On a hobby-life.

What with all my working hours now totally filled, I'm starting to feel like my hobbies are all being neglected. But indeed my interests are still budding (pun very intended), and one that I've been playing with for a little while now is terrarium-building. 

I started with moss from the woods, and some died and some lived depending on where I placed them and whether I left the lid on or not. So, it turns out that leaving the lid off is best (really, is it a big surprise that a plant living in the PA woods would not like being sealed up in a glass jar in the sun?). For my birthday I got a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, and planted that in a neat glass jar, and a few weeks later my parents bought me a succulent plant, Echeveria, that I wedged into an old cookie jar. It must like it in there, because it sent out a flower stalk and is blooming like crazy. Just today as I was  buying a dehumidifier for the basement (boo!), I saw little Venus flytraps for only a couple dollars and picked one up to put in with the pitcher plant.

The other, dare I say, hobby that I dabble in from time to time is photography. Now, I say that knowing full well that I'm not a photographer,but  I just enjoy it and like playing with it from time to time. I also know that it's complete heresy that the majority of my photos are from my iPhone, but what is better than always having a camera in your pocket? The other point of heresy is that the photos below were all taken with the instagram app, which seems to be all over the interwebs these days:

Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

Moss (don't know the species)

Will you look at that. So nice.

My little blooming beauty (Echeveria x "Topsy Turvy")

I also really want to learn how to/start pruning Japanese maples and evergreens in the Japanese pruning style method, Niwaki. Imagine Bonsai type trees but larger and in the ground. Some forms are called cloud pruning, but many others have Japanese names with no direct English translation.They are generally pruned heavily to make them look like older trees in specific locations (i.e., on a cliff, mountain top, or riverside). Not many people do this type of pruning because it is very labor-intensive, but there are small groups of people that enjoy it. I am thinking of going to the local Bonsai Club monthly meeting to ask around if they know of anyone that prunes trees in this method in the hopes I can tag along and learn a few things.

As a side note, I'm also thinking about applying to the Longwood Garden graduate program in Horticulture. They only choose 5-6 people a year for a fully-funded two-year program through the University of Delaware. I have a friend that is in the program now, and I've been reading the bios of the other students. Wow: they are all ridiculously amazing individuals that have amazing resumes and make applying really intimidating. 

But here's to hobbies, optimism, acceptance to graduate programs, and a better economy so that we can all have jobs we enjoy.