Singing, playing, rescuing

As planned yesterday I did some singing last evening. Some of the time I sang the recorder pieces I'd been playing -- it's a whole lot easier to sing trills than play them on the recorder -- and I remembered one of my song favorites back when I was getting voice coaching, "Que ne puis-je la Fougere".

I found various arrangements on YouTube, and the words, too, which helped. After a few scales and vocalises, I tried it, and a lot of the rust left my voice. It was great. Check it out if you want to know what I'm talking about. Music of Pergolesi, old French poem.

Played recorder too, but I love the sensation of singing.

And then there's the story of a gardening success and a total miss.

Here, left, is the primula, which I thought would be a one season plant. But I repotted it, tended it over the winter after flowering was finished, and it's coming back in triumph.

Then, right, is what remains of the Vicks plant which I was given a couple of years ago as a cutting, nurtured it, it flourished outside in a pot. Then I failed to bring it in before frost nipped it, and it nearly failed. Just one small section survived.

 So again I tended it, got it flourishing in the house. And then put it outside too soon. Cold nights nipped it. Back to one tiny section, which I'm starting in water as I did the original cutting. It must be wondering what maniac is tending it. A gardener who doesn't learn very fast.

It's related to the coleus, I believe, and is determined to survive. It's the plant from which the medication Vick's is derived. If you pinch and sniff, you'll detect the characteristic menthol smell.

9.11

Vicks plant, cutting from friend's garden, flourished last summer in my garden, then caught and felled by an early frost.

Except for one tiny leaf. Which I tended indoors over the winter, put outside this year, and it's now almost as big as the parent, and doing well.

I brought it indoors early this year. Today, in fact.

It seems appropriate.

Vicks plant, succulents and incidental finds

At the herb event I attended back in October, I was given a cutting of vicks plant by one of the gardening gurus, and stuck it in water at home until I could see what was what.  This is a velvety plant, which smells of vicks vaporub, in fact I would guess it's the natural origin of that mentholated stuff.  

It promptly rooted in the water, very exciting, then I bust off a piece to see if that would root.  And it did.  So I thought I'd better learn more about this plant.  Turns out it's related to coleus, species plectranthus, no wonder it rooted so obligingly.  And I found a youtube video about propagating, and found it's as easy as busting off pieces and rooting them in potting soil.  They used rooting hormone, which I've never bothered with, not being in a mad rush to get the roots going.

Then, in the course of digging out a suitable pot from the storage closet outside the front door, where I keep a bunch of them with soil in, like prep cooks doing vegetables ahead of time, I picked one out.  And found when the water wouldn't go through very fast, that it was the one I'd put the ginger roots in way back, which I'd given up on.  It got mixed up with the ones with soil but no occupants. But here it goes with a little shoot!  so it's back in the house to await further developments.  When there's something big enough for a pic, I'll pic it.

And another pot did for the little bits of vicks, seen here complete with now empty glass, scissors for cuttings, and spoon, the handle of which made a hole for each cutting.  All highly technical.

Then I put them among their friends, plants do seem to like company, to create a micro climate, but out of the direct sun.  We'll see if we end up with a much bigger set of plants. This is the kitchen, west-facing, window.  Soon I'll have to start cooking in the living room at this rate.