A lot going on...

It's been a busy 3 weeks since my last post.  Thankfully, as far as work goes, I've had quite a few out-of-town trips.  When it's THIS hot, it is utterly miserable to do around town stuff... in and out of hot cars, barely having time to cool down between cars.  Of course, I still love the fun with my peeps, but it is exhausting being in the heat so much.  I've managed to do it, so far...but it does make me appreciate all those years Mark spent out in this shit 8 or 9 hours a day.

One day, we were on our way back from Sioux Falls.  The sky was ominous and it was obvious we were going to run into some weather.  My phone app said it was in Sioux City, and sure enough, as we came into Sioux City, we ran into torrential rain.  Not only that, but we apparently just missed a hail storm!  The grassy areas looked like they were covered with snow, and the road felt like we were driving on gravel!  And then the rush-hour traffic came to a screeching halt.  We didn't move for about 40 minutes, except when a car or truck would pull off and jump a median to take a not-exit!  The rain pounded, the thunder rumbled.  If there had been a tornado, there would have been nothing we could do as we were trapped! Here's what it looked like in front of us...

Within a couple minutes of me snapping this pic, the traffic started to move.  We didn't know what the holdup was - we had a cop come by us at some point, but no ambulance, so it didn't seem likely that it was an accident unless they came on from another direction (which was possible, since the cop had to zig-zag through traffic to get ahead of us...)  Well, within about an eighth of a mile, this is what we came to...

Yeah, a river of water under an overpass.  I suppose it was deeper and no one wanted to try going through it, which is smart of course.  It was a little intimidating...  I was afraid it would be deeper than the floorboards of the van, but it never came in, so I guess it wasn't.  We got through it, and then got back down the road, though at a slower pace due to the heavy rain (for about 20 minutes or so...)

We ran out of it eventually, and back in Omaha, it was sunny!  Well, a couple hours later, here comes that storm, hail and all, torrential rain, and a couple tornadoes in Bellevue.  They must have skipped along as there was damage hither and dither with no rhyme or reason.  A few houses ripped apart, then minor damage, then heavy damage again.  It was an interesting night for sure!
I love a good storm, and we've had more than our share this year.  It's probably been a week since the last one, so I'm ready for another!

And speaking of interesting skies, here's one from last night...

Check out the moon and how it highlights the clouds!  How cool is that?!  (Don't get all freaked out by the red triangle... that's a communications tower across the street!)  

So much to talk about with my plants!  Everything is growing like mad.  And I've been sending out plants, well mostly cuttings.  I really need to get rid of more of the giant australis ssp. australis.  I think I'll take a bunch of cuttings to the next cactus club meeting and sell them for $1/cutting, just to get rid of them.  

This morning, I put two of the plants together that Marco sent me last year.  I'm pretty sure they're both the same thing, though the name escapes me at the moment. (Edit: H. nervosa.)  They both looked so nice until winter, then lost most of their leaves.  Neither has started to grow, so I put them together and in the greenhouse in hopes that by disturbing the roots and some new soil, maybe it'll inspire it to either grow or die.  Do one or the other, dammit!

I've been working on this post for a few days now!  Let's see if I can get it published today...

Hoya chunii is finally growing.  I've had this one since 2014 and it's never done much for me.  It's send out a nice long new vine...

At first, I really wasn't sure if I liked this Hoya that much.  The leaves are kind of wavy/wrinkly - I wondered if it was bad growing, but I've come to the conclusion this is just the nature of the species.  It's grown on my, and I look forward to it blooming someday.

Then there's ilagiorum, which I got from Marco last year.  I wasn't sure it was going to make it through the winter, but it did and now it's growing:

Notice how nice and bronze the new foliage is!  I think this one is going to be a real beauty.

Ban Ngong Ngoy is blooming yet again:

 

It's leaves are so carnosa-like, I don't think I'd bother growing it if the flowers weren't so darn pretty, and it sure flowers a LOT easier for me than carnosa!

And just one more for now... I've grown H. revoluta for 7 freakin' years.  Got it as a cutting from David Liddle in 2010 and though it rooted, it has hardly grown at all.  I can't even remember the last time it got a new leaf!  I really kind of wonder why I've held on to it for so long, but I guess I'd have to say it's probably because it has bigish, rubbery leaves kind of like obovata and kerrii.  I have an affinity for the succulent Hoyas.  Anyway, AT LONG LAST....

 I guess this one has been a lesson in patience!  And now I'm off to work!