New blooms and new aloe

 My phal that I've had for 3 years now bloomed for the 4th time and John Meyer is chugging along too!

My friend Lisa came down to visit and gave us an aloe. I hope I don't kill it. For some reason they never seem to last with me.

First 2014 Post

Already making changes starting with remounting the Staghorn Fern. I found the piece of sliced tree trunk from Michael's for $10 and used a 50% off coupon... $5-SCORE!
I got it back in September when he was a wee lad. He's gotten bigger since, 2 new leaves and a growth mount or "frond". Here he is from September on a piece of cork mount.

Has it been that long?

Here's an overdue quick update on GRK. We have tons of new neighbors. The hood is filling up quick. We became friends with a couple, Allison and Zach. See... that's their house, photo taken from our deck.

The cool part is that they're also a Leo couple. Allison and I share the same birthday :) Zach and Tyler are 1 day apart.  No wonder we clicked immediately. She also started at the same yoga studio I attend. In other updates...
Hubster and I went to Home Depot a couple of months ago and scored a Fiddle Leaf Fig tree for HALF the price I got my first one. The plant on the floor is a Zamioculcus, aka ZZ plant. Supposedly they are indestructible. So it's a great plant for those who think they do not have a green thumb!

 

John Meyer is doing quite well. 5 fruits and a lot of new foliage. Right now they are in the ripening process.

  

I  picked up a Key Lime tree at a nursery about 15 miles out. I'm not so stoked about the tree. It seems very frail and not as hearty as when I bought my Meyer Lemon tree. I should've waited but I get so antsy and impatient sometimes. I guess I'll see how a year goes with this one. I don't even have a named picked out. Bleh.

 

At the same garden nursery,  I got a heavily desired Staghorn Fern. The owner gave me a few insider tips/tricks on how to mount it instead of using fishing wire. 

 

We ordered a storm door for the front door. That should be arriving and installed sometime in early October. Had to get a couple of things cleared with the HOA first. 

 

Updated morning room

Went to IKEA in search for a new house plant (Monstera) but they were pretty much wiped out. IKEA has the best and cheapest selection out there and I think people have caught on. Poop. So instead, we found a cool walnut anatomy print :) Then we hit up Home Depot to get some new succulents.

Meyer Lemon Tree: Take Deux

I've been thinking about getting another Meyer Lemon tree but couldn't find them at Lowe's or Home Depot this summer. Something about the local nurseries breaking out in disease. *shrug* So I took that as a sign not to get one, not even from online. Fast foward... Hubster and I went to check out the Southern Christmas Show this weekend and saw an old man carrying what appeared to be a lime tree (totally a sign for me to get one). I got really excited knowing there's a vendor in there selling citrus and tropical plants. We rushed to the exhibitor and gladly bought a Meyer Lemon tree for a whopping $12.95 :)  A gazillion $$ less than what I paid for when I ordered one online for the first one that eventually died before I could even get any full grown lemons out of. The exhibitor was a local nursery that get their citrus trees from Florida. I asked many questions making sure I was confident in successfully growing one this time around. Since it's winter season they advised me to keep it indoors during the cold months and bring it out in full sun sometime in March/April or when the weather gets spring season warm. Which I didn't do the first time. I kept it inside the whole time so it didn't get the right amount of warmth, sun and pollenation. However, it is possible to grow it indoors year round but I just didn't have that luck. So wish me luck this time around!

Repotted

I finally repotted the fiddle leaf fig. He's grown 5 new leaves since I bought him 1.5 weeks ago. Positioned him next to my pretty friggin' awesome zebra slipper chair.

Fiddle Leaf Fig

I finally got one! Still a baby size. One day in my fantasy world it will look like one of these:

But in reality I will try my hardest to get it to look like any of these:

I managed to kill my succulent

It's slowly turning purple. I don't think that's normal. *shrug*