Weedy Garden

Big Day in the Backyard

2011-05-28T21:22:00.002-04:00

Well, today was the day- the downfall of the ficus. I've intended to take it down for awhile, as the roots are dangerous to my plumbing, septic and foundation. We began by cutting off some of the lower branches last year. And then we had an unusually cold winter. After that, the tree dropped all of its leaves, and has since been getting some leaves back in little tufts. But the tree was definitely not doing well.

So it was time for it to finally come down. Tommy, Mom and Jon came over to help take it down, and my boss even came to help load it into his trailer and take it over to his property to burn.

Unfortunately this video came out sideways...

But when it was all done, all we were left with was this stump...

We may cut it down further later on, or I may use it as is to mount bromeliads or something.

Many thanks to everyone, as it never would have gotten done without them. And thanks to my Dad for offering to bring his chainsaw down here this week to do it for me!

Everyone is tuckered out tonight. Even Zook has been sleeping all day, after having played with Katy for hours. And now a storm is moving in...

...and it's knocking mangoes off the tree.

So it's a nice stormy night after a hard day's work. There's nothing better than that!

Front Garden Bed

2010-11-07T21:58:00.001-05:00

When I bought my home, it had been abandoned for awhile, and was very overgrown and wild. Little by little, I am getting a foothold in it. Baby steps.

This was the front garden bed when I first saw the house.

It was edged in rotting railroad ties. We've trimmed up some of the things and done some weeding, but little else.

So today, with our beautiful weather we've had the last couple of days, we decided that it was time to tackle this area. We weeded, dug up the rotting wood, cut up what I think was Brazilian Pepper growing in the front bed, etc.

While digging around in the front bed, I found five of these curved cement edgers had been buried upside down in the ground. Not in any understandable pattern. I don't know what the deal was with that. They were buried all the way to the "tops" (upside-down. They were really the bottoms.)

After that was done, we put edging bricks down and filled the beds with mulch.

Additionally Woodrow built me a patio to hold my trash cans. He wants to do a little more work on it, since the second half added today slopes a little.

One nice surprise today: I discovered a papaya tree behind my shed...

Unfortunately I also found that mother-in-law's tongue is taking over my well head. I need to get this cleaned up ASAP. Next project.

But for now we are very pleased with the results on the front bed. Unfortunately I am absolutely EXHAUSTED and every muscle in my body hurts! So I won't be doing any more yard work this week!

Reverting Back to Weediness

2010-08-01T21:39:00.004-04:00

My Weedy Garden has been reverting back to its former self. I've been in my house for nearly two years now (how is that possible?!), and I still didn't own a weed eater. A family friend has come over a number of times over the last year+ to weed eat for me, keeping the yard under control. However he has had a lot going on, so I have insisted for awhile now that he not come over and help me out. So, in the meantime, the yard has become overgrown.

So I finally went out this weekend and bought myself a weed eater. I actually bought a cheap one a few months ago, but returned it after using it once. The thing wouldn't even keep running, and had no power.

This one, however, is full of power! Today I worked on the area behind the shed. I started with this...
...and ended with this...
Much better! That weed eater (a Tanaka brand) had no trouble chomping through weeds as thick as my pinkie.

That area behind the shed is a bit troublesome. I've mentioned in the past that the previous owners laid carpet remnants on the ground back there. Ugh! I think the weeds love the carpeting! One of my future projects is to pull up all of that carpeting, and then cover that back area with shell or gravel of some sort. That should be much easier to take care of!

Hallelujah for my new weed eater! It's been a long time coming. If you are looking for a good weedeater, I would happily recommend a Tanaka brand weed eater. It's affordable, powerful, and has a 7 year residential warranty. I'm gonna wear this thing out!

Garden Update: May 2010

2010-05-21T20:11:00.005-04:00

Current garden status:

For the first time since I've lived here, my magnolia is in bloom!

The trees by my lanai are in bloom as well. Now that I have these blooms to help me identify them, I think that I am now comfortable identifying these as Shady Lady olive trees.

The lubbers are infesting the yard-- both big and small lubbers.

So far they haven't been destroying my vegetable plants, but they have been eating the sheffelera. That's alright by me.

My gardenia is in bloom now...

I do nothing to this thing, but it seems to love it's location. I fear it won't do so well after we cut down the ficus, which currently provides it with shade.

The rubber vine is in full bloom right now.

I love this shot that Woodrow got of the rubber vine.
Pretty!

More veggies and other updates

2010-05-09T08:57:00.008-04:00

I decided that for Mother's Day I would give my mother a potted okra. She likes okra, and like me has been growing a few veggies.

I am now growing an assortment of herbs, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and melons.

I also noticed the other day that one of my Plumeria (Frangipan) seems to have died.

Perhaps it took a bad hit from a lawn mower or weedeater. I was told by a nursery person that these are especially sensitive to damage caused by weedeaters and bumps from mowers.

I also bought a plant at an arts and crafts show Saturday. I don't know what it's called, but it looks like a colorful version of a Hens and Chicks succulent.

I thought that it might be pretty in front of the house, where I have no hose to water potted plants.

Not bad!

Unfortunately I uncovered a carpenter ant nest when I moved a pot yesterday. Well, unfortunate for me. The lizards were all very excited! They all came running when they saw what was going on! I had three of them vying for the buffet. I learned that the adults ants must have a fierce bite, so they are avoided by the lizards. The lizards seemed to be concentrating mostly on the winged ants, and occasionally an egg.

Grody! But I found both the ant and lizard behavior fascinating!

Dueling Lizards

2010-05-04T21:50:00.004-04:00

This morning I went out to check my garden and see what needed watering. As I walked over to check the new veggies, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and heard a *thunk* on the deck. Startled, I turned to look and saw two lizards on the deck, one on its back and the other one had a hold of it by the throat. I watched for a minute or two, and other than occasionally clawing at one another, they didn't move. I wanted to get video of the match, but I feared that the minute I turned my back they would depart, and I wouldn't know where they went or what happened next. I sprayed the hose in their direction, and it barely fazed them. So I decided to risk running for my camera, and sure enough as soon as I turned my back and stepped away, they broke apart. However there was no need for concern-- they weren't going anywhere. I ran and got my camera, and got a few shots of the lizards...

Then I watched in fascination as they kept at it, maneuvering around one another, looking for the tactical advantage. Then they started sparring again.

And again...

Did you see the way that he flipped the other one right off the strawberry pot?! Awesome move! I could watch that over and over!

It was very interesting to watch! The "thought" that would go into their maneuvering around, looking for the advantage, was really fascinating. I'll be looking for these big boys in the future!

Planting a small vegetable garden

2010-05-02T21:43:00.006-04:00

Today we spent a couple of hours working in pretty searing intolerable heat in order to prep part of my giant raised bed for plants. I plan on ripping this bed apart and create 2-4 small square beds in its place, or a couple of long, narrow beds. But it will be awhile before I can do that. So for now I decided to prep a portion of it for a small vegetable garden.

Katy was there to supervise our work.

We moved a bunch of the dirt out of a 10x3 foot area, and mixed in potting soil, compost and top soil. Then I planted the poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, green pepper, cucumber, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe and two eggplant.

Plus the other day I potted an herb bucket and in another bucket I put a Rome tomato plant with sweet basil.

But looky here! I was surprised to discover a bloom on the old pepper plant from last summer! This has been totally neglected, unwatered and in a weed-filled pot, yet there it is!

Yes, I weeded it now that I see how hard it is trying to survive. And I still have a couple of strawberry plants popping up...

And my mango tree, despite the freezes we had this winter, is trying to put out a small harvest as well. So far I've spotted two mangoes...

Also the other morning I was out in the yard when I noticed that my mahogany have lost their leaves (which they seem to do this time of year). Then I noticed this...

I haven't figured out what the heck that is! It's webbing full of leaves, forming a basket. I don't know whether that was purposeful or what. But I did see some lovely new little leaves coming in on the mahogany...

My jasmine is in full bloom, and I love the smell drifting around the lanai.

