17 Year Old Shamrock

It's almost St. Patrick's Day and I gave my Shamrocks (Oxalis) a little plant food with their water so they look extra nice for the holiday. I have a windowsill full of Shamrocks, six plants. They are a favorite of mine because they are so hardy and forgiving if you forget to water them for a bit.

Then I got to thinking. Aaron got me my first Shamrock plant when I was living in an apartment right out of graduate school. And I still have that Shamrock... it's the one pictured above. I found the blog post from March 2001. This Shamrock is 17 years old!

I'm so pleased I kept something alive for 17 years!

Valentine Hoya

Aaron got me this little heart plant at Wegmans. The back says if you care for it, more little hearts will grow off of it.

They are sometimes called Sweet-Heart, Lucky Heart or Valentine Hoya but it's real name is "hoya kerrii". It's a climbing plant that can grow up to 13 feet high and even gets a bloom of tiny flowers.

I think it is a cute little plant as is, but I feel challenged to see if I can get it to grow into 12 feet tall.

Mystery Plant

My boss has this giant monster plant growing in his yard and none of us knowwhat it is. He thought at first it was lambs ear 'cause it had soft leaves but it has grown like crazy and is now two feet taller than it is in the picture!

Anyone out there have any ideas?

UPDATE: It appears that it is a Common Mullein aka Wooly Mullein. Actually it has lots of names. Here is sounds pleasant... here it sounds like a menace!