How Does My Patio Grow?

If you follow me on Facebook you know my favorite part of living in SoCal is sitting out on the patio. It’s partially covered, partially open and ringed with plants. I love my plants.

I grew up in Apartment 5E. Only a northern exposure. We weren’t big on greenery.

Until I was in my twenties I had never seen grass that wasn’t in a baggie.

When Helaine and I moved to our condo in Branford in 1984 I began growing veggies. That kept up on-and-off at home and on TV for around thirty years.

Now I’m mostly growing bushes and small trees, some in the ground others in pots. I’m a curious guy. I watch them up close every day.

This fern grows completely out of the sun near the sliders to the kitchen. New branches start off looking like hairy fingers then unfurl as fiddleheads. Until this point the growth is downright ugly! It’s not until the branch is fully opened that it looks good.

We have established this is some sort of Echeveria plant. It’s in a pot with another succulent, but they’re both getting too big to share the space. Transplanting would be difficult as it has a long stem that doesn’t look flexible.

I didn’t know what to expect when I planted the leafy head from a pineapple. The old leaves have stayed in place, more zombie like than alive. All the new growth has come from the center.

How tall will it get? Is it in a large enough pot? TBD.

I’ve never heard anyone talk about eating a pineapple they grew. I’m probably missing something.

Meanwhile, at Stef’s encouragement I’ve put another pineapple in water. Within a few weeks there should be roots and it will be transplanted to a pot.

A lot of patience is needed with pineapples. They take around three years to mature. More to come, I guess.

During the fall and winter our patio sunlight is limited. As long as the temperature stays up everything slows down then bounces back in the spring… mid-February.

I have never trimmed a plant where the plant didn’t do better afterward.