I still don't know what these two trees are that are in front of my lanai, but I like the look of them, even if they are too close to the lanai. They kinda look like Shady Lady olive trees, but I've never seen any fruit on them.

So it was a day of hard work, and I should sleep well tonight! We'll see how the vegetables and fruit do. It's getting hot out there. I hope that I can get them through the heat and keep them well-watered!

Garden Update: April 2010

2010-04-25T23:27:00.009-04:00

Jeez! Has it really been 9 months since I posted here?! How is that possible? Well, the unruly garden is still unruly. We did some work in it today.

I've decided that the large ficus needs to come down, after a lot of debate and asking others for their opinions as well. The consensus is that the roots are a liability and will likely undermine the foundation. So Tommy started cutting off the ficus branches. Now is a good time to take it down, as the hard winter freezes caused it to lose at least half of its leaves.

Mom and I did a lot of weed-pulling, filling up a large 65 gallon can. Mom also lopped off some palm fronds, which got hauled out to the road.

One thing that has been going on in the yard is lubbers. I know. I always have lubbers. Only this time, it is baby lubbers. I first spotted them nearly a month ago, when I found about 30 of them around my swing and deck in the backyard.

Then a week or so later, I spotted a second nest in the...yucca?...located near my front door.

That's a lot of lubbers in my yard this summer! When Mom and I were pulling weeds today, we kept coming across lubbers scattered around the yard. I don't like to kill anything, and I also don't like to use chemicals around my place. So I decided to capture as many as I could and I'll release them in on a vacant lot on my way to work tomorrow. So I started collecting them in a jar. It was pretty tough, because as you let one in you would often find another would jump OUT of the jar! But in the end, I wound up with a jar of five lubbers!

So tomorrow morning a vacant lot will have five more lubbers, and my yard will have five fewer. I'll keep doing this, slowly getting down the lubber population without harming them or polluting the environment with pesticides.

The yard has TONS more work to be done, but at least I am beginning to get a vision. Things that I previously loved and refused to remove I am now planning on taking out. I want a yard that is low maintenance, and low water requirements. I'm considering doing some bromeliads for this very reason, like the ones that they have out at the bromeliad and orchid center.

Beautiful!

The mango has surprised me by blooming. We'll see whether it comes to fruition and I get any edible mangoes out of it.

I noticed the other day that something is eating up my loquat. Maybe the lubber babies? Today I bought a tomato plant and some herbs to start with. Next weekend I hope to plant some veggies in the garden bed.

I spotted Black Ivy (my black snake) recently, so she is still around and survived the winter. I also spotted a raccoon a few weeks back. Doh! I hope that doesn't become a problem.

Stay tuned! More to come!

Go Speed Racer!

2009-07-23T21:59:00.004-04:00

There's a reason they call them Black "Racers".

She was so quick, I lost her. But then I spotted her about 8 feet away peeking over the "in need of mowing" backyard grass.

(I'll upload the other video when Blogger isn't acting up. I've tried twice now for about 45 minutes, and have yet to get it uploaded.)

She likes to hang out around my deck, and today I was out watering my potted plants when I turned around and spotted her moving right past me, within a foot of my foot. She really startled me, and I stepped backwards, bumped the rake, which proceeded to fall right at the snake (we'll call her Myrtle), and fell within inches of her. She spun around and I think may have striked at the rake handle, but it happened so fast I'm not sure whether or not she actually tried to strike. But then she continued on into the shade bed next the walkway next to the deck. I ran in and got my camera, and went looking for her. I found her at the far end of the lanai, where I got my video. Then she headed back towards the shed where I think she lives.

Critters in the Garden

2009-06-18T23:33:00.005-04:00

I went out to water the potted plants the other day, and wound up scaring up a lubber (a giant grasshopper).

It tormented Shotsie.

I've had a rash of these things around my yard over the last month.

I've also seen the black snake around the screen door a few times now. Last time I saw it go under the bench on the deck. I got my camera and just got a couple of shots of it's tail.

The snake is about 2- 2 1/2 feet long. I love my black snake. Did I ever post the photos that Woodrow got of him/her behind the shed?

Top 10 Bulbs for Florida

2009-06-10T21:16:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of the top ten bulbs for our Florida environment, as outlined in Sunset's Florida Top 10 Garden Guide.

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum)

Blackberry Lily, Leopard Flower (Belamcanda chinensis)

Blood Lily (Scadoxus multiflorus katherinae)

Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium)

Daylily (Hemerocallis)-- not for zone 25, where I live

Elephant's Ear (Alocasia,Colocasia and Xanthosoma)

Fancy-leafed Caladium (Caladium bicolor)

Lily-of-the-Nile (Agapanthus)

Louisiana Iris (Iris)-- not for zone 25, where I live

Peruvian Daffodil (Hymenocallis narcissiflora)

I Won!

2009-05-21T19:50:00.015-04:00

I won the giveaway for heirloom seeds, which I blogged about earlier this month! I received the seed stash today, and can I just say WOW! Look at this haul:

Now just because I don't think that you can really appreciate from that image just how many packets there are, here they are.

There's pumpkin and eggplant and flowers...

...various kinds of peppers and some peas...

...okra, corn and tomato...

...all kinds of lettuce, including one called "Drunken Woman"...

...and tons of beans.

Is that an awesome haul, or what? I can't wait to try my hand at growing some of these puppies come fall/spring. Maybe I can try some beans this summer.

Thanks again to Tina of the Victory Garden!

Top 10 Annuals For Florida

2009-05-20T23:42:00.004-04:00

Since I live in South Florida, I have a particular interest in which plants are well-suited to this special sub-tropic environment. Here is a list of the top 10 annuals for Florida, as outlined by Sunset's Florida Top 10 Garden Guide.

Calendula, Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis)
Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides)
Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana)
Marigold (Tagetes)
Moss Rose, Portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora)
Pansy (Viola)
Pentas (Pentas lanceolata)
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
Torenia, Wishbone Flower (Torenia fournieri)
Verbena (Verbena)

Win Free Heirloom Seeds

2009-05-09T23:21:00.001-04:00

Go to The Victory Gardener for your chance to win a bunch of heirloom seeds. Enter for your chance to win a variety of at least 20 different types of seeds from My Victory Garden etsy shop. Lettuce, beans, tomatoes, flowers-- all sorts of heirloom seeds. The giveaway runs through May 16th.

Ball Fresh Preserving Kit Giveaway

2009-04-22T15:54:00.002-04:00

You know all of those mangoes that I have currently ripening on my tree? And those limes, berries, passion fruit, loquats, and all sorts of veggies that I hope to have in the future? What am I going to do with all of them?

Well THIS is what I've been wanting! I used to preserve when I was married, but I haven't done it since. I got rid of my canner and supplies when I lived in my condo, as I just didn't have room to store it.

So here I am now with a garden, and no way to preserve my harvests. I need this! I want this!

Head over to the giveaway if you need one, too!

Garden Update

2009-03-29T10:27:00.008-04:00

First a few before and after shots:

Behind shed BEFORE

Behind shed AFTER

Side yard BEFORE

Side yard AFTER

Raised bed BEFORE

Raised bed AFTER

Southwest corner BEFORE

Southwest corner AFTER

Front yard BEFORE

Front yard AFTER

So we are slowly making progress.

While cleaning up the Bird of Paradise in the southwest corner, I turned up this bloom.

I also uncovered this scat on the deadpile currently in front of my shed.

You know, I'm always fascinated with animal scat, and trying to determine what left it behind. Since I have a privacy fence out back, I have to wonder what's getting in my yard at night, and possibly lives in my yard under the shed.

This swing is a new addition to the yard.

It was given to me by Mom's neighbor. We have it in a shady spot that faces the west, so we can sit out here and watch the sunset.

And Woodrow bought me a wheelbarrow for the yard work.

He got sick of hauling stuff out to the road for me using the little dinky cart that was given to me by my mother. :)

I also discovered these supports that were installed on the fence to support the bougainvilleas that grow against the fenceline.

My passion vine is blooming like crazy. Every day it throws up a new bloom.

