The calla lilies are blooming

This year I have a lot of calla lilies growing in the garden, and they all seem to be growing very well. I have my old and reliable batch of pink callas that started from a single plant, and now also a bunch of assorted different colored ones.

Now I have a lot of colors for the calla lily

Seeing so many flowers is great, because I wasn't expecting many calla flowers this summer. I had a small hiccup early this year when the bulbs I stored indoors started sprouting in mid winter. I took them out to sleep once again, but I thought that they will lose their strength and give very few flowers when the season came.

The pink ones are blooming nicely

Also, I wasn't expecting many flowers from the new plants. When I got those they were just a batch of unhealthy looking and very small bulbs. I had no idea what colors or types they were, just that they were different. My plan was to grow them for a year and to let them gain strength, then on the next season I would see what colors I got and plan accordingly.

This yellow calla lily was a nice surprise

So, I am very happy to see many nice callas blooming. The pinks are doing well, and from the new ones I got three different colors so far, but there are other 3 plants that I think will bloom too.

I usually let flowers be at the garden and not cut them from the plant, but occasionally I like taking a couple blooms in the house just to enjoy having them inside too. The calla lilies are great for that because they make amazing cut flowers. They last long, look very good and the plant recovers very well from plucking some blooms.

Calla lilies make great cut flowers

I think they look great on a bottle of wine, what do you think?

My little garden in Japan may 2011

It is the end of May and I almost forgot to do the monthly update, so just to finish the month here is how my garden is doing. Most plants are doing great, all the vegetables are growing like crazy and many of the other plants are getting new leaves.

Summer is here

With summer so close, a lot of the winter flowers are starting to fade. The flowerboxes are starting to look a bit shaggy and dull. I think is time I take away the pansies from the flowerbox and get new flowers for this season. The good part is that many of the summer flowers are starting to bloom. The calla lily has been flowering since a couple weeks ago, the same for the lavender. The dahlia just started blooming, the survivor chocolate cosmos also has some buttons and the zempasuchitl is right behind. All summer flowers are ready to go.

All the summer flowers are ready to go

The tomatoes are already growing fruit, and they keep growing more and more. If I don’t check on them just one day, they go away from the trellis. They are certainly unruly, but I am sure the tomatoes will be worth it.

The first tomatoes of the season

The strawberries are a bit worrisome, they still don’t have any blooms. I was expecting some all this month but so far nothing. I hope they didn't waste all their energy back at April with the vacation drought. Not much I can do but wait.

The blueberries are getting bigger every day. Since they flowered in the windy days, I was afraid I would not get much fruit, but it seems a lot of them made it. I am glad that the assisted pollination worked. Now I just have to hope the birds don't decide to take them away.

Delicious blueberries

The only bad news is the red rose. It got sick since I went to Mexico, and despite my best efforts I doesn't seem to be getting better. It had some flower buds but it dropped them, along with all the leaves, now is just a couple of sticks that keep getting more and more yellow every day. I think I will have to say good bye and get a new one, but I still have a little hope.

With all the plants growing so much, I need to keep pruning very diligently or the balcony will become a jungle very fast. It is definitely the start of summer at My little balcony.

Seedlings and sproutings

Even though spring had arrived to Tokyo since last month, it was still a little cold. But not any more, May has brought us warmer temperatures, which are great for having the seeds sprout. Over the past week almost all of the seeds and bulbs I had on the ground started coming out. It is great seeing the garden growing like that, I can't wait to see them all developed.

All the seeds just sprouted!

The first seeds to take off were the komatsuna and the bekana. Those are some of the strongest greens I know, they always sprout very fast and easy. I even have to take care or they overrun the lettuces completely when I put them on the same planter.

On the veggie planters all of the companion plants are out and growing. I sowed some basil and zempazuchitl to go along with the tomatoes and to go along the greens, I planted some beans. They all seem to be doing well, specially the flowers, which already are on their second set of leaves.

This basil was given to me by Diana

Also, the seeds I got from Diana from Kebun Malay-Kadazan girls are sprouting. I put all of the flowers on one same pot, so I am not sure which ones are what, but I am sure they will all grow nicely.

To add to my bulbs basket I got a very nice dahlia, which I plant right between the tulips. It just came out of the ground at the same time the tulips started to dry off and fade. Also, getting ready for the bulb basket, my calla lily bulbs are growing very well too. Hopefully they will put a nice show, just like last year. I even got some new bulbs on different colors, but they are leftovers and are very small, so I am not sure if they will flower yet.

