STATE OF THE GARDEN: 1/28/13

I continue to deal with the bougainvillea that have taken over my fence, and are pulling it over with their weight. Since I worked on the other one for a couple of weeks and got it down to a quarter of its previous size, I decided to start on the one over by the mango.

Only the half free of the mango is in bloom. The rest hidden under the mango looks dead, but most is very much alive.

This bougie is growing into the mango.

While working on it, I discovered a bird nest from last season.

I mostly filled my 65-gallon horticulture bin with bougie debris, and removed perhaps a quarter of the plant.

It's a start. After that I cleaned out the bed over by the shed where I planted the grapevine, and put down some mulch. I started with dirt and weeds, as well as the rubber vine that grew from behind the shed and rooted down into the bed uninvited...

And my poor pitiful crape myrtle, which was also being taken over by the rubber vine. (Note that I believe the crape myrtle goes dormant in winter, and therefore looks dead right now. Usually it gets leaves and flowers in spring. It only has a few leaves right now. However I don't know whether it should be this bare. So we'll see whether or not it "springs" back.)

You'll also notice that all around the crape myrtle is this weed that grows in a carpet...

It's amazing that as you go to grab a handful, you find it is growing by runners, and a whole strip will come up...

And before you know it, you discover something like this cement pad is growing beneath it...

When I was done, this is what the bed looked like.

And this was my pile of debris (I have to be careful to not cut down more than the garbage guys will pick up. Last time we did a large amount of work, we had to bribe the garbage guy with $20 and load the debris into the truck ourselves to avoid paying hundreds to the claw truck for pickup.)

I also came across leeches in/on my bag of mulch. It was the first time I've ever seen leeches, other than in horror movies. They are creepy!

Otherwise this is what is going on around the yard:

My bean and pea seedlings continue to grow, but I had this one little guy that was slow to make an appearance.

But once they appear, they sprout up so fast. This was the next morning...

My yellow cherry tomato is growing like gangbusters right now, and more flowers are coming in.

My jalapeno pepper is growing, and a few flowers, but the plant isn't growing that much yet.

Same with the Better Bush tomato. The plant hasn't really grown, hasn't really flowered, and the two tomatoes on it haven't shown any obvious increase in size. Yet the Brandywine tomatoes that I sprouted from seed are growing around the outside of the cage.

The passion vine is loaded with new blooms every day, and still smells like grape juice!

I had put columbine flower seeds in this decorative vase. I keep checking for some sign of it doing something.

Now the other day I spotted a couple sprigs of green popping up. Trouble is, I can't know that they are columbine flowers. They could be weeds! Only time will tell.

My grapevine is doing well so far.

It's beginning to twine around the trellis.

These pictures were taken before I laid down mulch, and I swear that the vine looks to be a deeper green today, after the mulch and a good watering. Or maybe it is just the contrast of seeing it against the dark mulch that makes it look darker.

I also have a prickly pear cactus that was stuck against the back fence behind the shed, and I noticed yesterday that it is flowering as well.

I've started collecting the pieces from my mahogany seeds, hearing that they make good mulch. So I figured I could use them as mulch in some of my potted plants.

I also had to do a round-up of lubber babies. The nymphs are making an early appearance this year, thanks to our warm winter.

This was my third batch removed from the yard. I've already removed a few dozen. Smaller batches than I usually have, but earlier in the year.

The whole time I worked in the yard, Zook waited patiently.

By the time I was ready to go inside, he was falling asleep.

Such a good boy!

So I am slowly making progress on the yard. I dread when they rains begin, as that will mean mowing the yard at least once a week, and I'll have quite a time trying to keep up with the mowing and the weeding and everything else that is needed. (Mowing in 95 degree temps is absolutely no fun!) Ugh!

Big Day in the Backyard

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!

More veggies and other updates

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

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!