And it is supporting a new Gulf Frittilary caterpillar that is growing like gangbusters.

I swear every couple of days I go out to find it substantially bigger than a few days before.

My mango continues to grow:

However the mango tree has dropped a lot of it's smaller fruit. But it does have a lot of new blooms and small fruits coming in. So I'm hoping that the fruit loss is normal.

The tomatoes look good. One is almost ready to harvest, and there is one other small one coming in.

However my eggplant is infested with aphids..

...and some have spread to the pepper plant.

My jasmine is beginning to bloom. Yeah!

And I'm trying to figure out the deal with the cauliflower. This cauliflower was planted a few months ago from a tray of cauliflower bought at Lowe's. Both the cauliflower on the left and right came from the same batch, had the same soil and by all appearances the same conditions. They sit right next to one another.

Yet one is obviously thriving while the other isn't. All I can figure is that the one on the left gets slightly less sun than the one on the right, and it likes it.

You see this guy?

This guy LOVES to chatter and sing! He actually seems to seek out people. He will land near me overhead, and sing like crazy, and sometimes mimic the whistles of me and Woodrow. I think that this might be the same guy who sings up a storm in the middle of the night. Woodrow often hears him between midnight and 2 AM. I even got audio of him recently, but the file is too large for Photobucket, so I have to find a different way to post.

The greatest miracle of all? I finally discovered the Guava tree!

The notes for the house mentioned a guava, but I could never find it. I finally discovered it, hidden away behind the wild bougainvillea next to the shed.

Now I just have to figure out how to move that bougie, so I can free the guava from its grasp!

So that's where we stand at this point. TONS of work to do yet, but it is slowly coming together.

Surprise!

2009-03-29T10:20:00.003-04:00

I was checking out the new sprouts coming in on my Plumeria the other day.

I leaned in to get a better look at the single leaf that has made an appearance...

...and then glanced left at the Plumeria tips next to my face. Surprise!

To give you a little perspective on the size of the body on this thing, those branches are about 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick.

I hate surprises like that!

I've Made History

2009-03-22T11:20:00.003-04:00

Well, I've made history in my house at least. Yesterday I mowed my first lawn. Actually I didn't even do the whole lawn. I just did a few strips of it.

My mother's friend gave me his old lawn mower. It is about 19 years old, and still running fine. He takes good care of his equipment. So yesterday he brought it over, showed me how to start it and how to use it. He did most of the lawn (I told him he didn't need to-- my boyfriend was going to do it), but he had me do a few strips to get the hang of it.

I've always told people that I've never mowed a lawn in my life. I don't know whether that is a big deal everywhere or not, but it is pretty unusual down here in Florida, where in the rainy season you have to mow about three times per week. However I had a brother and mother who mowed when I was growing up (I was the baby and got away with murder), and as an adult I've always lived in apartments.

So I made history yesterday. I mowed for the first time!

Garden Resident

2009-03-22T00:57:00.005-04:00

A couple of months ago, I spotted a black snake in my backyard. He quickly disappeared before I could get a picture of him, and I hoped he would come back.

Well, the other day Woodrow went out behind the shed for some reason, and there he was...

Such a good-looking guy...

Woodrow says that after a minute the snake disappeared under the shed. So I'm thinking that may be its home. Yeah! I'm so happy. I do so love snakes!

My only problem is, I have a corner of screening in my porch that is loose. So I worry about a snake coming into the porch, and getting my lovebird Odie. Need to get that fixed soon!

Edibles Update

2009-03-15T23:26:00.004-04:00

A brief update on my edibles. My mangoes continue to grow.

02-16-09

02-23-09

02-28-09

03-06-09

03-12-09

03-15-09

And there's a lot more of them coming in...

I have yellow peppers.

I have a tomato nearing ripeness...

...and a bunch of tomato blooms.

The other day I spotted an eggplant bloom about to open...

...and today found this.

I counted 18 passion flowers the other day about to open on my passion vine.

And I have this tiny little squash plant that has 8 blooms coming in on it.

I was hoping to finish up with the raised garden bed this weekend, but didn't get to it. Oh well. Maybe next weekend.

Hibsicus in Bloom

2009-03-15T23:19:00.003-04:00

I recently planted my hibiscus shrub, and the other day I spotted a bloom about to open.

Today I found this.

Pretty, huh? Another landmark. First I planted my first plant in my yard. Now my first planted shrub has bloomed.

That's one big caterpillar!

2009-03-15T23:17:00.002-04:00

I went out to water my plants the other day, and found this guy by my hose.

I don't know what kind of caterpillar that is, but it sure is big!

Bad Ant

2009-03-15T23:14:00.003-04:00

See this?

This is a bad ant.

At least as far as I'm concerned. I seem to be allergic or "sensitive" to these ants. One bite can become a swollen black lump the size of a half-dollar and with a red bulls-eye in the center. And it hurts like the devil when it bites! I still don't know what it is. I call them "oak ants", because they are commonly found under oak trees. This one was by my lanai. Beware!

ohthepollybillities Giveaway on GreenEarthJourney

2009-03-06T08:32:00.005-05:00

There is a very cute bird feeder being given away on GreenEarthJourney. Ohthepollybilities has lots of other cute items that would look great in my garden, including teapots turned into birdhouses. Check them out!

Visitors

2009-03-06T01:00:00.003-05:00

Who's that?

It's hard to make it out, but that would be a cardinal.

He flitted around the feeders, looking for some leftover seed. After a few minutes, he flew off to the mahogany, and I realized that he had a mate waiting for him in the tree. I hope he and his mate come by regularly. Hmmmm. What do you have to do in order to entice cardinals to nest in your yard?

Speaking of nesting, I spotted this girl the other day.

She had a beak full of nesting material, but I couldn't get her comfortable enough to show me where she was building her nest.

Saturday Brief Update

2009-02-28T22:57:00.006-05:00

I got a shot of this garden helper.

I'm not sure yet what he is, but I see them on my mango all of the time. I always like seeing them, as I believe that they are working hard getting the bad guys and keeping my mango healthy and happy.

Unfortunately I have not been able to spot my Gulf Fritillary caterpillar for a couple of days. I'm concerned that a bird may have gotten him. But I did spot this little guy.

Looks like a new GF on the passion vine. I need to move the passion vine to a more sheltered location, to try to give this little guy a better chance at survival.

I have a number of flowers about to bloom on the passion flower vine.

My loquat is showing signs of freeze damage from our last freeze.

I think it'll be okay, though.

I spotted one of the lizard eggs from a couple of months ago. It seems maybe a lizard actually hatched from it.

The other three are still intact.

I found these seeds on my deck the other day. I don't know what they are from.

That's a quick update for today. No time in the garden today, aside from watering the potted plants.

Sunflowers (plural)

2009-02-26T22:32:00.002-05:00

Two sunflowers now, standing tall under the ficus.

A bee came by to visit them today, while I was visiting with them. We had a little tea party. The bee brought the honey.

My First Harvest

2009-02-26T22:27:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is: My first real harvest.

Three little patio tomatoes. I haven't eaten them yet, as they still need a couple of days to ripen. But they appear in good condition.

Woo hoo! I'm a gardener!

Charlotte's Web

2009-02-26T21:35:00.003-05:00

After I got home from work, Woodrow was showing me what he'd done out in the garden today (more cleaning up behind the shed and weed-pulling). Then he was looking in the shade garden at the dragon plant, and he saw this...

What's that?

A nest of spiders! Now THAT'S what I need to see, having arachnophobia as I do. Knowing that all of those spiders are growing up to be BIG spiders, and in my yard! But I need to hope that they are of benefit to my yard, and they stay well-hidden and out of sight of me in the future.

Garden Progress

2009-02-24T07:35:00.004-05:00

Aside from working behind the shed, as I mentioned earlier, we've gotten some other work done in the garden.

I finally planted the hibiscus that I got on clearance for $5.

This is monumental, because it is the first thing that I have planted in my garden, and it is one of the only things that I have ever planted in my life.

