A few months ago, I collected about twenty seeds of a low-growing tropical heliconia that was, despite frost, thriving outdoors in the open. I brought the seeds home and scattered them in a trough of soil, and now they have germinated. I read that they can take up to ten months to germinate, so it seems to be a miracle that the seeds have grown in the dead of winter. The species is Heliconia psittacorum. The picture on the right shows a flower on the plant from which I collected seed.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Heliconia Success
A few months ago, I collected about twenty seeds of a low-growing tropical heliconia that was, despite frost, thriving outdoors in the open. I brought the seeds home and scattered them in a trough of soil, and now they have germinated. I read that they can take up to ten months to germinate, so it seems to be a miracle that the seeds have grown in the dead of winter. The species is Heliconia psittacorum. The picture on the right shows a flower on the plant from which I collected seed.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Boulderstash, The No Name Forest photos
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| The No Name Forest quiet awaits our return |
Laura and I had fun bouldering at a local spot the other day... Here's a couple photos
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| Laura on a clean slabby classic |
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| Laura throwin' down her best "Goodman on MOJO" impression. |
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| Faster than a speeding bullet... Chipmunk parkour. Photo by Laura Hahn |
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| Laura working the sloping edge of Pyramid Block |
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| Despite our best efforts the boulders always win the battle! Until next time... Shhhhh |
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Dynafit Nanga Parbat
Nate was lucky enough to get a early pair of these guys. I'm still joneing. Nice ski by the numbers and after riding the Cho Oyu demos the last week.
http://wilsonalpine.blogspot.com//05/2014-dynafit-nanga-parbat-first-glance.html
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Saltwater and Rust
Both this summer and in previous years we've brought our bikes to the coast, we've noticed rust forming alarmingly quickly - even with the bicycles kept indoors. The chain is usually the first to rust, with the various bolts that hold components together shortly following suit. Even hardy powdercoated frames are not immune to this: We noticed rust spots on the Co-Habitant's pale blue Surly at the end of our first week here. I am curious how those who live next to salt water year-round take care of their bicycles. If the rate of rust formation we are seeing is any indication, it seems that bikes kept near salt water are liable to become rust buckets in no time.On the other hand, I recall that my parents - who live around the corner from a marina - have always kept bikes in the garage, which was left open more often than not. These included my old mountain bike - which was stored in this manner for 15 years before I retrieved it, and the vintage Raleigh we later restored - which must have been kept there for over 20 years. Neither of these bikes show any more rust than is typical for their age. Could it be that bicycles were somehow rust-proofed in the past, and that this is no longer done? Or does rust formation slow down after an initially vigorous attack? Insights from coastal dwellers appreciated!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
Cottontails
We've gone from snow to temps in the 70s in one week. Don't plant your tomatoes yet though, says our Extension guy; there's still more cold weather to come.
Divided heart-shaped rock that has nothing to do with this post.
I'll be at the Cottontails craft show this weekend at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic center. So if you are local and have $6, come see me. If you come Friday morning, you may see a friend of mine too. Two blogging soapmakers for the price of one. And if tell me, "You said on your blog that you'd give me a 10% discount," then I will.
Divided heart-shaped rock that has nothing to do with this post.
I'll be at the Cottontails craft show this weekend at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic center. So if you are local and have $6, come see me. If you come Friday morning, you may see a friend of mine too. Two blogging soapmakers for the price of one. And if tell me, "You said on your blog that you'd give me a 10% discount," then I will.
Lose Some, Win Some
This post, "Lose Some, Win Some ", was written for my blogspot blog called The Transplantable Rose by Annie in Austin.
ED Jan 29: Looking into the back garden at house #3 Illinois - mid-1990's
Winter in Illinois meant -15°F/-26°C, shoveling snow, chopping ice and growing a garden full of dormant plants. Eleven winters in Austin have taught me to expect occasional snow, some spectacular ice storms, occasional dips to the 20's and have taught me that many marginal plants will make it through with a little help from a gardener. It's unlearning time when January .. brings the coldest temperatures in decades.
Some of the effects of the 13°F/10.5°C measured in my garden won't show up for months - some of the editing was sudden, but the garden will change and this blog will help me remember what happens.
Although the loss of perennials also means the opportunity to try new ones, I'm grateful that the deep cold barely touched the Green Bones of the garden. So far the evergreen yaupon hollies and Burford hollies, the loquats and sweet olives, live oaks and Southern wax myrtles and 'Little Gem' magnolia, the boxwoods and Mexican oreganos, the camellias and roses and abelias, the Pineapple guavas, Magnolia figo/Banana shrub, Dwarf Myrtles, Buddhist Pine/Podocarpus, Bay laurels, Gregg's salvias, cast iron plants and sturdy evergreen vines of Star Jasmine seem fine. The Carolina Jessamine vine didn't even lose its buds. 
