Summer Surprise!

On the very last day of Spring, my Monstera (split-leaf philodendron) that I had given up for frozen dead, decided to come up from the roots!  I've been watering it, more for the ivy than any hope the larger plant would survive.  Neither looks great at the moment, but we now have some hope.

Goofy The Squirrel

Squirrels are a cute menace.  My yard is overrun.  I had a favorite for a while (Buzz,) but quit feeding him when he got greedy. I moved the bird feeder into the kitchen one warm summer day and Buzz tore a hole in my window screen to get at it.  He doesn't know what that cost him.

Other squirrels in the past have done some real damage. One chewed through my wood siding to get at the pink insulation to build his/her nest.  I had to call a trapper for that one; he removed the squirrel to a distant pasture.  Another chewed a hole in my chimney surround big enough to cause serious water damage to the ceiling and wall below.

The current pest isn't so destructive, but still quite annoying.  S/he insists on chewing on my metal gutter.  He's always in the same place.  The noise is amplified by the gutter and can be heard throughout the house.  Sounds like a dyslexic woodpecker.

Seems senseless. Beats me what's going on.

One Chore Down, Dozens To Go

Winter was tough.  Lost a lot of tropicals and semi-tropicals.  The deck between the front and kitchen doors began to rot.  First things first.

I finished re-surfacing the deck today.  The re-construction came with a few days of help from my new friend Robert Harris.  Here are a few shots from Friday and Sunday.

The Ravages of Winter

We've been spoiled with at least eight mild winters - until December, 2009.  Usually, since I live on the south side of Lake Conroe, December "northers" are tempered by the warm lake water and my place is about the same temperature as Houston, 60 miles to the south. At least until January and February when the lake has cooled a bit.  But the December cold front was vicious and my south-facing porch got down to 26 degrees (23 was forecast).

Nothing to do but suffer it.  As reported earlier, I had transplanted the four air-layered schefflera trees to an indoor spot.  They continue to do well, but obviously would prefer some warm sunshine and fresh rain.  I had no doubt that the air layering would succeed because that's the best way to propagate most cuttings if they are difficult to root in water.

Still I wondered if i t would have been possible to root these 1.5-inch cuttings in water. So I cut another foot or so from each trunk and put them in a vase with rooting hormone stirred into the water.  Six weeks later I see I have some leaf buds sprouting above the water and some unusual white bumps on the bark that's below water.  This might work, too!