The second batch of calla lily

The latest to pop out were the pumpkins seeds I collected last Halloween. I was a bit worried because they took too long, so I sowed all of my seeds, now there are so many seedlings, definitely much more than I can grow.

I am still waiting for a couple of chilies, but I trust they will sprout soon. I even have some backup plants that I am not sure I can keep if they all grow successfully.

No idea if these beans will fruit

My only concern now is if the beans and the pumpkins will be able to give fruit. I got all of those seeds by collecting them, and I have no idea if they are hybrids or not. I guess I don’t have a choice but to wait and see.

Also, while we are on the topic of seeds, I wanted to do a giveaway this spring, but now is a bit late in the sowing season. I think, maybe I can still get some seeds in time to those living close. So, anybody living close to Tokyo, please send me an email or a twit.

For those of you who live abroad, I will make a proper giveaway later, just need to sort a couple things around.

The zempazuchitl seedlings are out

I don't have a big quantity, but I do have a good selection of "very hard to find in Japan" seeds. Here is what I have available:

• Chile ancho
  
• Chile pasilla
  
• Chile chipotle
  
• Chile guajillo
  
• Chile poblano
  
• Zempazuchitl (mexican marigold)
  
• Mexican mixed varieties cactus

And I also have a lot of extra thyme seeds and pumpkin seedlings

If you want to start your garden, or expand your existing one feel free to ask

Please help japan with a donation or good thoughts.

My best hope for those in Japan. You can help donate here.

Amazon
Google Checkout
Donation For Japan Earthquake 11th March 2011
American Red Cross
International Medical Corps
AmeriCares
Donate with Paypal
causes.com

My little garden in Japan April 2011

Spring is already here in Tokyo, and it really shows on my little garden in Japan. Most of the plants are flowering or about to and everything is getting revitalized. It is nice to see the garden so alive, but it also reminds me that there is a lot of work to do.

All the garden is in full bloom!

• Most of the vegetables from the big planter are flowering thanks to the vacation drought they suffered.

The dill is also starting to flower

• The maples are all green, which is bad because I wanted to separate them when they were still on their slumber. I guess I will have to be extra careful not to damage to roots

I got a couple new colors of calla lily. Hope they do well

• The calla lily are out and growing. After their initial sprout this winter I got them in the soil to let them rest a bit more, but now they are out again.

More flowers, the kalanchoe is also blooming

• The strawberries keep growing strong, and they insist on flowering. I will continue to cut them until the plants are stronger, buy I will let them propagate to have a backup strawberry pot.



• Sadly, the tulips are gone. A strong wind took them away last weekend. Most tulips around survived and are still going strong, so I guess mines were weak from the vacation drought.

Two new planters for the garden

• I got two new 60 litter planters for the tomatoes and chilies. The garden is going to be so full.



• The big red rose is still sick, but getting better every day. I hope it will get better. The little yellow rose is starting to show like it will bloom soon.

It is full spring here in my little garden in Japan

All around, the garden is doing great. I look forward to the rest of the season.

Please help japan with a donation or good thoughts.

My best hope for those in Japan. You can help donate here.

Amazon

Google Checkout

Donation For Japan Earthquake 11th March 2011

American Red Cross

International Medical Corps

AmeriCares

Donate with Paypal

causes.com

The calla lily is sprouting early!

This week I had a better chance to sort out all my seeds and set up everything for the spring. I did the planning for how the planters will be and also a buying list. But when I was sorting the bulbs I noticed that the calla lily bulbs started sprouting already.

The little calla lily sprouts are even turning green

It happened as one of the consequences of me being sick. Winter here is cold, but I don't mind as much, so I hardly ever turn on the heating. That means inside has good temperature for storing the bulbs. I had let them next to the window last month after collecting them. However, when I was sick, I turned the heating almost every night and I forgot to take the bulbs outside. So, they felt that sudden raise in temperature and decided to sprout. The biggest have a big enough start already, but hopefully they will be ok.

Now I have to decide what will I do. If I will keep them indoors until they gain strength and the weather is not as cold, or should I take them back out and let them fall asleep again. Any suggestions?

My plan for the calla lily is to grow it in the same planter as the tulips, so while ones grow in winter and spring, the others will do it in summer and autumn. Have anyone tried this before? I am not sure if they will be compatible.

