Tag Archives: Florida gardening

Avoiding the Technicolor Yawn

Red Hibiscus

Red Hibiscus Flower

One of my horticulturally oriented friends used to say “those annual beds look like Mickey Mouse threw up”. You know the ones; the aptly named “Cocktail Mix” Begonias backed up by Multi colored Caladiums. A kaleidoscope of red, pink, white and green so variegated you can’t focus and then start feeling queasy.

I realized the bed I was trying to use my entire assorted collection of plants waiting to be planted (that I bought because they were interesting or a great bargain or I had never seen one before or..) in was headed in that direction and decided to settle the colors down before I planted something ghastly. Colors were edited to this:

Then I added two green textures:

Sedum

Sedum

Pringles Dwarf Podocarpus

Pringles Dwarf Podocarpus

There is an ancient Red Hibiscus at the end of the bed (the top photo) it doesn’t bloom often, so I am hopeful no one ends up nauseated. My problem is I still have 10 or 15 assorted plants around and I just bought two more.

Chopped Gardening

One of my guilty pleasures is watching Foodtv. I have a few favorite shows that are religiously recorded for later viewing, Chopped is one. For those of you not familiar with Chopped, a group of four chefs is given a basket of sometimes bizarre food items – say, venison, gumdrops, cinnamon liqueur, broccoli rabe and rice cereal, then the goal is to make a gourmet three course meal  (using the basket ingredients) within a certain timeframe. Other ingredients may be added, but all the basket items must be used. The chef’s food is reviewed on a course by course basis until all but one is left. That chef wins and the rest are chopped.

I was standing outside contemplating where to plant the odd assemblage of plants I had acquired when I realized that my garden is a continuous episode of Chopped. My ingredients are plants. Gardening in Florida adds a few wrinkles to the design process – interesting things just tend to pop up in the garden and there are numerous irresistible plant sales. Then a friend or neighbor leaves an interesting plant on the doorstep. It’s a dilemma.

After two years of dreadful well water, we joyfully hooked up to our public water system last year. I had left a blank spot down our side property line for the purpose of running the line to our house. After the water line installation was complete the plan was to finish the side landscaping.

Life intervened and I had to have hernia surgery. Doctor said in four weeks it should heal. Sounds great, by the way it could take up to six months. It took 5 months, two weeks and then I could move things around in the garden that weighed more than 2 pounds.

The side garden is now weed o rama and I have more than the usual stockpile of odd plants to use in the landscaping:

From friends:

American Agave

American Agave

Large Orange Blanchetiana Bromeliad

Large Orange Blanchetiana Bromeliad

Things that have just popped up in the yard: Orange Clerodendrum, Pink Pentas, Boston Fern, White Spider Lilies, Pink Rain Lilies and Purple Oyster Plants. A Plant Palette I could not have dreamed up.

Clerodendrum
Pink Penta
Boston Fern
Spider Lily
Rain Lilies
Purple Oyster Plant

How to combine all of these plants in addition to my usual collection of 5 or so Bromeliads is taxing my brain. It’s a real episode of Gardening Chopped. I hope I make it through the first round.

Propagating Plumerias

I have a Bridal Bouquet Plumeria I like so much I decided to plant a hedge of them to screen my neighbor’s monumentally ugly fence. These are evergreen Plumeria with an upright habit, when planted about three feet apart, they are perfect for a six foot height skinny hedge.

Bridal Bouquet ready for a lei

Bridal Bouquet Plumeria

Given the plant’s reputation for ease of propagation, I decided to try growing the new plants from cuttings rather than buying them. I had such good luck with the plants I gave some as gifts.

Propagation is simple, clip 4- 6″ long cuttings from the tips of the branches:

Cuttings

Cuttings

Next, strip all the leaves with the exception of the two or three at the top:

Stripped

Stripped

The cuttings tend to ooze white liquid so, put them on some cardboard and let them dry in a shady area until the stems appear to have healed.

Drying Cuttings

Drying Cuttings

After drying place the cuttings into 4-6″pots and keep moist for several weeks. The cuttings will start to produce leaves when they are rooted. Then they can be planted in the garden.

Potted

Potted

I have three left from my original six, one succumbed to unknown causes and two were gifted to other gardeners. I still need six for my hedge – so it’s time to get the clippers again.

Cordias

Last week I posted about spring flowering trees in Tropic Florida. One was a new plant to me, White Geiger or Cordia, the other is a Geiger Tree which I have encountered fairly frequently. Both trees belong to the Genus, Cordia.

