Orange-tipped oakworm moth

Orange-tipped Oakworm moth

I have to admit I was surprised to find the name of this one. Usually I do a search and can never find anything that looks like what I'm trying to identify. I popped in "red/orange moth with two spots" and didn't expect to find anything. Found it pretty quickly.

Purple Mom/Black Dad cross-pollinated bearded iris

Oops. Totally slipped my mind. I took a picture of the cross-pollinated iris this afternoon and meant to go out to take a better picture when the sun wasn't as harsh. Totally slipped my mind and it's dark outside right now. Ah well...

The first flower of the Purple Mom/Black Dad bearded iris cross. More purple! hehe.

I guess purple is just incredibly dominating as a color so far.

Cherub's Smile not so pink afterall...

Ah, Cherub's Smile (Van Zyverden) has bloomed at last. Do you remember the personal note I left to myself to remember the name of the iris and a quick update when I was excited they were actually still alive?

04/19/13 - One bloom coming up

04/22/13 - Mostly white with a tinge of  very faded purple

04/26/13 - Opens to white flower

04/26/13 - Close-up of faded pattern

I tried to track down the original tag that came with it so that I could contact the company but failed to find it. What I did find was an interesting thread: Irises cubit: General Discussion forum: Bargain irises

It was pretty nifty to find a thread where a handful of other people also shared their experience of purchasing Cherub's Smile but also ended up with these white irises.

First cross-pollinated iris bloom

I wasn't going to originally post any pictures until all had bloomed but, man, it's taking forever. Some of the flowers have been peeking out while waiting for days on end before they want to open. We keep getting cool temperatures. According to the forecasts, we're to expect another period of cool temperatures again at some point. The Black Mom/Purple Dad Iris bed has 3 rhizomes that are blooming. The Purple Mom/Black Dad bed now have 6 rhizomes that are sending out flowers.

The first BM/PD iris has finally opened today and I hobbled together this quick picture of it. So what happened? [Black Mom + Purple Dad = ?] Apparently the father had most/all of a say when it came to the color. The mother, I suppose, made the falls wider. The standards on the child took on a dark purple color while the father's are very light purple.

Can't wait to see the others.

Jade Plants in Gritty Mix

Besides having a ton-bunch of bark mulch and oil-dri sitting around after repotting my adenium obesum, I had some poultry grit left over in the small bag and decided to repot some of my jade plants.

From left to right:
1. Hobbit Jade.
2. What's left of Ms. Jade. I purchased her shortly before Christmas 1996 and she grew very big but has dwindled since then to just that one. Some people identified her as "Crosby's Compact".
3. I bought this from eBay in 2007 because I had never seen anything like it before. I asked about it after I got it and it seems to possibly be some sort of Gollum/Hobbit hybrid since the leaves are varied.
4. Hummel Sunset. The leaves are supposed to turn red at a certain time of the year but usually the leaves get very yellow with red edges.

I had to use a stick to prop up the Hummel Sunset but now that I think about it, I am seriously considering a hard prune since a lot of the branches got wiry. Might relieve some of the weight on it.

I plan to get more poultry grit and repot some more of my jades. I have a Gollum jade that's desperate for a repotting!

It'll be pretty interesting to see how well they respond to the gritty mix, especially when it gets hot. I'll have to keep an eye on it and see if it means frequent watering and get it down to a routine. Last year it rained regularly all throughout summer and it ended our nasty two year drought. So we'll see what happens this year.

Repotting the Desert Rose

I finally got a Desert Rose (Adenium Obesum) from Lowe's.

March 29, 2013 - Desert Rose

After doing lots of research on the gritty mix, I gathered some stuff together and made a batch. I washed off the old dirt.

One side

Other side

 Then I repotted the Desert Rose and lifted the caudex as well.

One side

Other side

So fingers crossed that it responds to the gritty mix. I just hope the plant is patient with me as I figure things out. What I absolutely love about this plant is how the suggestion is to lift the caudex every time you repot, to keep exposing the thicker roots every time until you get this big pile of roots.