STATE OF THE GARDEN: 1/19/13

Well, I've been doing a lot of work in the garden-- at least compared to the usual-- and I'm finally making some headway.

I'm slowly getting the bougainvillea cut down. I did a batch of it last weekend, and another batch this weekend. I'm hopeful maybe I can get most of the rest next weekend. I started on the really thick branches today, and filled the 65 gallon bin again.

This was it when I started last weekend...

...and this is where I stood after today.

I had sprouts left over from my seed experiments, and I hated to throw them away (I hadn't thought beforehand about what I was going to do with any resulting sprouts). So I stuck 2 of the bean sprouts on the sides of this windowbox...

...and I planted 4 bean seeds and 4 pea seeds in the front and back. Three of the pea seeds have just begun to peek above the surface.

 I also cleaned out one of the deck planters and put 14 sprouts in there, along with 2 pepper plants and a tomato plant.

In the back left, I put 3 Big Red Ripper Pea sprouts (I'll thin to two)...

...and 3 Garden Bean sprouts in the back center...

...and 4 Royal Burgundy Bean sprouts in the right-back corner (which I'll also thin to two).

And I stuck 4 Brandywine Tomato sprouts around my tomato cage, and was actually surprised to see them sprout up as they did (since they hadn't yet actually "sprouted", and I wasn't sure whether the old seeds were still any good).

My jalapeno plant has two little peppers started, and a couple more blooms...

My sweet bell pepper plant seems to have a couple of blooms coming in as well...

I also have a Better Bush tomato plant in this planter, and it had two tomatoes started on it when I got it, and now I see a bloom or two on it.

I also have two pots of herbs, and the top one also has an heirloom yellow cherry tomato plant, and I noticed today that it has a couple of blooms coming in.

I also have a strawberry pot, a papaya tree (I need to get a couple more to plant along the fence), and a passion vine that is loaded with buds.

My first passion flower just bloomed...

It smells so good! Very sweet, almost like grapes, and I can smell it from a couple of feet away. I can't wait until it has more blooms!

And my strawberry has a couple of blooms.

I also finally repotted my poor pineapple. I started this thing probably 4 years ago or more, but it has become stunted. I figure it is probably due mostly to it being in too small of a pot, and a lack of water. So I repotted it today, and gave it a good dousing. Look at the two pots compared!

We'll see how it does now that it has room to grow, a good drink, and a nice spot in the sun.

My one banana tree that was cut down a few months ago continues to grow, but the other three of them remain small. We'll see what happens with them.

My grapevine continues to hang in there. We'll see what happens with it.

My backyard came with what used to be a shade garden before I cut down the ficus, and I've considered getting rid of these snake plants...

But I'll tell ya... these things have been in bloom lately, and boy do they smell good! Sort of like jasmine.

Now I'm second guessing whether to pull them.

I also noticed the other day that I have some blooms on the mango. And those blooms have now changed over to tiny little fruits.

And I also trimmed the mango the other day (I know it isn't the right time of year for it), so I could walk under it. It was hanging too low over the deck, and it was getting impossible to mow under.

My goal this year is to take better care of my garden, and to fertilize my plants. I want to see what happens with the mango and loquat after some fertilization.

After I finish taking down this one bougainvillea, I need to work on the other one that has been taken over by the mango.

I'm trying to decide whether I am going to completely take them down, or if I will try to keep and manage them. I hate the thought of trying to manage those thorny things!

So I'm making some progress, and I'll work on it some more next weekend. But I'm done for today!

A Day In the Yard

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!