The new season is hard upon us now in Colorado. The leaves are gone from the trees, there is snow on the ground in the shaded areas along the back fence, and the only birds around lately are pushy doves at the front feeder terrorizing the squirrels (the squirrels deserve it, in my opinion. Go bad doves!!). The cats are suddenly friendlier, and Mateo, now very soft and fluffy, is growing in his winter cat.
The picture on the left is the summer version of Mateo. His tail is thin, his ruff gone, and I always worry that he is losing weight. Nope. He’s just missing a ton of fur! The other two pictures are examples of the winter, full-coated little furry monster. Right now, Mateo is eating non-stop and getting fluffier by the day. Obviously, winter is right around the corner!
I’ve been slowly bringing in all of my outdoor plants that I thought I could overwinter in the house, and after spending some weeks in the garage, the last of them moved in a week ago. (Why did they have to languish in the garage for a few weeks, you ask? Well… hopefully, some of the bugs gave up and moved on. I want to mention that my garage door has windows in it, and protects the plants from frost, so it is a suitable transition zone.)
Most of the plants that were on my deck outdoors in pots are now in the craft room on shelves equipped with grow lights. The plants adjusted pretty well after their move, but I’d like to unpack what happened with them a little.
The geraniums decided to go to sleep for the winter while they were in the garage and most of the leaves turned yellow and started to drop off. I let them adjust to indoors for about a week and then pruned out all of the yellow and sad leaves, which removed more than half of the leaves on the plants. I could see that the plants were putting out blooms before the pruning started, but to my surprise I discovered lots of new growth emerging on the stems down by the base of the plant. All right then! A week after the pruning (and some fertilizer) there aren’t any new yellow leaves, and the plants seem to be thriving.
I pruned the miniature roses right after they came into the house about six weeks ago, and after that they put out new blooms and filled out with lots of growth. Yay. Looking good! Umm… where did those aphids come from!!!!! I had looked at the roses carefully before bringing them in, but to be truthful, I was looking for Japanese beetles. Who knew that aphids lay eggs and go dormant in the fall? To make things worse, those little guys can reproduce like crazy if there is even one because they can reproduce asexually. Bad aphids, bad!! Even worse, these aphids had wings and could fly!!!
Operation Dead Aphid immediately commenced. My mother used to have us whip up soapy water and then put the suds onto the rose plants, which does work pretty well, but since my plants were so filled out, I went with Neem oil. The cats don’t munch on the plants, so I felt pretty safe using this, and there was an immediate drop in the aphid population. I have to respray every week as new growth emerges, but I’m happy with the dramatic drop in population. After the current round of blooms are gone, I plan to prune back hard so I can get a better spray onto the plant. For other insects that came into the house with the plants I have the little bug catcher that going. If you haven’t seen one of these before, it is a fan with an ultraviolet light that attracts insects that then get pulled into the device where they are caught onto sticky paper. Yay! No little flies or gnats. No!! Just no!!
My jade plant was pretty overgrown last spring with heavy leaves pulling the stems over sideways. I pruned off the growth that was causing the problems, staked the stems, and then put the plant out onto my front porch where it braved the weather over the summer. I brought it back in a few weeks ago, pruned off new growth that was, once again, pulling the stems sideways and then then removed the stakes. Look! A plant that can stand up on its own now. Maybe someday it will bloom…
I almost left the bougainvillea outside to die because it didn’t bloom even once all summer long. I left it so long the leaves began to yellow and drop before I had a change of heart and brought it in.
The plant has continued dropping the summer leaves, but there is new growth emerging at the ends of stems and along their lengths. Okay. I guess we will go with this. Maybe it will bloom? It’s another adventure. The blooms, if they ever happen, are a really cool pinky-orange that will look great in the room. Do you hear that plant? Bloom or die!!!
So that’s it. The plants that made me happy last spring and summer and now inside with me for the cold seasons. Take that winter!! Bring on the wind and snow.
I have secured an endless summer for myself and the cats.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Beautiful flowers/plants!
I brought in my Spider plant last winter after it had summered on the front porch and to my dismay it had gnats/aphids. Nasty little flying bugs. I had heard that putting sand on top of the soil would fix that problem but it didn’t so they spent last winter in the garage and that’s where they are now. Would the Neem oil work on them do you think? I’d really like to have them in the house.
