Central Florida Gardening

Gone.

2009-10-14T13:31:00.004-04:00

Yes, I've been away. And I'm going to continue be away. Life is taking me in a new direction right now and I haven't been gardening or taking any nature shots. Be well, everyone, and enjoy the wonderful fall weather!

Check it out!

2009-07-25T21:48:00.002-04:00

Remember a few days ago I was wondering if that orange butterfly was a Queen, Queen Monarch or a Soldier? Well... it must have been a Queen because I found a caterpillar on the milkweed today.

I've always heard it called a Queen Monarch but I don't think that's correct, I think it's just called a Queen butterfly. Whatever you call it, this caterpillar is my first of this kind! :-)

Butterfly

2009-07-23T15:48:00.002-04:00

Side *slurp*

Back

Tushie

This is today.

2009-07-23T15:33:00.001-04:00

Trash or Treasure? And a confession...

2009-07-22T15:55:00.004-04:00

First, a Disclaimer: This post has absolutely nothing to do with gardening...

Second, a Confession: Ok, I'll admit it, I pick up 'stuff' off the side of the road. Not icky stuff but if someone has a cool lamp or a picture frame with potential or a cool rocking chair out for trash pickup, yeah, I'll grab it. I still feel really weird about it but after at least 2 drive-bys, I usually have the courage to stop.

Third, a Dilemma: Today - trash day - on my way to Walmart, I spotted a table out for trash pickup. The side of it caught my eye.

I drove by. Twice. Yeah, I grabbed it and put it in the back of my truck. Sidenote... if you *ahem* collect things, a truck makes it veeeery easy to haul things you wouldn't want to put inside your car. As I picked it up, I noticed the top.

Joseph and Erma March 23 1957. Ok, a little bizzare but I've already committed to getting this thing. I can always put it out in my trash, right?

I get home with it and my husband laughs at my 'dumpster diving' though I have to admit I've never been in a dumpster or gotten anything out of one.

Yeah, the table is... different. But interesting. I noticed a metal tag on the bottom of it.

Built by Ray Thomson, 149 Schubert St, Binghamton, NY, Year 1956-57, 2300 Pieces of Wood. The inlays are really inlays! And wow, 2300 pieces?! How cool is that? And who counted them?

Granted, it isn't perfect, a few pieces are missing, a drawer is missing

and daylight is showing through in a couple of spots...

And the bottom shelf which states "Forever Your's"? Well, the 'F' in Forever is backwards, the 'Your's' shouldn't have an apostrophe (what? that bugs me!) and the shelf itself has some water damage going on over on the left.

So... is it trash or is it treasure? I mean, my husband's name isn't Joseph and my name isn't Erma. We weren't alive in 1957.

So I wonder whatever happened to Joseph & Erma. And why was their custom-built table thrown away? Divorce? Death? Water Damage? And where is the maker of the table, Ray Thomson? I couldn't find any info on him on the internet. Did that backwards 'F' keep him from building any more tables? And what do I do with this thing? So many questions...

Oops!... I did it again!

2009-07-20T15:34:00.002-04:00

Last year, I swore that I would keep the Cassia alata cut back and under control this year. Now look at it. Look waaayyy up at it. If we get any serious winds, she's gonna fall over. Just like last year. I should have kept it cut back. My bad.

Little Pinkie

2009-07-20T15:31:00.002-04:00

My baby crepe myrtle is trying its best to bloom. I raised it from seed but it died back over the winter. I didn't know if it would make it or not. Looks like it just might!

Uh-oh, trouble alert

2009-07-20T12:50:00.002-04:00

That's what my 4 yr old always says. That's what I said when I walked out and found this.

White Mexican Petunia or White Ruellia. Invasive and almost impossible to get rid of here in Florida. Where'd it come from? Maybe the wind carried a seed or maybe a bird dropped a seed, who knows. But I do know one thing, it's going away!

Queen Monarch, Queen or Soldier?

2009-07-18T14:21:00.003-04:00

I'm so confused!

I've never had these before this year. Whatever it is, it was trapped on my porch so I snapped a few (not so great) pics before I showed it the way to freedom. It, or one like it, has been laying eggs on my milkweed so maybe I'll have more of them. I haven't seen any non-monarch caterpillars on the milkweed yet but my fingers are crossed.

Hairstreak

2009-07-18T14:11:00.002-04:00

Red Banded Hairstreak butterfly

I like when they do this

2009-07-18T14:05:00.001-04:00

An Aloe bloom

Seaglass

2009-07-18T13:47:00.005-04:00

Being in Florida, you just have to love that seaglass! This driftwood & beach glass chime is old and weathered but it still makes me happy.

A Kentucky Garden

2009-07-11T22:28:00.003-04:00

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be talking about gardening in Florida. But I want to show you around my parents' garden. This is the garden that I helped plant every year when I was a kid. It's where I picked corn, blackeyed peas, crowder peas (YUM!), green beans, butter beans (Yuck!) and oodles and gobs of other wonderfully fresh, healthy veggies. In the picture above, you can see that there are 3 main sections. The middle section... the one right in front of the barn (the red & white bldg)... is the oldest section. Mom & Dad have had that one full of veggies every year of my life. Here's a closer look.

The rebar teepees are for the green beans. These are Kentucky Wonders, I think. Dad didn't always use rebar for the beans, he used to go in the woods and cut down saplings and he would whittle the ends down to a point that he would stick in the ground and then tie the tops together. I don't know when he switched to rebar... but I'm sure it's easier than going out and making his own stakes every year. They also grow a bush green bean in this section. And corn. Lots of sweet yellow corn. And sometimes Silver Queen, a delicious white corn. We even grew peanuts and popcorn in this section years ago.

Looking back at the first picture I showed you, the section closest to you, also seen from a different angle in this picture:

came next. It came gradually. Each year, more grass would go away and more beds would appear. On the back part of this section is the compost pile. Actually compost pileS. The compost pile has 3 divisions. One is for leaves that they rake in the fall to use as mulch in the summer. Another is for compost that is ready to use. The final is for the stuff that's being piled on 'now' like coffee grounds, egg shells, corn husks, and anything else that will... well, compost. In front of the compost pile are the blackberry vines. The cold frame is back there too, though you can't see it. Dad grows radishes and lettuce in the cold frame in the Spring. We got to eat the last of the lettuce while we were there. There's nothing like fresh, just-picked lettuce!

The white arches that you see at the end of the beds are for the Purple Hyacinth Beans. By now, the white part is covered in vines (all these pics were taken in early June). These beds are where they grow the tomatoes, yellow squash, bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions (OH THE ONIONS!!)

Man, I wanted to stash some of these onions in my suitcase and bring them home. But I figured that 1. All my stuff would stink and 2. Customs (or whoever it is) wouldn't like it and they would go through my stuff and take all my onions for themselves. Party poopers.

And finally, the newest section of the garden. Looking back at the top pic again (last time, I promise!) this section is the one that's way out there, barely visible. Dad decided he needed a pea patch this year so he broke up some of the ground in the field and created his pea patch. He's growing some heirloom peas out there, hoping to have enough seed for next year's planting. This is the best picture of the pea patch that I could find. 'Scuse the burn pile...

The peas had just started growing when we were visiting. The deer had gotten into the patch so I helped dad put up an electric fence around the patch.

The deer, while they are beautiful creatures, are pests because they just won't leave the garden alone. They have a regular path through mom & dad's field and we saw up to 6 at a time. But they just aren't allowed in the garden. Once they get a tingle from the fence, they usually leave it alone. The main part of the garden has been fenced for years. The beds though, since they are in the yard, really close to the garage, aren't fenced. They haven't had many problems with the deer there.

And finally, the herb bed. It's nestled in between the yellow daylilies and the greenhouse, there by the flagpole.

Mom isn't growing too much this year. Mostly sage. She pulled out most of her herbs and planted daisies and tiger lilies.

Good choice, huh?

Butterflies

2009-07-11T09:10:00.004-04:00

These are some of the beautiful butterflies we saw in the butterfly house at the St. Louis Zoo.

