Some That Survive

The gynura procumbens we planted this past summer really thrived. It outgrew the buckets and got leggy, so we harvested about 5 gallons of the leaves, cut all the plants way back, and propagated several more buckets of them by simply sticking some of the cut branches into soil, where they took root. Here are the young plants from the propagated cuttings. They are more vivid in color in this cooler season, the stems showing magenta and the leaves edged in similar hues...lovely! We will continue using these in salads for blood sugar regulation.

One of the baby malangas, whose corms we hope will mature into large enough sizes in a few months, to eat in soups or a hot buttered mashed side dish, similar to potatoes.

This is a coconut from which is growing a coconut tree. It didn't like the dip in temps a few weeks ago and the leaves are stressed. We think the plant will bounce back.

Here's our latest acquisition from two weekends ago...the jujube tree sapling we purchased from ECHO in Ft. Myers. The little greenish fruit at maturity should be to be the size of a small apple, with a crisp, appley flavor, good for eating out of hand or substituting (we think) in recipes calling for apples. We don't yet know of an apple tree that thrives this far south, so this may be a welcome addition.

These are some vagabonds from the lettuce that went to seed. These are growing around the buckets, in the grass...perfect for picking straight from the lawn, ha!

Hello, beautiful! These beautiful blooms are on our citrus. Not sure if this plant is one of the lemons or limes...

a closeup...

Here's another...I believe these are on the Meyer Lemons (I could be wrong, didn't check the labels)

one of my favorite closeups... :)

And here's the pineapple sage in bloom, amongs the more dormant herbs nearby...

I love the touch of scarlet, and the scent of the leaves is wonderful! The pineapple sage really perked up during the milder temps...they were kind of stressed and crunchy in the summer months.

This is our first Florida winter to have a garden, albeit in buckets, and it's an experiment in plant survival. Which ones will over-winter? Which are too stressed by the dips in temps now and then (to the 30s sometimes) ? I'm just not familiar with the Non-Four-Seasons climate enough to get my head around the fact I can be growing a lot of things right now.

There are tomato plants at Home Depot...and eggplants, peppers, and other veggies. SO strange to be able to plant those now...but hey, I'll adjust!

:)

Seed catalog madness update to come soon. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, I love you...