Woodrow also helped me by pruning the dead debris from the banana trees and the freeze-damaged chenille plant.

We got most of the raised garden bed cleared out.

Just as a reminder, this is what it looked like when I moved in.

I also split the cauliflower between two pots.

It's probably still way too many cauliflower in a pot, but I will probably transplant some into the garden bed once it's ready.

My mangoes are still growing.

To give some perspective, this was the same mango a week before.

My sweet yellow pepper has bloomed.

It appears that my eggplant is about to bloom.

My tomatoes are beginning to turn red.

The lemon still has tons of beautiful blooms waiting to open, and lots of fruit ripening.

The blackberry bush still has fruit growing and ripening.

So the gardening goes on...

Secret Place

2009-02-23T22:26:00.005-05:00

Since I bought this house, there has been a spot behind the shed that has remained something of a mystery. Sunday Woodrow and I spent some time working on this area, and I got my first close-up view of some of the areas. A few of the discoveries made:

What I thought were concrete stones under all of the dead grass back here turned out to be old carpeting.
There is indeed an outdoor sink back here...

...and it has hoses connected to it.

Now what's really weird is that one of these hoses disappears under the carpet on the ground, and seems buried or embedded in the ground.

I tried to pull it out, and it didn't want to budge. We will have to lift up the carpet and see what it going on there. It seems that there is supposed to be a water supply to the sink, but it is not currently working.

However I also spotted this in the sink:

Insulated Submersible Pump Cable. Hmmmm. I wonder if they could have installed a well pump back here to provide water to the sink? We need to lift up all of this carpet and see what's going on. Then I can make a concrete patio back here in it's place.
There is a big slab of faux marble.

You know-- like the stuff used to make windowsills in houses?
The most interesting area is this work area.

What exactly is this for? What is that table for, that has the wooden rods? What is the little overhang for?
Also I finally got to see the wooden bin up close, and found that it is a compost bin.

I found that the bin is already full of junk, and it is not the "right stuff". It needs to be emptied out.
And, last but not least, I finally found my pipes!

As I've driven around my neighborhood, I have noticed that everyone seems to have these white pipes located at the back corner of their property. I've been going crazy wondering where MY pipes are! Well I finally found them. I still don't know what they are for, but at least I know WHERE they are!

So this is the first pile of debris hauled out from behind the shed.

There is still a LOT of work to do back there, but at least we've made some headway.

Blackberries

2009-02-23T21:27:00.003-05:00

Tonight I harvested some more ripe blackberries from the new bush. I got 6 little berries off of it. I added them to some store-bought blackberries and vanilla yogurt for a healthy dessert. Can you tell the difference between my blackberries and the store-bought ones?

These are the store-bought berries...

...and these are mine.

Talk about David and Goliath.

Birds in the Garden

2009-02-23T21:12:00.002-05:00

Everyday this bird sits out on the wire and sings and sings.

It chatters non-stop. I look forward to its visits these days.

The other day I spotted this dove on the fence, with nesting material it its beak.

I sneaked into the lanai with my camera and watched, in hopes that it would show me where it was building its nest. Alas, no such luck. It sneaked off on me, and I am still unaware of where the nest is secluded.

You know that sleepy feeling you get after eating a big meal?

2009-02-23T21:02:00.002-05:00

The Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar that is living on my Passion Flower vine has been eating up a storm. However this morning when I found him on the vine, he seemed to be taking a break from eating. I guess even a caterpillar gets full.

Storm Wise Planting

2009-02-22T20:54:00.007-05:00

First let me mention that I wrote an article about Florida Friendly Yards on my Freedom Gardening blog. It is about the nine principles to having an environmentally friendly yard.

One of the things that is currently occupying my thoughts are a few trees that are in my yard that are not "storm wise". Storm Wise trees have a reputation for being able to withstand winds, as we can often encounter in Florida. I have several trees that are known for blowing over in winds.

My biggest concern is my ficus (Ficus benjamina) aka "Weeping Fig".

It is said about this tree:

One of the most damaging trees in southern Florida. Dense canopies act like sails in high winds and pull the large trees over, exposing large root balls and doing extensive damage to sidewalks, roads, fences, structures and utilities. Invasive exotic.

I love the look of this tree, but it has an extensive root structure, and many of the roots are close to the surface and not deep.

This means that they can stretch out 15 or 20 feet and break any foundations or concrete slabs that they meet, or can create a tripping hazard. Add to that the fact that the dense canopy makes it a wind hazard, the heavy maintenance requiring continual pruning to control it's growth, and the caterpillars that love the ficus and then proceed to make cocoons all over the side of my home.

I hate to lose the shade that the ficus lends the lanai, and the birds LOVE the ficus, but I am thinking that maybe it needs to go. I am considering cutting down the ficus and leaving a stump a couple of feet tall. Perhaps attaching a saucer to the top of it as a bird feeder or bird bath, and maybe attaching bromeliads to it or something. Then I could plant a different tree near the stump, which in a few years could lend the same shade to the porch that the ficus currently does.

Another concern is what I think might be Shady Lady Olive trees.

I don't know whether or not these are Shady Lady, and if so I don't know whether or not they are like Black Olives. Black Olives often break apart in moderate to high winds. So do I leave them up, or take them down?

Then there are the two Mahogany trees. I think that one definitely needs to come down, as it appears unhealthy and is too close to the shed.

The other one I haven't decided on yet.

It isn't currently causing any trouble. But it is located close to my large mango.

I don't have a large yard and worry about making it too shady to grow too many other plants. Plus it is not known for being very wind-resistant.

I have other trees that aren't very wind-resistant. My mango and loquat are both sensitive to wind damage. Some other trees that are on the "concern" list for wind-resistance:

Australian Pine
Yellow Tabebuia
Norfolk Island Pine
Black Olive
Queen Palm
Carrotwood
Royal Poinciana
Silk Oak
Java Plum
Hong Kong Orchid
Jacaranda
Earleaf Acacia
Eucalyptus
Javanese Bishopwood
Washington Fan Palm

Now for some good choices for trees known to have medium to high wind resistance:

Paurotis Palm
Florida Thatch Palm
Coconut Palm
Cypress
Live Oak
Gumbo Limbo
Sea Grape
Strangler Fig
Cocoplum
Mastic
Cabbage Palm
Dahoon Holly
Pond Apple
Black Ironwood
Stoppers spp.
Buttonwood
Red Bay
Royal Palm
Jamaican Caper
Paradise Tree
Wild Tamarind
Fiddlewood
Geiger Tree
Wax Myrtle

There's a good book called Stormscaping that can help you determine what you want to do if you are hoping to "stormscape" your yard.

I have lots of thinking to do...

Blackberries

2009-02-20T11:37:00.003-05:00

Last night I picked the 8 fresh blackberries off of the blackberry bush that I bought last weekend.

Oh they were good!

Please, please, please don't let me kill this bush! I want more blackberries!

Mason Bee Hive Giveaway

2009-02-20T11:06:00.001-05:00

There is a great little giveaway for gardeners going on over at GreenEarthJourney. They are giving away a Mason Bee Hive from Andrew's Reclaimed.

Awesome! I want my garden filled with bee hives and butterfly and toad homes and bat houses. Check it out!

Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

2009-02-18T19:38:00.003-05:00

I was out this morning watering my plants, and I spotted this caterpillar on my new Passion Flower vine.

After some research, I found that this seems to be a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar, and it only feeds on the Passion Flower. It will eventually turn into a lovely butterfly.

So we'll see how this goes. I want a natural garden, and hope to draw in butterflies. I am just hopeful that the population does boom out of control, and destroy my new Passion Flower. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, welcome to the garden, little guy!

Progress Report

2009-02-15T22:15:00.006-05:00

Tonight my project, aside from weeding the area in front of the raised bed, was potting some of the plants that I've gotten in the last couple of days.

I got a couple of strawberry plants today. They are two different kinds, so that I can see which one seems to work better. One already has a bunch of berries on it.

I've never had luck with strawberries before, so we'll see how it goes.

I potted the Meyer Lemon (seen with the strawberries)...

