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The Plant Obsession of 2006 Blog |
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Click here to find older pages of Bailey's Blog The Great Plant Obsession of 2006
It all started innocently enough. On our trip to the Eastern Shore in May 2006, Jeff was impressed with the little 12 inch tall lemon tree that Faye had. The cute little guy produces about 1 lemon per year. On that trip Jeff started his collection; just a lemon tree, an orange tree and a bougainvillea.
(One of) The Bougainvillea('s) in full bloom in Early Summer Some strange series of events came together that turned Jeff into, well, a plant-crazed maniac. He learned that (at least theoretically) there is no reason that tropical plants can't live and thrive in Rochester, NY. Now wouldn't that be a feat....imagine a huge banana tree sporting fat hands of bananas peering out from under its huge canoe-sized leaves on our Rochester, NY deck. All summer long as Jeff would lie each night nestled in his bed visions of the thick perfume of Hawaiian plumeria danced in his head. Almost daily, his plant fever grew. Each evening he would rush home from work in order to dive into a fit of moisture checking, repotting, and pest/fungus identification. As his collection grew, he transformed the deck into a tropical paradise. Never sated, he continued to acquire new plants weekly. Every evening was spent on the computer, visiting tropical plant gardening message boards. He would meticulously measure and record details in a comprehensive lab notebook detailing the health and growth of his babies. He even made a foray into the world of creating custom fertilizer mixes individually suited for each plant. In the heyday of August, Jeff's plant collection consisted of:
All of the plumeria come from far off mail-order companies, or eBay. They arrive in fed ex boxes as leafless grey sticks. Jeff is undeterred. He carefully prepares the special soil and plops the sticks straight in. Magically, they are indeed alive and a set of green leaves pop out!
From potted sticks....................................to a row of little Plumeria trees
Of course this doesn't include the massive Spring landscaping project that Jeff completed in early May. We have 4 or 5 different peach, cherry and apple trees planted along the driveway, and a beautiful collection of perennials that Jeff planted for me for Mother's Day.
Bridal Veil Hibiscus in early summer Now I sit here recapping our summer 2006 memories in this blog while I'm in labor with Sammy in late November. It is funny that only now I write of Jeff's astounding efforts he poured into his plant collection with, what is that?, could it be a touch of nostalgia, and even, gulp, pride?! Similarly, sitting inside our house on a typical dark, rainy, gray November evening, Jeff went looking for a receipt for something. As he lifted receipt after receipt from the box even he finally got a little sheepish at the small fortune we've invested in "the gardens". The Deck in Full Canopy....August
Ooh La La....Still blooming in Late Summer
The Hot Tub at Night...Filled with the twin Fragrances of Chlorine and Brugmansia
Jeff says this orange now (in Nov) fills the whole palm of your hand
Hi Mommy!
Mr. Dwarf Banana Tree
Out with the old red/white plastic tablecloth! Jeff beautifully completed the wooden bar top surface.
This deck really was a lot of fun this summer. Strong Work, Jeff!
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