Ice Storm, Backhoe, Burn Pile & a Crazy Turkey

2009-06-21T12:18:00.004-04:00

Western Kentucky, where my parents live, was hit really hard by a January ice storm. It's so sad seeing the trees, or rather, what's left of them. There isn't a single tree in my parents' town that wasn't damaged or completely destroyed. My parents live on a little one-lane back-road with pretty much nothing but woods all along the sides. (That's their mailbox alongside the road in the picture above.) They were without power for 18 days. They are on a well so no power means no fresh water. They had some warning that the storm was coming so they had some water stored but not enough for 18 days. They have gas logs and a Fisher Mama Bear wood burning stove as alternative heating solutions so they stayed warm and mom was able to cook on the wood stove or they fired up the grill. They always have enough food stored to feed an army so they ate well. Unfortunately, generators were in high demand and they ended up losing their 2 deep freezers full of food (think: corn, okra, peas, green beans, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.... all homegrown, picked, husked, shelled, washed, cut, blanched, frozen, etc. by my parents) before they were able to find a generator. It took them several days of hard labor to cut their way out of their road.

This was my first time seeing my hometown since the storm. Trees that were in our yard for the entire 42 years of my life are either gone or damaged so badly that we don't know if they'll make it or not. Maples, Oaks, Redbuds, Cedars, Elms, this storm wasn't particular, it tried to destroy them all.

There are piles and piles and piles of broken branches and trees everywhere you look. For several months, FEMA workers (subcontractors) were going up and down the roads clearing the piles but this particular pile in my parents front yard was a couple of feet too far from the road for them to get.

My uncle has a backhoe. While we were visiting, he brought it over and he and my dad (consider that my dad is 70 and my uncle is a few years older) went to work cleaning up some of the dangerous dangling branches, cutting them from up in the trees. That's my dad up in the bucket cutting some branches from their willow tree. It was a nerve wracking day.

They spent the better half of the day cutting branches and consolidating several brush piles into 2 major piles out in my parents' field. My kids were thrilled at the brush fires that took place once they had the piles ready.

Dad took his tractor out there a couple of times a day to stir up the fire and try to get it to burn everything. Those piles smoked for at least a week.

Once we'd had some rain and the fires were completely out, we looked out one morning and saw a lone wild turkey wandering through the field. I grabbed my camera and walked out there.

That silly turkey went to the pile of ashes and had a blast. I don't know what she was doing, taking a bath maybe? She'd sit down in the ashes and fluff up her wings and stir up a big cloud of ash.

Then she'd stand up and shake it all off. She kept doing this over and over. She knew I was out there, I was on the other side of the pea patch from her (those lines are electric fencing that dad & I put up to keep the deer out of the peas). She kept an eye on me but, uncharacteristically, she didn't run away.
This went on for 10 minutes before I got bored and wandered off.

More about our Kentucky trip later...

We're Home!!!

2009-06-17T16:20:00.002-04:00

HELLO!!!! We made it back yesterday afternoon. The plane ride was great, a few clouds as we came into Orlando but thankfully, no storms.

Our 18-day trip to Western Kentucky to visit my family was AWESOME!! Once I get my thoughts and my pictures (we took over 1000 pics!) together, I'll share more with you. But for now, here is a start:

Leaving on a jet plane...

2009-05-29T19:00:00.002-04:00

I love that song.

So I'm leaving tomorrow morning. My girls and I are going to spend a few weeks visiting family in Kentucky. I'll be back in Florida in mid-June. The garden is on its own, my better half will pretend it doesn't exist and that's ok with me. Take care ~ see ya when I get back!! :-)

Well, duh!

2009-05-29T18:53:00.003-04:00

You know those mystery seedlings I showed you yesterday (or was it the day before?) Well, all I had to do was ask the kiddo where she got the seeds! Her reply was something along the lines of 'You know those shakey things Mimi & Grandad brought us? Well I threw them down on the porch and cracked them open and lots of seeds came out so I planted them.' Ah yes, ornamental gourds.

Seedlings

2009-05-27T08:23:00.002-04:00

I dug up and moved a red firespike earlier this year. Yesterday, in the spot where the firespike originally lived, I noticed this:

Looks like the kiddos got a hold of a seed packet of some sort and dumped them all in one spot. I wonder what we'll end up with...

I'll end my day here with a little bit of sunshine

2009-05-26T16:15:00.002-04:00

Blanketflower aka Gaillardia aristata

I have a mystery bug

2009-05-26T16:09:00.002-04:00

Black legs that look kind of like grasshopper legs

Teal spots, black & white striped antenne

Reddish praying-mantis like head

True Bugs and selective memory

2009-05-26T15:53:00.002-04:00

When I see these bugs, the first thing I think is "true bug". Then, "stink bug" comes to mind. Biology was my favorite subject in high school and college. But it's been a while since I was in a classroom and, while I can remember the term "true bug" and I know one when I see one, I cannot for the life of me remember any details about what it means. I suppose that's just part of getting older, eh?

PS. If you want to learn more about true bugs, click here.

Prettiness

2009-05-26T15:51:00.000-04:00

Love the yellow Allamanda blooms!

Fungus

2009-05-26T15:47:00.002-04:00

Growing on a dead Jatropha stalk.
You'd think I'd go chop that dead stalk down. After all, the plant died back over the winter and it's already, what, almost June?!

Milkweed seeds

2009-05-26T15:34:00.002-04:00

I just love it when the milkweed seed pods *pop* open. Remember, the seeds are the little brown parts. Each seed has a silk like, hairy 'propeller' attached to it. If you are collecting the seeds, you can discard this propeller as it's only there to help the seeds fly to a new home when they pop open. I usually harvest a few pods just as they split open but before the seeds can fly away. I put the pods in a bowl and put it on top of the fridge till they are good and dry. Then I separate the seeds from the propellers. Never store your seeds in a plastic bag, if there is any moisture still in the seeds, you'll quickly get a moldy mess. I store mine in a piece of folded paper or in brown paper bags (lunch bags).

But I always leave some on the plants and just let them do their thing.

Later that same day...

2009-05-20T16:20:00.002-04:00

I've always called it my Monster Plant because it stretches over 8' tall and has giant leaves. It's actually a Tree Philodendron aka Cut-leaf Philodendron or Selloum (Philodendron bipinnatifidum). It's happy in full sun, though it would also be perfectly fine in light shade. This plant was here when we moved here in 1999 and there is a completely different world under it. It created its own little microclimate. More on this plant later, I just wanted to share the blooms with you today.

...or are you just happy to see me?

2009-05-20T13:30:00.002-04:00

This girl is happy to see the sun today

2009-05-20T13:29:00.001-04:00

Zebra longwing on old-fashioned tall red Pentas flower

The Fly!

2009-05-20T13:28:00.000-04:00

Spiral Ginger bloom

2009-05-20T13:27:00.001-04:00

Thryallis

2009-05-20T13:17:00.003-04:00

Thryallis (Galphimia gracilis) is right up there with Plumbagos when it comes to almost-constant color and super easy to grow shrubs. They do reseed like crazy but they are a fantastic addition to a garden that needs a little bit of height and a lot of bright sunshiny color. They can get up to 6' tall and wide and they love lots of sun. I can water them or not water them and they'll still be covered in fantastic yellow flowers. They stay green all year here in Florida's Zone 9b and bloom from early May through late November or early December. Super easy to grow from seed. I've transplanted several seedlings and they transplant wonderfully. Just keep them watered till they are established and sit back and wait for the blooms to come. And the butterflies love them too. :-)

Scarlet milkweed

2009-05-20T13:14:00.001-04:00

A must-have in a butterfly garden!

Rain, glorious rain and a peek inside

2009-05-20T13:09:00.005-04:00

This brom is happy for the rain we received the past couple of days. After a month of absolutely no rain and then 2 days of off-and-on rain, everything's smiling today.

