For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Hi everyone! Wow, it’s hard to believe that the last Wednesday Wanderings was a month ago already. That was also the first one and it was supposed to be weekly. Oh well, perhaps once a month is better for this one anyway. It is a beautiful sunny day with a temperature right now of about 20F (-7C) and that should increase to 23F (-5C) today. Feels quite spring like right now even if it isn’t above freezing yet. The next few days will see the temperature rise above freezing at least until Monday.
But it will be cloudy each day except for Friday. I was hoping for a walk to the river this week, but my back was not cooperating and then yesterday I hurt my right knee. So, a long walk like that is out of the question for now. Sigh. So instead I’m inside dusting my apartment, something it certainly needed. This place certainly gets dusty. Very dusty. Very quickly. And I do have a lot of stuff, so it takes time to get the place dusted, or cleaned, or whatever you want to call it.

My Tiger Tooth Aloe with flower bud.
At least I don’t have to do the main, basic cleaning like vacuuming and washing floors anymore. That helps a lot. Speaking of plants. Many of my plants seem to think it’s spring and they have begun growing. A lot. Especially my hoya plants. I have 4 different hoya plants, hoya carnosa, hoya pubicalyx, hoya Australis and hoya Australis tricolor. They are all growing plus they have begun sprouting new leaves on growth from last year. That part is really nice.

My Tiger Aloe with flower bud.
They had all that new growth last year, but without leaves. Kind of odd, I thought. But that is now changing which is nice. I got a cutting from a huge Kalanchoe plant in our lobby about a month ago. The owner of the plant was nice enough to give me a cutting, which was actually a little big. So I cut it down a bit and put the largest piece in a pot alone, then 3 medium size pieces in a pot together, then 3 small pieces in a pot together.

My medium cuttings of the Kalanchoe.
I figured that one of them should survive. All of them are doing great and growing nicely, which means they have rooted nicely as well. The biggest one took the longest to root and begin growing. My lipstick plant has been blooming again. The first time it had 4 flowers, this time it had 8 flowers. I hope it keeps doubling like that! I also bought some new plants on Monday when out shopping.

Some of the flowers on my Lipstick Plant.
They are small types that stay small, perfect for small spaces. They are called Echeveria, or more commonly called ‘wax plant.’ They are succulents and a type I have never grown before, so we shall see how I do with them. Two more of my aloe plants are getting flower buds. They are Tiger Aloe and are growing very nicely and two days ago I noticed these flower buds coming up.

Part of my indoor garden.
I hope they actually do bloom and don’t just die on me. My other aloe that has a flower bud, which I had been told was a Candelabra aloe, looks like it might actually be a Tiger Tooth Aloe instead. Sigh. Oh well, as long as it grows and thrives, that’s the main thing. Well, a lot about plants today and I could say more too, but I will leave it there for today. I hope you have a great day and God bless!
Steve. ©2026 Steve McLeod.