The Tortoise Table

Hello again from Michigan!

Hope you are doing well. My tortoise garden is growing like crazy so it's already time to weed again. Any idea what this little guy is? What I assume are seeds look almost like a money plant/honesty (Lunaria annua) on a smaller scale.

Wow, how things have changed, eh?

Thanks for the product info; that fridge looks great. We usually call them "mini-fridges" here. Sometimes kids will get them for their college dorm room. Our wine cooler stays at a stable temperature very well. It's still relatively new and is kept indoors (not the garage though). We only ...

I'm sure they're loving the nap time! What kind of cooler do you keep them in? I had trouble finding one here that goes lower than 46 °F (7.7 °C); it's an 8-bottle wine cooler.

I love the Campanula takesimana; it's very pretty! Yes, the primrose reseeds very well here too! Doris and Dolly look very happy with their Campanula.

Steve finally woke up from hibernation. He just got a red and green lettuce treat!

Hi Nina :) Right now, our indoor tort table has only the coconut coir so adding a layer of dirt underneath might not be a bad idea. We do have some Campanula native to the area: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CAMPA One of the more popular species is the Campanulastrum americanum (appare...

You'll be happy to learn that many beautiful flowers can grow in the tortoise garden! :D I have planted bellflower (Campanula spp.) and mallow (Malva spp.) as Lin has suggested. I've also found both sun- and shade-lovely Geraniums in lovely purples and blues. Asters come in many shapes and colors, a...

Nice enclosure photos!! I'm a bit jealous! ;) What kind of substrate do you have in there? We do have a spider plant hanging over the wall. It seems to be doing well, even trying to establish new roots in the substrate, but Stevie doesn't seem very interested in nibbling on it. I could break it up a...

Hi all and hope your holidays were positively wonderful!! :D My indoor Campanula is not faring well so I plan to plant it back outside in the spring. In its place, I hope to add more tortoise-safe plants for little Steve's enclosure. So far, I'm thinking Coleus and Viola should do better with less l...

Haha, awesome! Many thanks! I swear it's grown a little...!

Thanks for the tip on the horticultural fleece, Nina! :) Hubby says a lot of people here use burlap. We just threw some mulch around it, per the suggestions from peeps on Tortoise Forum. We'll see how our winter goes; they've been very unpredictable in Michigan lately. [attachment=0]Seasons-greeting...

Many thanks, Nina! And yes, I do like a good gardening challenge now and then. ;) I figured it wasn't good tortoise food, but was interested in trying to revive the little guy for the heck of it. Since it was my coworker's, I'm never seen the flowers on it. Thank you for narrowing it down to perhaps...

Hello, hope all is well! I recently brought an orchid home from work since it wasn't doing well. I would never consider my house the "plant hospital," but I do know a few general tips. I've heard it helps growth to place indoor plants together, so I've been keeping this tiny little guy nex...

My husband was able to remember the origin of this plant -- it's a banana plant! Hopefully a cold-hardy variety; we did not mulch very much around it so we're hoping it survives the winter. Hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday season so far!!

Neat! No idea how this ended up in my backyard, since it definitely will not survive our Michigan winter... :lol: Thank you again for another quick and informative ID!! I was thinking of potting it and taking it to my desk at work. I'm kind of curious to see what it turns into and how it blooms, esp...

My husband and I put down a bunch of Michigan-natives in our backyard this past August. But we don't remember putting this little dude in the ground (this is on the other side of our yard from the tortoise enclosure). He just happened to appear around the same time. We're not sure if a seed came off...

Thank you both for the lovely responses! :) I was surprised that the little guy was so distraught with little sunshine; I thought the Sansevieria didn't mind low light levels. But he did almost die so I guess every species is different. He does kind of look like the bird's nest variety. The cylindri...

Hello again, friends! Is there anyway to tell the genus/species of this plant? I inherited it from my old job, when someone left the poor thing behind when moving cubicles. It did poorly in the office without sunshine, so I brought it home, re-potted it and placed it near the window, and it's much h...

Many thanks, Nina!

Yes, yes! Tis me and my little Stevie in his knitted stegosaurus Halloween costume! :lol: We are back and loving the new Tortoise Table!! Here is another little guy still in the ground, with the four yellow petals. So yet another Brassica, you say? No surprise here... Thank you, thank you!! I'll ema...

This one has turned up in a small area of my outdoor tortoise enclosure, and before I could stop my Russian tortoise, he took a small bite. The worst part was that I was already out weeding just then! :x I assume it's fine; it's likely something from the mustard family, but I wanted to make sure sin...