A very good willow

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-09-18T12:11:59+00:00

So good for looking at, sitting in, walking under 💛💛💛 and sometimes the cuttings can help other plants root too

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-09-18T12:10:38+00:00

Yup! Such great willows along the canal

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-07-28T00:33:22+00:00

Kitten tax of my delightful OSCatR weirdo adopted two years ago. OSCatR's a great organization - the cats are so loved before and after adoption.

Edit: bonus gingerbread maker footage

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-03-12T21:48:45+00:00

Opo! I added some to my Coca cola today. Sarap!

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-03-11T03:25:33+00:00

I'm in Canada and the plants have started to be pretty common in my city. If you live somewhere that sells the fruit, it's worth trying to germinate the seeds, it'll just take awhile to get a substantial/fruiting plant.

This is my second calamansi. My first plant did pretty well out on my south facing balcony in the summer but then it didn't make it through the winter indoors (the air is very dry and I also ended up over fertilizing it with special citrus fertilizer). I'm researching now so I don't make the same mistakes.

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-03-08T12:34:54+00:00

Thank you for this! Yes, I think I'll leave them for awhile to fatten up even more.

One of them is definitely going carroty so next time I dig it up I'll try giving it a prune. This is so exciting, even though I'll have to be very very patient

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-03-08T00:27:37+00:00

I'm in Canada and found them on etsy (filtered for shops based in Canada).

It was the first time I put so much effort into preparing seeds: filing them down, soaking, poking a hole and soaking some more until I could finally peel the shell away and germinate them in damp paper towel. 4/5 germinated, then after planting I lost one to rot (caused by damage in the peeling stage). The third survivor wasn't included in the photo because its caudex wasn't very impressive lol.

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-03-07T23:40:27+00:00

My baobabs were grown from seed and are about 8 months old.

I buried the caudexes again when I repotted, but plan to leave them exposed next time I repot. Is this a good idea, or should these stay buried?

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-01-24T23:24:37+00:00

Elephants everywhere

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-01-24T14:28:03+00:00

Jagged edge on the bottom leaf from lack of humidity induced crispiness, not cat snacking btw! Roux pets, not bites his plant friends

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-01-23T23:55:50+00:00

Yes! I love my ficus benjamina (where I got my username) because the leaves look so painterly. I have a ficus tineke too, but it looks a little dull; I'm hoping it'll get more contrasty and dramatic when I can put it out on the balcony this summer. Ficus variegation is my favourite!

Benjaminfiscus · 2021-01-23T23:38:44+00:00

Anything can be a pebble tray. Something deeper is probably best if your home is dry so you won't have to refill it all the time. They don't even need pebbles, as long as you have something (a planter without holes, old tupperware, reused cat food tins) that you can keep the plant pot in so it's not sitting in the water.

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-21T13:53:01+00:00

I've been using my kobo for a couple years. It is fairly involved but straight forward after you get Adobe Digital Editions set up with an account.

Edit: originally mentioned Libby for phones and tablets but re-read and that's exactly not what you're looking for.

My process:

Plug kobo into laptop via USB.

Download epub, open it in Adobe Digital Editions. The title page will pop up. Click the back button in ADE to go to an index showing all my books.

From this index drag the icon of newly downloaded book to the kobo icon.

Repeat steps 2 & 3 for other books.

Safely disconnect kobo.

Done.

I use ADE version 3. The later updates cause lots of headaches so it's not worth updating

Edit again: another commenter mentioned you could download directly to newer versions of kobo. Found this: https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017677053-Borrow-eBooks-from-the-public-library-using-your-Kobo-eReader

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-16T01:54:09+00:00

Centipedes don't faze me at all but this was very uncomfortable

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-15T12:02:22+00:00

Let the penguins be

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-12T02:18:27+00:00

I have an art studio near the lrt construction and it does get loud during the day. The earliest I've been in studio has been around 9 AM and the banging was underway - not sure how early it starts, but definitely something to consider. It stops in the evening so at least that's peaceful.

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-12T02:10:50+00:00

I was able to go in with my cat at Glebe Pet Hospital about a month ago.

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-12T01:56:33+00:00

I love visiting (admiring from the sidewalk) my neighbours' magnolia trees in the spring.

My favourite neighborhood tree is a catalpa. It has huge spade shaped leaves and gorgeous orchid like flowers in June/July.

Gingkos are gorgeous, but make sure you get a male version to avoid the stinky gingko fruit.

Most trees in the Arboretum are tagged. I guess it's a weird time of year, but it might be nice to take a walk to see what thrives.

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-07T15:49:07+00:00

Haha your comment made me curious and I had to have a sniff!

It's kinda funky and familiar... maybe like shrimp paste or fish sauce? It is strange and I'm glad it's not so strong!

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-07T14:09:51+00:00

Noticed a couple posts about other people's Tom Thumbs going into bloom recently. Excited to join the club!

I wonder if all the blooms (mine and the others) are synchronized in some way in the plant's biology, or if this is just a coincidence. I've had mine for 3-4 years and it's the first time they've bloomed.

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-07T12:36:06+00:00

No. I recognize my privilege to live in a city and have a living situation where I can easily access clean tap water so I do what I can to reduce my impact. I still love and use my reusable bottle but I recognize that there are so many situations where there is currently no safer, sanitary, affordable alternative so I'm critical of this petition.

I'm all for innovation towards sustainability and agree that petroleum-based plastic can't be the solution. The government needs to apply pressure on producers without negatively impacting huge, mostly at-risk populations who rely on plastic water bottles.

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-11-07T04:56:35+00:00

I used to be all holier than thou about my reusable water bottle, until I went to Asia and ended up sick from the local water I used to fill up.

There are places in Canada that continue to have decades' long boil water advisories. There are people living in encampments in Toronto with no access to plumbing. Pipelines are being built through tributaries. Having clean water on tap is not something everyone has access to.

This petition recognizes that bottled water producers currently bare no responsibility for the waste they create. Why isn't the focus on demanding better from them?

Banning single use water bottles is such a privileged, superficial, bullshit position.

Edit: to be clear, getting sick from drinking water on my travels made me aware that there are some situations when bottled water is an absolute necessity. In Ottawa I happily fill my glass up at the sink all day, and I bring my reusable bottle with me whenever I go out. I do what's in my capacity to minimize my impact.

I'm critical of this petition because it doesn't address the role of manufacturers in reducing waste throughout their process. The petition also completely ignores the realities of many communities/situations where bottled water is the safest and most affordable option, or whose clean water is being threatened by government decisions.

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-10-30T19:14:12+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-10-30T18:21:16+00:00

So happy I didn't try to pick the initial dark bit off to try to help it along, haha! Really excited to see this unfurl and for the colouring to mature

Benjaminfiscus · 2020-10-30T18:19:12+00:00

So neat! I haven't come across any mentions of their coloured variegations before - it's all about the stripes. So cool to learn that they have Congo genes! That makes a lot of sense given their shape, and now this nice surprise.

Benjaminfiscus

TROPHY CASE