2014 The year of the horse? - Part 2

May 2014

Now the plants have a pretty good hold of the soil. Blooming season is almost come to an end, but the plants are beautiful nonetheless. I live in Texas and I have to make sure the plants do not die in this martian heat.Over spring and immediately after I have to ensure the plants are pruned to a more manageable growth. I will remove any brown laves or sections of the plant which look like they are eating up nutrition without really showing much growth.

What I have been doing: 

1. Pink Jasmine - I removed all the flower stems and brown-ish leaves. This plant has entirely given up on blooming, but is healthy. I will keep it well watered and pray it blooms again next Spring. The Jasmine plant is more like a creeper. I have simply gathered all the stems close to a central support stick. I prune it if any stem gets too long for the central stick.
Update: A tomato cage works wonders in keeping this one from reaching out to any nearby hold.

2. Lily: the Lily plant has also stopped blooming, but it has a strong stem and i'm not very worried about it's survival chances in the strong winds here. (but fingers crossed anyways)
Update: Oh well, Lily is no more :( The lily probably could not absorb the water everyday. Or maybe the soil wasn't firm enough, Or maybe the plant only lives a small amount of time. Either way, I do not have a perfect explanation of why this didn't work.

3. Tomato: This one grows like a weed. I will buy one of those tomato plant weed barriers called tomato cages. This will not only keep the plant growing in a controlled area, it will also prevent anyone from constantly brushing against the plant (I feel this might damage the plant)

4. Jalapeno and Habanero: These plants are finally blooming and I am hoping I will see a few fruits in a couple of weeks.
Update: It didn't take very long for the first yield :) this is what the plant looked like by the end of May.

Update: My first Tomato and Jalapeno yield that actually went into cooking :) (One of the jalapenos in the picture is frozen and this holds for several months in the freezer)

5. Rose: This one has been blooming wonderfully. I clip the rose once it has bloomed. Now that spring is at a close, I also prune out the stem to a shorten the height once I remove the flower. My hope is that the other remaining stems with Rose buds get a little more nutrition.

As a last rite to the roses, once droopy I pull out the petals and am building a little rose petal potpourri.