Florida is still strange to me, a transplant from Tennessee. We catapult from our mild version of a winter to (this year) a warmer spring than most...a good many days reaching the high 80s.
But I'm learning the dance, slowly. (Which is a good thing, judging by my lack of rhythm in the real dance department!)
Yesterday, we got 30 minutes of a heavy, soaking, delicous rain. We sat on the back porch (I simply can't adapt to calling it a lanai, ha) and watched the show. You could almost audibly hear the plants drinking! The newly re-sprouted moringa trees were dancing, the willows across the swale nodding and curtsying. Occasional thunder rolls and misty gusts paired with a long hard shower serenaded us. Pure delight!
As other areas of the country look with dread at more water headed their way, our seasons here seem upside down, as if Florida can't make up its mind whether it's closer to the northern or southern hemisphere some years. Our supposed wet season sometimes begins mid-summer right along with the timing of "hurricane season," both of which are anybody's guess for the weatherman or gardener. A couple years I've lived here, the wet season was a no show, and drought sorely depleted the water tables. Hopes for relief continued to be just hopes for a couple years running. Other years, a rowboat would have come in handy.
For so many, recent disasters have brought personal "dry seasons" and a flood of troubles.
We're praying for our friends (you) who are in areas desperately needing some water, and also for those who've had more than their share of it. I can't wrap my head around the devastation shared by many states. Tornadoes, flooding, wind damage, loss of loved ones and homes or property. They're scenarios so varied, and in many cases replete with stalwart volunteerism and proof that community and good neighbors are not yet extinct, good hearted folks still helping shoulder tragedies together. It's the bittersweet reality of survival.
And I still can't get my head around the losses.
How can we help? Maybe much the same way we take charge of our own limitations of situation and finances, by changing things one action at a time and being empowered in the smaller realm even when we can't seem to budge the larger. By helping out in some way because it's the right thing to do, and not pass on by without participating. And cementing the concept of Neighbor and good will. Those single acts of neighborliness add up. A single act of help can feel, in all its smallness, like the refreshing 30 minute shower we had in the midst of a run of hot, dry days.
Isn't it interesting how we come together in an entirely different way when the power goes out, laundry and showers are no longer taken for granted, the freezers full of meat need to be eaten (neighborhood BBQ!), and cutting up trees and cleaning up debris have replaced prime time reality shows?
Our hearts are heavy for the losses so many people are experiencing recently. We're encouraged to see the emerging backbone and strength of community.
I can't think of anything that weighs as true a coinage as a real friend. Whatever we're doing here in our homes, gardens, lives, means little without that currency.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
It's Anybody's Guess
Whatever kind of squash this mystery plant is is anyone's guess. But I can say one thing about it...it's unbelievably hardy!
The seed must have survived for months in the wood and plant litter in our mulched front bed. I suspect it got there as we were layer-composting some kitchen trimmings. In the fall I sometimes will buy a new-to-me type of winter squash from the supermarket assortment...how they get such a selection, I'm not sure, but there's such a variety at times and I like to try different ones. Anyway, the vine appeared a few weeks ago, and we fully expected it to die back. We hadn't deliberately planted anything there other than a rosemary plant that soldiers on, so we were surprised when it began to vine and then put out little fruits, most of which have died back.
I'm watching the development of this first one, the others not having made it probably due to lack of pollination..the little baby yellow fruits withered and died before getting any larger. But THIS one is securely hanging vertically, partially obscured within the branches of the viburnum bush the vines are clambering over.
Any guesses what it'll turn out to be when all's said and done? I don't buy summer squash from the store, so I know it's most likely a winter squash. Probably... It's about a foot long, seems to have a hard shell with a bumpy surface and color striations of yellow and some lighter yellow from stem to stern. I'm not sure how big it will get. My guess at this point, after looking over Google-search pics on the internet, is Yellow Hubbard. Or if it reddens, maybe a Red Kuri?? (not so sure it's going to redden, though)
Not to mention it's fruiting...in May????!!!
