Tag Archives: Gardening

Mango, Tango – no Rain, Though

It is Mango season here in South Florida and eventually someone with a tree finds me, to my giddy delight. One of my neighbors is a Chef and has a tree. We have discussed what kind it is – he thinks a Haden – I think it might be a type locals call Peach Mango, it has the slightest aftertaste of peach. Whatever it is, it’s peachy  Maybe that is a Haden anyway. The locals call one of these a Strawberry Mango..

Here is a bowl of Mangoes from a guy down the street:

Assorted Mangoes

Assorted Mangoes

This included the Strawberry and Peach Mangoes – Peach I could tell, Strawberry not so much, although one had a redder colored interior. All were good and I devoured them, my husband had a bite, maybe two.

Chef Mangoes

Chef Mangoes              

These are the Mangoes from the Chef, Peach, maybe..Haden variety. Divine, yes, after all the other Mangoes were devoured, I made Granita from two and a half of these. Granita is made by taking 3 and 1/2  cups chopped Mango, simple syrup made from raw Hawaiian Cane Sugar and the juice of one lime – put this in a blender, blend until smooth, then put it in the freezer in a shallow container and stir every half hour or so until the mixture is slushy. I keep mine in a Ziploc bag in the freezer and mush it up as I eat it.

Even the scraps for the compost heap were pretty:

Compost

Compost

It hasn’t rained here since June 30. Things were getting pretty dry and then our well (Irrigation water comes from a well) motor just died, on Saturday morning, of course. Murphy’s Law for gardeners at work here in South Florida. The well repair people aren’t bothered much if you have city water. So, they showed up Tuesday and took the motor away – we found not having water at all doesn’t bother these people much either. So, I have been running around with a pitcher, watering things. Ugh, I am however hearing thunder in the distance..

Think I will just have a little of that Mango Granita, the Chef says it is good with Rum..

Throw the books away

The sunset
Charles
The beach

The sunsets and the dogs on the beach are great reasons to live in South Florida. Trying to figure out how to garden here might be another story. Having spent most of my life 600 miles north of here, I thought I would be able to buy some books about what grows here and figure it out. Come to find out there really aren’t any good books.

The title sounds like something Hitler might have done. Actually, it was a bit of advice given to me by a longtime Treasure Coast gardener a few years ago. I had been lamenting the lack of good gardening information for our area and frustrated by what I had been reading in the Florida Gardening books. She said ‘throw the books away, they have no meaning here’.

Mondo that has seen better days

Mondo that has seen better days

This kernel of knowledge proved correct and popped into my brain this morning as I was looking at the charred remains of my Mondo Grass (that supposedly grows in Zone 10 – where I live) My suspicion is Mondo Grass will grow in Zone 10 if you import soil and water for it and keep an umbrella over it at all times, otherwise, forget about it. I had Mondo Grass further north and it was a reliable nearly indestructible groundcover. It was used as lawn in places too shady for turfgrass.

The Mondo Grass was my last rely on the books installation. My other major char broil was Bronzeleaf Begonias, which I did not even know could be burned up. I planted them in front of my Soap Aloe in my South facing front yard. Once the summer started they curled, browned, withered and unceremoniously died. The Aloe looked and still looks great. I feel bad about throwing away the offshoots sometimes, but not everybody wants a Soap Aloe. Instead of gaining sea legs on a ship, I am gaining sand legs in gardening. And usually end up covered in it.

Our Soapy Friend

Our Soapy Friend

This had left me wondering if it is really possible to write a useful gardening book with plant selection advice for a wide geographical area. I think not.

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.

Winter Starburst Clerodendrum – garden fruition

Winter Starburst Clerodendrum

Winter Starburst Clerodendrum in bud

This is my favorite burst of winter color and it has finally bloomed, the cold snap slowed it down, then the rain slowed it down. I have been waiting (somewhat patiently) for the full flower.  Here is the next phase:

Half Bloom

Half Bloom

And finally the full Starburst effect:

Starburst

Starburst

Bursted

Bursted

The Latin name for this plant is Clerodendrum quadriloculare. This is an interesting group of plants, ranging in size from vines to perennials then shrubs up to small trees. Mostly native to tropical South Asia and with a tendency towards creepy habits you must be careful who among them is invited into your garden. I have seen some gardens overrun by a perennial orange version of Clerodendrum which is beautiful but really creepy.

I am glad to have this shrub in my garden, I think of it as a Tropical Rhododendron, and it is so much easier to grow than the cursed Rhododendrons (my former garden had heavy clay that was impossible to grow Rhodos in) The coarse textured leaves have an added bonus of deep plum colored backsides which make the foliage attractive year round.

So far the Winter Starburst has not exhibited any bad behavior, I have sited it in the prescribed partial shade, but the soil like substance in my garden isn’t given to over production of anything except Heliconias as of yet.

The reason we Garden

This evening, my husband went to join his motorcycling friends for dinner. The purpose of their outing is more about riding the motorcycles than it is about dinner. I am all about dinner. I decided to keep our dog company as he had recently lost his companion. There was not much in the fridge for dinner and I wasn’t up for cooking. Chopping and assembling works for me.

After looking in the refrigerator, I went to look at the garden, where I had Romaine lettuce, radishes, Basil and Dill. I pulled up what appeared to be ripe garlic while digging around in the garden. I think I should paint a picture of this, a pure white bulb with a bit of cerise around the edges…

My Beautiful Garlic Clove

My Beautiful Garlic Clove

In my refrigerator I found leftover Rosemary Garlic Pork Roast, Grape Tomatoes, Baby Peppers, Carrots, Celery and Cremini Mushrooms. There was some Asiago Peppercorn salad dressing as well.

All Southern ladies should gasp and turn their heads now…I chopped the Romaine and everything else. (Southern ladies tear their lettuce, so sorry) added the leftover pork roast and some Helluva Good Cheese (sharp). The salad was dressed with Asiago Peppercorn and admired:

The Salad

The Salad

Dinner

Dinner

The Garlic will be saved for another day.

Memoirs of garden gloves

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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.