My Calla lily blooming the past summer

Also, hope you noticed my internet tree got some snow on it. We finally had a couple snowy days last week but I forgot to mention on the blog until now. The plants did well, only the little peppers seem to have minded the cold. I wrote a little about it on my twitter. Follow me there for some tips and more about gardening. Also, there I write more about the things as they happen so it works a bit like a real time live news feed.

Time to dig up the calla lily bulbs

Earlier this month, I dug up my calla lilies. Normally calla bulbs are taken out from the ground in fall, but here in japan we have a more tender temperatures, so calla lilies take a bit longer to fade into bulbs. They even had some foliage in late December, I think the slightly warmer month we had help them stay around so long.

My Calla lily blooming this past summer

I was a bit afraid they would not be in a good condition because this summer they suffered heavily from the vacation drought. Back then they dropped a lot of leafs and also some went limp. I thought it would have stopped their development or even worst they could have gone rotten. Luckily, they all seem to be ok. Some didn’t grow as much, but I have at least four that I think have a decent size, also, none show any sign of rot.

The first pot had some small bulbs
but a couple promising enough

When I dug them up, a couple still have a fair amount of roots, so I let them be a bit longer in the soil. I think with the recent cold and no water, they should drop the remaining roots very soon, I will check on them next week. The rest are sitting in a little wood pot outside to harden them a little. I will get them in a better place later.

The second had much better bulbs,
but they still had a lot of roots

I feel so lucky my calla lily keeps on living, back when I got it I almost kill it because I had no idea how to take care of it. I didn't even know its name, I just bought it out of a whim. Little by little, with a lot of luck and some research, I have learn more about them and their care, and this year everything seems to have gone well. They bloomed beautifully and it seems I have at least other three or four new bulbs that will possibly bloom next year.

Calla lily bulbs ready for next season

Maybe next year I will wait a week or two more before taking them out, and of course I will try avoid any more droughts. Also a bit of banana fertilizer at the beginning of their growth should help them get stronger.

Also, if I see any other nice color I will make sure to add it to my garden. I already have my eye on a beautiful yellow variety.


One more thing, remember, the Carnival will be this January 17th!

New Year Gardening Resolutions

Be ready with a post about what do you plan on doing at your garden this next year, maybe about one particular plant you want to have, a renovation you will do, a special patch you will grow, a new gardening technique you will give a try, or any other project you have prepared for this new year.

My flowers

Every garden needs flowers. They look great, smell great and help to attract many beneficial insects to the garden.  

My flowers at their best

Having a garden is a tradition that starts with my grandparents. They always had a very full of life garden. My grandpa had grapes, strawberries and even an "amaze everybody he could grew it" pineapple. My grandma on the other hand always had many beautiful flowers, she often woke up early and cut some flowers to adorn her house, filling it all with the fresh scents.

Back at my parents, we also used to have lots of flowers in the garden. Usually we grew petunias for spring, and "Nochebuenas" (Poinsettias) at winter, but we had many others as well, including a huge bugambilia that covers the whole front fence.

My Calla lily blooming this summer

Having a garden here in japan, I could not miss out on having some flowers of my own. I already had a Calla lily, and a Kalanchoe but this spring I got a bunch more.

My torenia

It just keeps on blooming

I bought this one at my favorite garden center. It was quite full of flowers when I got it, but at my garden it went crazy growing and blooming nonstop. They remind me of the full white carpet of petunias that I used to have at my parents' house.

Now it continue to give flowers, but it is not as full after the vacation drought.

My Blue Salvia

I love this purple color

I had seen a lot of this flowers around since last year, but I didn't know much about them. Silly me at first I used to believe this was lavender. I think it's an honest mistake, the flowers do look alike a bit. However when I visited Hokkaido last year and I saw the lavender farms, I realize it’s a different plant.

This spring I spot some at the garden center, and I had to buy them. This deep purple color is one of my favorites of all my flowers.

Sadly this plant got a lot of damage on the week of the drought, and it never fully recovered. Now it still have some green and some tinny flowers but I think it's best to take it out. Next year however, it will sure be on my list of flowers to get for spring.

My Marigold

The flower basquet

This is another flower I got because it reminds me of the flowers back in my country. I wanted to have it because I know it attracts a lot of beneficial insects and because I really like the scent. Sadly I lost it because of vacation drought, maybe next year I can get some more.

My Mini Rose

It finally started blooming again

I love roses. It might seem as a cliché but I think they are the most romantic of all flowers. In my garden I have a tinny yellow mini rose. Well, it started as tiny, the pot it came in was barely half a cup. When it started growing I changed it to a bigger pot but then problems started.