OK, no complaints!
Like I said, we have not babied this plant. It wilts in the hot part of the day, and then perks up again come nightfall and through the morning hours. We've not watered it, and we havent had much if any rain lately (hope that changes!) So, if it turns out to be a good squash and puts out any more fruits, it's a keeper (yay!)
Grow on, little mystery squash, grow on!
Walkabout
(Clicking on pics will enlarge)
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| Ants as pollinators on ground orchid |
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| Closeup |
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| Stinging chaya rooted cuttings beginning to bud |
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| Gynura procumbens cuttings taking off |
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| Much bigger than life size gynura buds |
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| Closer view |
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| Pollinator-eye-view of petunia's Come Hither look |
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| Gynura crepidioides, otherwise known as Okinawan spinach. This is different than the Gynura procumbens. |
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| Pentas blooms making heart-shaped pollinator valentines with their curling filaments |
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| Walking stick kale seedlings, closeup |
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| Walking stick kale, awaiting transplanting |
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| Sweet potato embracing its neighbors |
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| The first of the mystery squash fruits, this one hanging vertically in the shrub it vined up |
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| Pollinator on plum leaf |
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| Ground orchid pretty in pink |
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| Hey, lady...y'done with the camera? I. Will stare. At you. Till you notice the doggy with the summer crew cut. Who wants treats! |
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Hardscrabble Plantation of Benign Neglect
No garden, per se.
HAHA. That doesn't mean a lack of PLANTS...
Just plants that love to grow, despite inattention from their owners.
Yes, they get SOME attention, mostly admiration. And some water. And a good start in life.
But they are survivor plants.
I will mention some below that, thankfully, have survived us. Not meaning we're dead and they aren't. But meaning they've survived because they are suited to this climate and they soldier on without a lot of attention. Many of them are perennials. Even choosing not to put in a tilled garden, or even so much as an official raised bed this year, we can still enjoy these greenies, many of which have edible uses, or even multiple uses beyond their already valuable existence.
Or maybe they are simply evidenceof our human weakness despite our best intentions when looking at mail order or in garden stores.
At any rate, we belong among our plants, even if they are the good-natured little green versions of latchkey kids.
--------------
Jack's home from his night shift and gently snoring in the other room. I have time for a quick update.
He and I tamed the savage beast called Our Yard a couple days ago, but we seldom feel that need for the adjoining lot we also own...we let it stay fairly au naturel, since we're not in a manicured subdivision. However, the general area IS manicured enough that we have to maintain our *ugh* lawn (one of the most worthless of inventions the world has ever known) since we (yeah yeah yeah, cue the same refrain...) are keeping it somewhat curb-appeal-ish for selling some day. Maybe not too far down the road in time. But anyway...
It's consistently warm...even HOT...enough to take inventory of what plants remain in the ranks of survivors this year. We had several hard freezes this past winter, so there were casualties. But from the looks of things at this point, here's an idea of the plant population other than bermuda and weeds:
1. Gynura survived in pots, sheltered under shrubs and on back porch. We're now at the point they're big enough (again) to make more cuttings to root (again). Yay!
2. About 12 clumps of moringa, and counting, all sprouting and growing gangbusters daily. Time for some leaf harvest soon. Again, yay!
3. Two of the three guavas are back. The nice big one may have bit the dust. The gangly little sidekick sheltered next to the BU5GBM ( Big Ugly 5-Gallon Bucket Mountain whose days are numbered) made it. (As did the one annually reappearing among the weed patch we refer to as our field) This does not ensure the survival of the said BU5GBM, only that we've learned that clustering the sophomore trees and plants during winter is crucial to their endurance.