Another cold front is on the way now, poised to banish the balmy 63°/17°C of the last weeks so the 25°F/3.8°C can return. It's time to once again cover tender plants and move others from the patio back inside the garage. But there are fewer plants to worry about this time - any lingering annuals and most of the marginal plants have bailed!
After that hard weekend some plants died immediately. A warm house wall and layers of covering couldn't save the African aloes - their gel-filled leaves felt like water balloons, collapsing when temperatures rose. 
This Aloe vera and skullcap huddled side-by-side under the layers against the wall - that was enough protection to keep the pot of Scutellaria indica 'Dorota Blue' looking fresh and green but the Aloe has collapsed.
Obviously dead was the Zone 9 Mexican flame vine, an iffy choice when it was planted on the new trellis last fall. After 15-seconds of mourning it was replaced by the Ramona clematis blooming in its holding container since ...
Many plants died to the ground - there's no sign that the Duranta erecta, the cupheas, the Mexican honeysuckle, the Blue butterfly clerodendron, the tall yellow Brugmansia/Angel Trumpet or the Milkweeds/Asclepias curassavica will have enough strength to resprout from the base. I don't know how far the chill entered the ground - if it went down a few inches even normally hardy salvias and the southern bulbs like canna, calla, amaryllis, rainlilies, agapanthus or the Butterfly Gingers in the open borders may be dead. If the Amarcrinums don't live I won't be one bit philosophical about the loss!
Many plants, especially the Texas plants, have dropped leaves but the stems are flexible so they'll probably survive - defoliating now are the Texas sage/Cenizo, native wisteria and all three Barbados cherries (largest one seen above). Semi-evergreen non-natives like roses and dwarf pomegranates have dropped leaves, too and the native Silver Ponyfoot/Dichondra argentea has died back in large sheets to a few places where the silver grey leaves are alive.
The larger Meyer's Lemon tree also had special covering and and lights. It didn't look too bad at first, then the leaves started curling. Last weekend the lemon leaves turned brown and started falling. I'll cover it again tonight and turn on the lights, hoping that green stems mean the tree can recover.
Covering won't help several dead-looking palm trees or the bicolor iris or the bulbines. Just in case they're not dead I'm crossing my fingers and leaving most of those plants alone for now. The clump of bulbines above were dug out for another reason - they'd taken over a space earmarked for a pomegranate tree.
Some fall-planted cilantro didn't care about the cold but I was surprised to see that smaller bluebonnet and larkspur seedlings were missing after the freeze.
Apparently some seeds were still underground - a few bluebonnets, the larkspur above and more cilantro germinated and popped up after the freeze.
Every border, front and back, has a sprinkling of Verbena bonariensis seedlings eager to fill in blank spots.
Birds eat berries from the Wax-leafed Ligustrum in my neighbors' yards and drop the seeds here. This Asian invader wasn't bothered by a mere 13F so I've pulled hundreds of these seedlings.
The new white camellia 'Morning Glow' lost a few buds, then opened others with brown edges. The rose pink Camellia japonica never opened its buds but hasn't dropped them.
All three Sweet Olive shrubs have pushed off the frozen brown buds and popped a new set of fragrant flowers.
The Loropetalum AKA Chinese Witch Hazel AKA "Razzle Dazzle" is defying whatever weather comes next.
Ranunculus bulbs are pushing up leaves all over the garden. I grow a few every year and they look much more robust with rain and cooler temperatures than in the last couple of years.
Inside the house a Smith & Hawken Amaryllis blooms on the windowsill. This doesn't look one bit like the picture of 'Apple Blossom' on the label but it's a winner.
This post, "Lose Some, Win Some ", was written for my blogspot blog called The Transplantable Rose by Annie in Austin.
ED Jan 29: Looking into the back garden at house #3 Illinois - mid-1990'sWinter in Illinois meant -15°F/-26°C, shoveling snow, chopping ice and growing a garden full of dormant plants. Eleven winters in Austin have taught me to expect occasional snow, some spectacular ice storms, occasional dips to the 20's and have taught me that many marginal plants will make it through with a little help from a gardener. It's unlearning time when January .. brings the coldest temperatures in decades.
Some of the effects of the 13°F/10.5°C measured in my garden won't show up for months - some of the editing was sudden, but the garden will change and this blog will help me remember what happens.
