Midsummer Rains

June 29, 2006
Time flies so fast these days. Not that there is anything exciting making the days fly, they just do. My grandmother used to say the older you get the faster time seems to fly.. maybe its because you're already over the hill and the slide down is always faster than the climb upThe ferns seem to be loving all this hot weather and rain. It heats up and we have a thunder storm most every afternoon.. drenches everything and leaves it sauna like for a while when the sun comes back out.

There are so many aloe plants.. they need separating and planting.. either in pots to give away or in a row for who knows what. My inability to throw things away extends well into the yard. I noticed one of the newer aloes has a large bud. Last year the aloes out by the driveway were covered with blooms... wondering what this one will look like.People on the garden web, Florida forum have been talking about their 4 o'clocks not blooming. Mine have buds, but I don't think they open. I wonder if there was defective seed or something. We had them where we used to live.. just the other side of town.. and they bloomed non stop most of the year. It was impossible to eradicate them! These are SO picky and seem very unhappy.

The Duranta Repens is covered with blooms and with huge yellow butterflies during the sunny afternoons. I pruned it rather severely in early spring so that it was possible to mow around it. It seems to have loved it.

The spot where I put the lavender lantana is too shady. Its not very shady, but apparently it thrives on full blazing sunshine. I've never had much luck starting them from cuttings. Perhaps a time to try again.Last picture is of a plant that naturally I lost the ID tag. It might be a Firespike, but not sure.

When I finally get outside I hate to come in. Perhaps I can go out more.. this latest FM flare up seems to have calmed down. Today I didn't feel the desire or need for a nap ALL day long. Only had to give in and lie down once or twice. I love to be outside and actually do something with the space for gardens.

I have some little succulents to put into a small garden. I think I'll put them on the front porch in a small container until they grow a little more. We had so many different cactus and succulents when we had the greenhouse . I think we bought a shipment from Park or Ball wholesale. It was like Christmas watching to see what they would be. Flowers and plants from seed continue to amaze me.. from a piece of dust cames something SO intricate and so alike its parentage.

Sad for Willie tonight (one of Suzi's dogs).. Sherman (humongous, gentle giant shepherd) mouths all the other dogs while almost 'lowing'.. He did it to Willie and when Willie jumped, his tooth caught his eye. Suzi rushed him to the vet.. Thankfully he didn't seem to be in any pain. In thinking of it, probably he was traumatized.. and in shock. Of their 4 dogs, Willie is my favorite. He has such spunk and personality. He's a grey terrier.. his nickname is possum.. and he makes me think of Felix Unger... Quick healing, Willie

Birds

June 24, 2006


Lakeland is blessed with so many lakes and parks. Where I live is in the midst of a conservation area full of small lakes and strips where they mined phosphate and water has taken over. Loads of woods and water. You'd think we'd be inundated with wildlife, but in two years we haven't even seen evidence of racoons. There are so many birds that mornings sound like an entire orchestra tuning up.

Lake Morton has so many swans.. both black and white. We've seen the little signets in the spring and the adults all year long. These are pictures taken at Lake Morton. On windy days you can feel the excitement in the birds. They seem to fling themselves into the air for the sheer fun of it.

There are a few squabbles among the swans especially. They seem to be in charge and shoo any of the other birds out of their way when they have a task at hand.









Even the black pidgeons are beautiful.

It always amazes me the variety of birds on the lakes around here.

The signets are so adorable - They have large cages half in and half out of the water to protect the swans while they are setting on the eggs and while the little ones are so vulnerable.

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I love to watch the pelicans. All the birds seem to be SO white. It was a surprise to see the black underside of the pelicans wings.

Visiting the parks is always wonderful and refreshing. Pictures make it doubly enjoyable. I'm anxious to get another camera that will take better quality pictures. So many "Foto-Ops" as they say. Another hobby - I love pictures of flowers. The ones in my garden may fade, but the pictures are there forever. Someone on Garden Web had some pictures of roses and I swear I could smell roses, they were so beautiful and such great pictures.

Chinch bugs....

June 22, 2006
Another very hot day. Clouded up a few times, but only a few minutes sprinkling of rain. Plants were grateful to be watered... hose...

