A New Tillandsia, Black Castor Bean Oil for the Hair, and Two New Banana Trees

 I picked up this gorgeous tillandsia in bloom this weekend. Is it possible to love a tillandsia more than life itself?

Trying black castor bean oil for hair growth: bought this bottle at Foodworks on Saturday.

Some of the pretty pansies in the Van Wilgens greenhouse this weekend.

We made a pretty decent organic fruit haul Saturday. Good papayas are hard to come by: this one looks yummy.

After my recent blog post praising the bonsai my mom shipped from Japan, a reader asked for a recent photo of it. Here it is yesterday after a deep feeding of iron.

What a wonderful weekend! I got to spend lots of time with my mom, and we, of course, visited one of our favorite greenhouses on the shoreline. I picked up a gorgeous tillandsia in bloom and a bag of Iron-ite for the bonsai.

Then, a run to Foodworks, my favorite health supplies store, for a bottle of black castor bean oil, a jar of neti salt, turmeric root, and two bottles of chlorella powder for morning smoothies. They were having a sale on cotton tees, so I picked up a very cool purple one with a silkscreen Buddha on front.

The next day it was warm and bright, so my husband and I worked outdoors, tearing up more of the deck, cleaning out the shed and getting it ready for gardening work, clearing the debris of winter, and mowing the lawn. As my husband mowed, I inhaled the scent of freshly cut grass. I planted Italian parsley seeds in our herb potager near the kitchen door. We both got a little sunburned, and I walked outdoors barefoot all the while. I was feeling high vibes in less than 30 minutes walking barefoot on the earth. Please go earthing if you haven’t.

I’ve heard good things about black castor seed oil as an Ayurveda hair and scalp treatment to encourage growth. I’m massaging about a half-teaspoon into my scalp at night, before bed. Massage for several minutes: a big part of follicle stimulation is bringing blood flow to the scalp. In the morning, I brush it through, and wash.

Today and tomorrow will be unusually warm, near 80 degrees both days. Lots of our indoor plants are spending these two days outdoors, where they’re sunbathing happily. Tomorrow night they’ll have to comeback indoors for a few more weeks.

THERE ARE FLOWER BUDS ON THE GARDENIA BONSAI. I don't dare say more. Gardenia are really sketchy, and I'm really superstitious. I'll keep you posted.

I ordered two more Basjoo banana trees. The one I bought last October is big and strappy: these two will have catching up to do. In a few weeks, they’ll all go outside to their permanent home in the front garden. Really hoping these banana trees not only grow a bunch this summer, but also survive winter. Positive thoughts.

Live in peace.