Basket Plant (Callisia fragrans)

2009-04-25T09:19:00.004-04:00

Basket plant a plant that most people wouldn't recommend for a garden. A pot, yes, but not in the ground. I don't listen to "most people" though and I have it in the ground here and there throughout my garden. I don't consider it invasive at all. It does multiply but 1. it's easy to pull out and 2. it hasn't even come close to taking over any sections of my garden. It's happy in the shade, where the leaves are solid green (above pic), or in sun

where they take on a mottled-red color.

And in the Spring when it blooms, the scent is heavenly!

MIA

2009-04-25T09:10:00.004-04:00

Hi guys!! Yes, I've been totally missing-in-action lately and I apologize for that. After my computer crashed and I lost everything including 5 (or so) years worth of pics, I totally lost interest in any computer-anything. I got busy with other stuff and am just now finding my way back to the blogging world.

I haven't been gardening much but I think I'm ready to focus on that again too. And I really haven't been taking any pics lately either. I'm not sure why because this was something I really enjoyed. So I'm hoping to dust off the old Nikon and get back to work.

Thanks for sticking around... I'm going to be making the rounds and check out what y'all have blogging about lately. :-)

I did not know that Persian Shield bloomed.

2009-04-25T09:05:00.004-04:00

I just thought it was just a pretty, purple-leaf plant. But it's a pretty, purple-leaf, purple flowering plant.
:-)

Oh, and the flowers smell good too! Bonus!

Aloe bloom

2009-04-25T09:04:00.001-04:00

Yum.... mulberries!

2009-04-25T09:02:00.002-04:00

I bet the squirrels loved them. They didn't leave a stinkin' one for me!

Crash.

2009-02-10T22:57:00.002-05:00

My computer crashed last week. Darn thing wouldn't do a thing. Couldn't even boot up in safe mode. Today I finally faced facts and wiped everything out. Reformatted the hard drive and reloaded Windows. Five years of pictures, hundreds of pictures. Gone. Five years of documents. Gone. All my programs and favorites. Gone. Don't be a dummy like me and think "Oh everything will be fine, I'll back everything up.... tomorrow."

Why oh why didn't I listen to my mother and back up this stinkin' computer?! The same thing happened to her right before Christmas but she had backed up her docs and pics the day before it happened. She called me and told me about it but I got busy and didn't do mine. Yeah, I'm kicking myself now! UGH!!!

Anyway, I'm still having trouble with the computer, lots of error messages, sometimes it won't work at all. I'll be back when all is worked out... unless I throw it out the window first.

Survival of the Fittest

2009-01-23T15:58:00.007-05:00

That's always been my wintertime-in-Florida mantra. Apparently there isn't much in my garden that was 'fit' to battle with this week's freezing temps. For example... my Sanchezia started out like this

and turned into this.

The black-eyed Susan vine looked like this last week

and now this is what it looks like.

The Mona Lavender with its oh-so-pretty blooms turned to this.

And the Spiral Ginger is no longer a pretty green accent plant, in its place is a mushy mess.

The Porterweed

the Chaya

the Panama Rose

the Mexican Firebushes

the little Banana Trees.

This new blackened mess is repeated all throughout my garden, and I'm sure quite a lot of Florida gardens. The only thing we can do now is wait it out. Instead of getting out there and cutting back all the 'dead' plants, we need to hold off until at least mid-February to see what is really dead and what just lost its leaves. That's the hardest part for me. Waiting it out.

The damage that bothers me the most at this point is the Milkweed. It all looks like this

and I have at least 20 Monarch caterpillars that I am trying to raise and Milkweed is their only food source. They are all sizes, from just hatched out of the egg to almost-ready-to-transform-into-chrysalis size. Every time I would go out to gather more milkweed leaves for them, I'd find more caterpillars and I just couldn't leave them outside in freezing temps. Now I'm hoping I can keep them fed until they reach their chrysalis form.

I've released 3 new Monarch butterflies this week. I tried letting 2 of them go yesterday but they couldn't get enough sun to energize them and they wouldn't fly away. I ended up bringing them back in for the night and I waited until it was about 60 degrees today and then let them go. They flew away, I don't have many flowers here for them to feed from.

And now I'll try sitting on my hands until mid-February or so. It's hard to keep from cutting back all this 'dead' stuff but it may not be dead so the wait is on...

Chandelier Plant

2009-01-08T12:12:00.000-05:00

Whether you call it Chandelier Plant, Mother of Thousands or Kalanchoe delagoensis... you need to know something about these plants before sticking them in the ground. They will eventually take over the world. This particular one is popping up through the middle of a plumbago and this mother-of-bajillions is as tall as I am. (That's about 5'8")

The flowers are pretty and I can see why it's called Chandelier Plant, the flowers hang like chandelier lights. But the name Mother of Thousands is far more appropriate. These plants produce several plantlets... babies... on each leaf. You can see the babies here on this weirdly-focused (can you say bokeh?) picture from November.

This is the same plant seen in the top photo but before the flowers were completely formed.

So anyway, each and every one of these babies will drop off the mother plant and whether they land on the ground or not, they will take root somewhere and they will grow. One of these plants can yield literally a thousand plants in a years' time. I would not recommend planting them and really wouldn't even keep them in pots because the babies can blow off onto the ground and you'll end up with a mess like I did. For the most part, my mess under control but the rest of these plants will be coming out in the upcoming months. It's been a 5 year battle. So far.

Springtime in Winter

2009-01-03T16:43:00.000-05:00

Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly on Red Pentas Flowers

Pinks & Reds

2009-01-03T16:34:00.002-05:00

Panama Rose

Vinca

Red Firespike

Spicy Jatropha

A single, solitary Coral Porterweed flower

And the Red 'tunias are still happy as can be.

Yellow bloomers

2009-01-03T16:24:00.002-05:00

Here are some yellow/orange flowers blooming in my garden today.

Black-eyed Susan vine

Cassia

Yellow Walking Iris

Thryallis buds promise to open soon

Milkweed

Speaking of milkweed, see what I found today?

Baby monarch caterpillars!

Some blue and purple winter bloomers

2009-01-03T16:16:00.004-05:00

Here are a few blues & purples that are blooming in my garden today.

Blue Daze

Plumbago

Blue Porterweed

Lobelia

Purple Porterweed

Mona Lavender

Summer Torch bromeliad

2009-01-03T16:11:00.004-05:00

The poor thing is confused. It's called Summer Torch, not Winter Torch. Anybody else have these things blooming now? Don't they usually wait until June or July to bloom? I mean, I don't mind because they are such fantastic flowers but now I'm wondering if they'll also bloom in the summer.

Sanseveria

2009-01-03T16:05:00.003-05:00

Sanseveria, Snake Plant, Mother-in-law Tongue, whatever you prefer to call it, it's getting ready to bloom.

I've grown these things all my life and didn't know they bloomed until last year. I have a clump of them growing on the other side of the fence but this is an escapee that went under the fence and popped up.

The giant crinum is showing off yet again

2009-01-03T15:59:00.004-05:00

The bloom:

(To get an idea of the size of this thing, I'm holding the flower stalk up while taking the picture, see my hand in the lower left hand corner?)

And second bud promising another flower cluster in a week or two:

She's Alive!!

2009-01-03T15:47:00.003-05:00

Remember this? After several failed attempts at growing Persian Shield, I decided to give it one last shot before giving up. Well! The plant that I got WAAAAAYYY back in August 2008 is still alive. It isn't flourishing but it's alive and putting out new growth. I feel like I've accomplished something. :-)

PS. For those of you who grow this easily, please don't judge my pitiful little plant. I'm feeling pretty good about it right now. :)

At the Zoo today, we saw

2008-12-20T16:30:00.002-05:00

something shiny (Christmas balls!)

something creepy (Gator-mania)

something sweet (mama & baby Jaguar)

and something pretty.

I'm not feeling all Christmasy but...

2008-12-19T16:30:00.002-05:00

my neighbor's Brazilian Pepper Tree that hangs over our fence is covered in green leaves and red berries. It's a yucky tree but the colors fit right in.

Mystery bug

2008-12-19T16:29:00.003-05:00

I haven't figured out what he is yet. He was hanging out on our shed the other day.

