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3/23/2008

New Discoveries on my Balcony GTS

pansy
The one Pansy Flower.


The Pansy has a flower. It is slowly opening up. My hubby is excited because these are "his" pansies. He picked out the seed packet but his first sow didn't work. I sowed him some more and here they are grown and starting to flower.

bougainvillea
Bougainvillea sprout?


I really want to throw the Bougainvillea out. It died back this winter. I didn't bring it inside hoping that it would have done okay. For a few months I waited for some buds or something. Nothing happened so I scratched the bark and it was not green. I cut it back and was about to toss it till I saw this growth. Does this mean it is still alive and will grow well this year? Any Bougainvillea growers give me advice. To trash or to keep.

mushroom
A mushroom


Next to the Bougainvillea growth I spotted something white. I couldn't tell what it was from where I was looking. So I touched it...it felt hard. I yanked it out and discovered it was a mushroom. For some reason I was excited and showed my husband and my dog. Then I went ahead and put it back in the pot. Yeah I'm not sure why I'm keeping it. It's my first mushroom give me a break.

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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter and congratulations on your mushroom!! (and your husband's pansy) lol I'd keep trying with the bougainvilla if it's actually sprouting. Plants are the gift that truly keep on giving, so I don't throw them out until they prove to me that they are dead!

Ki said...

It sure looks like the bougainvillea is sprouting...just like your blog's name :)...unless it's a weed that just happened to grown right next to the stem.

The mushroom is a fruiting body of the fungi. Most of the actual vegetative part of the fungi, the mycelia, the fine whitish tendrils are in the soil. Putting the mushroom back in the soil wouldn't make it grow because you've severed the connection with the mycelium.

Unknown said...

Heck, I'm no plant expert or anything, but I'd keep it and give it a try! Worst thing that could happen is you decide you want to throw it away in a few month. It may just surprise you though!

Amy said...

Love the picture of the pansy!

Aiyana said...

I guess I missed your GTS post yesterday. Hope you had a great Easter. Bougainvillea is almost always propagated by cuttings, so your sprout is more than likely not from seed. Bougainvillea can be cut to the ground and when the weather warms, it will grow right back. The bougainvillea root system is extremely fragile, and most plants are lost during transplanting.
Aiyana

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Definitely keep it and see what happens. I had one die back a few years ago and it is doing nicely now.

Remember Pansies benefit from dead heading. The modern types don't need it as much but removing the spent flowers helps them, unless you are trying to collect the seed (that isn't worth it to me).

Danielles Garden said...

The bougainvillea will come back. Mine did the same thing when we had temps in the low 20s this January. Mine dropped its leaves, so I cut each of the 10 branches from 10 ft. back to 8 ft. After 2 months of neglect, it exploded with color on the branches which I hacked. My inlaws told me to cut off the 2 inch stems that the flowers grow on. They look like a perfect Y once the flowers fall off. Then, you'll get more blooms.

Anonymous said...

How exciting!! I did not know a Bougainvillea would come back. Do you know how many I've thrown out!!! And they cost us $20 a plant here!! I could shoot myself!

Priscilla George said...

byrningbunny-Thank you. I'll give the bougainvillea a chance to see if it keeps growing

ki- I dont think it's a weed. I have thought the same thing, I'll have to see if it is a weed. That would be sad. Thank you for commenting on the mushroom. I know nothing about them.

Cinj- I know there is no harm in keeping. I had just hyped myself to throw it away and start some new things in that pot. If it lives I'll be happy because I liked the Bougainvillea.

Amy- Thank you for the complement.

No Rain- Thank you for that information. I had previous read about them being propagated by cuttings. I had taken some cuttings in the fall but none of the rooted. I do hope it does grow back.

Digital Flower Pictures- Thank you for telling me your experience with the bougainvillea. I'll give it a fighting chance. The pansy info was helpful I'll remember to dead head. The seeds were expensive so if my husband wants more I'll just buy some. If I had known that pansies don't last long here I would have told him to pick something else.

ldybug- Thank you for coming by my blog. I read your blog whenever you post I just love the plants you can grow down in florida. I cut the bougainvillea all the way back hopefully I didn't ruin it by doing so.

Anna- I know I'm glad I asked. I was just going to toss it and buy a new one. They are still expensive here too. I got this one at the end of last year when there was a store wide sale at the garden center of everything being 25% off. Even small bougainvilleas are $15 here.