Although the loss of perennials also means the opportunity to try new ones, I'm grateful that the deep cold barely touched the Green Bones of the garden. So far the evergreen yaupon hollies and Burford hollies, the loquats and sweet olives, live oaks and Southern wax myrtles and 'Little Gem' magnolia, the boxwoods and Mexican oreganos, the camellias and roses and abelias, the Pineapple guavas, Magnolia figo/Banana shrub, Dwarf Myrtles, Buddhist Pine/Podocarpus, Bay laurels, Gregg's salvias, cast iron plants and sturdy evergreen vines of Star Jasmine seem fine. The Carolina Jessamine vine didn't even lose its buds. 
Another cold front is on the way now, poised to banish the balmy 63°/17°C of the last weeks so the 25°F/3.8°C can return. It's time to once again cover tender plants and move others from the patio back inside the garage. But there are fewer plants to worry about this time - any lingering annuals and most of the marginal plants have bailed!
After that hard weekend some plants died immediately. A warm house wall and layers of covering couldn't save the African aloes - their gel-filled leaves felt like water balloons, collapsing when temperatures rose. 
This Aloe vera and skullcap huddled side-by-side under the layers against the wall - that was enough protection to keep the pot of Scutellaria indica 'Dorota Blue' looking fresh and green but the Aloe has collapsed.
Obviously dead was the Zone 9 Mexican flame vine, an iffy choice when it was planted on the new trellis last fall. After 15-seconds of mourning it was replaced by the Ramona clematis blooming in its holding container since ...Many plants died to the ground - there's no sign that the Duranta erecta, the cupheas, the Mexican honeysuckle, the Blue butterfly clerodendron, the tall yellow Brugmansia/Angel Trumpet or the Milkweeds/Asclepias curassavica will have enough strength to resprout from the base. I don't know how far the chill entered the ground - if it went down a few inches even normally hardy salvias and the southern bulbs like canna, calla, amaryllis, rainlilies, agapanthus or the Butterfly Gingers in the open borders may be dead. If the Amarcrinums don't live I won't be one bit philosophical about the loss!
Many plants, especially the Texas plants, have dropped leaves but the stems are flexible so they'll probably survive - defoliating now are the Texas sage/Cenizo, native wisteria and all three Barbados cherries (largest one seen above). Semi-evergreen non-natives like roses and dwarf pomegranates have dropped leaves, too and the native Silver Ponyfoot/Dichondra argentea has died back in large sheets to a few places where the silver grey leaves are alive.
The larger Meyer's Lemon tree also had special covering and and lights. It didn't look too bad at first, then the leaves started curling. Last weekend the lemon leaves turned brown and started falling. I'll cover it again tonight and turn on the lights, hoping that green stems mean the tree can recover.
Covering won't help several dead-looking palm trees or the bicolor iris or the bulbines. Just in case they're not dead I'm crossing my fingers and leaving most of those plants alone for now. The clump of bulbines above were dug out for another reason - they'd taken over a space earmarked for a pomegranate tree.
Some fall-planted cilantro didn't care about the cold but I was surprised to see that smaller bluebonnet and larkspur seedlings were missing after the freeze.
Apparently some seeds were still underground - a few bluebonnets, the larkspur above and more cilantro germinated and popped up after the freeze.
Every border, front and back, has a sprinkling of Verbena bonariensis seedlings eager to fill in blank spots.
Birds eat berries from the Wax-leafed Ligustrum in my neighbors' yards and drop the seeds here. This Asian invader wasn't bothered by a mere 13F so I've pulled hundreds of these seedlings.
The new white camellia 'Morning Glow' lost a few buds, then opened others with brown edges. The rose pink Camellia japonica never opened its buds but hasn't dropped them.
All three Sweet Olive shrubs have pushed off the frozen brown buds and popped a new set of fragrant flowers.
The Loropetalum AKA Chinese Witch Hazel AKA "Razzle Dazzle" is defying whatever weather comes next.
Ranunculus bulbs are pushing up leaves all over the garden. I grow a few every year and they look much more robust with rain and cooler temperatures than in the last couple of years.
Inside the house a Smith & Hawken Amaryllis blooms on the windowsill. This doesn't look one bit like the picture of 'Apple Blossom' on the label but it's a winner.This post, "Lose Some, Win Some ", was written for my blogspot blog called The Transplantable Rose by Annie in Austin.
The Florida Aquarium in Tampa
For some strange reason, we have never visited this aquarium before. Even after other people told us how wonderful it was, we still had not made it over to Tampa to visit. This past weekend we decided enough was enough, it was time to see this aquarium. I am so glad we did because it was overall a really nice aquarium.