...and the Guava (seen with my Bird of Paradise, that doesn't have a place in my yard yet).

I potted Lemon Thyme with my Eggplant.

The pepper appears about ready to bloom.

I put Basil with my tomato.

My little mangoes continue to grow. This is the largest one that I found.

I noticed that my orange tree is looking pretty peaked.

I wonder whether it is the cold weather (I think I left it out during the last cold snap), or if it just needs a good fertilization?

I didn't get to the other stuff (like the Passion Flower and Raspberry, nor get the cauliflower split up into two pots). Next time.

Progress on Raised Bed

2009-02-15T22:06:00.004-05:00

Woodrow helped me out in the yard today, and concentrated his efforts on the raised bed.

This is where I left off with the raised bed last time...

...and this is what it was looking like tonight after Woodrow weeded, but before he raked up a lot of the dry grass...

Much better! We'll have veggies growing in there before you know it! I think next I will be taking up the top inch or two of soil in the bed, laying down cardboard, and topping that with soil and compost.

Mango Update

2009-02-15T09:54:00.002-05:00

I was checking on the mango tree this morning, and I saw lots of evidence of helpful little spiders helping to keep it clean of pests for me.

I also saw lots of evidence of new blooms coming into areas that previously didn't have any blooms.

There are lots of little mangoes growing.

My question is this: How the heck will I harvest the mangoes that are growing way up there?!

My Little Stick

2009-02-15T09:42:00.005-05:00

Let me introduce you to my little shteek.

What's with this little stick, and why would I keep it next to my porch door?

It's for clearing my path in the mornings, to make sure that I don't accidentally walk through an unseen spider's web! Very important around here!

My New Babies

2009-02-14T21:53:00.014-05:00

Well I was finally able to attend the annual Caloosa Rare Fruit Tree sale that I've been looking forward to for months. There were lots of trees there to choose from, with the largest selection being from ECHO. I bought a Passion Flower from them. Below are my new plant additions:

Passion Flower:

Meyer Lemon, which is already laden with small fruits and a lovely bloom:

Black Raspberry (I forget the type, but it is a tropical version that doesn't need cold weather like others). It came with some raspberries already on it, and some blooms:

Guava:

Aloe:

Datil Pepper:

Lemon Thyme, Clover and Rosemary:

Grand Total: $104

This had to be "meant to be". I pulled out my cash, was short, asked Woodrow if he had any cash, and he had $11. I added that to my cash, and was still a few bucks short. Then I found a few more dollars, counted it up, and it was $104 even. It was destiny!

So now I have to figure out what to plant where, and what to leave in pots.

Some other things that happened today:

I've been watching these "weeds" that have been growing under my ficus for a couple of weeks now, wondering exactly what they were. I was amazed at how quickly they grew. Well today I think that I figured out what they are. Sunflower volunteers!

The bird feeder is right above here, and it looks like perhaps the birds missed a couple of seeds. I'm excited to have sunflowers growing!

My tomatoes still look good:

The bougainvillea that I was loving is no longer booming with blooms, but now the one by the shed is.

I've been noticing some webbing on some of my mango leaves, and some of the leaves are chewed up. So when I went to the fruit tree sale today, I took a couple of leaves in a bag. I gave it to a girl that works at ECHO and asked her if she knew what it was. Just as I was handing it to her, I spotted a large spider running through the bag.

"Whoa!", I said, "There's a big spider in there." "Yeah,that's probably what's making the webs on the leaves. That's actually a good thing!"

Yeah. Right. I know that spiders are very useful in the garden, and I love to have them do their thing in secrecy and out-of-sight. However, having arachnophobia, I do NOT want to see them running through a bag I'm holding and knowing that they were on a leaf that I cut from my tree!

When we got home, we let the spider go out by the mango tree.

We hope that he kills many nasty bugs for us.

So it was a really nice day. I finally got some of the trees that I've been wanting, I discovered that I have sunflowers growing, and I learned that I don't have a bad infestation of caterpillars or something on my mango, but just a camouflaged spider that will keep me on my toes now whenever I'm around the mango!

Tons of Little Mangoness

2009-02-06T14:55:00.003-05:00

I checked on my mango blooms after the recent freezes, concerned that I would lose my first crop of mangoes, and this is what I spotted:

Upon closer inspection, I saw many, many more:

That's little tiny mangoes, baby! They are still hanging in there, despite all of the cold. I may wind up with some mangoes after all! Then I just have to hope that they are a good batch, and don't taste like turpentine...

Frigid Florida

2009-02-05T07:52:00.006-05:00

Well, it's another chilly Florida morning. At 7:30 AM it was about 35 degrees outside. I don't know how cold it got here last night, but seems most of the area was getting down to 27-32 degrees, and the orange groves are in jeopardy. I think that my orange tree is okay.

I brought in my other potted plants and vegetables last night.

Some are already freeze-bitten or haggard from the cold wind. They'll be staying in today and tonight, as there is another freeze warning tonight. The wind chill is 5-10 degrees cooler than the outside temp, thanks to the 20 mph winds, so it really feels like it is 25-30 degrees outside. We won't even make it out of the 50s today.

However the weather rebounds for this weekend, and we'll be 70 degrees again by Saturday. That may be a good day to go kayaking! The cold weather has the manatee huddling together down at the power plant, so as it warms this weekend they will be venturing out into the river to feed. Good day to see them up close and have them interact with you. Last year we had one come right up to our kayak and hang out for probably 20 minutes while it laid on its back and "licked" the bottom of the boat. Must have been some mineral build up or something that it liked. We got to scratch its nose while it snacked on our canoe and snorted water on us. Fun!

One World-One Heart Update

2009-02-02T13:25:00.002-05:00

I have decided to throw my hat in the ring with the OWOH Giveaway. See my other blog for more info.

Quick Update

2009-02-02T13:02:00.004-05:00

Well it is the beginning of February, and I have been in my place for almost four months now. I haven't had any time in the yard lately, and we've been dealing with really cold weather down here, so there is some frost damage to deal with. At least a lot of the weeds got zapped by the cold!

But I did want to do a quick update of how things look. The container veggies are still going well. Tomatoes are developing and eggplant is getting large. Cauliflower still need to be divided and repotted into a few more pots (too many of them in one pot).

I'm not sure, but the Sweet Yellow Pepper looks like it could have a couple of little flower buds coming on.

The pic is really blurry, but there are two little buds in the center there that may be flower buds coming in!

The seedlings are doing well. The Bibb and Romaine Lettuce and Carrots are looking good. It'll be interesting seeing if I can transplant Carrots into a pot. I think I may try to grow the lettuce in a bag of potting soil, and see how that goes-- just lay the bag down, slice it open, and plant the lettuce transplants.

Likewise the Chives, Leeks and Cilantro are going well. I have the same concerns for the Leeks as I do for the Carrots. I don't know how they will handle tranplanting.

One of my Green Beans and my Rosemary have finally sprouted. Still nothing from the other green bean. I am about to start three more green beans.

I'm wondering what this little thing on my poinsettia is? It almost looks like a flower bud coming in. Do poinsettia actually flower? I've only seen the leaves color up like flowers, but have never seen actual flowers on them.

Also I have a single rangy rose bush next to my deck, and periodically it surprises me with a sudden bloom.

Very fragrant blooms it has!

So that is my quick little update. We'll see whether I have time this weekend to do any gardening.

One World-One Heart Giveaway

2009-01-31T01:03:00.003-05:00

I just happened upon a huge worldwide (blog-wide) "giveaway/get-together" that is going on. I came into this totally unprepared and with too little time to join in on the giveaway part, but I hope to join in next year. Evidently the OWOH movement is in its third year of life, and was started by Lisa, the gypsy caravan leader.

If you would like to learn more, either to be included in the blogs that are giving away prizes (by tonight's count there are over 750 blogs involved), or if you want to enter to win prizes or start exploring blogs from all over the world (most of the blogs were very artsy and creative in nature, but now I'm seeing a lot of gardening and herbal blogs joining in), click the OWOH emblem above. Join in on the fun! It's like an addiction!