At the beginning it was full of flowers, but after a while it stopped. I assume it wanted some food so I prepared some banana milkshake fertilizer and it started blooming again.
Now it continues to live very happily and it already grew five times its initial size.

My Geraniums

Geraniums for my mom

I got this plants because they remind me of my mom. She loves geranium. I remember once we bought a bunch from a plant nursery and then we felt bad because they where only stems (back then we didn’t know that’s how geraniums reproduce).

In my garden I have a red and a white one. They seem to be ok, but they are growing slow because they got a little hurt from lack of water on vacations. The only problem is that white one seems to be growing albino leafs, I think it got too much sun, I hope it recovers soon.

My Globe Amaranth

Butterflies love Globe Amaranth

I didn't knew this flower before, and so far I had only seen it in japan, but it's definitely one of my favorites. I had seen it growing in many gardens here but strangely I didn't found it for sale last year.

I wanted to have one on my garden because with that shape it looks like it’s the kind of flower butterflies go crazy about. Luckily this week because of a post at tokyodiygardening.org and thanks to @a_small_lab I was reminded of them, so I went to my favorite garden center and I found them there. Of all the displays it was the one with the most butterflies, it think I counted around 14.
So that’s how it become the new acquisition for my garden. I got the one with more buttons, so I can be sure to have butterflies at my garden.

Oh and turns out this flower is native back in my country.


So those are my flowers.
Besides from all of these ones, when they were on season, the tomato, the strawberry, the peppers and specially the mints were full of flowers and add to the flower collection.

Strawberry flowers

My calla lily

Ok, this time I would like to start introducing my plants. First my Calla Lily.

My calla lily also known as Zantedeschia

This flower was the first plant I got here in japan.

Back then I had been wanting to get some plant for my apartment but I couldn’t decide what to get. One day I was walking to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping and I saw old man selling plants out of the back of a van. I saw this beautiful purple calla lily, but unfortunately couldn’t decide to get it back then. Of course, later when I was back at home I regretted and wanted to buy it.
So for weeks I tried to go on that same road again to try to catch the man selling plants, I did find him once but no calla lily.

Finally after a month of looking I found the van and a calla lily, this time a pink one, I almost didn’t buy it because I was looking for a purple one but I manage to overcome my pickiness and bought it.

Back then I had no idea what kind of flower it was. I didn’t know the name or anything about it. I tried to do the best I could to raise it but I have to say it was mostly luck.

It flourished very nicely and got full of flowers. But then it started to get some yellow leafs and also my roommate didn’t like it because it attracted a couple fruit flies. So I had to move it outside, I also change it to a slightly bigger pot. There it continue to bloom until late September and then in autumn started to fade away. Back then I didn’t know anything about this plant all I know is that it kind of look like a bulb plant.

So I took a risk and dug them out and here is where the lucky part begins. I dug them around October which was too early for that, also I broke the bulb apart too much because I didn't have a clue and it hadn't grow big enough. And then I put them back in the soil and continue to water them all winter. Now I feel so lucky because none of the bulbs got rotten and this year they all grew into very healthy plants and bloom fully.

Some calla lily cuttings from this season

Even with more luck this spring I saw some Zantedeschias at my favorite garden center and learn their name, and after, thanks to google I learned finally how to take care of my calla lily properly.

Update! I submitted this post to How to find great plants, by Appalachianfeet

My plants

Here is a small ever-changing list of the plants on my garden.
I will try to update this page accordingly to my current garden status. All my plants are now on the "my garden" page

 

• Mint: One apple mint and one peppermint
• Beans: No idea what kind I just try to sow some I didn’t eat
• Grape: It's a Pione, I just got it this month 
• Cilantro: Now on the second sow, I hope they are still on season
• Basil: Sweet basil, I want to try to cook with it
• Japanese maple tree (紅葉): The pot actually has four different kinds I'm waiting for autumn to see which one I keep
• Kalanchoe: Pink, donated by a shop
• Strawberry (苺): In memory of my grandfather 
• Tomato: On the end of season
• Pepper: Rescued form a garden shop trash
• Torenia: White, so many flowers
• Blue Salvia: Beautiful purple flowers
• Zantedeschia: My first plant in japan
• Rose: A little yellow mini rose
• Geranium: White and red for my mom
• Globe amaranth*: For the butterflies  

 

All of my plants have been an adventure on its own, some have worked some have not. Also besides from this I hope to acquire some tulips and maybe some other plants along the road.

*Updated 27 Aug 2010: A brand new globe amaranth