4. One of the two languishing fig trees made it. They were in pots for years, in a patch of what came to be overgrown who-knows-what, growing in symbiotic fashion (as all eyesores love to do) and indiscernable as anything but another big ol' clump of tall weeds. I broke up the relationship, mowed down the rather woody weeds (well, Jack mowed them after I chopped them all to the ground) and repotted the one vigorous fig to a new location right up against a larger clump of moringa. I'm hoping the shade works its wonders. The other fig was down to a withered root, so it went composting...
5. Both aloe veras stayed the course.
6. Rosemary, check.
7. Yerba Buena, by a nose.
8. Loquat tree, check. Make that loquat three...Jack installed two more. He is a complete loquat enthusiast now. They can take the freezes AND the heat. And they produce fruit (only ours haven't yet...maybe next year). And they're attractive. He's in tree love.
Birthday acquisition of:
9. 1 mulberry tree (please survive, my friend)
10. 2 small plum trees (more like sticks with leaves...2 different varieties for pollination)
11. A different kind of Gynura with purple backsides to the leaves, 1 pot
12. And a sweet potato plant (I have to learn to grow these to be worth my salt as a southerner)
13. 2 non-stinging chaya plants, going strong!
OK, back to the other non-birthday plants that are happening...
14. 1 three year old chaya plant, the stinging kind, getting bigger every year
15. 1 jujube whose little upstarts multiply every spring, making it more of a jujube clump
16. Several basic viburnum (not the fancy flowering kind) baby bushes Jack has been planting for windbreaks, screening
17. 2 survivor grapevines, no fruit
18. 1 confederate jasmine vine that did the Rebel Yell to me in a garden center recently
19. 2 new thryallis (golden shower) shrubs (yayyyy!!!!)
19 1/2. (oops, almost forgot) 2 tibouchina (not sure which variety) baby shrubs with gorgeous purple flowers
20. 1 clump asclepias (butterfly weed)
21. 2 recovering papayas
22. 1 clerodendrum (blue butterfly bush)
23. Several walking stick kale babies
24. 1 ground orchid
25. 1 survivor Surinam cherry bush
26. 2 soapberry bush babies and several surviving transplants of same
27. 2 bushes whose names escape me, but hardy to sun and with nice foliage that flower dark blue-purple flowers
and drumrolll.......
after MUCH anticipation, more anticipation, and excited nailbiting, we have the privilege of being sent some
28. Purple Leafed Tree Collards (!!!!!), due to arrive any day now (soo soo excited!!!)
and
29. We're finally putting in some Jerusalem artichokes in some of the more naturalized areas.
not to mention the
30. Pentas, assorted, flowers
31. Zinnias
and
32. Ruellia Brittonia gone nuts (Mexican petunias, blue flowers), naturalized on the steep slope adjacent to the shed, along with some interspersed butterfly weed
33. 2 dwarf cavendish banana plants, hanging in there till we hopefully get a wet season
34. 1 Mystery volunteer squash vine climbing the walls and anything else in its way
That's about it...till there's more :) And these are the things we have going while "we're not growing anything"...ha!
Oh...there is one patio tomato plant. I would have to turn in my Girl Raised in the South card if I neglected to have at least one token tomato while the sun doth shine.
How grows your garden...or, like us, your "we're not growing anything this year" collection? ;-)
---------------------
UPDATE ON THE UPDATE:
Um...Garden Centers = My Kind of Crack
Recent (as of round trip to garden center and back now for a few minutes) plant additions:
2 Black Prince heirloom tomato starts (!!!!!)
2 Yellow Pear heirloom tomato starts (!!!)
2 German Johnson heirloom tomato starts (!!!)
and a cucumber vine of some variety
and two burgundy pentas starts
and a couple more butterfly weed starts
and a partridge in a pear tree...
:) Robbyn
HAHA. That doesn't mean a lack of PLANTS...
Just plants that love to grow, despite inattention from their owners.
Yes, they get SOME attention, mostly admiration. And some water. And a good start in life.
But they are survivor plants.
