Happy Birthday Pittosporum (Wheelers Dwarf)

 Nov 1, 2025

It is a year since this I brought this dude home, so one day being as good as another, I declare Nov 1 as his birthday. 

    

AFTER

BEFORE

If you want to learn more about this plant & see his transition to the present, click on the Pittosporum Album in the right-hand column.

Miniatures/Succulents - Part 2

My knowledge of &/or exposure to succulents, up until this last year, was limited to Jade plants, that hardy, almost impossible to kill, ubiquitous Jade that back in the day, every good love & peace-nik grew alongside their marijuana plant.

Succulents are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. Succulents are not a species..a given species can have both succulent & non-succulents in their family tree & vice versa, multiple species may be succulent, while not related, such as cacti.

The main attraction for many (me, included) is the ease of succulent propagation; whether from a leaf or root cutting, or seed, most succulents will readily reproduce in a wide variety of potting medium & environmental conditions. One can build a collection of succulent plants quite rapidly, compared to other varieties.

As I grew different types, I was intrigued that many of them looked like "mini-bonsai" or faux bonsai plants when potted..And so, alongside my tree collection, however incongruous it might seem, I've started building a collection of succulents.

And to bring some order to the chaos, I'll create an Album specifically for Miniatures/Succulents, so I have some historical record of each plant..coming soon.

Re-potted Red Caro & New Additions

 Yesterday, I repotted my Red Coprosma..used the same training pot & held off on root pruning except for cleaning-up some exposed roots, as I wanted to minimize any trauma..this plant is recovering from being badly burned by an accidental use of full-strength fertilizer & I am treating him with "kid gloves"

The accident also affected 3 other trees; 1 dead, 1 lived but permanently disfigured, 2 others which are recovering. Lesson learned? Yes!

On a brighter note, also potted some new additions to our succulent collection:

Euphorbia -
Crown of Thorns

Golden Rat-Tail
Cactus

Haworthia

Miniatures/Succulents

A little over a year ago (early summer - 2024) when I was just starting on my horticultural adventure, a neighbor-lady brought me a jar full  of Jade plant cuttings & asked if I would like to have them..

I gratefully accepted & in a few days time, some of the cuttings were showing tiny roots and so this odyssey began.

I potted a couple in very small bowls & realized that they looked like little bonsai..gave a couple away to various folks, which promoted my thinking.

Soon I had rooted cuttings "coming out my ears"..when someone suggested I offer them for sale in our community thrift store. Our building is largely tenant-run & has a very active tenant association (they call it a co-op) in that we regularly host luncheons, brunches, & decorate for holidays..these activities have costs attached which are not paid for by the management company & so the proceeds from the Thrift Store go to help pay for those activities.

Now I'm having trouble getting small pots like these at a reasonable cost since the
source for these is China. But the real upside to this story is my exposure & introduction to Succulents, of which I shall write in a future post.