If you wish to host a giveaway of your own, you have until February 3rd to sign on. If I can unpack anything worth contributing, I may sign up myself!

Rare Florida Freeze

2009-01-27T21:06:00.006-05:00

Well, while I was out of town on business, Florida got hit with a rare freeze-- the likes of which I haven't seen for many years. It got down to the upper 20s in Orlando where I was on business. When we went to leave about 6:30 AM to go to our show, there was ice on the windshield that had to be scraped off.

I'm not sure how cold it got at my place, but I think this area got around freezing. I worried what I would come home to. I knew about the cold weather ahead of time, so I brought in my potted plants before I left. So my veggies came through okay. I was really lucky. I only have one plant that I've found that could turn out to be totally destroyed by the freeze. That's my Chenille Plant:

A tour around my yard found a couple of other plants that seem damaged or stressed. For some reason, the Areca Palm behind the shed seems to have been hit pretty hard, but all my other Arecas are fine:

Also one of my banana trees seems to have been hit pretty hard:

And the other tree seems stressed, as does the (Draecaena?) next to it:

My ferns seem pretty stressed, but I think they'll survive...

...and likewise the Bird of Paradise looks a little stressed, but I think it will be okay:

On the positive side, my Poinsettia continues to bloom.

I'm excited about this! I've never before gotten a poinsettia to bloom again. Now I just need to trim it down and see how it does next year.

Also the bougainvillea by the shed has finally started to really throw some blooms.

It has been a little slower to bloom than the one out in the sun.

The Cape Jasmine is still hanging onto that bud, and won't let it bloom.

My tomato plant keeps going.

I think it's got about five tomatoes on it now.

My mango blooms keep going, too...

...and my eggplant and yellow pepper.

I have a flower coming in on my White Bird of Paradise:

The cauliflower are getting big, too, and need to be split up among more pots.

So I got pretty lucky with the freeze. A lot of people lost a lot of good plants. However I play a sort of "survival of the fittest" type of game in my yard. I refuse to spend too much time protecting and maintaining everything.

Dealing With Problem Raccoons

2009-01-19T08:31:00.003-05:00

Are you having a problem with raccoons getting into your garbage? Tearing up your lawn? Take a look at my suggestions on dealing with problem raccoons, which I've posted on my other website Freedom Gardening.

Progress Report

2009-01-11T22:55:00.005-05:00

Well, I spent a couple of hours Saturday working on the weeds. I decided to concentrate on the area between the shed and the screened lanai.

While I worked, I had a little bird spend time with me.

You can see in the picture that he is essentially "laying down" on the wire relaxing. He took a short "nap" up there, and I even watched him yawn and stretch as he finished. Then he flew over to my deck bench and flitted down to my potted tomato and beds in search of lizards and bugs.

Afterwards he flew back to his spot on the wire and spent a little more time with me.

I spent about two hours pulling weeds, and had some success in improving the yard.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

I ended with six piles of weeds...

...that filled a full yard bag (the other one is from my last weeding venture).

Some of the weeds were really hard to pull. This one in particular has a really deep tap root.

When it is allowed to grow bigger, it is impossible to pull and must be dug out with a shovel.

I also came across this caterpillar in the weeds.

Don't know what kind it is.

Also my seedlings continue sprouting.

My leeks, mystery seedling (found in packaged potting soil), and cilantro are all doing well...

...as are the Bibb and Romaine lettuces and carrots...

The chives are sprouting, but the green beans and rosemary are still a "no show".

That's my progress for this week. Slow and steady wins the race.

Florida Arbor Day

2009-01-07T12:37:00.001-05:00

Florida celebrates Arbor Day the third Friday of January. This year we will be celebrating it on January 16th. We all know of the national Arbor Day that occurs later in the year, but Florida trees need to be protected from the heat during establishment. Therefore Florida celebrates Arbor Day in January, taking advantage of the cooler temps.

Arbor Day reminds us of the importance of trees in our environment. Trees are very important in helping to reduce air pollution, conserve energy, regulate climate and beautify.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide (we've all heard the problems with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and greenhouse gases), and in turn release oxygen into the atmosphere.

They are also very important in regulating rainfall and climate.

So why not do your part and plant a tree or shrub on Florida Arbor Day or Arbor Day weekend? When planting take into consideration:

The eventual size of the tree or shrub. Be careful of planting too close to cement or the home or other trees if it will grow to be a large tree.
The location: Will it get too much sun or too little? Will it be a large shade tree? If so, be sure to place it where you hope to someday have shade. If it is a shade tree, are there other trees nearby that may suffer in coming years under its shade?
Water requirements: Try to go native, or at least plant a tree or shrub that will be drought-resistant. If it needs watering, make sure to plant it near an available water source. Don't plant it in the front yard if there is no hose to water it with!
Root aggressiveness: Be wary of root aggressive trees like ficus benjamina, weeping willow, bamboo and Cypress. They can damage concrete, foundations and septic systems. I found a pretty good article from New York about planting around septic systems. Trees with aggressive roots should be carefully placed.
Deciduous vs. Evergreen: If you are planting a deciduous tree, you may want to plant it around evergreens, to give it more attractive appeal in winter.
Invasive vs. Non-invasive: Avoid planting invasive trees or shrubs, which are harmful to the local environment and native species. Seek out natives or non-invasive species to complement your yard.

If you are, like many of us, working on Arbor Friday, please don't let that stop you. Arbor Day continues through the weekend. Get planning and get planting!

Triumphs and Tribulations

2009-01-04T17:51:00.010-05:00

I decided to take an inventory of what has or is going well in my garden, and what is problematic:

TRIUMPH: I have succeeded in luring in birds to my garden. I have shrikes, grackles, doves and a woodpecker (seen in the bottom picture, third branch up on the right). I'm not sure what the bird is below. It doesn't appear to be the shrike that regularly visits now.

TRIUMPH: I saw my first snake in the yard today. I would like to have a black snake or some sort of garden snake around here to help control the spiders and bugs.

TRIBULATION: I got a splinter under my nail while gardening, and it will probably be there for awhile. There's no way to get it out.

TRIUMPH: I took another glance behind the shed today (which is pictured in the header of this blog), and found that at some point in the last month the wind got strong enough to knock over the work table back there.

That's not what's the "triumph". What's good about that is that it allowed me to get a better view of the area back there. I found out that there appears to be a sink or washtub back there, although I can't be certain whether it is connected to water. I can see a hose in the image as well, and it almost seems it may be connected to the tub?

Also I could see that there is a wooden "bin" built on to the side of the shed, I think. I thought I saw something like that the other day, when looking at the side of the shed from the front. (That's difficult to see, as there is a huge bougainvillea and banana trees blocking access to the right side of the shed.) So I don't know whether there may be anything in that "bin".

Then I also noticed that there is a ladder hooked onto the back of the shed.

Good to know!

TRIUMPH: I may have finally found an ant bait that works on the ghost ants that have overtaken the house!

I've tried numerous baits, and haven't gotten them to take any of them. They seem to like this one!

TRIUMPH: I finally have a shovel and a rake. The rake is awesome!

TRIBULATION: Anytime that I rake the pile of leaves by the deck, I have a bunch of what look to be roaches that go scampering for cover. It freaks me out everytime!

TRIUMPH: I'm excited to see that so far the seeds I'm trying to start are hanging in there. I'm hoping that I found a good spot for them, and the sprouts will get enough light, but it will be cool enough to prevent them from drying out quickly.

TRIUMPH: The weeding is slowly coming along.

TRIUMPH: My hibiscus is looking a little better today after I repotted it. I potted it the other day in the Timberline soil, and it began to wilt and lost the bud that was preparing to bloom. Today it has started to firm up again after I repotted it yesterday in Jungle Growth soil.

TRIUMPH: My bougainvillea continues to get more and more gorgeous.

TRIUMPH: The Angel's Trumpet has gorgeous blooms, despite the fact that it has hardly any leaves. I guess it puts all of its energy into its blooms.

