Ofm, don't forget to Enjoy!

This is unusual heat for us, but someone told me that the reason Seattle has so much building going on (with out occupancy) is that the developers are planning for global warming, in which case Seattle will become the new California...and it seems to be going in that direction for sure! Portland too!!
OFM what I meant to say in my earlier post was that I'd been reading about this chicken grit, when I joined ATP, and I kept thinking - OK, I live in the city, no one has chicken grit...so for a while I didn't use it and I lost some semps and they just didn't "sparkle" like I wanted them too!!! Once I top dressed with chicken grit, these plants came alive!! So happy and healthy!

It really is amazing the difference the top dressing with chicken grit makes. I think they also receive some minerals from the grit.

There's a ton of building down here as well...always a couple tower cranes up and traffic (although still not bad) seems to be getting worse... I'm tangentially involved in the construction industry so I see some things from that angle as well and yep, things are definitely moving!

I'm looking forward to being able to take the shade cloth down in a month or so and seeing how they do with more temperate weather. I've got a bunch of grit in there, and I'll get another bag and work that in as soon as I can (I've got a couple yard projects I'm trying to balance on a limited budget so it's a process. Obviously the damaged semps jumped to the top of the priority list as I didn't want to lose them!). So far, the big NOIDs seem to be recovering and the my newest ones (a hookeri and a carmen) are still doing OK, so the cloth/grit/better watering seems to be working - I just hope the little topaz and fire dragons recover. One of the purposes of all this was for me to figure out what would grow well in what parts of the yard, so I expected some loss, but it's still a bummer and I want to avoid it as much as possible.

I love the way they look, but I had some unreasonable expectations going in...for some reason I was thinking they were sturdy like cacti (no idea where I got that idea!). Now that I realize they are not I can plan better going forward. Hopefully!

Thanks so much all for the support and advice, I don't know where I'd be on this project without the internet, and this forum in particular!

Fingers crossed that the next semp pics I upload are the good kind of "after" shots.

You are doing a great job of finding what makes them happy. Good work.

I look forward to update photos, and feel that you will be successful in growing these wonderful plants.

because you seem to care so much...

FYI Lynn is having computer problems and may be off for a day or so. Just so we don't get anxious without her input.

Marilyn

I'm back. They got it up and running much quicker than they thought.

valleylynn said: I'm back. They got it up and running much quicker than they thought.

Always good to hear when something like that happens - I always expect the opposite - welcome back!

Minor update: Semps do not seem to have sustained any damage today (tied for hottest day of this summer?) and maybe look a teeeny tiny bit better, so there's that.

Great news ofm. Starting tomorrow it is suppose to start cooling down a bit. The semps will be so happy.

valleylynn said: Great news ofm. Starting tomorrow it is suppose to start cooling down a bit. The semps will be so happy.

I know! And I look forward to getting back to some actual planting and not just water and rescue.

Just a little update: I was finally able to move these last week (once I finally got the hydrangeas cleared out along the driveway). Everything seems to have survived and prospered under the shade cloth - the arach was hit the hardest, but there still seem to be a couple good offsets on there. The new spot is much shadier, since they were doing so well under the shadecloth...hopefully I haven't gone too far in the other direction and it still gets enough sun!



The big NOIDs are going like crazy. The back two topazes in the center were the damaged ones, the front one is a little newer and healthier. There's a Carmen and a Rubikon in the front that I added just after the cloth went up as well, and they didn't suffer any damage in there. The hookeri in the back seems to look about the same as it did went I put it in the ground a month ago.

Those are looking really good ofm.
I find that S. hookerii can be very susceptible to sun damage in our summer drought months. The entire back side of my large colony is burnt to a crisp. It seems to do this every year, then when the cool fall and winter weather arrives it manages to repair itself. There are a few others in my collection that don't like full summer sun.
Most of mine are in full blazing sun and once a colony is establish they don't seem to be bothered by intense sun.

OFM looks great!!! Good save on your semp babies!! Topaz is an amazing semp! It will get pretty big in just the next few months!! And living in the PNW I tend to have growth all year round (which is great!!)
Cheers

Update. All are doing well, except for the Heuffelii Gold Bug, which was dug up by cats/squirrels (so frustrating!) at least once.

I had a little time to hunt for plants yesterday! I added a Green Wheel (front center), a Silverine (front left), a noid that looks a little... odd and two with labeling I don't quite trust.



"Jade Rose" (whatever it is, it's one of the bigger cobwebs I've seen):


"Thunder" (which brought a couple little sedums with it):


NOID:

That NOID does look a little odd, almost like an 'Oddity' that is reverting?