UPDATE!!! Thanks to my penpal, Gardening Fool, for the proper name for this guy. It's a metallic wood borer and if he comes around here again, he's getting squished. Thanks GF! :-)

Random photos for the day

2008-12-19T16:08:00.003-05:00

My 6 year old daughter took all of these photos this afternoon.

Black-eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia alata)

Wandering Jew in bloom

Gulf Fritillary butterfly on Pentas

Plumbago

I think the kiddo did a pretty good job! :-)

Cordyline identification

2008-12-16T11:56:00.003-05:00

There are a bunch of Cordylines identified here.

(I'm just posting this here because I don't want to lose it.)

Signs of Spring. Wait... already???

2008-12-14T14:09:00.001-05:00

My Maple tree already thinks it's Spring. The unusually cold weather must have thrown it off. Normally, the last of the Maple leaves fall off during mid-December and new ones appear in early February. Here it is mid-December and the leaves have been gone a few weeks and new growth is already appearing.

Cranberry Hibiscus seedling

2008-12-14T14:08:00.003-05:00

This little seedling is only about 8 inches tall and it's already showing off.

Great Southern White Butterfly

2008-12-14T13:17:00.002-05:00

I was standing by one of the Plumbagos... with camera in hand... stalking a little cassius blue butterfly and a beautiful white butterfly landed right beside me. It had some blue on its wings near its body. I'd never seen one in my yard before and didn't know what it was. Turns out, it's a Great Southern White Butterfly. Where's the picture? Um, yeah... it took off and flew over the fence before I realized I still had the camera with me. :(

Butterfly question for ya - Is it just me or are butterflies smaller during this time of the year?

How to build a self-watering container

2008-12-13T15:23:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share this video with you. This is how we grew our tomatoes last year. We had a better crop than we've ever had growing 'maters in the ground here in Florida. The video is kinda spazzy but it gets the point across.

Pots full of happiness

2008-11-29T12:56:00.002-05:00

Red Petunias make me smile. :-)

December is just around the corner

2008-11-29T12:11:00.001-05:00

but these Sulphur caterpillars don't seem to care.

Exotic Planting for Adventurous Gardeners

2008-11-28T09:11:00.005-05:00

After reading several quotes, tips and tricks from Christopher Lloyd on a good friend's gardening blog, I checked my library for some of Mr. Lloyd's books. They only had two so I started with Exotic Planting. He had started this book but didn't complete it before he died in 2006. Other gardening writers got together and completed the book.

My first 'reading' of the book was just to look at the pictures. Oh my, they are fabulous. It took me back to being a kid looking through the Christmas Wish Book from Sears. I want this. Ooh, I want that. And this. And that. And this. Did I mention that I love tropical looking foliage with big leaves? That's what most of these plants are. So I started my internet search to see which ones would work in my yard.

I started with Paulownia tomentosa aka Empress Tree. Ooh, I'm liking this one. Beautiful clusters of big, fragrant flowers, big tropical leaves. Good for my Zone 9b. But wait, it's a 40 foot tree. Ok, so Mr. Lloyd's crew kept these trimmed back to keep their height under control. But would I? I don't have a spot for a 40' tree. And it's invasive. Maybe this one isn't a good fit.

Then I went to Tetrapanax papyrifer and found that it's also called Rice Paper Tree and it's good for my Zone 9b. It's good for butterflies, bees & birds and it gets 10 feet tall. So far, this one sounds good. But then I read that it aggressively spreads underground. I'll have to do more reading before making a final decision about this one. I wonder if it would work in a big pot.

After that was Arundo donax or Striped Giant Reed Grass. It looks kind of like a variegated corn plant. It gets pretty tall, 10-15' and it's considered invasive. I'm seeing a pattern here...

Then I saw one that I recognize. Castor oil plant. Nice big reddish leaves, fast growing but topping out around 6', good for my zone. But then there's the fact that all parts of the plant are poisonous. I have little kids. No, this one won't work.

I was starting to get discouraged at this point.

Next was Ailanthus altissima" or Tree of Heaven. Good for my zone. Another 40' tree. Invasive. Also called Stink Tree. Apparently, it smells bad. Never mind.

At this point, I was about to stop and return the book. Sure there were cannas, bananas, gingers, coleus, elephant ears and other stuff that I already have and know about but I was just looking at all the new-to-me stuff.

Then I found Euphorbia mellifera or Honey Spurge. It smells like honey. It gets 4-6' tall. I'd be pushing the zone limits with it as it's recommended for Zone 8b but that isn't TOO far away. Hmmmm....

Next came Amicia zygomeris. The leaves on this one remind me of cassia. And it has yellow flowers. Six to 8', good for my zone. Another possibility.

And then Farfugium japonicum or Leopard Plant. Interesting round leaves. The yellow flowers look a little shabby to me but are kinda pretty. Zone, ok, 48" high, good.

This one really caught my eye: Red Hot Poker. The blooms, though they are short-lived, are fabulous. Good for bees, hummers & butterflies. Good for my zone. This one has definitely made my 'wish list'.

Are you bored yet? Cause I'm still going... I want to keep this list so I can refer back to it. :-)

I like the dark foliage on the Euphorbia cotinifolia aka Caribbean copper plant. It gets 6-8' high. It has tiny flowers that aren't 'all that' but the leaves are its glory. It's a possibility.

Next came Gunnera manicata aka Giant Rhubarb aka Dinosaur Food. If you like big leaves, how could you not like something called Dinosaur Food?? It gets about 8' tall and is good for my zone.

Finally, an annual. Verbena bonariensis or Upright Verbena self seeds to the point that it is considered invasive but it has pretty, airy purple flowers that 3-4' tall.

And in the words of Forrest Gump, That's all I have to say about that.

No flowers. No bugs.

2008-11-25T16:11:00.002-05:00

It's all about the green stuff today.

Bromeliad. I don't know the proper id and I'm being lazy so I'm not looking it up yet.

Peperomia. Whoops! Its bloom jumped in the picture. Oh well, it's green, right?

Variegated Yucca. I always have a hard time spelling 'variegated' for some reason.

Mother-of-thousands. Should be named Mother-of-gazillions. See all those little attachments on the ends of the leaves? Those are all baby plants and they will all drop to the ground or attach to something and they will all grow into new plants. It's going to bloom soon. The blooms are beautiful.

Basket Plant (Callisia fragrans). This plant is green if grown in the shade and it has reddish streaks if grown in the sun. Its blooms aren't really all that to look at but, as implied by its name, the fragrance is amazing. Mine didn't bloom this year though. Too much rain? Too much shade? I'm not sure.

Painted Fingernail Bromeliad. It has little purple flowers in the summer.

But sometimes the green stuff isn't green at all.

This is a bunch of wandering jew with some purple heart (or purple queen) mixed in here and there.

And finally, Cranberry Hibiscus. This is a little seedling that I dug up and potted. They reseed freely and I find them everywhere.

And now I'm heading back to my kitchen. I've been in my kitchen for 2 days and will be in there until Friday. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! :-)

My raised herb bed

2008-11-23T11:16:00.000-05:00

I found an awesome deal on a bunch of coquina rocks last year. A guy had just bought a house and the landscaping was full of coquinas and other rocks. He wasn't into that look at all so he decided the best way to get rid of them was to sell them dirt cheap for a truckload. My friend and I took our trucks and loaded them up. Twice. It was hard, heavy work and if you ever plan to move a bunch of rocks, wear jeans, good shoes and gloves. And take a bottle of water.

I have the rocks here and there throughout my yard but a lot of them went into making my raised herb bed.

I haven't done anything to my herb bed in several months and it's looking rough. The basil and lemon basil fizzled out. The dill went to seed and then died out. The cilantro suffered in the heat of the summer. It tried but just couldn't hold on. The rosemary just... disappeared. I don't know what happened to it. And the parsley was eaten by dozens of swallowtail caterpillars. Two of my parsley plants were invaded by a mound of fireants but the third one is trying to make a comeback.

The sage is still looking good and will be yummy in our Thanksgiving dressing this week.