TRIBULATION: My strawberry plant has never thrived, but has merely "survived". It's probably a year or more old at this point.

TRIUMPH: My orange tree continues to grow. I can't believe I've kept it alive in a pot for all of these years. I historically haven't been real successful with plants, because they dry out so quickly, so this one beat the odds. (Since I've lived in the house, I've been much more successful with the potted plants, since I have a hose now.)

TRIUMPH: My tomato plant is doing well, and the fruit is continuing to grow.

TRIBULATION: My aloe is pitiful. I don't know why. Maybe because it's rootbound? Or because it gets too little water? It's a very bland yellow instead of green.

TRIBULATION: My ficus seedling is not doing well. Perhaps I should have gotten some rooting powder before trying to transplant it from the ground to a pot? Or perhaps the shock of having initially planted it into heavy soil instead of starter mix?

TRIUMPH: My poinsettia actually bloomed a little this year! Now in 2009 I'm going to prune it back in hopes that it will really bloom late in 2009.

TRIBULATION: The no-seeums are terrible in my yard right now! I get eaten up everytime I go out to work in the yard.

TRIUMPH: I found my violet, which has been missing since I bought it days ago, and it was still alive. It was in a plastic bag on the table with some other items.

Those are my "Triumphs and Tribulations" for this week. We'll see whether I can turn around some of those "tribulations".

A Day In the Yard

2009-01-03T20:38:00.009-05:00

Well, I got quite a bit done in the yard today, although most people who saw it wouldn't know it.

First I potted and repotted some of the plants. I potted the cauliflower...

...and a yellow pepper plant.

I bought this plant because it was so large and had big leaves. It was the biggest specimen of them all. And then one of the cats (Shotsie, I'm sure) chewed up the leaves while the plant waited on the lanai to be planted.

And I repotted the tomato plant that was potted in some horrible soil the other day. (Do NOT buy the Timberline potting soil at Lowe's. Users on the forum suggested I try Jungle Growth brand instead, and they were absolutely right-- that is a great soil!)

The tomato plant came with two small fruit already on it, and now there is another.

I swear that the Eggplant has also grown in the two days that I've had it. This is after I potted it a couple of days ago...

..and this is today.

I also checked on my other little red pepper plant, which was so horribly neglected during the move and has mostly died. This plant has been around for about a year now. I spotted a tiny little pepper trying to form on it...

I am also trying to grow a pineapple plant. We'll see how it turns out, and whether it rebounds. It took me awhile to figure out what I was doing with it, and I could never get roots started in it, so I just planted it.

I've heard others have planted a pineapple top directly into soil and succeeded in getting it to root, so we'll see how it goes.

I also have this pitiful little strawberry plant which has never successfully done anything-- including growing. It has stayed tiny. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It says to keep it moist, but maybe I'm keeping it too moist?

My Patio Orange Tree is still doing very well. I can't wait until it decides to flower. I think that it is probably 3 or 4 years old now.

I also repotted my hibiscus that I just potted the other day using that horrible potting soil. It has really wilted since I potted it the other day.

I hope that it rebounds now that I repotted it with Jungle Growth potting soil.

I also repotted my ficus seedling that I dug out from under the ficus tree. It had really wilted after potting it the other day, and I determined that this may be due to the heavy soil. So today I repotted it with a starter mix. We'll see whether or not it rebounds.

However if it doesn't rebound, I may have another one. I'm not sure whether this one is a ficus too, but I spotted it today growing in a pot of snake plants on the deck.

I also got a splinter under the nail today.

I haven't been able to get it out yet. It's still there. It'll probably have to come out on its own.

I also moved my seedlings to the front foyer, since they seemed too exposed outside and I don't have a good sunny window in the house.

I'm trying to start carrots, leeks, bush beans, bibb lettuce, romaine lettuce, cilantro, rosemary, and chives. We'll see whether or not I succeed in starting them and raising them to the point when they can be potted. It's so hard to keep them watered, they dry out so quickly.

But that's not all I did today! I also did a lot of weeding. I weeded the bed around the mahogany in front of the shed.

BEFORE

AFTER

This pile of weeds is just from that little square:

I didn't even know that there were ferns in that bed until I accidentally started pulling them up with the weeds.

Also while pulling weeds from this bed, I looked down in my hand to find a tree that I had pulled out.

I don't know what it is, so I potted it to give it a chance to reveal itself to me, so that I can determine whether or not to keep it. Who knows. Maybe I'll find out that it's just a really big weed (as big around as my index finger).

I pulled lots of weeds from the grass, too. I would reach in and pull out two handfuls of weeds from one small area. I have areas like this throughout my yard.

Unfortunately by pulling out the weeds, I'm pulling out the only green in the yard, and sometimes leaving behind dirt instead, since the weeds are about the only green in the lawn!

Then I started on the hibiscus bed, which started out like this...

...and ended today like this.

By the time I finished today with weeding, I had a large yard bag full of weeds.

Oh, and in case anyone has noticed the branches piled up, I thought that I would explain that I am storing up some of the larger wood for a "dead pile" back behind the shed.

I wanted to create a dead pile to give a home to frogs and lizards and snakes and such. Unfortunately I don't have any really big wood to put in the pile-- just some larger branches.

While out today, I also got a couple more pictures of my blooms.

The bougainvillea by the fence continue to get prettier and prettier.

The boug by the shed is much bigger and fuller than the other two, but it also doesn't have the blooms of the other two.

The Angel's Trumpet continues to let loose with a barrage of blooms.

I can only imagine what it might do with some attention. Right now it is so leggy and pitiful.

And the mango continues to get big blooms.

So it was a pretty productive day in the yard, but there is still LOTS to do!

Before and After

2009-01-01T11:30:00.009-05:00

Well, I did get a little work done the other day. My Weedy Garden is actually a little less weedy today. I decided the other afternoon to spend some time on one of the beds. Here's a before shot...

...and an after shot.

Much better! I pulled about half of a large yard trash bag worth of weeds. Of course, they are likely to just come back again. I wonder if my Weedy Garden will never be NOT weedy. And what will I call it if it isn't?

Woodrow and I have also worked to get the debris pile down. Initially it was much worse than even this...

...but we have since gotten it down even further, since creating my compost bin.

What really freaks me out is that when I rake up the leaves and move a pile, I uncover up to a dozen or more "bugs" (look like roaches) that quickly all scamper for cover. I really have to get over my bug fears (or I need to get a lot more lizards and frogs and birds around here to get the numbers down)!

Here's the compost bin, as of this morning.

The raised bed is looking slightly better than when I first moved in...

...but there's still a long way to go.

I'm not the only one who has done work on the garden. My Mom and Tommy have done a tremendous amount. Remember that HUGE ficus?

Tommy got a hold of it, and turned it into a real tree.

And I have also put up a couple of bird feeders and this little inexpensive birdbath that will have to suffice for the time being.

So I have been working on the jungle little-by-little...

Blooms this week

2008-12-31T23:57:00.005-05:00

I have a few more blooms this week than last week, although I'm still waiting on the Crape Jasmine to bloom.

My poor Angel's Trumpet has now bloomed.

That poor thing needs some fertilizer. It has been neglected far too long.

My snake plants are blooming. I didn't even know that those things bloom!

And the Moringa and Mango are still blooming, and the Bougainvillea look gorgeous!

New Plants

2008-12-31T22:18:00.007-05:00

Well, I've been eager to grow some veggies, and worried that I had missed the season for starting from seed (something I've never done with veggies and wanted to try). So today I decided to buy some plants at Lowe's instead of starting from seed. Plus I don't have any beds ready (everything is still weedy), so I have to grow in containers for the time being.

First I planted a Patio Tomato plant, which already has a couple of fruit and a number of blooms.

Then I planted an Eggplant.

I also bought cauliflower, but didn't have enough soil to plant it yet.

I did start some seeds, too, even though I'm not sure if it might be too late in the season. I have carrots, lettuce, leeks, cilantro, and rosemary. The beans are soaking tonight to be planted tomorrow. I don't know how any of them will do, since I've never tried growing from seed before.

