Easy to Grow - Kalanchoe

In my experience it doesn't get any easier than this. I've been known to lead more than a few plants to a premature ending through neglect or just misunderstanding their care instructions 

But the Kalanchoe is not one of them 

There are many varieties (well over a hundred) but two of my favorite are the paddle plant and the mother of thousands  

Both are succulents which means to me they don't require a lot of water or a lot of attention

And they both spin off seedlings even for those of us who lack the skills generally needed to propagate plants  

With the mother of thousands, the "babies" literally fall off the leaves and grow wherever they land.  The biggest challenge with these plants is keeping up with all of the new plants the mother plant will be giving birth to

  This plant loves the sun.  The name mother of thousands refers to the fact that these plants have seedlings on the edges of the leaves that fall off 

and will root on their own   

You can pick up the seedlings and place them in other pots and they take root and become mothers themselves before you know what's happened.  I enjoy looking at the seedlings daily to see the changes

This plant thrives with very little care and you can share the wealth; you will have more seedlings than you can plant.  All of your friends can enjoy this plant with you

And you'll find it will leave you with more time to try new wines

Maybe a new Merlot to sip while you enjoy your Kalanchoe-

THE WINE GARDENER GOES TO THE WINE GARDEN

The State Fair of Texas wound down this week

I guess everyone that goes to the fair has a favorite thing to do there

Some people go just to taste the fried foods

Others go for the rides and games along the midway

I think everyone has to at least stop by to see what Big Tex has to say

I'm sure there are mirrors involved

but I've still never figured out how the midway barker balances himself so well on that stool

After I've had my fill of fried foods

spent more than enough on the midway games to buy the jumbo sized sock money outright

and stopped by to see if Big Tex has anything new to say this year

I like to head to the wine garden

The wine garden offers tastings from a number of Texas wineries

You can try a glass, a flight or a bottle

This year I tried a red wine from Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards located in Pittsburg, Texas

A lot of the Texas reds are a little sweet for my taste

The one I tried was a little drier

and was a nice pairing with the Texas fried chicken in a waffle cone I had just purchased

As an added bonus, there is a big screen tv on a nice, shaded patio

This is still one of my favorite things to do whenever I come to the fair

ROUND TOP - DAY TWO

This is the time of year that the population of Round Top increases more than 100 times.  

Today was no exception. 

It was a nice day and traffic was fairly light compared to what it will be like Friday and Saturday when it will look more like the LBJ Freeway at rush hour.

Many great finds today - two wine themed treasures.

Found this cool industrial looking gauge that serves as a wine holder.  

Can't wait to get it home and try it out- might even put it in my garage.

The second item was a vintage wine bottle- an Italian red table wine by Lambrusco.

I have two others that I have posted pictures of previously.  One is a plain green cylinder for the neck of the bottle.  Another is in the shape of a chain of fishes and this one is in the shape of an elephant's trunk with the elephant serving as the base of the bottle.

Funny thing is - I had no idea I needed these things when the day started.  

Who knows what I'll find that I didn't know I needed tomorrow.

Roundtop 2014

 The Wine Gardner goes to Roundtop

Fall 2014

Warrenton, Texas tends to be the center of activity during the Roundtop Antique Show each afternoon beginning around 4:00pm.  It's the home to Zapp Hall, Royer's Cafe, The Legal Tender Saloon and formerly the world headquarters of The Junk Gypsies (who now call Roundtop their home).

Some people call Roundtop during the antiques festival, the happiest place in the world.  And why not?  You can find gardening goods, arts & crafts, rare antiques and many other one of a kind items.

Maybe the wine has something to do with the happiness.  There are local wineries, wine tasting events, wine shops and many places that offer free wine in the evening. Today someone told me that Miranda Lambert now owns a winery in the area and her father was at Royer's serving up free samples.  I picked up something today that I'll be using tomorrow.  It's a plastic wine glass with a spill proof top that you can drink from like it's a sippy cup and the other is a wine tote that holds 750ml of wine and is great for biking, hiking, backpacking and other events.  Tomorrow I think I'm 

gonna love the wine I'm with.

WINE WEDNESDAY: Wine-o-mania

Like the dot.com bubble, stock market bubble, the housing bubble

and the beanie baby bubble . . . could  a wine bubble be next?

It seems everywhere you go now there's wine on the menu, 

on the shelf,  

in the beer gardens, 

at the theatre, 

at the ball games . . .

at Starbucks

It seems like wine is surpassing beer as the drink of 

choice in many venues

And wine infused food items - 

there's wine-infused popcorn, 

chocolate, 

chicken,

ice cream and now . . .  cheese

Recently at my gourmet grocery store, 

while selecting a wine for the weekend, 

I happened to see this Sartori BellaVitano Merlot cheese.  