The exhibits were laid out in zones: Wetlands, Bays and Beaches, Coral Reef and Ocean Commotion. Each area gave information and examples of creatures that would live there.
There was also a Splash Zone and Dolphin Cruise, neither of which we enjoyed. The only downside to this place was it was so horribly crowded that at times it was hard to even see the animals due to people crowding the exhibit. I imagine that weekdays are less crowded so we might have to come back again sometime during the week.
My favorite parts were this:
So cool to watch but no way could I imagine doing that! I did have fun with this guy who came up close and then splashed me:
We had a really nice day here and I do hope we can visit again sometime.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Owls, Bears, Bicycles
In the Co-Habitant's words, our tree ended up looking "very organic," decorated with golden berries, wooden forest animals and round ornaments in shades of copper and gold. The bicycles seem to like it.
Happy holidays and enjoy your winter break!
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Mt Rainier Route Photos
The heavy snowfall from last week slowed a number of teams, many have not made the summit. Since we're lite on route conditions, I'll share these recent climbing route photos. Here is the Nisqually Cleaver taken on May 30th. There are a number of climbers at Camp Muir this weekend, none have reported successful ascents. One Seattle party spent 15 hours pushing the route in from Camp Schurman, while another team summited on Liberty Ridge Thursday/Friday. The "Liberty" team took quite a bit of extra time and had to spend at least one night on top... They radioed from Camp Schurman on Saturday to report that one member had 7 digits with frostbite! We remind climbers not to underestimate how physically difficult it is to climb Liberty Ridge.
Photo by Mike Gauthier
Ooh, nice...
I can't bring myself to type the last word of that double entendre because it would only invite more of the um, wrong element.
Like the ones who come here searching for pictures of people mooning, bigbooty, little cuties, cute chicks, etc. (Though I do admit to a sort of a perverse satisfaction in knowing that I made them look at pictures of the actual moon, Christmas trees, my cats, or chickens, respectively.)
Anyway, here's another picture from the game camera (1, 2). I had to alter this one quite a bit, since the deer was near the edge of the flash's effectiveness.
We decided to move the camera to another spot, to see if we have better luck. There was one last picture from the old location:
I have no idea who these dogs belong to, but they've obviously found a hole in the fence.
Hubby put the camera in an area where we've seen lots of scat lately (coyote mostly, I think), and aimed it down the road a bit.
As you might imagine, Jasmine ends up as the star in most of the pictures.
We're having trouble setting the camera to be as sensitive as we'd like. It sometimes fails to take a picture of us when we cross in front of it, so it must be missing animals too. It's heat-activated, so it works best in cold weather.
Like the ones who come here searching for pictures of people mooning, bigbooty, little cuties, cute chicks, etc. (Though I do admit to a sort of a perverse satisfaction in knowing that I made them look at pictures of the actual moon, Christmas trees, my cats, or chickens, respectively.)
Anyway, here's another picture from the game camera (1, 2). I had to alter this one quite a bit, since the deer was near the edge of the flash's effectiveness.
We decided to move the camera to another spot, to see if we have better luck. There was one last picture from the old location:
I have no idea who these dogs belong to, but they've obviously found a hole in the fence.
Hubby put the camera in an area where we've seen lots of scat lately (coyote mostly, I think), and aimed it down the road a bit.
As you might imagine, Jasmine ends up as the star in most of the pictures.
We're having trouble setting the camera to be as sensitive as we'd like. It sometimes fails to take a picture of us when we cross in front of it, so it must be missing animals too. It's heat-activated, so it works best in cold weather.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
College Cooking - Thomas Keller Oreos
TKO's - Thomas Keller Oreos, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.
College has started, and I was lucky enough to get a dorm with a kitchen. My friend and I decided that the inaugural dish would be something sweet - homemade Oreos (TKO's) it was!
TKO's are incredibly good, with rich white chocolate ganache sandwiched between two chocolaty, sweet and slightly salty cookies. The flavors are divine. The recipe can be found under the February 28, post on this blog.
International Woman's Day - On Bicycle
[image via Miami University Russian Studies Department]In honor of March 8th, International Woman's Day, I give you "Collective Farm Woman on Bicycle" by my favourite Soviet painter, Alexander Deineka.
["Woman Riding a Bicycle with Grasses" by Jerry Cooke ]... and a real Soviet "commuter" farm woman from 1960. Too bad this holiday is neglected in the USA. In Vienna I got flowers!
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