I love how the caladium has tiny areas of pink that matches the polka dot plant - hypoestes. I took this photo about two weeks ago and due to storms had the plants up on the porch for the last week. The polka dot plant is now very stretched because it didn't get enough sun. Lemonade is that now I won't feel badly about 'pruning' it and starting several new cuttings. I love using this plant as ground cover or mulch for some of the other plants.

I think there are some chinch bugs out in the yard. I've read several natural things to do to get rid of them, the most important is moisture. They say if a lawn is kept wet, you don't have that problem. There is a pretty large patch that need attention. Tomorrow I'll spray with water heavy with lemon dish washing soap.. and then perhaps with terazacide.. and then water well once again.

The butterfly bush is covered with blossoms. The crepe mytrle out front has a bunch of light pink blooms.. the one out back has some very dark magenta flowers just opening. I've seen bushes all over town.. not pruned and literally covered with color. Mine are pretty sparse. The pale pink gets sun in the morning, the dark magenta in the afternoon. I clipped the tips of the one out back.. snipped off old blooms, and didn't touch the one out front, so apparently that's not the factor. Think I need to go research the 'how to'.


The 4 o'clocks are blooming some, but still pretty puny plants. a few in the ground, and two large pots of them. Most of the ones in the pots seem to be yellow and white.. the ones out behind the house are pink and white. I have all these wonderful gardens in my mind's eye, but can't seem to get them transferred to the ground. Perhaps its because hard labor is what does the transferring.

Ants have been swarming lately. We had an invasion of those huge carpenter ants one night... mostly with wings. Hans aired out his drop cloths and found ants in both storage containers. Time for some well placed Amdro. Home Depot said that it would take care of any kind of ant. I've also heard that if you have ants, you're not apt to have termites because ants eat termites. We have every size ant I can imagine, so perhaps we are well protected from termites... and now for the carpenter ants.

Winter Flowers

June 17, 2006

One of the things I focused on when we had to move south was the "year round gardening". Recently I read an article by a "native" saying that eventually transplants learn that its not year 'round' here, but that we have that resting time just like other parts of the country. There is a brief rest during the coldest months where only cold hardy plants survive. The main resting time is the dead heat of summmer. There are a few plants that manage and even thrive in the relentless heat, but there isn't much gardening to do except maintenance. Its too hot to be out gardeing and newly planted things stand a chance of not making it.

During a time when physical activity wasn't really possible I started 'making' gardens with a paintbrush.. on everything in sight, or as my husband says "nothing is safe from her paintbrush'. As I sat at the computer I saw two small river rocks on which I'd painted flowers.. one a basket of flowers from a rock painting book and another life most of my flowers. I start with one plant and just add to my garden till I'm satisfied. Much like one would plant outside.

Its not quite the same as having beautiful plants that surprise you with their first blooms, or veggies you can pick and serve, but somehow it satisfies that creative something inside. For so many years I envisioned gardens, and now that I actually have a place for these gardens I no longer have the physical ability to carry them through. I can do what I can, when I can, and find other things to do instead... like paint.

Its really funny when you get ollder and unable to do things how long it takes your mind to 'catch up' with your body. Your mind still plans ahead when there isn't that much ahead of you.. and you think you can do the same things you used to do. There are certain things that my mind has finally accepted that I can't do and no longer feel badly or guilty about it. I am still upset about not being able to handle paperwork like I used to, but don't feel badly that I can't handle physical activities. I've learned to say no when its a bad day and make the most of good days. God has given us a wonderful place to live and I make the most of the pictures out of our windows.

A lot of my plants continue to blaze with color. One of my white crinum lilies bloomed this past week - much too hot for it and its blossoms only lasted a few days. This is the second year with the duranta repens.. and after some fairly hard shaping pruning, its just covered with those beautiful purple flowers. The butterflies and I love that bush. My cassia has still not bloomed. Its hard to tell whether the buds are blooms waiting to happen or simply more leaves. Its looking like simply more leaves !! The salvia has always performed well and this year, no exception. Even the impatiens are covered with bloom no matter what. I planted some 4 o'clocks and they have surprised me by not being mixed colors, but only yellow. In our old yard I have them in several places in such a riot of colors. I especially loved the salmon colored ones and deep pink ones. The one section with just white seems to be the most fragrant, though. The ones here seem to be ALL yellow. Lisa's house is a very fresh pale blue and yellow looks wonderful with it. She said "you know, those are going to have to live at MY house". So they will be relocating shortly. I did put a few in very large pots so that they could be moved for the perfect spot. She has a yellow clethra.. I believe. Its been treated very badly and still is beautiful. It wilts, revives and blooms on. Some plants are just wonderful.

