Day at the Beach

I let the Supertunias out of their cage for about an hour this morning. It wasn't for hardening off since that will be 6-7 weeks from now, but I just wanted to get them outside. It was mostly sunny with a temperature of 69 and a light breeze. (Ignore the humidity reading on the thermometer; it is never accurate. It's 25% today.) From top left, Honey, Vista Jazzberry, Priscilla; front row, Latte, Vista Bubblegum, Royal Velvet. The size difference between the blooms on the Vistas and the original Supertunias is already apparent. Vista Jazzberry has much smaller blooms compared to the Latte.

I will have six baskets, three locations. If bloom size is a consideration, I would pair the Vista Jazzberry with the Vista Bubblegum, but they are similar colors. Maybe a contrast would be better. I just picked the ones I wanted and didn't give much thought to pairings. The difficult pairing may be Honey. But since they will each be in their own basket, it will be easy to swap them around. Matching would be a bigger deal if I was putting three different varieties in one basket.

Even though a couple of them need some recovery time after the trauma of shipping, you can already tell that these hopped-up mutants are ready to go. Royal Velvet may be the frontrunner for the first to burst out of its pot, followed by the Vistas.

The Coleus also made it outside, and into its permanent pot. After an hour of sun, it took its place in a west-facing window in our kitchen. On nice days, I can quickly pop it outside on our back patio. It will spend time at the greenhouse, and might even end up outside next to the greenhouse due to its fabulous attribute of being (slightly) toxic, so hopefully deer resistent. I'm also still trying to sprout Coleus from seed, so if that ever works I will have more than this one to attempt to overwinter as a true houseplant.

Since I've started taking care of more succulents, I've become much more aware of well-draining soil. Looking back, I can't believe I have been able to keep my aloes alive for so many years with the mud I planted them in. With the Coleus, I used regular potting soil augmented with about 1/3rd cactus soil. Unlike succulents, you don't want to let them go completely dry between waterings, according to Mr. Sheffield. I don't have conventional house plants, but I still watch the escapades of Mr. Sheffield (not his real name, it's where he lives in England) on YouTube's "Sheffield Made Plants" just for the entertainment value.

I moved Sempervivum 'Appletini' to the greenhouse, joining eight other Sempervivums already there. Here are images of two that I got a few days ago in Billings, a calcareum from Home Depot, and a Chick Charms 'Powdered Pastry' from Nana's Bloomers. That leaves five Sempervivums in the house, four Chick Charms and the little survivor.

Calcareum:

'Powdered Pastry':

On a concerning note, I don't believe the heater ran properly the last two nights. It got down to 34 and 37 the last two nights. The heater is supposed to kick in at 42. I tested it and I could feel warmth coming out, but not forcefully. If the new heater doesn't arrive by Wednesday, I have an old fire hazard space heater I might have to use.