I will mention some below that, thankfully, have survived us. Not meaning we're dead and they aren't. But meaning they've survived because they are suited to this climate and they soldier on without a lot of attention. Many of them are perennials. Even choosing not to put in a tilled garden, or even so much as an official raised bed this year, we can still enjoy these greenies, many of which have edible uses, or even multiple uses beyond their already valuable existence.
Or maybe they are simply evidenceof our human weakness despite our best intentions when looking at mail order or in garden stores.
At any rate, we belong among our plants, even if they are the good-natured little green versions of latchkey kids.
--------------
Jack's home from his night shift and gently snoring in the other room. I have time for a quick update.
He and I tamed the savage beast called Our Yard a couple days ago, but we seldom feel that need for the adjoining lot we also own...we let it stay fairly au naturel, since we're not in a manicured subdivision. However, the general area IS manicured enough that we have to maintain our *ugh* lawn (one of the most worthless of inventions the world has ever known) since we (yeah yeah yeah, cue the same refrain...) are keeping it somewhat curb-appeal-ish for selling some day. Maybe not too far down the road in time. But anyway...
It's consistently warm...even HOT...enough to take inventory of what plants remain in the ranks of survivors this year. We had several hard freezes this past winter, so there were casualties. But from the looks of things at this point, here's an idea of the plant population other than bermuda and weeds:
1. Gynura survived in pots, sheltered under shrubs and on back porch. We're now at the point they're big enough (again) to make more cuttings to root (again). Yay!
2. About 12 clumps of moringa, and counting, all sprouting and growing gangbusters daily. Time for some leaf harvest soon. Again, yay!
3. Two of the three guavas are back. The nice big one may have bit the dust. The gangly little sidekick sheltered next to the BU5GBM ( Big Ugly 5-Gallon Bucket Mountain whose days are numbered) made it. (As did the one annually reappearing among the weed patch we refer to as our field) This does not ensure the survival of the said BU5GBM, only that we've learned that clustering the sophomore trees and plants during winter is crucial to their endurance.
4. One of the two languishing fig trees made it. They were in pots for years, in a patch of what came to be overgrown who-knows-what, growing in symbiotic fashion (as all eyesores love to do) and indiscernable as anything but another big ol' clump of tall weeds. I broke up the relationship, mowed down the rather woody weeds (well, Jack mowed them after I chopped them all to the ground) and repotted the one vigorous fig to a new location right up against a larger clump of moringa. I'm hoping the shade works its wonders. The other fig was down to a withered root, so it went composting...
5. Both aloe veras stayed the course.
6. Rosemary, check.
7. Yerba Buena, by a nose.
8. Loquat tree, check. Make that loquat three...Jack installed two more. He is a complete loquat enthusiast now. They can take the freezes AND the heat. And they produce fruit (only ours haven't yet...maybe next year). And they're attractive. He's in tree love.
Birthday acquisition of:
9. 1 mulberry tree (please survive, my friend)
10. 2 small plum trees (more like sticks with leaves...2 different varieties for pollination)
11. A different kind of Gynura with purple backsides to the leaves, 1 pot
12. And a sweet potato plant (I have to learn to grow these to be worth my salt as a southerner)
13. 2 non-stinging chaya plants, going strong!
OK, back to the other non-birthday plants that are happening...
14. 1 three year old chaya plant, the stinging kind, getting bigger every year
15. 1 jujube whose little upstarts multiply every spring, making it more of a jujube clump
16. Several basic viburnum (not the fancy flowering kind) baby bushes Jack has been planting for windbreaks, screening
17. 2 survivor grapevines, no fruit
18. 1 confederate jasmine vine that did the Rebel Yell to me in a garden center recently
19. 2 new thryallis (golden shower) shrubs (yayyyy!!!!)
