It seems like it was just yesterday that it was the dog days of summer. The time of the year when the heat wilts my enthusiasm along with all but the hardiest of my plants.
One minute I was enjoying the return of cooler mornings and evenings and the next minute I went into panic mode!
Yikes! September is almost over! The last day of summer has arrived with fall hot on its heels! Don't get me wrong 'cause I love glorious fall! It is just that there is so much to do! Pruning, weeding, dividing, re-working beds, planting my winter garden, my list of fall chores goes on and on...
So, I got busy! Well, right after I paused to take a picture of this young Silver Maple showing off the beginnings of its fall colors....
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SCENES ARE NOT PRETTY!!
Of course I get started on my to-do list by tackling the "easiest" stuff first.
Here are some of my agave pups dug up and ready for new homes. Seemed like I got more pups than I actually did after looking at this picture. Seven down and who knows how many more to go!
I've been letting my elephant ears die off, because I wanted to divide some more out and re-work their home this fall. Here are a few of them looking pathetically displaced while their division wounds heal...
I see one new leaf thinking about going ahead and unfurling and a few sprouts still poking up, so maybe they'll be all right.
Should I tell them this home is temporary or just let them be happy in their ignorance...not knowing I'm going to uproot them again real soon?
A bunch of aloe vera babies thinned out and waiting to be re-potted.
My poor spider plant is so little and insignificant now that I've divided it out. I should've gotten a "before" picture too!
I bought these pots when I was looking for something cheap but decent looking to get new plants started in. They are a very lightweight plastic but grooved to look like clay pots with rolled rims (12" Toscana Planter). I think they look nicer than what I paid for them at Amazon.com.
A couple of Split Leaf Philodendron selloum dug up and ready for new homes.
Three of them potted up for now.
We have an area that we like to hang out at. Outside of this area, I just wanted a few random splashes of woodsy color peaking out of the grass beneath a few trees.
And Coleus seemed like the obvious answer.
However, each year I plant them and each year they just do O.K. Each year I'm convinced that if I just move them to different sides of the trees or dig the holes a little bigger or whatever, that they'll like it there.
Why I keep doing essentially the same thing and expecting different results is anybody's guess.
Taking a break from the shovel, I wander over and look at them. (And this is where I got off track from my original task).
Looking at them I'm thinking about how I'm tired of spending money on these plants...
So I found some jars, went to the creek and filled a jug with good water, located my never used bonsai scissors and went to work....
Here are a few of my cuttings.
I think these are 'Cinnamon Tea'. Pretty boring as far as Coleus go, but they are the first of my many intended victims.
A pretty productive first day of fall tasks! And, now I should probably get back at it!
