Get Yourself Some Gloves!

There is nothing fulfilling about squishing your hands through dirt and scratchy plants, and then coming inside from your gardening day with crescents of black under your fingernails and dirty wounds on your hands. Unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing. If you're like me, and at the very least have tired of nail brushes, gardening gloves are for you.

There are different types of gloves, from the cheap ones you can pick up at the Dollar Tree or Daiso, to expansive and expensive leather gloves from "fine retailers." It really comes down to what you garden and HOW you garden.

My three-year-old rose gloves with their holy fingers.

 I bought rose gloves with gauntlets in 2013 to protect my hands and lower arms when gardening my succulents (yes, they came in handy with the couple of rose bushes I have, too). When trimming an agave, or when doing ANYTHING with a euphorbia, the long gauntlet pieces are invaluable for protecting skin from serious thorn damage and sap burns. After three years (which is pretty impressive, considering how I treated them) my rose gloves were a mess and had little holes at the fingertips.

It was black crescent nails all over again, so I did some research and looked at my gardening habits before purchasing new gloves. I ended up with:

The elegant lady's choice...

1) A brand-new pair of my favorite rose gloves. Really, the leather gauntlets are amazing, there's great flexibility in the fingers, and they were quite a reasonable price at Amazon.

You can pretend you're Wolverine! Well... sort of.

2) A pair of rather ugly "Honey Badger" gardening gloves which only make me feel slightly like Freddy Krueger. Why the ugly? They come in a plethora of colors, but of course, I went for the cheapest ones. You have the option of choosing either hand for the "claws" or even both hands, but I went with the left as I'm right-handed. They were a fantastic choice and will ensure the life of my precious gauntlet gloves by doing the dirt-related stuff the gauntlets weren't meant for.

The plastic claws on the gloves are PERFECT for digging into the dirt. I've been using them while upgrading my backyard planter in preparation for some hand-me-down box turtles I'm receiving next week. I can easily pull the ground cover back from the actual soil in order to plant new plants, or to install the water and feeding dishes.

Depending on my purpose, I will wear either set of gloves. For above-the-dirt work, like trimming or staking plants, or snail-hunting for my future turtles, the rose gauntlets. For weeding and planting, the badger gloves. Gloves are great no matter what you use, but from experience I recommend buying leather or plastic, as woven-fabric gloves leave tiny holes for dangerous sap to sink in through.

Plumeria Dormancy - No, Your Plant's Not Dead!

 

There are so many varieties of succulent plants that it's often a surprise to learn that a plant IS a succulent. At least, that was my reaction on finally learning that the plumeria, native to Hawaii and beloved of gardeners in temperate through tropic zones, is, of course, a succulent plant.

It should have been obvious. The plumeria has thick, fleshy stems that hold large amounts of water. It can be propagated rather easily through cuttings (all the plumerias I own are the result of cuttings bought in Hawaii back in 1997). Of COURSE it's a succulent, which is an excellent excuse for me to write a blog entry on one of the strangest issues one deals with when it comes to the plumeria.

Black, shriveled baby leaves are a sign of dormancy.

I thought I had killed my plumerias when they all dropped their leaves and seemed unable to grow new ones, but as it turns out I hadn't. Plumerias go through a period of dormancy in most climates, and in Southern California this dormancy period is roughly the whole of winter. For at least four-five months, the plants will not grow new leaves, and in fact, any little leaves that begin to grow will turn into shriveled black wastes that drop off at a touch.

To double-check for dormancy, brush or dig away dirt at the base of the plant. A woody, tough, and dry stem indicates the plant is keeping new water out, and is an indication to stop watering it.

What do you do when this happens? NOTHING! Don't do anything, except perhaps sweep up those shed adult leaves. When your plumeria goes dormant, you STOP WATERING. You can easily kill your plant during its dormancy by watering it. Just STOP. Leave the plant alone, but keep an eye on it as winter turns into spring.

My most mature plumeria is still dormant.

Not all plumeria plants, even those in the same location, will come out of dormancy at the same time. I've noticed that in the case of the three small trees I own, the least-developed seem to come out of dormancy faster than the larger, more mature trees. If you have a drip system like I do, the easiest thing is to divert the hose that leads to the still-dormant plant, then simply replace it next to the tree once it starts growing leaves again.

My second-oldest plumeria seems to be giving me a very immature gesture.

When the plant begins to grow leaves that stay alive, and more importantly, mature into true leaves, you can return to watering. So, it's really very simple. When your plumeria drops all of its leaves, stop watering. Months later, when it starts to grow them again, go back to watering. In the California drought I haven't had to worry about extra rainfalls overwhelming dormant plans with water, but if you live in an area with constant rainfall, you might want to do what neighbors of mine have done and keep your plumerias in pots on wheeled bases.

My youngest plumeria was the first to start making leaves again.

If you want to plant your plumeria in the ground, I say go for it. A neighbor from my childhood still has a giant plumeria that has been in the ground for about forty years. It's absolutely huge and has survived several rainy seasons. Also, remember, Hawaii, where the plants come from, stays moist all year round (and thus plants there have a shorter dormancy period).

So, don't fret. You aren't a plant murderer! Your amazing tropical succulents have just "gone to sleep" for a bit, like hibernating mammals. When the weather warms up, keep your eye on them for new leaves and resume watering. It's that simple.