tried pumice on two plants, and Orchiata bark from New Zealand on some of the
others. I mix 50% potting soil and 50% pumice
or small orchid bark. Medium size orchid
bark might be better, but I only have the small. It’s all a gamble. Do not use perlite. It just crumbles into nothingness. Quite a
disaster when I tried to mix it.
It's
quite a mess, all the problems people have with peperomias. The photos make a gardener want to weep. Over watered, underwatered, not enough light,
too much light…HELP!
Peperomia 'Rosso'
May become a group of minature trees
after the bottom leaves fall off :(
Mine
have overhead plant lights to slow down the leggedness, and I poke my finger
into the soil or feel the weight of the pot to determine when to water. One must check their plants every day, just
as if they are children or pets. If you
have no time, then stop yourself from buying one.
I
group mine together to raise the humidity around them. Nothing else will raise the humidity, no
matter how many times you are told a product will. Mine need lots of company.
In
winter when the heat pump is on more often, the humidity drops, and they need
to be watered more often. Summer, when
they are resting a bit, they need to be watered less. One must always check to stay on top of it
all.
Peperomia
elongate was a splurge, because of the higher price, and just as two new leaves
began to open, I checked one day too late to water and to my horror, the new
baby leaves fell off.
Peperomia elongata
With it's little flower spike
that is still growing taller.
Two
more peeked out some weeks later, and I babied the little toddler until they
are now almost full grown. It is sending
up a flower spike that will disappoint if you are looking for spectacular. Most people call them ‘rat’s tails’, but in reality,
they are just stems lined with extremely tiny flowers.
I
think those with a spirit of adventure will enjoy Peperomias. If you’re like me, failure is not an
option. It is just a set back to be
overcome.
I
seemed to have almost talked your ear off if you are a plant lover, if not,
then I’m sure you left ten paragraphs ago to scream bloody murder, determined
to skip the next post.
Anyone still reading this...
The few photographs I took from my front porch of the garden, and my resident Cooper's Hawk picking off my mourning doves for a tasty meal :( Better photos will follow in the months to come, if I ever get over the pain of my fall.
A Grey Tree Frog on the garbage bin.
Mourning Doves puffing up feathers on a cold day.
Took me more than fifteen minutes of taking photographs
to finally realize a Cooper's Hawk was in the garden. Do you see it?
Cooper's Hawk with a down feather in its beak.
With the amount of feathers,
I'm guessing its victim was a Mourning Dove.
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