The rind was a purple color, so I couldn't resist.  

I paired it with several other cheeses, olives, crackers and of course Merlot 

It was great

Wine and cheese and wine-cheese

I don't know - if this is really a wine bubble

But I didn't sell my house when the bubble burst

And I won't stop drinking wine

I'm in it for the long haul

Bring on the wine-infused cigars

WINE WEDNESDAY: Flea Market Finds

When you see something you like

don't worry about where you will put it

you'll find a place . . . eventually.

On occasional weekends I like to go to my local flea markets.  The mix of vendors changes each time and you never know what you'll find.  

A few weeks ago I visited a flea market I have been to a hundred times and ran across a vendor that I had never seen before.  

I found these great inexpensive wine prints, cut some mats to fit ready-made frames and they're ready to display.  I haven't decided yet where I'm going to hang them but I like the subject.

I can vouch for the first one but I've never been to Paris so I can't speak for the second one - but it sounds good.

I've visited the same flea market recently and the print vendor wasn't there  . . . but

 I'll keep an eye out.

You never know what you'll find that you need to find a place for.

Pachypodium Pandemonium

I changed my mind

I said I was giving up on Madagascar Palms

going with a nice Sago

;

then I read about people that cut the tops off the Madagascar Palms 

to encourage branching

I didn't think it would work on these because the tops were dead

but I tried it anyway and I put the palm in the ground and hoped for the best

two months later I got a little surprise

branches had appeared on two different sides of the palm

knowing that I've got to drag it back to the storage unit for over wintering I moved it back into a pot

each day it looks a little bit better than the day before

so now it looks like I've got at least one of my old palms back

a few weeks later I was in one of my local big box stores

perusing the clearance racks and I ran across a very small Pachypodium 

this is the first time I've seen one of these since I purchased my last two that grew into those giant palms that I used to haul in and out of the storage unit

I think it's already doubled in size since I bought it and put it in a pot

With any luck by next Spring I'll have two thriving Pachypodiums to roll back onto my patio with all of my other garden treasures

It turns out my next palms were a lot like my last palms

now I got a second chance

I guess I'll do it again

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Sunday afternoon is the time to sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor throughout the week.  

Sunday afternoon is . . .

The New York Times and the local Sunday newspaper comics

Pinion wood in the outdoor fire pit or chiminea

Spending time on the patio and cooking outside

Resting your eyes or maybe a short nap

Flea market finds

Fiona Apple on Pandora

Trying a new wine with dinner

Preparing for the week ahead

SAT-URDAY AF----TERNOON

Saturday Afternoon

It's not like Tuesday afternoon

or even Sunday afternoon

Saturday is the middle of the weekend 

it's a little busier and a little more active 

You've still got Sunday afternoon to relax

so you might even tend to overdo it a little

We got a little rain shower today

had to take a break

It doesn't matter to me

chasing the clouds away

Sat-urday Af---ternoon

I've got to admit it's getting better

(better)

a little better all the time

(it can't get more worse)

I have to admit it's getting better

(better)

getting so much better all the time

it's getting better all the time

better, better, better

it's getting better all the time

better, better, better

getting so much better all the time

It was a long winter  

A harsh winter

It seems like it's taken longer this year to recover than in most

But I'm finally able to enjoy some of the fruits of the warmer weather

Thanks to John and Paul for putting things in perspective

It's getting better all the time

Getting so much better all the time

Better, better, better

It's getting better all the time

Better, better, better

It's getting better all the time

Getting so much better all the time

(Better)

I have to admit it's getting better

(It can't get more worse)

A little better all the time

(Better)

I've got to admit it's getting better

More Ugly - but a second chance

I've had these plumerias for a number of years

I thought this might be their last year when I brought them home from the storage unit

The jasmine behind them looks pretty bad as well

I took a chance and cut the stalks 

Dang

Maybe they'll live for another year

No hope for these though

They melted...or froze

My Madagascar Palms were about 6 feet tall last year and I've had them since they were in pint size pots - I've been hauling them in and out of the storage unit

 for years

No more

My next palm will be nothing like my last palm 

It was a painful dance 

Now I got a second chance

I'm trying a Sago this time

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good

The geraniums lived

Had to move them in and out of the garage all winter 

A lot of work for 2 small flowers

But it's worth it

Never had any live all winter before - that's good 

The Bad

I think Boston ivy could survive an Arctic winter 

It easily survived this one - that could be bad - it can get kind of invasive -

But the jasmine may have a tougher time coming back 

It looks bad

The Ugly

This jaws agave is kind of scary even when it's healthy

But when the cold has eaten it up it can be downright ugly

After a few months I hope the ugly shriveled parts will be replaced with tender new green leaves 

My spaghetti's getting cold and my wine's going flat 

Have to check the rest of the damage tomorrow