I didn’t know Jade plants bloomed.
Thanks!
The Katchy will definitely take care of the gnats, and who knew aphids liked spider plants?! Does your plant have babies? I’m thinking that the Neem oil will work, but you can experiment on a baby first. I used to have huge spider plants that bloomed when I was teaching that were so mature they were also covered in blooms. I had a greenhouse attached to my classroom that I put them into every weekend so they had great sunlight all winter long. My struggle was keeping them alive over the summer!
I also have a fern that I brought into the house that is hanging out with my HUGE Boston fern and that guy brough in potato bugs with it. It was kind of funny, actually. It is always an adventure to overwinter plants indoors.
Jade plants do bloom, but they have to be mature and evidently if you are treating them too nice they put their energy into growing, not blooming. My plant is definitely focused on growing!
Yes, my plant does have babies. Good idea. Thanks!
Last first, my dear: I am THRILLED that Hannah is now being a lap-cat ! I know it will mean a very great amount to you, who is obliged to spend a good deal more time sitting/lying than you would like.
Also delighted to learn of the aphid death – well done you ! I like that little insect griller: I must search out what we can get down here. I have to leave the fly-wire door a bit open for Boodie so that he can go out onto the balcony and sit watching the world go by, endlessly. If I shut it across I have to get up and down, endlessly. 😦 So, of course, I am very often beset by flittering thingies.
As for you superb work with your portable (!) garden, I have few words but a huge amount of admiration ! The bougainvillea being a tropical plant, I’m not surprised it’s been giving you grief. But I gave a friend three small ones a couple of years back and they languished; then they suddenly put on a burst a became three very large ones, complete with blossoms – sorry, bracts. (You know, I’m sure, that their actual blossoms are the tiny little white frilly things in the middle of the bracts ?)
One of the appealing things about your portable garden is your pots – they’re lovely, Marilyn. Keep up the good work with it all: I love to see it and wish I had your dedication. But I have only the one cactus orchid. Still, Phyllis is my living memory of my beloved friend – 14 years younger than I – who died late last year, and neither of them ever let me down.
Wow, you really shared a lot of stuff that I need to respond to. It’s like having a pen pal!!
It is really nice that Hannah is finally sitting with me… both cats are now, actually, and you are right about it being kind of special since I’ve had a tough year. Good kitties!!
I have a fly problem in the summer for the same reason that you do. Mateo like to go out, and he is terrified of being trapped on the catio without an escape route, so while he is out, flies are coming in. I googled last summer for ways to catch the flies, and the best one for me was to make a trap using a plastic drink bottle. You cut off the top of the bottle about a third of the down, and put honey, brown sugar, water with a little vinegar, and some dish detergent into the bottom of the bottle; I put in a couple of slices of dehydrated lemon too., Put the top of the bottle back on upside down and you have a trap. It really worked, and I have one that must be 6 months old that is still working. It didn’t get moldy, and I’m guessing that the detergent and the honey are the reason why. I finally made a more sturdy version that has the inverted plastic bottle top on a quart canning jar that is less likely to be knocked over by the cats. If you have fruit flies, the same device will work by this time put some dry yeast into water with a little sugar and let it grow for a day or so. Add the detergent and get out of the way of the flies heading towards their doom. I used the fruit fly trap in my classroom where it worked great!
I suspected that the “bloom” was actually specialized leaves. Thanks for clearing that up.
Sorry about the loss of your friend, but I am glad that you have a living memory of her.
I shall be trying your recipe – you can believe it, clever one !
No wonder you were a teacher !!
Oh, I’m really clever, I am. I did a google search and found a video on YouTube showing how to make it! 🙂 This is a skill that was well honed as a biology teacher as I hunted for video to explain al types of things…
What a happy collection of plants thriving in your cozy craft room. I’m glad your bougainvillea didn’t bite the dust. I’m reminded of how resilient they are when I think back to my childhood of the two-story bright purply-pink one that shaded both the upstairs porch and the downstairs one…that is, until a hurricane ripped through and tore it back to the roots. Within a short time, it had put out shoots that grew quickly in the semitropical climate, and it was back to nearly normal in a year. I hope that your hybrid blooms next summer.
