Anniversary Surprise...

Or maybe curse? I love my husband very much, but I wish he'd get a little more creative when it comes to plant gifts. I'd drool over any orchid he'd give me, or an other kind of epiphyte, for that matter. I've even be happy with a Sansieveria or peace lily, however it seems every time he gives me a plant it's a Kalanchoe blossifeldia. It's a pretty (cheap) plant when it's in the florist's foil and sitting on the shelf at the grocery store, it even looks that way for a few months afterward, but then it goes downhill. It gets leggy, then ugly, and will never bloom again, unless you can give it all it wants. It's not a good houseplant for beginners. Yes, it does stay alive with lots of neglect, better with than without, but it will never be the pretty compact plant it started out to be.

That said, I was surprised that he bought it last night. He'd went out street witnessing with his friend and brought it home. It was a bit wilted, but it's perked up since being watered. The bottom leaves are a bit beat up from the car ride and the foil, they'll fall off eventually. I like how the flowers seem to change as they age, they are different colors, yellows, pinks, and creamy white. It's a nice plant. I'm proud of him.

While photographing for one of the gardening forums I belong to today, I took this picture. I was trying to get a close up of the spines. This is the "ghost" variegated corncob Euphorbia. I've had it for a while and I think it is one of the most stunning of my plants. I really like the way the picture came out. The large picture is a little gritty, but that happens when you turn off the flash. I'm not going to complain, this is my third Sony Mavica camera with floppy drive. The first DH ran over, the second died, and this one I bought from a lady for $50. It's an older model than the other two, but it works. I'd like to get one that has the CD reader, but maybe floppies are a bit safer in my house. With three children, I've always got scratched, cracked disks.

I got my orchid pots yesterday, just in time to repot again into more uniform pots, the cats have decided to play in my plants, so maybe the tray with insert will help protect them from knock over.