Click on the photo for a larger view on Flickr.
Friend Al gave me this cutting a while back. I rooted it in a pop bottle planter with a "humidity hood". Much to my surprise it has bloomed at Christmas time. Al also said that it has a nice scent. My sense of smell is not very good so I can't tell. This is a larger view on Flickr. Do you know what it is? It's a mystery to me.
In any case, this is a Merry Christmas wish for those who celebrate Christmas and a happy holiday wish to everyone. Thanks for reading this past year.
This is a photo from a slideshow marking the one-year anniversary of the organic EarthBox Garden at Google. It continues to be a puzzle that Google gets it but most of our gardening institutions do not.
Maybe they haven't learned how to Google yet. If they did, they would know about the EarthBox along with the Tomato Success Kit, the Garden Patch Grow Box and many other homemade sub-irrigated planters.
An EarthBox of geraniums growing next to a box of vegetables
Whether you plant in an EarthBox or a do-it-yourself version, flowers are an eye-cathcing option. These geraniums are far less likely to wilt in hot weather. Every type of plant, whether decorative or edible, will grow much better in sub-irrigation than drench and drain planters. You will use much less water and the plants will be far more sustainable.
Flower boxes are very popular here in Brooklyn. I see wilted flowers every day on my daily walk. If more poeple understood the benefits of sub-irrigated planters we would have much more healthy greenscaping of all kinds in the city.
These tomato plants are growing in a Tomato Success Kit from Gardeners Supply. The marigolds growing at the base are a neat way to improve the aesthetic qualities of the planter. We need more creative ideas like this. Nice job!
You can see the growth progress of the plants from May 17 to June 27 here.
The mariolds will use water that would ordinarily go to the tomatoes and increase the frequency of watering but that's a trade-off that many will find worthwhile.
