Smiles for Myles

I went to the dentist for my 6-month checkup. When I was escorted to my reclining chair I quickly noticed the monitor cantilevered on a boom above it. The background was Passiflora foetida, which I quickly blurted out like a child naming all of the dinosaurs in a natural history museum. My hygienist said that I sounded smart. True or not, I was happy to tell her about my collection, and how I happened to have that species in it. I think I'll take a cutting and bring it to her in 6-months more as a surprise.

New Year Travels and Trials

It has been a regretably long time since I wrote in my blog. Not terribly much has transpired over the last couple of months. The days have been short, and the nights have been cool. Still, my collection is alive and those in the greenhouse have been growing including P. cirrhiflora, P. pyrrhantha, P. macrophylla, P. lindeniana, a tray of little seedling P. antioquiensis, and a variety of other "back up" plants. Outside, P. loefgrenii and P. poryphyretica have been blooming despite the season, and P. racemosa 'buzios', among others have been steadily growing up into the bamboo. I think everything that was alive in the spring will survive the winter. If that's true, or even if it's partly true, then it might be a very exciting spring and summer 2015. Add to that the potential for some new and very rare seeds, particularly in the Astrophea and Deidamiodes groups, and it should be a fun year.

This year I'm also traveling to Grand Cayman, and I'll make a point of going to the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park there. I've heard that it's a very nice garden. Also, I'm traveling to Indonesia, perhaps Bali, where I'll have to keep an eye out for potential Passiflora finds. Last, I'll be headed back to San Francisco for the PSI annual meeting and/or the Strybing spring plant sale just like I did last year. That should keep my year interesting.

My newest addition to my collection is a little P. cintrina. I spotted it at a local garden shop as I was leaving and I couldn't just leave it. This little one plus my order of P. luzmarina and P. reflexiflora will probably only be the tip of the iceberg for new plants in Pergolatory this year. We will wait and see!