I also potted a small seedling that had sprouted in the bag of potting soil that I bought at Lowe's. I was curious to see what became of it-- whether it is a weed or something else.

I already have a patio orange tree that I have had for a few years now. It has been growing on my condo balcony until now. Since moving here, I have repotted it in a larger pot.

I also potted a ficus seedling that sprang up under my ficus tree. The ficus is left front. Behind it is a little hibiscus that I bought as I was moving in here, and it was neglected for awhile. One branch of it appears to have died, but the other one has come back with some attention, and now has a flower bud on it.

We'll see how these things do, and hopefully I won't commit mass murder. Keep your fingers crossed!

Composting 101

2008-12-30T20:39:00.004-05:00

Since embarking on taming my garden, I decided that I would have need of a compost bin of some sort. Money is tight right now due to the new home purchase, and the back corner where I plan on putting a compost bin eventually is currently inaccessible. So I considered my options before settling on a compost bin design that is both inexpensive, easy to assemble and movable.

It is made from plastic hardware cloth staple-gunned to wooden stakes. I lined it with cardboard for further stability, and filled it with yard debris and kitchen scraps.

After studying up on composting, I tried to limit the amount of woody material. It is mostly ficus and olive tree leaves and palm fronds, plus all of the fruit and veggie scraps and coffee left over from Christmas.

I hope to have lots of beautiful compost in the not-to-distant future for use in this crazy garden!

Mystery Plants Identified

2008-12-27T07:15:00.001-05:00

After moving in to my place, I was encountered with a number of unidentified plants. I posted the plants on the FL GardenWeb, and with their help I was able to identify the plants. This is what we've come up with so far (some are definite, and some aren't):

The forum confirmed that this is a Surinam Cherry. It is supposed to be edible, but too sour for most adults.

Everyone has voted on this one being Crape Myrtle, which I know is supposed to be somewhere in this yard (when I moved in to the house, I found some gardening notes in a book that explained how to care for some of the plants, and it mentioned Crape Myrtle).

This one has been identified as Clerodendrum or "Starburst". I'm not a fan of it, but I haven't seen it in bloom yet, and it is supposed to have remarkable blooms. The one in this photo is practically dead at this point from lack of water, but there are two more over by the shed doing just fine (I wants plants that can do well on little water, so I am purposefully not watering the plants too much. Obviously the sunny location that this one is in is not a good one if it dies within a couple weeks without water.)

The consensus on this one is that it is some sort of gardenia. Again I have seen no blooms yet, so I can't confirm this. But the leaves do look like a gardenia, and the home gardening notes did mention a gardenia plant.

I have a couple of these trees by the lanai, and someone has suggested that they are Shady Lady olive trees. I haven't seen any fruit yet to help identify them, but I am thinking that they are right about their assessment.

This little beauty grows across the shed, and has been identified as Rubber Vine.

This one has been identified as a Crape Jasmine, and I think that someone said that it is also known as a Florida Gardenia.

This one I'm really concerned about, as it appears to be a live oak planted right next to my fence and home, so will likely have to be cut down.

This is one of my favorite plants in the yard, and someone has suggested that it may be Rojo Congo. Since cleaning up the area behind the deck bench a little to get a little more light back there, this guy has really grown up over the last couple of months (this photo was taken a couple of months ago).

This guy was finally identified by someone as a Moringa or Drumstick Tree. It is a great "famine" tree, as every part of it is edible. I like the flowers.

Someone identified this as a Little Gem Magnolia. Again I have seen no blooms yet to help in the confirmation.

This guy is still a mystery. It was a huge shrub when I bought the home in October.

Within weeks it seemed to be taken down by some pest, as I saw the leaves quickly disappear, but now I see new leaves sprouting all over it.

Many thanks to all who helped identify my mysteries!

Purchases

2008-12-27T00:11:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't have time to work in the yard today, but I did buy a shovel and a rake. Those were two things that I really needed. I also got a few plants on clearance for 50% off: A gorgeous hibiscus, a hybrid lily, a plumbago, and something that I can't remember the name of right now, but it looks like some sort of houseplant. For the time being, they'll join the other potted hibiscus, snowbush, oriental orchid tree, poinsettia, bougainvillea and bird-of-paradise that await new spots in the yard.

Blooms

2008-12-26T00:15:00.002-05:00

Not much is going on in my yard right now, but I do have a few things blooming or nearing bloom.

My Moringa is in bloom. Woodrow likes the contrast in the photos of the white flowers against the darkening sky:

Also all of the bougainvillea are in bloom. This one has some great potential, I think. It's pretty rangy right now, but I think with some trimming and training, it can be a really nice specimen along the back fence.

My favorite view right now is of the Moringa with the bougie in the background.

And then there is my mango tree, which I am very excited to see blooming.

Having just moved to this home, I've never dealt with a blooming mango tree before! I'm very excited to see what becomes of it, whether I get a bunch of mangoes come summer, and if so whether they will be delicious!

The Cape Jasmine is just about to bloom, which is nice to see since a few weeks ago it was really yellowing from drought.

My poor little Angel's Trumpet is making a valiant effort, and getting set to let loose with a barrage of blooms.

And the Chenille Plant is always blooming with furry tendrils.

Also my purple basil that I have in a pot by the screen door is in bloom.

And there are always weeds in bloom around here. Does that count? :)

We'll see how it looks in a few months after I can get some fertilizing and pruning done.

Little By Little

2008-12-25T22:31:00.003-05:00

Well, Woodrow and I found a few moments to work on the yard a little yesterday, before company came over for Christmas.

We finally created a compost bin, using inexpensive wooden stakes, hardware cloth and a staple gun and lined with cardboard. It may not be the prettiest thing, but it should do the job, and it is "portable", which is important. I don't know where I may want to relocate it in the future.

I've already filled it with some debris from the yard work that we've done since I moved in, and I've been collecting kitchen scraps from the preparation of Christmas dinner (we did a Mexican-themed Christmas this year).

Woodrow and I also cleaned up some of the debris piled up in the yard. Some of it went into the compost, but a lot of the pile consists of tree branches and other woody material to fibrous to go into the compost bin. So we piled that debris onto a tarp and dragged it around to the front of the house for horticulture pickup. Now I have to get a shovel, so that we can get up the last of the leaves in the debris pile.

Speaking of the tarp: Last Sunday I decided to use a tarp to help get debris around to the street for pickup, and remembered having seen one on a shelf in the shed, apparently left behind by the last tenant. I pulled it out of the shed and tossed it onto the lawn. A little while later, I decided to open up the tarp to check for creepy crawlies (I get a little freaked out over just about all bugs, but am trying to get over it). When I tossed it open, I found what looked like little white balls. Upon closer inspection I realized that I was looking at eggs-- lizard eggs presumably. After a thorough accounting of the eggs in front of me, I found that I had three broken eggs and four unbroken eggs.

I felt bad about having disturbed the eggs and that some had been broken in the process. So I decided to try to place them in a new sheltered nest site, so they will at least have a chance.

We'll see what happens with them, if anything.

Lots more work to do!

An Introduction to My Weedy Garden

2008-12-23T18:00:00.005-05:00

Hello, from deep within the weeds! My name is Heather, and I recently purchased my first house. This house came with a very overgrown and neglected yard, and it is now my job to try and tame this unruly mess that I call home! Let me take you on a quick tour of what I found when I first met with the realtor to view the home...

First I was greeted by a slightly overgrown front lawn and front bed, with arboricola going rangy:

Out back I found weedy beds surrounding the deck...

To the right side out back I found a really weedy area, but once I looked closer I realized that it was an overgrown raised bed...

There was a HUGE overgrown ficus that hung all the way to the ground...

A shed stood with an unbelievable bouganvillea next to it (I have since found that the bougie is still sitting in a pot, and is not even in the ground)...

Behind the shed there is an unbelievably overgrown gardening area...

So that is what I am dealing with. This blog will cover the transformation of my garden, from weeds to my own little eden. Come join me in the Weedy Garden and lend a hand!