Ann's Air Gardens

Empress Tree Cloned in Water

 
 

There was much excitement in my kitchen when healthy roots showed up on the bottom of a stem I whacked off from the little Royal Paulownia I've been nursing back to health for the past several months after having left it home alone while I had to be away for a month.  That was before my new sprinkler system was installed so that I can go away guilt-free.  The Empress Tree was pretty sad looking when I came back to find it all dried out.  All of the leaves had fallen off, but now it seems to be thriving again.  Here it is in a photo taken a month after its ordeal.

 

And here is its first baby.  Not a great photo but the detail shows how the roots grew out from the bottom  of the stem at the diagonal cut across the stem, not from a node.  I had no idea the Empress Tree (Royal Paulownia) could be propagated so easily.  Admittedly, the first time I tried this, the stem cutting wilted and died, but I am not one to give up after just one try if logic tells me something might work.l 

A Pink Hydrangea

 
This plant was a gift from a sweet neighbor who liked the bulbous blue flower head when she saw it at the florist's.  It was perfectly round and as large as a grapefruit.  The first time it bloomed since then I did adjust the pH to get blue flowers, but the blooms were quite small and not perfectly shaped.

This time I let it go pink and frankly I love this color just as much as the trendy blue.  My flower head is not round like a grapefruit, but it is the size of half a melon.  I think it is just gorgeous and am hoping my dear neighbor will come over and see it soon.

My Favorite Pepper

I sliced one of these up and sauteed it with my Tilapia, along with a few flowers from the Japanese Mustard and my chicory plant.

Here is the rest of the story: Tilapia: A Breakfast Treat

I read two interesting things somewhere:  1) that in a city near Tokyo they cut mazes out of the brilliant yellow fields of flowering Mustard, and that 2) this is the plant used to make Canola oil.  After I planted mine from seeds this Spring, I noticed that the sell the bedding plants at WalMart.  How cool.