Excavated Plant

This was an unpleasant discovery: one of my recently planted Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis plicata) was no longer..well...planted.  During the evening, some critter had decided that there was likely good eats down there in the wet root zone.  Possibly an armadillo (though I searched the fence line and deck borders and haven't found an entry point) or even a raccoon (believe they will also do some minor digging and they certainly visit my yard).  Grumble.

Stuck it back in the ground and gave it another dose of water.  Hope that doesn't invite even more excavation!

I have been rather remiss in the "diary" aspects of my blog.  So I came up with some categories to include, when appropriate, with each post (really more as notes to myself than anything):

• Planted in Ground - recent yard plantings
• Planted in Pots - recent pot plantings
• Experiments - things I'm trying
• Gotta Get - additions to my list of desired plants

So to catch up on the past couple of month's happenings (I'll do better; promise):

Planted in Ground:

• Four Ground Orchids (one of them twice - grumble, grumble)
• Manfreda 'Chocolate Chips' (Manfreda undulata 'Chocolate Chips')
• Dyckia platyphylla

Planted in Pots:

• Ground Orchid (so I can make sure to keep at least one alive over the winter)
• Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina) into hanging pot; interesting story goes with plant (perhaps on a later blog)
• Small-leafed version of English Ivy (variety of Hedera helix) into hanging pot (actually part of a three plant gift "bucket" received by my wife) - anyone have any hints regarding variety based on that minuscule description?
• Unknown variety of Coleus - a pass-along from Robin at Getting Grounded; thanks!
• Ric Rac Orchid Cactus (Selenicereus anthonyanus) - gift from green-thumbed mother-in-law; thanks MommaSam!
• Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Alice' (Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice') - hope to eventually place into ground, but figured I'd better wait until fall
• Root Beer Plant (Piper auritum) - pass-along plant from Philip at East Side Patch; thanks! (Still a little fearful to let it loose directly into the ground, plus I can water it more when potted)
• Two Gold Dust Aucuba (Aucuba japonica 'Variegata') - hope to eventually place into ground; waiting for fall
• Red-leafed Dyckia (Dyckia 'Red Devil') into the Bitter Tree Aloe (Aloe ferox) pot; it was looking lonely

Experiments:

• Growing Bronze Dyckia (Dyckia fosteriana) from gathered seeds
• Attempting to root Oak-Leaf Hydrangea cuttings
• Attempting to root Abutilon 'Marilyn's Choice' cuttings
• Growing Gulf Coast Penstemon (Penstemon tenuis) from seeds (pass-along seeds from Robin at Getting Grounded; thanks yet again

Gotta Get:

• Mahonia 'Soft Caress' (Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress') - discovered them at Red Barn but the price was a bit more than I wanted to spend
• Vriesea malzinei -  when I saw the words "shady" and "dappled sunlight" in GrowerJim's description on the Garden Adventures blog, it was going on my list (the pictures certainly helped too!).  A little worried about temperature; perhaps in a pot.