Thursday, October 22, 2009

Time For Gloxinia's To Come Out





It's time to take the Gloxinia plants out of the dark.
After spending a dormant spell where they were kept
in the basement in the dark this Summer the Gloxinia's
were taken from the basement last week to the sunlight
once again.
They got their watering, a fertilizing and some sunlight
and they are welcoming it by sprouting once again.



While most may grow theirs in the Summer and let them
rest in the Winter I do just the opposite and enjoy their
colors in the dull days of Winter to get my flower and
color fix. They are easy to grow and can be grown under
artificial lighting or partial sunlight and in fact do not like
direct sunlight so they are perfect for a Winter infusion
of color. The same rules of growing them applies as with
those of the African Violets only the Gloxinia needs a period
of rest. So if you want some color this Winter you may want
to try growing your own from seed now.
Here at Grownotes.com is some growing and care tips.



The "Invasion" that was mentioned before about the
dreaded Asian Beetles is in full swing.
When they started coming into the house, as bad as
one hates to, the whole outside of the house had to be
sprayed to stop most of them from coming in. No matter
what kind of house you may have and how air tight you
may think it is, believe me they will come inside somehow,
someway. They are drawn to light so when the sun hits
the side of the house or garage that is where the majority
land to get in. As seen here on the side of my house---
See all of those little beetles, now picture them in the
hundreds all over your buildings.



This is just a small pile that were swept up from my front
porch the following morning to show you how many
there really are. Now imagine a pile like this all around
the foundation of your buildings where they die and fall.



When they first showed up here in Ohio they were
in masses and despite spraying and businesses having
to call in exterminators to be rid of them, their numbers
are not dwindling.
Even if you are against insecticides you will have second
thoughts when they migrate into your state and they are
on the move having started on the east coast.
We women have a hard time allowing bugs to stain
our window curtains, walls and stinking up the place.
I do not know how the restaurants deal with them.
Be aware that that crunchy bacon bit in your salad might
well be a beetle. YUK!




Enough of the stinking pests!


This week is the Circleville, Ohio Pumpkin Show.
It is the largest free fair in the state and was started in
1903 as a few small stands where Farmers showed
off their crops and pumpkins in the Fall.
Now it has grown and the show vies every year to see
who grows the largest pumpkin. States compete against
each other to break the records for the largest pumpkin.
Yesterday at the weigh in Dr. Bob Leggitt won the
first prize spot amongst the participators by having a
record winning pumpkin of
1,635.5 pounds.
The World record is 1,725 pounds so it was a little short of
the record. It was a great attempt though.
This is the size of the pumpkins I grew this summer,
just pumps on the Circleville pumpkin in
comparison ;-)


So with the pumpkins being the name of the fair there is
everything eatable imaginable with pumpkin in it.

Including pumpkin: pie, ice cream, fudge, cookies,
cake, butter, bread, donuts, waffles, brittle, pancakes,
taffy, elephant ears, brownies, cheesecake, pizza,
chili and pumpkin burgers. Which is just a sloppy joe
but they are really yummy.


The local bakery bakes a 400 pound pumpkin pie that is
6 feet in diameter and takes six hours to bake.
You cooks will appreciate this recipe:
100 pounds of pumpkin
40 pounds of sugar
26 gallons of milk
15 dozen eggs
4 pounds of corn starch
1 1/4 pound of pumpkin spice
1 1/4 pound of salt
42 pounds of dough

Now that is a pie!
Here is a link to the worlds largest free show:
Circleville Pumpkin Show



Happy Gardening Everyone!




14 comments:

VW said...

We spent October 2004 in Columbus, Ohio for an internship for my husband. We took our young son to the Circleville pumpkin festival and had a great time! I didn't try any battered and fried pumpkin flowers, too bad :-)

Helen said...

Those Gloxinias are beautiful. Brought back good memories to me. The first time I had ever seen any was in 1960 when several people gave me some when my son was born. I didn't know you could keep them so when they died back I threw them away. Helen

RURAL said...

Love the idea of growing your glox indoors in the winter. I don't think that I would have enough sunlight for them, too bad.

I was wondering...those Asian Beetles, look so much like what we know here as lady bugs. But we don't ever get hoards of them. Do you think that they are the same bug? People actually buy bags of them to release in the garden here because they eat the aphids. They definitely don't last through the winter here.

Jen

Victoria said...

Wow, your gloxinia is so charming! I love the color..so rich! What a beauty!Wonderful post!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I think I'm going to try some more blooming houseplants this winter. I actually had my African Violets re bloom this year, a miracle because usually they die for me.
I can't believe how many bugs you get. Now I have the idea of crunching on one in my food... glad we don't have them here.

Chloe m said...

Lona,
That is one enormous pie...where do they find a pan that large? :)
I haven't grown gloxinia but my father used to and these remind me of him. They are winners!
Rosey

Lona said...

VW: Hey I am glad you were able to attend and get a touch of all that is pumpkin :-) Fried blooms taste like mushrooms I am told. I have not ate any either.

Helen: Too bad you didn't know you could keep them. I am hoping my will be bigger this year and have put them into larger pots. Fingers crossed.

Jen: This is a completely different beetle than a regular Lady Bug or Bird. It is a shame because it is hard to tell the difference. I think the Lady bugs have a darker shell than the Asian ones though. These ones stink to high heaven also.

Kiki: Hey thanks and thanks for dropping by.

Catherine: whoops, sorry I engraved that image into your mind;-) You will be checking your salads now ;-)

Rosey: They had to make a special pie pan for it and I guess the bakery has a giant oven too. It is something to see.

Stephanie said...

Oh no those beetles! I'll make sure I kill these pest next time when they invade my garden. Gosh they are so many of them... good thing that they are all dead now.

I love your Gloxinia. The colour is beautiful. I hope mine will re-grow soon too ;-)

Have a great weekend Lona!

Jean Campbell said...

Gloxinas used to be very popular as gift plants from the florist. I think they went out of fashion when 'dish gardens' came in. I like blooming plants. A florist I used to know used to grow streptocarpus, not as striking as gloxina but a delight. Mama liked to grow epsicias. All are wonderful gesneriads.

Lona said...

Nell Jean: There are so many beautiful ones now that I have a hard time choosing them. Too many choices ;-) I love the variegate leaf ones.

Stephanie: Be careful that you do not spray the good Lady beetles with the bad. I only wish my Asian beetles were all dead.They find a way.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Unknown said...

I haven't grown gloxinias before but I think they're worth having....so pretty! Those beetles...the numbers are scary. glad we don't have them. We do have smaller ones in large numbers but they're attracted to the lights outside the house.

Your pumpkins look great and I like the last fall photo. Beautiful!

Lona said...

Kanak: Thanks so much. Those beetles are the messiest nuisance to migrate this way.

Heather said...

Hi Lona. Somehow we missed the lady beetle invasion this year - a pure stroke of luck, I'd say. They certainly do smell, and I remember when I was in school at Ohio University there was always concern in the dorms in the fall that too many bugs would collect on the fluorescent lights and cause a fire. You sure have some pretty color up there. I think a lot of leaves around here got rained and blown out of the trees before we had a chance to really enjoy them! Happy Autumn!

Unknown said...

You have beautiful photos.
Your gloxinia has me convinced to try one. I NEED winter blooms.
ACK I feel for you on the ladybug invasion, when we lived in MI we had the same issue. The smell was awful ewww!