On another note, too bad your emo support chick wasn’t able to peck away all the aphids. Maybe you have a child who can program one to zap them if your Neem’s effectiveness ever wanes.
Don’t tell the kitties how handsome and stately I think they look: it might go to their heads.
We had a bougainvillea in San Diego that was such a monster I had to go up on the roof to cut it back every summer. I’m hoping that this plant will spring back to life over the winter… I have it in a window with good southern light.
I’m training Mateo to whap aphids!
They are very loved and spoiled kitties… I think that the tuna is paying off.
Ye gods to climbing on the roof to trim back your bougainvillea!
Lol at the aphid-whapping Mateo! At least he earns his tuna. 🙂
That bougainvillea wanted to take over the world!!
🥰 🐈 🐈⬛ 🐱
I’m guessing I’ve never noticed a change in my kitty’s coat during the year because he never goes outside. So no need for a change of coat in the course of the year. I think it not surprising that cold weather brings lap cats, or perhaps vice versa.
Your botany expertise is mind-blowing to a black-thumbed person like myself. But my, what a payoff. It’s like bringing summer indoors. What a great way to keep winter at bay — green things, sunny lights, just the whole summer vibe. Not to mention it keeps you out of trouble, though I don’t know how you find time for all the gardening and the knitting. (I am such a lazy slob … )
So, your comment made me hit the internet once again to ask essential questions like, “what triggers cat shedding” and “do indoor cats shed”. Well… you are so intuitive!! Indoor cats shed less, but of course it depends on the type of cat. Hannah kind of sheds all of the time, but the most in the spring. Mateo grows in this extreme long undercoat that is part of his Maine coon-wannabe genetic inheritance. Seasonal shedding is triggered by sunlight (the length of the day? I’m guessing, but that is how plants know it is time to shed leaves and sprout seeds), and as a catio cat Mateo does get more direct sunlight.
I had to take lots of summer classes at CU Boulder once I started teaching because I didn’t know much about plants, but I am getting there. They really are interesting!
How do I find time? I move very slowly and try to do just a couple of things above and beyond the basics each day so I don’t overdo things. After a week or so, I have made progress on the project at hand. 🙂
I think my Rowdy is also a Maine Coon wannabee. He’s a long haired orange tabby weighing in at 12 lbs. Doesn’t seem to shed much, but it’s likely being hidden by the mounds of hair shed by my Lab mix.
Hannah is now a lap cat and Mateo is gorgeous in any season. What great company you have. I will never take for granted the ease of gardening in Zone 9. I’m able to leave all of our plants outdoors year round. I occassionally put frost cloth over the succulents if the temperatures really drop. You are one dedicated gardener, Marilyn. I’m glad the bugs are slowly moving along. I imagine the aphids liked the warmth of yorur house. Best of luck with all of it.
Zone 9!!! How I miss that type of gardening! The concept of an annual plant was beyond my experience when I moved to Colorado from San Diego. I thought that everyone pruned their geranium hedges.. All the plants that I loved beyond reason (jacaranda and bottle brush) were impossible to grow. Still, I manage to get the roses to grow!
My rose (outdoor only, planted in the dirt and not a pot) has decided to bloom for Thanksgiving. I’m just glad that California weather means I don’t need to bring my plants inside. (And my bougainvillea still has blooms on it, which sometimes confuse the local hummingbirds.)
I do miss California weather, but it is nice to have seasons.
It would be nice to have more of a proper autumn. I am glad to not have to deal with snow, though.
Spring is great! All the plants and trees are blooming!
You are an expert gardener for sure! Thanks for the details on caring for your plants – I just had an aphid infestation and didn’t know what to do. And thanks for sharing pics of your beasties in their winter coats! They are so beautiful 🙂
Oh, it is like Darwin’s garden at my house. You are seeing the plants that are the survivors of natural selection. I have some orchids that will be in the trash soon…
My mother taught me this. Her roses were fabulous. She fed them regularly, pruned them often, and if they didn’t bloom, she ripped them out and put in a new rose bush. I guess this is also how I learned to be a survivor…
Well, that makes sense for having a good garden! It is certainly working for you – you have the most gorgeous plants!