2011-03-19 Tom McCall

First trip out this year on a nice sunny day.

Out to the gorge where all the flowers are kept. The Oaks haven't budded out at all, but the bulbs are starting.


Lomatium columbianum, a wild Parsley. It lives in a nice spot.


There were a couple Saxifrage hanging on a rock.


There were thousands and thousands of Olysinum douglasii.


The photo doesn't do the thousands of little purple bells waving in the warm breeze justice.




Out of the thousands (maybe millions) there were two white ones.


A little Crocidium multicaule.


The Fritillaria pudica were also blooming. Hundreds if not thousands.


They usually don't clump and they're so little that a photo of a grand sweeping view with hundreds of dainty yellow bells is unimpressive. Here's a couple together.


A placid lake with frogs calling.


I walked down to this bizarre rock formation. Neat to climb around on.

2011-02 Wrap up

Just a couple things from mid-winter. It has been bleak...

My Rhododendron phaeochitum X laetum from Bovees that I god back in 2006 or so. It has a bunch of buds that haven't opened yet so I'm expecting an additional spring display in a few months. These tropical Rhodie's seem to do whatever they want to with regard to flowers. This one is a hybrid so it's pretty strong and puts on an increasingly good show each year.


The Acacia baileyana purpurea that was a seedling in spring 2008. The new growth (in May) is dark purple and very nice. It always blooms in the middle of February when we're still having some hard freezes/frosts, so I always have to drag this 15ft tall tree somewhere safe for a few nights.


Lachenalia alioides quadricolor from South Africa. Likes to be cool in the winter, but it did ok in my heated sunroom last winter. This winter I decided to try it in the GH where it did exceptionally well.


The Drosera scorpioides gemmae from last fall have grown into tiny monsters already catching many tiny prey.

2010-12-17 Lyon Arboretum again

Last time we were rushed through the arboretum because it closes at 4pm...

There were lots of various ginger things. These were about 18in tall.


My favorite native Hawaiian plant: Metrosideros polymorpha.


Emphasis on the poly: the lemon yellow form.


Tacca chantrieri. Black Bat flower.


Something tropicalesque.


The plant this was on looked a lot like a Podocarpus... it obviously isn't... Don't know what the heck it is, though.


Hey, I have one of those... not quite that big, but close.

2010-12-15 Cactus Garden and Manoa Falls

The Kapi'olani Community College dedicates copious land to its ever expanding cactus and succulent garden. They also have an awesome farmers market which was a bit touristy, sadly. But, that didn't stop their jam from being voraciously devoured by me and others related to me.


Kalanchoe in bloom.


Check out these Pachipodiums!


So cute! They were crawling all over the Aloe licking the nectar.


We went for a leisurely hike up to Manoa falls. By leisurely, I mean sweaty. And by hike I mean up a jogging up a rocky hillside in 80F weather. Can we perhaps be less used to this? Absolutely! Just make the humidity 103.2% and you're set! It turned out we had too much blood and we had to sweat it out.


Occasionally, I would have a few seconds to take a picture. Some sort of Neomarica.


After the hike, we went to the neighboring Lyon Arboretum. Lachnalia was opening up.


Another Albizia. I think this is the one that's coming in the mail.


Gloriosa superba.


Could be a Jacaranda, but whatever it is, it's over 200ft tall and well over 10ft in diameter. Notice the tiny swing set to the left.


Last, we went for a short hike along the top of the ridge. Way cooler up there amongst the Araucaria.

2010-12-14 Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden

On the East coast of Oahu. Water deemed acceptably stunning. No snorkeling of which to speak.


We traded water things for their dry-land counterparts. This is Hawaii's showy native Hibiscus.


Hawaii has about 4 plants that are native to the islands. Everything else is brought over. These are some amazingly huge 4ft tall non-native Bromeliads.


Lisa under a Ficus. Shortly after having her dreams dashed as she learned that there in fact ARE mosquitoes on Hawaii. Many, as it turns out.


Albizia. I could not get enough of them. Enormous. I'm expecting one the mail any day. Those flat rate boxes can hold a surprising quantity.


Brownea macrophylla. Winter is Not the blooming season in Hawaii, but a couple flowers were open.


The hillside.


Hey! It's that field from "Lost" where they drove the Dharma Truck around after Hurley had a win for once... you know... So we ran around in circles for a while.

2010-11-19 Protea!

One of the Protea repens that I started from seed from Fynbos People in October 2007 is blooming in my greenhouse. This is the very first Protea I've ever grown to blooming size (with plenty more on the way from both Fynbos and Silverhill Seeds). Potting mix is 1.5 parts washed quarter minus gravel, 1 part orchid bark, 1 part perlite, 1 part pumice, and half a part of Turface MVP. I usually don't fertilize, but I have added Ironite from time to time and this Fall I fertilized with Alfalfa meal which has 0 phosphate (since high phosphate kills Protea). There is a second inflorescence on the same plant that is soon to open. I'm surprised that the plant didn't wait until February to bloom... This is probably the only Protea blooming within 100mi, or more perhaps...

2010-11-14 Deck

Here's a link to the finished deck!

Put together the structure of the deck in two days, with some help of course. Thanks Dad! Looks great. All we need now is decking! After a lot of research, we've decided to go with a PVC product. Probably "Sanctuary" in rosewood by Fiberon.

From the garage end. An circular step follows the contour of our circular stone patio, soon to come.


From the greenhouse end. There's a step next to the house. The closest edge in the photo will have a trellis with our Trachelospermum jasminoides. Also, there will be a pergola over this end with space for a table and chairs underneath hanging kiwi fruit.