The oregano is unstoppable. I bought the original plant 2 years ago and when I transplanted it to the herb bed, I divided it to make 3 plants.

To divide oregano, just dig up a portion, making sure to include roots, and plant it. You can also propagate using cuttings but including roots gets you a larger plant faster.

The thyme is still growing well

but the lemon thyme is showing up the common thyme.

Lemon thyme is the plant you see spilling over the rocks in the first picture. This is my favorite herb right now. It's wonderful with chicken. It would be good with fish too but my husband doesn't care for fish so I never cook it. It can go in any recipe that calls for lemon, whether it's juice, flavoring or zest.

And then we have the chives... the poor, pitiful chives.

Maybe they'll do better next year. I love chives on a baked potato.

And finally there's something called Cuban Oregano. It's also called Spanish Thyme. A very nice lady gave it to me when it was a tiny cutting. It has grown like crazy and has large, thick leaves.

I've never cooked with it and really don't know what to do with it. It sent up some new, tall shoots so I think it's getting ready to bloom.

So that's my herb bed. Nothing fancy or exotic, just the basics. I'm a country cook so that's all I need. :-)

I've been hibernating...

2008-11-22T15:28:00.002-05:00

When the temps drop below 70 degrees, I tend to go into hibernation and I bake a lot. I finally ventured into my backyard for a little while this afternoon (it was the first time all week!) and found this:

And I had been thinking winter was here, silly me! Back to normal business tomorrow... See ya then! :-)

Bougainvillea

2008-11-16T13:18:00.001-05:00

When we first moved into this house, there were 12 bougainvillea plants in the landscaping. Twelve! The colors were fantastic, they were vibrant pinks, deep purples and one started out orange but quickly faded to pink. They really put on a show. We had bougainvillea surrounding the little palm tree in the front yard, just beside the driveway. We had bougainvillea in the planters at the top of the driveway, you had to walk right by them to get to the front door. We had bougainvillea in the built-in planter by the swimming pool. They were beside all the major walkways. Do you see where I'm going with this? These shrubs grow very, very fast and they are full of thorns. If you don't cut them back often, they become overgrown, wild and crazy. The long branches reach out and grab you and then they wrap around you, sticking you with their thorns. (Not really, but sometimes it seemed like it.)

One-by-one my husband and I dug them out. That is no easy task. They have a really long taproot that is nearly impossible to dig out, especially after they've been in the ground for several years. We ended up cutting the taproots and almost all of the plants came back from what was left of the taproots. We had to repeat the same procedure over and over until the plants finally gave up. We got rid of all of them, with one exception. We kept a pink one. Why? I don't know. They came with the house, I felt guilty getting rid of all of them, I mean they are beautiful.

The flowers on bougainvillea are the tiny yellowish-white tubes in the center. They aren't much to look at but the colorful papery bracts surrounding the little flowers put on a spectacular show. If you have a problem keeping bougainvillea blooming, you might be overwatering it or fertilizing it. They do best in full sun with minimal water and no fertilizer. Think of them as weeds and care for them that way... ignore them and let nature take care of them (except for pruning, nature doesn't do much of that).

Bougainvillea is pretty much a pest-free and disease resistant plant. It can be pruned to any extent at any time here in Central Florida. My problem with the plants that came with our house was that I cannot prune a plant that is in bloom and these guys were always in bloom. Well, that and I detested pruning the thorny bougainvillea bushes so I didn't do it often enough.

The day I started this blog, we dug our one-and-only bougainvillea out of the ground and moved it. This was the second time we moved this bush. Even though we didn't dig out much of the taproot, I knew the bush would make a full recovery and sure enough, it is now covered in color. I put it in a place where I don't care if it goes crazy. I won't trim it back and it can do its own thing. And, unless I'm mowing the yard, I won't have to walk anywhere near it.

Panama Rose

2008-11-14T20:26:00.001-05:00

My Panama Rose, or Rondeletia leucophylla, is making itself be noticed now. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that it was going to be blooming soon. It will be covered in happy pink clusters of flowers from now until April or May unless we have a really cold spell, then it will take a break. The butterflies love these flowers during our winter months.

This bush has been in the ground for two or three years. I'm in USDA Zone 9b so I'm pushing the limits a bit with the Panama Rose, it is recommended for Zones 10b-11.

I don't do anything special for this bush, I shoot it a bit of water during our really dry times but nothing special. It might get fertilized once a year or so. That's it. I haven't cut it back at all since I bought it and it seems to be kind of a slow grower. It was probably a foot tall when I got it and now it's between 3 and 4 feet high. They can get 12-15 feet high but I don't expect it to get that big in my zone.

This one gets full sun and it seems happy with that. They can be planted in partial shade as well. I've read that they are easy to propagate but I haven't tried it yet.

This was a clearance sale experiment that turned out really nice.

Updated Can you ID this caterpillar?

2008-11-14T15:42:00.005-05:00

We found him on the underside of a weed that grows up and over our fence. At first glance, I thought it was a monarch that had lost its way but the markings are different and it has hairs.

UPDATE!! I found it! It's a grapeleaf skeletonizer caterpillar. Pictures of others are here and this is the adult moth.

Did a little plant shopping this morning...

2008-11-14T12:36:00.004-05:00

I didn't set out to go plant shopping, really I didn't. I had some errands to run and on the way home, I happened to be driving by my favorite little family-owned nursery. I decided to stop, just to look around. That led to me bringing home this little collection:

I've mentioned before that I have to have red petunias at my front door anytime I can. Well, I bought some that aren't solid red to go in with the others.

Ok, so I didn't venture too far away from the solid red but they are a little different. :)

And remember the Cassia at the nature sanctuary? I bought one of those too.

And a couple of old-fashioned tall red pentas because I 'need' them.

And finally a couple of pretty little blue Lobelias.

Now I have to figure where to put them. :-)

Snowflake Pictures

2008-11-12T16:46:00.004-05:00

Totally unrelated to Central Florida Gardening but...

SnowCrystals is a website I've had in my favorites for a while. I'm amazed everytime I go there and look at the closeup photos of snow.

Be sure to check out the photo galleries.

The sanctuary butterfly garden

2008-11-11T23:48:00.000-05:00

The little butterfly garden was a new-to-me feature at the sanctuary we visited Sunday afternoon. Four years ago when I was there, the butterfly garden didn't exist. I wish I'd gone this past summer, I'm sure it was really beautiful then. Now, it's still really nice but many of the flowers are past their prime and have already gone to seed.

One interesting bush that is still blooming is the Necklace Pod.

It is also full of the seed pods which give this plant its name.

Another 'beauty' is the American Beautyberry, covered in its brilliant purple berries.

And then there was the Christmas Senna or Winter Cassia aka Cassia bicapsularis (I think it's now called Senna bicapsularis).

This bush was covered in flowers and was absolutely stunning. I'd never seen one in person before and I fell in love with it.

My 6 yr old spotted this sulphur caterpillar on the cassia.

We also saw purple lantana, milkweed and porterweed still blooming but somehow I managed to get out of there without taking any pictures of them. And there were some dried blanketflowers (Gaillardia) and some other spent flowers that I couldn't identify. I would imagine that in the Spring, there will be lots of new growth and the plants will be easier to identify.

Bathroom art at the nature sanctuary

2008-11-11T06:30:00.004-05:00

Yes, we took pictures in the ladies room. I thought this was an interesting way to display dried, pressed flowers.

Ribbon edging, sheer fabric over a light colored fabric with pressed flowers in between, stitched flower names...

I like that the flowers names are just kind of random, like someone wrote them on the fabric and then stitched over the writing.

I don't know if I'll ever do anything like this but I still think they are pretty.

A visit to the nature sanctuary

2008-11-10T15:29:00.003-05:00

We have an amazing nature sanctuary nearby. It consists of over 100 acres of natural, undeveloped Florida and has almost two miles of boardwalk paths winding through the hammock and overlooking a creek. There's another mile or so of paths that don't have boardwalks, they are just paths through the woods.

