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 no longer 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.

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 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.