I didn't have time to resize all the photos so they would fit this blog format, so I posted the ones I had. Yesterday, I took some new photos.

This is my idea of a spice rack. Clockwise from noon: Cinnamon, Banana, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Clove, Bay, Allspice and Winter Savory, with Nutmeg in the center.

Bay (Laurus nobilus)

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)

Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)

Lemon (Citrus limon var. Meyer)
Two lemons are entirely hidden behind leaves. Can you find the other 16? Look hard.

Koa (Acacia koa)
The wood from the koa tree is widely regarded as the most beautiful wood there is. When the trees are young, like these, the leaves resemble Mimosa leaves. Mature Koa trees don't have true leaves. The leaf stems widen into sickle-shaped, leaf-like structures that contain the clorophyll necessary to feed the plant. The actual leaf parts quit developing.
The fourth sprout, which earlier I thought had no chance of living because something had eaten the growth point, has caught two of the other saplings in terms of height. I am amazed this plant lived, much less thrived. I have repotted two of these since this photo was taken.

Kukui or Candlenut (Aleurites moluccana)
Notice the crooked stem. It grew out of the seed that way. I hope this is normal--or at least not detrimental.

Mama Banana (Musa sp.)

Baby Banana (Musa sp.)
There are also strawberry plants and a volunteer impatiens in there.

Out of the Sunroom for the Summer

I realize I haven't updated this blog in a long time. On the other hand, none of my plants have been in the sunroom for several months, either. All of them seem very happy in the high heat and humidity we have outdoors in the Tennessee summer. I put most of the plants where they get shade for most of the morning, direct sun from noon to midafternoon, and dappled shade until nightfall. My other plants can't stand that much sun, so they get shade nearly all day.

My Dwarf Red Jamaican Banana is pictured above right. These photos were taken July 1. To the left you can see my pineapple. That's a young coffee tree on the lower right side. At the very bottom, my clove tree is in the small pot.

To the right is a closeup of my clove tree. Of the fifty seeds I ordered, this is the only healthy plant I managed to sprout and grow. As you can see, it grows very slowly.

There were two other clove seedlings I thought would make it. Both had damage to the central bud and had stems that developed where the cotyledons attached to the root stalk. Both suddenly died. I don't know why.

There have been a number of new additions. I hope I can fit them all into the sunroom before it gets cold.

To the left are two Plumeria I bought in Hawaii. One is the Singapore White variety and the other is simply White Plumeria. Unfortunately, I have now lost track of which one is which.

These plants came as rootless sticks. I followed the planting directions I found on the Internet. Both survive, but the short, fat one bloomed and leafed out long before the long skinny one. Maybe this has to do with the variety, maybe it has to do with the size of the stick. You decide.

This is my new small leaf tea plant, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, pictured on the right. I'm going to let it grow quite a bit before I harvest any leaves. Initially, I thought Bergamot Mint would be an ideal companion plant. Then I read the Bergamot in Earl Grey is Bergamot Orange, not Bergamot Mint. Then I thought Chamomile, but the perennial species is used more for blond hair dye than tea. Now I'm back to square one.

The companion needs to be low growing so it does not compete with the tea plant. It ought to have something to do with tea or be something that is used as a tea or tisane. Suggestions?

One of my Pitcher Plants and my Venus Flytrap are in the photo on the lower right.

More pictures of new acquisitions, including a plant I've been hunting for years, soon.