The sago seeds are ripe and ready to be planted. Hans collected about one hundred last December and we put them into moist sand.. flat side down, half exposed. The majority of them sprouted, but we never did anythng with them after reading the article saying they are such a carcinogen. Still the seeds sit there.. The squirrels 'harvested' our first batch that I put on the back porch. Two have come up and one now has two 'fronds'. Their plants did much better than ours !! I have so many seeds and it seems to take me so long getting around to planting them, that they just sit there with the promise that ONE day they will bloom.

There are so many thing in my life like that.. things that one day I'm GOING to do. Flylady is a great help with beating procrastination. Perhaps this is a good day to start once again... I can do anything for 15 minutes, including garden in my yard. I think the stairs to get to the yard are a deterrent. Hans has asked if I'd like sliding doors through my 'office onto the back yard. Perhaps its time to say yes since there is a large knoll just outside those windows and with a removable 'stoop', it would only be a step or two, compared to several in the front. I think life is like the garden... seasons. You just have to learn to recognize the seasons and go with the flow.

Fullness of the Season

06/06/06
A date that will never be again.. Some refused to do business today. to me it was just another day in June. I guess my family didn't believe in superstitions and I'm thankful they planted that seed in me.

There always seems to be something blooming, no matter what the weather. The red pentas blooms seem to have lasted so long. They are supposed to be a big butterfly and hummingbird attractor, but so far I've seen niether of them. Its okay, their beauty is more than enough reason for their existence.

I had planned to have mainly whites, pinks, blues with just a touch of yellow in my gardens, but finding that hummingbirds are mainly attracted to reds has changed that drasticly. I resurrected some red impatiens from Christmas and now they are blooming beautifully. I remember the hummingbirds coming to the ones behind our house in Port St Lucie. It surprised me as I didn't really consider them a tubular flower.

Reading on the garden web forums gives you so many good idea and such desire to have those gardens now.

I love these lilies. I think they need more fertilizer. Someone threw out so many bulbs.. I need to prepare a bed in the right spot for them to show off to their best. There were some pink crinum lilies and some fire engine red amaryllis among the bulbs also. I think I've planted some much to deeply and there are no signs of flowers. My daughter said the ones that did the best for her were the ones that were just set on the ground, forgotten and never planted. They sent out roots and bloomed beautifully.

Its so important that things are in their right places, otherwise they never reach their potential. Some of the things I planted under the fringes of the big oak did beautifully last year, but with the extending of the canopy, there is no too much shade


The plants are getting lush in some areas, particularly in the deeper shaded fern bed. In a way I wish I could protect them from the freeze, but it was equally exciting to see those small fiddleheads unfurl. If they hadn't frozen back we would lose that miracle. Plus, the leaves are pretty weatherworn by the end of fall and need refreshing. It looks like there are far more leaves than last year.

One of Suzi's horses isn't doing well. He's a most beautiful white Egyptian Arabian named Ferrari.... Silver for short. He's 27 years old and has had a wonderful life.. even attaining National Grand Championship for his former young owner out west in her age class. There were very few steps that he couldn't do. A trainer came to 'put him through his paces' and said that he was an amazing horse. He's had a great 10 years or so in a great pasture with two companions, Andre and Charmie. Andre is an Arabian also, a retired police horse from New York. Charmie is a Saddle Bred horse.. nice gentle ride, but not terribly willing sometimes. She is definitely the matriarch of the group. Silver is very spirited, but with children amazingly gentle. He seems to know that when he has a light load he's to step very gently. His very favorite food is watermelon chunks - followed by orange or green popsickles. His favorite drink is licks of gator ade. My daughter, husband and son have been taking turns with him every hour around the clock.

To everything there is a season. Animals seem to move through their seasons so much more easily than we do. If this is his time, we'll all be sad to say goodbye.