This is the Geiger Tree, named shockingly for a guy named Geiger, who was a prominent Conch (resident of Key West) in the 1800’s. The botanical name is Cordia sebestena. These are reported to grow to 25′ tall, I have yet to see one that size. This may be due to a fairly recent availability in the nursery trade. These trees are native to South Florida and the Caribbean. I see them flowering off and on during the year – the floral display seems more prolific in the spring.

Geiger Tree

Geiger Tree

Geiger Flower

Geiger Flower

The tree always seems a bit gangly to me, but the flower certainly gives an orange burst of tropical vibe to the surroundings.

White Geiger Tree

White Geiger Tree

In my opinion, the White Geiger Tree or Cordia (also called Texas Wild Olive, for reasons unknown to me) is a more attractive tree with a more formal shape. The botanical name being Cordia boissieri, this tree is native to the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas. Reportedly more cold hardy but still evergreen and about 25 feet tall, White Cordias are not very popular yet in South Florida. I think they will be.

I have sourced a local grower with one of these in stock. It is just a matter of time before a White Geiger Tree appears in my garden.

Epiphany at the Grocery Store

I stopped by the grocery store this afternoon to pick up some things for dinner. After shopping I went back to my car and was stopped by the beautiful flowering trees in the parking lot.

Having experienced Tropic Florida’s winter for the past several years, it is difficult to conceive of the season of spring. Winter is a whisper in your ear one night in February. In my mind, the season following winter is a literal release from the prison of your house. Standing in the parking lot was evidence of spring occurring further south than my mind had grasped.

The first clue was a Purple Hong Kong Orchid Tree, here is the flower. Botanically speaking this is the Bauhinia purpurea, although there are many varieties. Capturing this tree with photography has been eluding me.

Hong Kong Orchid Flower

Hong Kong Orchid Flower

Hong Kong Orchid Tree

Hong Kong Orchid Tree

The failure of the photo to do the tree justice may be a difficulty with purple, but this tree is spectacular. Draped with the purple orchid like flowers, it appears large purple and pink butterflies have landed in graceful groups along the tops of the branches.

The next tree in the lot was a White Geiger Tree. I would characterize these trees as semi evergreen. The genus is Cordia, I am not sure exactly which one this is as one is from Brazil and another from Texas. Nevertheless, a good addition to the landscape.

White Geiger Tree

White Geiger Tree

The next tree I spied was a Tabebuia, nothing shouts spring like the golden trumpets of the Tabebuia.

Tabebuia

Tabebuia

My Epiphany was that spring does come to the Tropics of Florida. I suppose it is my North American predisposition to think of Spring flowering trees as Redbuds, Dogwoods and Cherries, but before my eyes the trees were evidence of spring blossoming everywhere.

Memoirs of garden gloves

CAM00568-1

After nearly two years of service I am retiring my leather gloves. I began life in my Florida garden with fabric gloves that were almost immediately destroyed by my enthusiastic removal of undesirable plants. The chain saw and I became well acquainted with the load of Brazilian Pepper in the backyard, 15-20 feet deep in some spots.

The next pair was cotton knit with plastic coated fingers and palms. Apparently whoever buys and stocks the gloves in this area has never actually tried to use these. These gloves, while waterproof, turn into a sweaty mess in about fifteen minutes. Gardening with garbage bags over your hands is a more pleasant experience. These were sent to the street with the garbage.

I have always liked split cowhide gloves and have been unable to find them in ladies sizes here. I finally found some small men’s leather gloves and they have stood strong for two years. It is evident that I am right handed by the darker shade of filth on that glove. The tip of the index finger finally gave way and was funneling sand into the glove instead of keeping it out. The color of these gloves is interesting as there is no actual dirt in my yard. It is all sand.

These gloves have seen and been responsible for a lot of change in my new garden. Primarily demolition and weeding. The Brazilian Pepper is mostly gone. I don’t think South Florida will ever be rid of this scourge, but I feel I have done my part. I have also gotten rid of some uglies, Schefflera arboricolas, yes the house plant. The previous owners had dotted these around the yard for no apparent reason. I kept cutting it back thinking that would help. It didn’t. Sometimes removal is the only answer.

These gloves have planted some good things. My Mango tree now has some tiny Mangoes and the Lime tree is bearing fruit. Herbs and vegetables are flourishing in raised beds.

Baby Mangoes

Baby Mangoes

Romaine Lettuce

Romaine Lettuce

 

With the help of my gloves I was able to grow the Romaine. (That is where the dirt came from – it had to be imported to grow the vegetables) And finally,

My First Homegrown Salad.

My First Homegrown Salad.

