Our Little Piece of Desert

Himself and I have always enjoyed cactus and succulents.  For the last 3 or 4 years we've been slowly adding them to our plant collection.  We summer them outside, usually set here and there.  Not a good way to be able to enjoy them.

So we set up a little piece of desert in the front yard.

These are waiting to be repotted.  The two cactus will go in an rectangular hypertufa pot that I made a while back.  The succulent will into a clay pot.

These baby jade plants are ready to be repotted too.  (Besides... I need my bonsai pot back!)

On the left, a volunteer succulent that I have everywhere.  It will be replanted with its brethren this fall so I can have my pot back.  To the right, a kalanchoe.  When it flowers is as red as its pot.

My cactus dish garden.

Not sure what this is.  It's a clearance rescue plant.

Don't know what this one is either.  If you look at it hard, it will drop a leaf or two.

My big jade plant is getting stringy.  I need to decide what I'm going to do with it.

Between the jade and the drop-a-leaf plant, I've gotten a bunch of pieces to propagate.  You can see the ones on the far right have already sprouted 'pups' (babies).  Since I took this photo I've had to add another propagation tray.  These will be ready to have their own pots by late fall.

Below is another problem child...

Yes, I've neglected this one.

The jades have gotten leggy and the aloe have taken over.  I'm going to completely pull this apart.  The aloes will be potted up in several ways.  The jades... I'm going to have to ask some advice on what to do with them.

Other than my own propagations (and well, maybe a rescue or two), I don't plan on getting in more this year.  But I'm ready for next spring!

Look at what they have at the Amish produce auction!!

Yep... next spring...

Collect Rocks Day~ My Suiseki

As I mentioned last month, although I didn't have a tree ready for the Nashville Bonsai show I did have my kusamono (accent plants) and my suiseki (viewing stones).

"Viewing stones" originated in China (gongshi) and then came to Japan.  To put it most basically, it is 'rock hounding'  turned into a fine art!  The stones are even sorted into categories.

Classification by shape~

Landscape Suiseki (Sansui keijo-seki): in the form of a mountain, island, waterfall, shore- or coastline, cave, canyon or a plateau.

Object stones (Keisho-seki): representing a person, animal, boat, house or bridge.

Classification by surface~

Celestial (Gensho-seki): with patterns resembling the moon, sun or stars.

Plant (Kigata-ishi): with patterns picturing flowers, fruits, grasses, forests or even Bonsai.

Weather (Tenko-seki): resembling rain, intense sunlight, lightning or snow.

Abstract (Chusho-seki): with surfaces similar to animal prints, tangled nets, etc.

While suiseki are most often seen accompanying bonsai in displays, they are also displayed and shown in their own right.  There are many ways to display the stones.  Below are some photos from suiseki shows.

Formal with complete emphasis on the stone.

Traditional display of just the stones (my favorite).

And a complete display showing all elements.

Suiseki shown with a bonsai display (from the Nashville show).

Here is a display as you'd see in a home.

I'm been a 'rock hound' almost as long as I've been alive.  As I learned about suiseki I realized I was already half way there with the stone and mineral collection I own.

These are my first batch of stones I pulled from my collection.

There was a lot of scrubbing and polishing that had to happen before I could exhibit any of them!

Some of the finished results:

Third row, second from the left.

(From granite from North Dakota)

Third row, far right.

(From Alaska)

Second row, first on left

(Iron ore crystals from Missouri)

(Basalt from Scotland)

There are many different types of stands to display suiseki on (none of these stones are mine)...

The most formal are the individually carved 'dais'.  They can also be made from clay (pottery).

Some are set on a table type stand.

A piece of drift wood could be a stand (here sitting on a tray).

A shallow pot/bowl filled with sand makes a nice display.

Or you could fill it with water to bring to mind an island.

Another method of using sand.

Here a decorated plate displays a stone as an island.

Stands can be simple object like this cutting board.

A clever stack of plates.

A bonsai pot filled with sand.

Or a simple coil of rope to hold the stone upright.

Since trees grow slowly, I'm putting some energy into my viewing stone collection and display stands.

Instant gratification!

An Enamelware "Nest"

A while back I came into owning a stash of enamelware; about 18 pieces for around $10.  It was a really good yard sale...

I haven't done anything with them since stacking them up on my shelf.  But an enamelware challenge and a bunch of Hen and Chicks that needed planting came together at just the right time.

This will be a fun addition to my kitchen.

http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/

http://knickoftime.net/2015/04/farmhouse-friday-4-vintage-enamelware.html

On The Rocks

Remember a few days ago I talked about those sometimes silly "National Day of..." holidays?  Well, today is one of those days. 

It is "Collect Rocks Day"!

That's a day I celebrate regularly.  Remember, I'm the person who brought back 48 pounds of rocks from Scotland!  (Just a FEW of those rocks!)

And who knows how many pounds of rocks Himself has brought back from Alaska for me.

We raid the ND rock piles of family and friends... as they laugh and shake their heads!

We take trips to places just for collecting rocks like this quartz mine in Arkansas.

Roadside stops are a regular thing.

We never pass up a good rock yard either!  This one close to Nashville is a favorite.

Did you know there are rock shows?

Vacations have centered on visiting rocks too...

Elephant Rocks, MO.

Stone Mountain, GA

And when all else fails...

... I can take pictures of rocks.

Yes... I love rocks!