Category: Garden

Tulip fiber experiment

On By CarynIn Craft, Garden

We went to a tulip festival where you could pick your own tulips. We were instructed to grasp the stem at the bottom and pull straight up. We often came away with the whole plant! At home I put the stems and flowers in a vase, and had a whole pile of tulip leaves. Was there fiber there I could harvest? I tried different ways of taking the leaf apart, and found translucent fibrous material on the back of the leaf that I could peel away from the fleshy section. (Many plant fibers are harvested after retting, a process that rots away the non-fibrous material, I wasn’t ready to go that far with these tulips.)

Photo description: from left to right: partially peeled tulip leaf, fibers from leaves on a paper towel to dry, rewetted and twined tulip leaf fiber

I left the fibers to dry for a couple days, then rewetted them one at a time before twining them together. The resulting twine was not very strong, even after drying.

Tulip blooms don’t last long, and I noticed that the stems were starting to curl up at the cut ends. Would the fiber in the stems be stronger? I peeled the outer layer of the stems and let them dry to find out.

Photo description: from left to right: spent tulip with a portion of the stem peeled away, pile of fibers from tulip stems, twined tulip stem fiber.

The fiber from the tulip stems is stronger than the leaf fiber, at least with the method I used to harvest. I can’t imagine a survival situation where I was stranded in a field of tulips and needed rope, but if I were, I’d use the stem fiber, and hope that it didn’t need to bear much weight because it still isn’t that strong. When dry, I can break it with my hands with some pressure. Harvesting the fiber is also tedious and time consuming for small gains, but was an interesting experiment.

Signs of Spring

On By CarynIn Flora, Garden

We are full on Spring here in Texas. It was quite a mild winter, and I was afraid the grape hyacinths were not going to bloom since they started growing their greenery at the end of last year, but they not only are in bloom, they are putting on a spectacular showing.

Photo description: uncultivated grape hyacinths with multiple blooms coming from one leaf clump.

We have oxalis in the front bed, also volunteering, that started off as a dense carpet and with recent rains has become quite lush. I like oxalis because of the leaf shape and delicate yellow flowers that come later in the year. I think it makes quite a nice ground cover or border and does a fair job choking out other weeds.

Photo description: Oxalis leaves so dense I was able to get an entire picture filled with only oxalis.

We also have Gregg’s mist flower emerging from the area where we planted it last year. No photos yet, but very excited that it does well there.

Seeds planted

On By CarynIn Garden
Photo description: two seed trays placed in trays on clear acrylic shelves in the window.

I have planted peppers and basil in seed trays and am trying out the new window shelves for their intended purpose. The hardest part is going to be keeping them moist. I forget they are there.

The ginger in the water absorbing crystals is not doing well. I think the “crystals” are desiccating it rather than providing life giving water.

Ginger experiment

On By CarynIn Garden

I bought ginger root intending to make Singer’s Tea, but left it in the plastic bag for too long and it started to grow.

Photo description: ginger root with green sprout and white root shoots.

I have tried placing the root in water (yeah, this has happened before) but the water quickly grew mold and the root didn’t do well. This time I thought I would do an experiment with water storing crystals, with the idea that it might keep the root moist without drowning it. And it looks cool.

Photo description: bag of Miracle Gro water storing crystals and a clear cylindrical glass jar with about a half in of dry crystals in the bottom (this is too much, by the way)

Wow do the “crystals” absorb large quantities of water. I thought I was being conservative with the amount of dry crystals, but they absorbed all the water I put in the container, and I had to scoop some off the top. I did add some Miracle Gro fertilizer so there are nutrients in the medium. I placed the root into the container and placed the container in the front window.

Photo description: top of container filled with hydrated water “crystals” with the green ginger root shoot sticking out.

I’m not holding much hope on this experiment. The ginger shoot is not radiating happiness in its new container, but we’ll stay the course for a couple weeks to see what happens.

Update: this does not work. The ginger starts to grow, then withers.

Triple bud

On By CarynIn Garden

My Thanksgiving cactus has a triple bud!

Photo description: closeup of a Thanksgiving cactus leaf with three small pink knobs emerging from the end. Another single bud visible in the background.

I’m quite excited to see it in full bloom. I have had a realization on the cactus’ blooms. I have read that in order to get a Thanksgiving cactus, or a Christmas cactus (related, but different species), to bloom, you need to water it less and put it in a cold (50 degrees F or so) environment. I noticed that my cactus gets buds on the window side, so I frequently turn it around. Our ambient temperature in the house is around 70-72, but the plant hangs in the catio access window, which is usually open, and the leaves touch the window, which is considerably colder despite being double pane. I also only water twice a week, year-round. Mystery solved, but I’m still glad it is a happy cactus. If blooming indicates well-being in cactus, that is. Hm.