Recovering the Herb Garden

 

Terracotta Herb Container

Terracotta Herb Container

I have had abdominal surgery twice in two years. This has been detrimental to the quality of my herb and vegetable garden. The last surgery was in October and (knock wood) there are no more holes in my gut to repair. Yay, I have been pulling weeds (and am able to pull weeds!-very exciting) in an attempt to reclaim my two herb beds.

These two beds were constructed a couple of years ago and contain the most fertile soil on the otherwise laughably infertile sand dune I live on. The pure fecundity and variety of the weeds I removed was astounding. What is also interesting is the Rosemary, Bay and German Thyme have all managed to survive the onslaught. Thyme isn’t even supposed to grow this far south. Go figure. I like to use all of these herbs and have clipped the tips off while allowing innundation of the rest of the plant so things are a bit leggy or perhaps I will decide these are simply tree form herbs. Garden problem solving at its finest. The tree form.

Reclaimed Rosemary

Reclaimed Rosemary

I think the Rosemary will be OK. My experience with Rosemary is if cut back too hard it tends to die. Oddly enough the  Rosemary is leaning in the direction of the winter wind, it gives a sculptural effect to the plant.  I discovered the Chives had made bulbs about three times bigger than any I had seen before:

Overgrown Chives?

Overgrown Chives?

I looked at these and realized I probably have enough Chives for a restaurant. Chives, in my experience make maybe 1/2″ bulbs and retain circular foliage. These bulbs are 3 times bigger and the foliage is flat and not particularly tasty. My best guess is to divide and conquer, so I chopped them into bits and replanted them into a shadier area. Time will tell about the success of the chive chopping.

I have been using a terracotta container on my front porch for most herbs while the bigger beds languished in benign neglect. Currently the pot has Parsley, Creeping Rosemary, German and Lemon Thyme and Basil. It is close to the kitchen and a real plus is that the cats can’t get to it.

The refurbishing of the garden begins tomorrow. I have collected Lemon Thyme, Dill, Cilantro, Snow Peas and Radishes to grow with the existing Tree Formed Rosemary and Bay.

Hopefully it doesn’t rain.

Fruits of the Labors of Friends and Neighbors

Local Bounty

Local Bounty

It’s Citrus season here in South Florida and everybody has some. Here is some homegrown produce I have collected recently. From the left, Honeybells grown by a friend of my neighbor, Meyers Lemons and Everbearing Persian Limes grown by my college roomate’s husband, a Cuban or Catalina Avocado grown by him as well and Blood Oranges from my neighbor the Chef.

Homegrown citrus is radically different from what might be procured further north. I was taken aback by this with the first taste of a Lime from my back garden (Persian of course) Juicy, fragrant and magnificently Limey (not like the British) I wonder if the term limey comes from a British tendency towards Gin and Tonic. I digress, here is my newest Persian Lime. I am told these bear fruit 4 times a year – I planted this about 6 months ago and have had two crops even though my husband ran the weedeater too close and stripped the bark off. The tree had to be pruned andmoved in mid August for its own safety.

Persian Lime in fruit and flower

Persian Lime in fruit and flower

Here’s another thing peculiar to Florida, in honor of the end of the holidays I am posting a Christmas gift photo, yes, I had to ask what is was:

The Nautical Christmas Tree

The Nautical Christmas Tree

Of course, the Nautical Christmas Tree was made in China.

Happy Gardening, I’ll be snacking on a Blood Orange.

Merry Kitschmas and Flapjack Plants

 

CAM00060-1If you are in search of kitschy Christmas decorations, South Florida should be your destination. Within walking distance of my house we have lighted Flamingo Santas, Santa on a surfboard full of presents crashing into a palm tree and my favorite, a full sized sled with Santa pulled by 8 Flamingos (pink, of course) Very festive and very kitschy.

I have to say I really love the Flamingos, having spent many years in the company of proper design professionals a few Kitschy Flamingos just make the holidays more enjoyable. The mascot for my Landscape Architecture class in college was the Pink Flamingo.

Tonight Santa arrives in my neighborhood in a convertible Mustang complete with Christmas lights and the stereo blaring Christmas carols, drives around and gives candy to the children in the neighborhood.

Blooming in the garden is another sort of kitschy plant, the Flapjack Plant. I had originally thought this was a variety of Jade Plant (Crassula, for botanical name lovers) The Flapjack Plant turns out to be a Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, hmmm, interesting. These are used as summer annuals further north,  but are perennial in South Florida. I had never seen one bloom, the flower spike makes the plant about four feet tall.

Flapjack Flowers

Flapjack Flowers

The foliage looks less like flapjacks as it gets bigger:

Flapjack Foliage

Flapjack Foliage

Kind of red and green in the spirit of Christmas?!

Happy Holidays, Merry Kitschmas, er, Christmas and Happy Gardening..