When we first moved to Florida in 1996, we went at least once a month. This is one of my favorite places to visit. But we kind of forgot about it for a while and hadn't been in probably 4 years. I decided to take my girls on a field trip yesterday afternoon and surprised them with a visit to the sanctuary.

We started with a visit to the nature center, a building loaded with information about Florida nature. This orchid was growing on the porch:

In the center, the girls got to touch snakeskins, some kind of animal skull, a bird nest, dried bugs, seed pods, feathers, wasps nests (empty, of course!) and tons of other things. We had lots of fun and the lady who was working there shared lots of information with us and seemed to really love what she was doing. She let me know that because of budget cuts, there are no longer park rangers there on weekends. They used to have several rangers taking care of the sanctuary and giving guided tours but now they are down to one ranger and he's only there for another month and only on weekdays, not weekends when the place is full of families. After next month, only volunteers like that wonderful 94 year old lady we met yesterday will be there.

After I dragged the kids away from the nature center, I opted to start with the non-boardwalked trail.

My 3 yr old has a problem with the concept of walking, not running. But after she got a segment of this cactus

embedded in the palm of her little hand, she calmed down a bit. (After the screaming, jumping and waving of the hand while I tried to keep her still and remove the cactus without hurting her more or stabbing myself... never a dull moment!)

Many trees in the sanctuary are leaning, a result of the 2004 hurricanes that came through here. My 6 yr old noticed some sap dripping off a leaning pine tree.

We saw lots of flowering rosemary. The flowers are white with little purple dots.

And we saw tons of Liatris, I think this one is native to Florida.

Then, there were the views of the creek.

Ahhhhh... this little daytrip was so relaxing. We'll be visiting it more often.

This is why I should clean my windows

2008-11-09T09:21:00.003-05:00

This was taken through my 3 yr old's window. Do you know how much a 3 yr old touches glass? And how many fingerprints they leave behind?

Anyway, I think it's a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Usually we only have Red-bellied Woodpeckers in the Maple tree but this new guy must be spending the winter here. He's been at this tree off and on for days. At one point, both this one and Mr. Red-belly were in the tree. It seems Mr. Red-belly 'owns' the tree because he kept making Mr. Yellow-belly move.

See the line of holes by him? The tree is full of them!

Update!! I took a chance and went outside with my camera snd sure enough he was in the tree again. I was standing on a big rock so I could see over the 6' privacy fence, holding onto the fence with one hand and the camera with the other hand. My camera lens was propped up on the fence and I was trying to be quiet so I wouldn't spook him. This is the shot:

Red admiral butterfly

2008-11-09T09:00:00.002-05:00

We don't often see Red admirals in our yard. We found this one Friday afternoon. I think it was in trouble because it wouldn't fly away, it was just hanging out on the lava rocks. It has some damage to one of its wings but I don't think that would keep it from flying. Not sure what was going on.

See the little blue dots on the tips of it's lower wings? What an unusual color to throw in with the brown and red-orange.

Missed opportunities

2008-11-09T08:46:00.002-05:00

My girls and I spent almost all day outside yesterday. We weeded, we planted, we played chase, we watched butterflies, we picked up the tonka trucks, we had tons of fun. What we didn't do is take pictures.

I rarely ever see hummingbirds in my yard even though I try and entice them here. Yesterday we actually saw one!! It was at my red firespike. The blooms are almost gone but I hadn't trimmed them because I like they way they look now. I'm so glad I didn't trim them or I might have missed seeing the hummer.

And then... I was watching a little cassius blue butterfly. It was on the blue porterweed and was right next to the screened pool enclosure. There was a lizard on the screen. I was thinking that I should run in and grab the camera for a cassius blue-on-porterweed picture. But before I could even complete the thought... that lizard... that stinkin' lizard... darted toward the butterfly... and ATE IT!! I actually gasped. My girls asked me what happened and I couldn't tell them or they'd be on a lizard hunt. I knew the butterfly was there. I knew the lizard was there. But I didn't put 2 and 2 together. And it happened so fast! And then I was thinking about what a cool picture I could have had. A brilliant green lizard with half a cassius blue butterfly hanging out of its mouth. Is that sick? No, don't answer that. :-)

Red petunias and friends

2008-11-07T10:01:00.003-05:00

I'm a simple girl. I like red petunias. Sure purple and pink ones are pretty but there's just something about the red ones that jump out at me and make me smile. I don't have many annuals but this is my one must-have item. I have them in pots at my front door anytime I can... which is usually through fall and spring. In the summer, it's just too hot for them and they fizzle out on me. But in the fall and spring, you'd better believe they are out there. And I'm an open-windows-and-doors kind of person. If it's 80 degrees or below, my windows and doors are open. That allows the wonderful, sweet smell of the petunias to fill the house every morning and evening. They don't smell during the day but when the sun starts going down, oh my, they are intoxicating! Plus, everytime I walk through my living room, I see the wonderful shock of red just outside the front door.

This fall, they have some friends growing next to them. I found these little beauties at the garden center last month. They look like miniature petunias.

I saved the name tag when I potted them but I think the kids ran off with it since then. I think they are called Calibrachoa aka Million Bells. The blooms are only about an inch across and they are blooming in red and pink.

They sure are pretty little things!

Cicadas

2008-11-07T08:30:00.003-05:00

Cicadas are often called locusts but they are not related to locusts which are a type of grasshopper. Cicadas are sometimes called dry flies and jar flies.

Cicada nymphs live underground where they feed on sap from various plants. The sap is low in nutrients so the development of the nymphs takes four or more years. They will molt 4 times while they are underground.

Just before the final molt, the nymph will make its way up to the surface and it will climb up on something - a plant, tree, fence, house, whatever is close by and sturdy - and it anchors itself with its 'claws' and it will molt.

Have you ever seen one emerging from its shell? It's really interesting because it looks like there's no way that big cicada can fit into that totally different shaped bug-shell. Once they emerge, they leave that bug-shell or nymphal skeleton behind and it dries, hence the name dry-fly. The adults fly away to live in trees where their lifespan is usually a few weeks.

The adult females will lay eggs in twigs and the eggs will hatch either that same year or the following year depending on the species of cicada. When the eggs hatch, the small nymphs fall to the ground and burrow down to find the sap that they will live on for the next few years.

There are 19 kinds of cicadas in Florida but Florida is not home to periodical cicadas which emerge every 13 years and every 17 years. Our cicadas have emerging adults every year.

The males have a loud mating call. Sounds from several species can be heard here. Their sound is not made by rubbing their wings together but by loud noisemakers called timbals on the sides of the abdomens.

Cicadas are relatively harmless to plants and they don't bite or sting. They do provide food for birds, small animals and insects. Would you eat one? They are considered food in several countries around the world. They don't have to worry about me, I wouldn't eat one but they do need to watch out for the Cicada killer.

Central Florida's version of fall colors

2008-11-06T10:51:00.006-05:00

This time of year really makes me miss living in Kentucky. Our yard there was full of beautiful trees that would put on quite a show with their fall colors. Here in Florida, we have a huge Maple tree in our yard.

I love this tree because you don't really see them here that often. In the fall, the leaves try to put on their show.

What results is a tree full of splotchy leaves that soon fall to the ground. I don't mind this attempt at color, it's enough that it reminds me of my childhood and spending as much time outside as possible before winter set in.

Our tree will be bare through the months of December and January but then will quickly recover in early February.

In the meantime, we will rake the leaves and our girls will get to play in a huge pile of leaves.

There aren't many kids in our area that get to do that!

Something pretty to look at.

2008-11-05T17:27:00.001-05:00

A couple of years ago I decided to get rid of my hibiscus bushes. At the time, I had red, yellow, pink, double peach and then there was this one. I only kept the double peach and this one which was my favorite. My double peach doesn't have any blooms on it right now and I didn't think this one did. I cut them way back earlier this year because they were leggy and that resulted in a bloomless summer but this was a nice surprise this afternoon.

The Mexican Petunia and the green bee.

2008-11-05T17:21:00.002-05:00

I know a lot of you don't like Mexican Petunia (Ruella) but this green bee sure does!

