Hanging Tomato - Eastern Prickly Pear

I dug up the two eastern prickly pear that I found in the bed. I did kind of regret tossing out the others but once the fire ants sunk them - it just felt like one big mess so I just tossed them. At least now I'm starting over. I just actually wonder if these two came from a fallen pad or if they grew from seed. Hmm...






After discussing it with several people who had experience with hanging tomato planters over several years - I was told that bags tend to fray after a month or two and it gets messy. The idea is to stick to something hard and plastic. This convinced me to re-open my Upsy Downsy tomato garden planter and give this baby a whirl!

Um... Why is the ground above me?

So we'll see if this thing takes off. My prediction - It'll be a very very very happy plant but it won't bother producing tomatoes in the slightest.

I plan to get a little flowerbox type planter and grow some Tiny Tim tomato plants. I still have some seeds left over from the last one.

They're selling like hotcakes, sir.

Has everyone seen those upside down tomato baskets? Of course you have! They're advertising it like nuts! Of course, I got a variation of it (Upsy Downsy: Hanging Tomato Garden) and after close inspection, I decided I didn't like this version. It came with seeds of its own but I thought I could stick a pre-grown tomato plant in it. I was wrong.

I set off to the local nursery and bought a "Better Boy" tomato plant.

Only one problem. Every store I hit for the upside down bag version - all sold like hotcakes. Quote unquote from a saleslady who laughed at how fast it went. Guess I'll have to wait a bit more for the next batch.

I am worried though. I wonder if Better Boy might be too big or heavy for the bag!

Easter Cactus budding

I noticed the buds on my Easter Cactus! Can't wait to see them flower.



I took all the plants out of the greenhouse yesterday when I heard there was going to be a storm passing through and there wouldn't be any freezing temperatures left. A good chunk of the plants didn't seem to be happy while suffering with cold temperatures and whatnot. It was a terrible winter.

Eastern Prickly Pear

I threw away my eastern prickly pear last year after the fire ants made a huge mess out of them. What happened was the fire ants just built up a huge mound in the pots and when it rained, the whole thing caved in. It was enough so they were tossed out.

I got to thinking about them, remembering their yellow blooms and thinking, "Maybe I should've saved a pad or two." Every winter, the two pots would be placed at the side of the house to protect them from cold winds. I decided to go check and see if there were any that just happened to fall into the bed.



Whaddyaknow?? There is a couple still around! I'm gonna pot these up when I know there'll be no frost coming. They're ugly suckers but the flowers are neat.