The Secret 'Lab' in the Lair Café

-------------Originally posted from “When Emily Goes Out”--------------

The "Mom" of my air layered quince

Cherry blossom - lab's success story

Maintaining the café lovingly always comes with a few heartbreaks. I have experienced loss of some of my beloved plants through various reasons, ranging from climate extremes, neglect, lack of info on how to provide proper care. A few years ago, I was delighted to be able to propagate my quince through air layering. among the three air layered, it looks like only one survived. 

(；´ﾟДﾟ)ゞ

Looking at my old photos I realized that I have probably performed plenty of experiments in the café/garden. Some were successful - survived, some perished eventually.  I have read from gardeners' forums that all seasoned gardeners have experienced the death of established plants under their care. I mourn the loss of my plant babies and eventually move on, hoping to learn from my journey and pray for more luck.

One of my early experiments, that perished...

With all the losses and few victories in my gardening journey, I came to realize that the café conceals a laboratory, where my experimentations are being done to ensure my plants' survival. The lab is not an intimidating place, it's a space where my hope for my plants' healing manifests. Two of the success stories from the lab that I can share - the cherry plant that I bought online, with the lab's help, it survived the transport shock. The lavender (photo Below) that was left out during autumn and winter, it survived freezing temperatures and heavy rain. The main goal of the "lab" for now is to hardened my Japanese Maple seedlings before placing them in their own pot, to avoid sharing the same fate of this unfortunate fella

(photo above), 

 while this gentleman in the photo below ensures the safety of my plant babies from pesky squirrels.  

My "lab" in the café

The future goal, I would love to have my dear Princess get involved in the lab/ garden / café, I wish that all of her beautiful memories from the café would inspire her to be a creative and smart lady.

The survivor