Be aware, be very afraid, your on the way to become one of us. Thats how all of us started.
Plant em if you got em.
Sam

Oh, believe me. I would have an orchard, an entire tomato patch, potatoes, etc. if only I had the space!

Awesome! I love the teeny tiny pepper. Like Sam said, you're becoming one of us! Great job. Isn't it fun?

It's so fun! I love my teeny tiny pepper :).

About the Bromeliad, I have found that if you separate the pup from the mother too early (when it is still too small) it will not do well at all. I had some of mine die before I learned to leave them with the mother until they were a really good size. This may be why yours is not growing.

AH, that would make sense. After the big rainstorms here, the mother started rotting so I had to perform some emergency surgery ;).

Ah, the first born - isn't it exciting???

A bit of Diatomaceous earth around your pepper plant will help some with snails and slugs.

Oh, and bigger pots will help you to maintain a more even soil moisture - they won't go bone dry so fast.

PS - don't forget to sing to your babies!

~dianne

Nice stuff!
& FWIW, I use the 'natural'iron phosphate slug/snail bait pellets - bought 'em @ HD. You just sprinkle it around the plants & the snails eat that instead of your plants & then they die. The pellets break down into fertiliser.

{{gwi:841064}}

Your porch is just fantastic! Love the color on your boug. vine blooms. Osteosp. IS wonderful, SOOO pretty and yours looks particularly nice. Is there something else sharing that pot? Thanks for sharing your pics!

Purpleinopp - Nope, nothing but the osteos! Thank you so much for the kind words, very encouraging :).

Gardengimp - Ooh, cool, thanks! I've since read about diatomaceous earth in a couple of books from the library, and it seems like a good way to control them, or at least dissuade them from eating my plants. I've read that ground oyster shell works well for them, too.

Carol - Thanks! Wow, such good advice here!

Beautiful! What a great little garden.

Persian shield likes it damp and protection from the afternoon sun. Somebody once said here that you could practically grow it under water and I have found that to be true.

Melissa

Enjoyed your porch so much yesterday, I came back for another look :+)

Yes, the one thing to never to do to Strobilanthes (persian shield) is let it dry out. I love this plant so much! If I had to choose just 1 plant, this might be it. I bought one little 6-leaf thing about 10 years ago and after a few years had multiplied it into half a dozen plants. I've overwintered potted plants and several years I was unable to do that and overwintered cuttings in water. Last winter I chose to keep just 1 potted plant and I let it dry out & die. I was whining about this to the owner of the garden center Monday and she said if I wanted to buy a whole tray she would be happy to order for me. So sometime soon I should be in purple-leaf heaven. Link below says they sometimes overwinter here in my zone. Will definitely try a few. You are in a warm enough place that you could plant this in the ground to come back year after year, even if it dies above-ground in a frost.
Floridata Strobilanthes page

Just noticed your comment about bonsai bougainvillea. Boug. is a fast-growing vine which would be extremely difficult to "bonsai" and I don't think you would be pleased with the results. A baby tree or shrub would be a much better choice, especially for a novice. On the bright side, though, your beautiful vine is certainly worthy of a spot in the ground where you can provide some type of support structure, like a fence, pergola, obelish, etc... No such thing as giving it too much sun.
Floridata Bougainvillea page

To quote you, "After seeing how quickly the soil dries out in my pots that get shade for the second half of the day, I am very doubtful about how well the same plants would fare in the ground where they will get sun for nearly the entire day." Once plants get roots established in the ground, they should be much better able to obtain water themselves, although you might still be using your hose sometimes. Pots for sure need water, sometimes more than once a day if things are wilting. Wilting is almost always a sign of severe dehydration and most plants are extremely stressed by it.

The pepper plant and gerber daisy can't get too much sun as long as they don't dry out. (Peppers originate from central and south America, gerber daisies from Africa.)
origin of peppers
Floridata gerber daisy page

Thanks for the great links! They are much appreciated. The reason I wanted to bonsai the bougainvillea originally is because of links like this! The little bougies just look so adorable and perfect.

Here is a link that might be useful:

My persian shield has frozen back every winter for the last three. Each year it has more trouble coming back. So far I haven't seen any recovery this year but I never give up hope until I forget where the plant was!

Wow, Bonsai Bouganvillea sure is cute... I bonsai'd an english ivy once. Right before it accidentally died of dehydration (sounds so much better than "I accidentally killed it,) the biggest leaves were about as big as sunflower seeds. You can do anything you set your mind to!

I got the 8 persian shield plants I ordered from the garden center today and feel so much better. Hope yours comes up, gardencpa!

I'd go for the Bonsai, myself. In the yard, bougs demand payment in blood.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bonsai Boug