I think it's a male Agapostemon texanus but I'm not positive about that.

Wild poinsettia

2008-11-05T17:15:00.002-05:00

This one was a mistake for me. I planted it in my yard... then a year later found out that it is classified as invasive. Here in Zone 9b, I completely agree with that classification. While it has a nice bit of color to it, I'll never plant it again. But I'll forever be pulling it out of my yard.

Blue, Coral, Purple & Red Porterweed

2008-11-05T12:04:00.001-05:00

Porterweed is a plant that I've loved for years. I sort of have a collection of them. They are fast growers, they are super easy to grow and they bounce back in no time after a hard pruning. I usually give mine a hard pruning every winter just to keep them under control. They come back as a fuller bush and they bloom more profusely after a good pruning. These are definitely drought-tolerant and butterfly & bee attracting plants.

Blue porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) blooms almost all year here in east central Florida's Zone 9b. It reseeds freely and I'm always pulling up babies and planting them where I think they should be. The seeds grow in the tall tails after the flowers drop off. Once they are dry, you can cut the tails and harvest the seeds by holding the tail over a paper towel and tapping it... the seeds will fall out. I've never tried growing this one from cuttings because the babies appear so frequently. Some call it invasive but I haven't found that to be the case in my garden. Butterflies and bees favor this one to the other colors, probably because it is a native plant rather than an exotic like the other colors. The Long-Tailed Skipper butterflies especially enjoy it.

The leaves on the native Blue porterweed are very different from the leaves on the exotic porterweeds that bloom in other colors. The flowers on Blue porterweed are actually a purplish-blue color but they cannot be mistaken for Purple porterweed.

Exotic porterweeds don't reseed like the Blue native ones do. However, the exotic ones are very easy to grow from cuttings. These cuttings (seen below) have barely rooted and are already blooming.

To take these cuttings, all I did was cut a couple of branches and stick them in a pot of soil. I put the pot of cuttings in a spot where they got filtered sun and made sure they were watered regularly. That's all there was to it.

Now this is where I'm a bit confused. This is my Coral porterweed with a Gulf Fritillary butterfly sipping its nectar.

And another picture of Coral porterweed.

And this is my latest addition, Red porterweed.

While the pictures don't show much difference in the color of the flowers, in actuality, the difference is very noticeable. I'm not sure if Coral or Red porterweed is Stachytarpheta mutabilis as I've seen it described as both Red and Coral. And I'm not sure what the other one is. Not that it really matters, I think they are all beautiful and I hope my new Red one thrives and grows as well as the others have.

I'll be back tomorrow, I promise!

2008-11-04T22:01:00.003-05:00

My parents have been here visiting this week. I only get to see them twice a year so I don't spend any time on the computer while they are here. Our wonderful visit ends when they leave in a few short hours, at 3:00 am, to drive the 15 hours it takes them to get home. Everything should be back to normal tomorrow. In the meantime, thanks for sticking around & see ya tomorrow! :-)

A test post.

2008-10-30T16:25:00.001-04:00

Just trying something a little different with my pictures. Feel free to ignore me. :-)

The Forgotten Flower

2008-10-29T22:52:00.004-04:00

Like so many of my plants, this plant was given to me. I put it in the ground in the Spring of 2007, I think. It might have been Spring of 2008, my memory isn't what it used to be.

I kind of forgot about it. It didn't thrive... I mean, it lived and it grew a little but it didn't go crazy and it certainly didn't bloom.

Until now. I noticed it earlier this month and it was getting ready to bloom.

And then this happened!

I wish I could remember its name. I'm pretty sure it's a Clerodendrum but I can't remember which one. (There are about 400 different Clerodendrums!) In the grand scheme of things, its name really doesn't matter. It's a plant, it's growing and it's blooming. That is all that really matters, right? :-)

UPDATE: Thank you to Gardening Fool for identifying it as Clerodendrum Paniculatum aka Pagoda Flower.

These critters are happy the sun is shining

2008-10-25T13:50:00.009-04:00

White Peacock butterfly on Blue Porterweed

A couple of White Peacocks on Lantana

Gulf Fritillary butterfly on Pentas

Cassius Blue (my 1st time to capture it with open wings!) on Plumbago

Grasshopper, not sure about an id, on Cassia alata leaves

White Peacock butterfly looking a little ragged on Cassia alata leaves

Cuban tree frog (blech!)

Long-tailed Skipper butterfly on Chaya leaf

Seed pods

2008-10-25T09:13:00.003-04:00

This is the time of year when a lot of new shapes and textures start showing up in the garden. Seed pods can add lots of interest. They can also mark the beginning of lots of baby plants. Take Thryallis for instance, the seeds from these pods will drop to the ground and next Spring, there will be hundreds of baby plants growing.

Even though it throws out a lot of seeds, this is still one of my favorite plants. It's always in bloom and the bright yellow flowers are just... happy.

The Spinach Tree is a new one for me this year so I'm not sure what to expect from these seed pods.

They look like itty bitty watermelons, don't they? This plant is so easy to start from cuttings that I won't bother trying to save any seeds. I'll just let them do their thing, whatever that might be.

And then there are the Cassia alata seed pods. They are larger than any other seed pods I have growing right now. These I will harvest.

They start out green and then as they dry, they turn brownish black and get crispy. To harvest them, I wait till they are crunchy and cut them off the stalk before they are dry enough to pop open. Once I have them inside the house, I put them in a tray on top of the fridge until they are completely dry.

Another interesting, and fuzzy, seed pod is on the Canna.

I don't harvest these, I'll just chop the stalk down and throw it out. I usually don't let them hang around long enough to go to seed but these were forgotten so this is the result. I think they look pretty cool!

A hot chocolate kind of morning

2008-10-24T10:18:00.004-04:00

The sky has been promising rain for a couple of days and it finally delivered beginning sometime last night. It's still rainy and cool... well, Central Florida cool anyway. It's 75°F now and we won't warm up much more than that all day. I can't decide if I want to spend this rainy day curled up on the couch with a good book or if I should get in the kitchen and bake some of my mama's yummy cinnamon rolls.

The Sun.

2008-10-22T17:31:00.003-04:00

If you'd like to see some amazing pictures of the sun and read some really interesting facts about it too, click here.

The picture below is my favorite because it's wild looking and different.

It's also my new background on my computer. The site tells what they did to the photo - it's all over my head but this one really jumped out at me. And it won't blind me if I stare at it too long.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and facts as much as I did! (Well, the parts I understood anyway...)

She's new and she's very photogenic!

2008-10-18T11:37:00.001-04:00

I bought her yesterday.

I've never grown one like her before but I've been seeing her in the store and I gave in yesterday and decided it was time for her to come home with me.

Her name is Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'. She isn't like the herb named Lavender, her name refers to the color of her beautiful flowers. Her leaves are a deep green.

So pretty! Now I have to find a home for her. :-)

The Elephant Ears are blooming

2008-10-18T11:36:00.002-04:00

Two of my favorites

2008-10-18T11:19:00.002-04:00

Zebra Longwing butterfly on an old-fashioned tall red Pentas flower

Today's Favorites

2008-10-17T10:30:00.002-04:00

Cassia alata - beautiful & reliable

Periwinkle - this is a new one I picked up earlier this year

Mexican Sage - I love this non-stop bloomer

Shell Ginger - has been blooming off and on all summer

Thryallis - has been absolutely covered in blooms since very early Spring

Beautyberry, Fence, Clothesline and a Painted Bunting

2008-10-17T09:21:00.002-04:00

I went outside this morning to water a few plants and when I went to turn on the water, I noticed some beautiful bright colors in my beautyberry that is over by my clothesline. Side note: Yes, I'm a clothesline-user. Not faithfully, especially in the summer when the afternoon rains sometimes happen earlier than expected, but I love the smell of sun-dried clothes and I love to see them flapping in the breeze and I love the cheaper electric bill. Anyway, a closer look revealed a stunning male painted bunting eating the beautyberry berries! I've never seen a male painted bunting in my yard before. Talk about beautiful!! Female painted buntings are green so I honestly don't know if I've seen them here before or not.

