New

I keep saying I'm not going to buy more succulents, but then I see something new like this Crassula 'Coastal Coral' at Garden Avenue Greenhouse in Billings. Today's other acquisitions were a tiny 'Budda's Temple' (Garden Avenue), an Echeveria 'Lime 'N Chile' (Home Depot), an Echeveria 'Rainbow' shipped from The Next Gardener as a replacement, and basil and sage (Nana's Bloomers).

All I have for pots right now, besides the green 3D print for the Crassula, is 6-inch squat pots. The 'Lime 'N Chile' is sort of small so I decided to free up a 4-inch cup by moving the healthy 'Raindrops' to a 6-inch. Everyone is happy. 'Lime 'N Chile' has not been real high on my "must-have" list, but this one has three stalks and I want to see what develops.

As I said, the 'Buddha's Temple' is tiny. How tiny is evident from the image below. I already have one but this little one was the perfect size to stick in one of the bowls.

The new 'Rainbow' looks OK, I guess. It doesn't have as many leaves as the first one, but the leaves progressively fell off of that one. Maybe if I had chopped the head off the diseased stem a few weeks ago I might have salvaged something, but I think it is beyond hope now. I have nestled the 'Rainbow' in a 6-inch squat pot among its relatives 'Perle von Nurnberg' and 'Red Sky,' and we will see what happens. My favorite plant propagation saying.

I've been trying to sprout basil all winter, and I overwintered two sage plants in the unheated greenhouse, but today I gave up and just bought one of each. My basil sprouts never get taller than an inch, and after coming out of dormancy, one of the sage is now dead and the other is sickly. I blame bugs for both situations. I'll try to keep the new plants clean.

It was my first visit to Garden Avenue Greenhouse on the east side of Billings. Comparing it to Nana's, I would say it is slightly more expensive, has a slightly lower plant selection, and has many more pots and accessories. I'm glad I visited once this year and probably won't go there again until next year. Nana's probably has everything I need and is 15 miles closer.

And finally, finally, I have a UPS tracking number for the strawberries. It is weird because Burpee has not notified me of shipment; I only know the package has shipped because I've been checking my account every day to see the status. There I found the UPS confirmation number. UPS says it is scheduled to arrive Friday, probably the last really cold day of the season with a low that night of 20 degrees. They will get garage protection for a few days. I'll probably plant the strawberries next Monday, and follow that up with the strawberry and Supertunia baskets. Then I have to set up irrigation, which will be fun with the 14 baskets. I see them do it in these commercial greenhouses, so how hard can it be?