19 1/2. (oops, almost forgot) 2 tibouchina (not sure which variety) baby shrubs with gorgeous purple flowers
20. 1 clump asclepias (butterfly weed)
21. 2 recovering papayas
22. 1 clerodendrum (blue butterfly bush)
23. Several walking stick kale babies
24. 1 ground orchid
25. 1 survivor Surinam cherry bush
26. 2 soapberry bush babies and several surviving transplants of same
27. 2 bushes whose names escape me, but hardy to sun and with nice foliage that flower dark blue-purple flowers
and drumrolll.......
after MUCH anticipation, more anticipation, and excited nailbiting, we have the privilege of being sent some
28. Purple Leafed Tree Collards (!!!!!), due to arrive any day now (soo soo excited!!!)
and
29. We're finally putting in some Jerusalem artichokes in some of the more naturalized areas.
not to mention the
30. Pentas, assorted, flowers
31. Zinnias
and
32. Ruellia Brittonia gone nuts (Mexican petunias, blue flowers), naturalized on the steep slope adjacent to the shed, along with some interspersed butterfly weed
33. 2 dwarf cavendish banana plants, hanging in there till we hopefully get a wet season
34. 1 Mystery volunteer squash vine climbing the walls and anything else in its way
That's about it...till there's more :) And these are the things we have going while "we're not growing anything"...ha!
Oh...there is one patio tomato plant. I would have to turn in my Girl Raised in the South card if I neglected to have at least one token tomato while the sun doth shine.
How grows your garden...or, like us, your "we're not growing anything this year" collection? ;-)
---------------------
UPDATE ON THE UPDATE:
Um...Garden Centers = My Kind of Crack
Recent (as of round trip to garden center and back now for a few minutes) plant additions:
2 Black Prince heirloom tomato starts (!!!!!)
2 Yellow Pear heirloom tomato starts (!!!)
2 German Johnson heirloom tomato starts (!!!)
and a cucumber vine of some variety
and two burgundy pentas starts
and a couple more butterfly weed starts
and a partridge in a pear tree...
:) Robbyn
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Heat's On!
(click any pic to enlarge)
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| Volunteer mystery squash blooming and fruiting... |
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| Butterfly weed making itself available for Monarch fly-bys and feasting... |
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| Gynura procumbens cuttings sprouting... |
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| Comfrey in bloom... |
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| Confederate jasmine perfuming the air... |
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| Jujube tree rapid new sucker growth... |
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| Zinnias defying the heat with colorful impunity... |
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| Birdbath surrounded by carpet of spring growth... |
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| Grapes repositioned from buckets to trellis made of fencing sections turned upright... |
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| The gorgeous proliferation of edible stinging chaya, back from the freezes once again... |
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| Moringa cluster (left) as a nurse plant/semi-shade for the transplanted Brown Turkey Fig (right)... |
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| The jujube...last year's thorny branches still not showing leaves, but new growth from the roots galore... |
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| Sunflower seed escapees sprouting under the bird feeder... |
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| Some flowers encouraged to naturalize...or is it we're lazy gardeners? ;-) We want those pollinators! |
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| No trellis? No problem...shrubbery will do just fine, ma'am... |
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| Loquats...no fruit this year, but we LOVE our loquats! |
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| Pentas singing their siren song for the butterflies... |
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| A couple of hardy blooming shrubs added here and there...can't remember the name of this one, but love the blooms! |
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| Smaller mystery shrub, different type, with small jasmine-type purple blooms... |
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| Jack's new favorite way of propagating moringa...sections of old branches stuck into the ground in the fall...voila, now it sprouts! |
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| No shrub is safe from The Vine That Would Be King |
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| Plum tree!!! There's another variety near by...hope my baby plums make it...I love plum trees! |
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| The ugliness that will later become another patch of moringa...even amidst the bermuda... |
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| Porch therapy...in the back is the ground orchid |
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| Buckets o' babies |
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| What's a picnic without some ants?? (this is said very sarcastically...we are overrun with the ants) |
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| Ya take a chaya branch cutting, ya stick it in some potting soil...more edible shrubs on the way! |
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| A sure sign the world renews itself yearly...green and blooming things...and Passover!! Next year in Jerusalem :) |
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