But wouldn't you know it, I didn't have my camera with me. So I slowly turned and went in the house to grab my camera and when I returned, he was perched up on the fence.

See him? No? Ok, let me zoom in

Beautiful bird. Terrible shots. He flew up into my neighbor's Oak tree after I took the 2nd pic. If you want to see some nice pics of them, try this.

How to raise caterpillars (and a look inside our butterfly jar)

2008-10-10T20:53:00.000-04:00

Our butterfly jar that lives at school in my daughter's 1st grade classroom is home for the weekend. I have a feeling one butterfly will emerge tomorrow morning. It's mounted to the screen that we use as a top. This chrysalis looks a little different from the ones we kept at home... the orange spots on the butterfly's wings are very visible through the chrysalis.

Remember the baby caterpillar that hatched from an egg that we unknowingly put in the jar? It must have been on some of the Cassia Alata leaves in the jar. Well, there ended up being 2 baby caterpillars! They are in different stages of life (aka instars) right now. The smaller one is green with blue stripes

and the larger one is yellow with black markings.

Look how this one mounted itself to the stick... sideways! How do they DO that?

So if you find a caterpillar that you want to raise, carefully snip a stem of the plant it is on so you don't have to touch the caterpillar (not cause it's icky, just because it's best not to touch them) and put it in a container. You'll usually find the caterpillars on their host plant but you can always research it to make sure. I always include a couple of sticks in the container to give the caterpillar options when it's ready to mount itself to something and transform into a chrysalis. If the caterpillar is one that likes to burrow under leaves to transform, these are usually moths and not butterflies, I include a layer of dried leaves that I pick up off the ground. The Tersa Sphinx Moth caterpillar is one example of a burrower. Is burrower a word?

Containers: At home we use an ice cream bucket but for school, I chose the clear, plastic jar seen in these pictures. I wanted the kids to be able to see all the action without moving the container. An old aquarium would be a good container to use if you've got a lot of caterpillars. I have kids so I avoid glass for this project. Cut a piece of screen for the top of the container and use a rubber band to secure it so you don't have any escapee caterpillars crawling around in the house. Yes, this has happened to me when the top wasn't secured properly. For the ice cream bucket, I use an stretchy headband that is pretty much just black elastic.

You'll need to give your caterpillars fresh flowers or food, depending on what they eat, daily. With the Monarchs, I was feeding them milkweed leaves 3-4-5 times a day! The sulphurs don't eat anywhere near that much. Some sulphurs eat leaves, some eat flowers. I give both just to make sure my bases are covered. The Tersa Sphinx caterpillars eat Pentas leaves and flowers. They also have voracious appetites. These big eaters will poo a lot so the container needs to be cleaned daily. I simply remove everything and wipe it out with a paper towel.

If you notice that a caterpillar stops eating for a few hours and is really still, just leave it there. Most likely, it is just getting ready to shed its skin so it can grow. Most caterpillars will molt 4 times, each stage takes it to its next instar. And each time they will grow larger and their colors may completely change.

And after they are finished eating and eating, they will crawl up on one of the sticks you placed in the container or they will head up to the screened top and they will secure their little caterpillar bottoms to the surface and they will hang upside down in a "J" position. They usually hang like this about a day. Then they will wiggle out of their caterpillar skins and you'll have a chrysalis. At this point, they need no more flowers or leaves or anything. I go ahead and carefully remove any uneaten plants to get them out of the way. (Note: if you have a burrowing moth caterpillar, you'll want to leave the layer of dried leaves so it can stay buried.) A lot is happening while they hang in that chrysalis. When it is almost time for the butterfly to emerge, the chrysalis will change and you will be able to see wings though the outer shell of the chrysalis. When the butterfly emerges, it will hang upside down until it's ready to be released.

So there you have it. It's simple, just put a caterpillar, some food and a couple of sticks in a jar with a screened top and watch the miracle happen! :-)

Another one has arrived

2008-10-10T12:47:00.002-04:00

When I got up at 4:00 this morning, I found that another Sulphur butterfly had emerged from her chrysalis. I released her around noon and this is how she looked right before flying away:

You may remember how she looked yesterday:

I've no idea how many times I've seen this process but it still amazes me. Remember the bucket full of Monarchs we had earlier this year?

These sulphurs needed more time to hang upside down than the newly-emerged Monarchs did. When butterflies emerge from the chrysalis, they hang upside down and pump fluid into their crumpled wings. This allows the wings to plump up and harden so they are ready for flight.

I still haven't been able to get a picture of the Sulphurs with their wings open. When they are open, you can clearly see the orange spots that indicate they are Orange-Barred Sulphurs. It's rare to see them with their wings open but I'll keep trying. We still have 2 more that are almost ready to emerge so I get 2 more chances! :-)

What a way to end to the day!

2008-10-09T18:54:00.001-04:00

This was the view from my front door this evening.

Look who came out to play!!

2008-10-09T11:39:00.003-04:00

When I got up this morning, one of the Orange Barred Sulphur Butterflies that we've been raising had emerged.

After she hung upside down in the ice cream bucket to let her wings dry for a while, I took her outside. She seemed to like her perch on my finger.

I put her on some Pentas to see if she would stick around or fly off.

She stayed in the sun for a while

but then another one came along and mated with her and they flew off together!! It happened so fast that I didn't get a picture but it was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed.

We have 3 others still in the bucket. This one, attached to a stick, should be emerging soon. Its color has changed and you can see its wings all wrapped up inside.

We have a second location for these as well. My daughter's 1st grade teacher found out that we raise butterflies and she was asking me lots of questions so I asked her if she would like some for the classroom. She was very interested so about a month ago, I sent a Monarch chrysalis to school and when the butterfly emerged, the class took it to the school's butterfly garden and released it. The kids and the teacher were SO thrilled, none of them had ever seen anything like it before. It sparked such an interest with one little boy that he found a cocoon at home and he took it to school so he could give it to me to care for. I didn't have the heart to tell him that something had bored into it and had eaten it but how cool to have interested a little boy in nature this much!

Early last week, I sent 2 Sulphur caterpillars to school and the kids watched them eat for a few days and then watched them transform into chrysalis form. Imagine my shock when the teacher came out of the classroom 2 days ago absolutely beaming and told me that they now have a BABY caterpillar in the jar! My goodness, one of the Cassia flowers or leaves that I had put in the jar must have had an egg on it and the little thing hatched! One of my daughter's classmates noticed it and decided that the 2 caterpillars that were in the jar had a baby! How cute is that? :-)

The thing in the attic

2008-10-09T11:21:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago after the kids were in bed for the night and the house was quiet, we heard something on the roof, or so we thought. Hubby and I went outside to see if we could see what it was. Turns out, it wasn't on the roof, it was in the attic. We tracked it for a while and then lost it. It moved slow and heavy so we weren't sure what it was. A raccoon? An armadillo? An opossum? Ugh!

Hubby climbed into the attic but couldn't find anything. He opened up a piece of soffit and we hoped that our mystery guest would escape by morning. We didn't hear it for the next week but one morning at 3 am I heard it right above me. Hubby, who can sleep through anything, was less than thrilled when I woke him up and told him "it" was back.

So the next morning he went on a hunt. He searched and searched until he found a place where the soffit was bumped out of place. It's a hidden place where it can't be seen unless you're on the roof. I don't go on the roof so this is his deal.

After searching the attic again - I should mention here that I don't go into the attic either - he was confident "it" was gone for the day. He put the soffit back into place and then fixed it where it couldn't be accessed anymore. That night there was a terrible noise that again woke me from a sound sleep. I ran outside and found the guilty party. I found "it" again this morning, still unhappy that its perfect wintering spot was barricaded.

Yeah, go find someone else's attic to scratch around in... I'm a light sleeper, you can't stay here!

It's raining, it's pouring...

2008-10-07T19:55:00.002-04:00

I love rainy days in Florida in the Fall.

We may still have the air conditioner on...

but a pot of homemade soup sounds so good.

Happy Gardening!