Rooting Hibiscus

I found some great tutorials online for rooting hibiscus plants. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, so I just went ahead and did it. For anyone looking to do this, I used these two sites: Rooting Tropical Hibiscus and Hibiscus 101.

I did three varieties. I have 6 different varieties in my garden, but I chose to do the three hardiest. In six to eight weeks I should know if they took. I don't have anywhere left to plant hibiscus, so I may have to give them away!

At my front windows

I've mentioned the peacock that lives in our neighborhood a few times on this blog. Lately he has taken to visiting us every morning. He nibbles at a few of my plants in the backyard, then travels to our front door. After awhile, he just paces back and forth on our walkway looking into the windows at us. He is beautiful, and my poor cat doesn't understand why there is a bird bigger than him looking in.

Garden Mulching

We've been working on cleaning up the garden a bit now that it's too hot to do a lot of gardening. Plus, with all the rains it seems the weeds are winning some type of battle against us. We ripped up a ton of grass and weeds and put a layer of heavy cardboard down. We then mulched fairly heavily. There is a lot more work to be done including putting some type of boarder to separate the grass from the mulch line.






One of my favorite parts of our garden is the multiple honey bees and butterflies who visit. They especially love our porterweeds.

Thinking

We've been doing a lot of thinking around here. Which usually results in reading more books than normal. Sometimes that includes finding "news" articles that make me worry. Although, I've been known to worry at the drop of a hat.

The following articles make me grateful that we have the opportunity to join a local C.S.A. We know the farmers and the apprentices, and can visit the land they grow our food on. It's also organic and sustainable.


~Tomatoes

~Food Dyes

This articles frightens me.:

~Disinfecting Wipes

And, because I am a Florida resident, this is always in the back of my mind.:

~Hurricane season 2008

But, on a positive note, we are hoping to take a road trip up north this year. Spending some time in Boston and Maine would be a nice break.

Surprises in the yard

Here are some unexpected finds in our yard from the past week. It's been getting warmer here, so outdoor time is a bit more limited. We make the most of the mornings and evenings this time of year.

A shell the Boy found while digging a whole to plant some seeds.



He split it in half of course, to see what was inside.



This picture does not do this rainbow justice. But, we could see almost both sides of the rainbow from our front yard. It was beautiful, but aren't they all?



Our first passionflower. We bought this plant with fruit already on it, but finally a flower.

Visiting Snake

It seems funny to write about this since one of the books I have out from the library is Climbing the Mango Tree.

My son has been climbing the mango tree in our side yard. It is huge and strong, and we love the mangoes that we eat right from the tree. Now that my son is older, he is able to climb quite high. High enough that I usually get extremely nervous and make my husband climb up too.

A couple days ago while my son was up in the mango tree, my husband reached up and pulled my son down from the tree. I was watering the garden, so I was at a distance. My husband showed me a snake in the tree. He was coiled very tightly, and looking at us. My gut feeling was he wasn't venomous because he would have had plenty of opportunities to attack my son. So after consulting with some lovely gardening people, it turns out it is a yellow rat snake. Very good to have in your yard, and not venomous. They are fairly laid back, and not likely to bite.

Here are some photos of him. Please excuse the quality, I had to switch between two cameras.

More for the garden

Ever since my Son and Husband made me my arbor, I've been on the hunt for a fast growing vine. After much research I decided the Passion Flower Vine was my favorite. Not just for it's beauty, but for it's butterfly attracting qualities.

While I enjoy taking a trip to big box stores garden center areas, there is nothing like going to a locally owned nursery. The vast array of plants, not to mention the knowledge of the staff cannot be beat. So, yesterday we took a drive out to a local one to pick out some plants.

They only had one of the vines left, so we grabbed it. It had a couple surprises on it too.




We also picked up a Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plant. I'm still not sure where to put it. I need to keep it away from my neighbors with the new puppy though. The berries are highly toxic and I don't want a puppy to accidentally take a bite out of it. Of course, that leads me to the plant I grabbed at previously noted big box store.





When I grabbed the beautiful Jatropha, I was unaware that it is poisonous as well. I'm not sure why it says nothing on the tag about this fact, but the Boy is very aware of not eating plants in the garden. With the exception of his blueberry and mulberry trees, He really just loves to water and plant everything else.





Jatropha is also being used for some very positive environmental causes.

Arbor Day

Happy Arbor Day!

Thanks to a fellow gardener, my Husband, son and I headed out to a local Arbor Day festival. Not the type of festival most people would think of, but a festival full of the most helpful master gardeners and native trees. I learned a lot about Florida gardening and trees from a wonderful master gardener. He gave us great advice of finally ridding our yard from the invasive Brazilian Pepper Tree. We of course couldn't leave without a couple new native plants. He helped us pick out a lovely Dahoon Holly Tree, and a hummingbird attracting Firebush.

We haven't planted either yet. We spent the day sawing/trimming/cleaning up our Cabbage Palm. They aren't very spectacular, but do look much better cleaned up.

I'll leave you with a link that is fitting for Arbor Day, I think.

Loving Florida

I wouldn't have been able to convince myself that my new dentist and staff were going to be as wonderful as they were. Never in a million years. But, I'm relieved to say they are wonderful, gentle and funny.

As for loving Florida, this article, just reminds me how close to nature we are getting. Especially during Alligator mating season, and with the over building that is going on. The pictures are worth clicking on. I don't live near the woman in the article, and I'm thankful I don't live in that neighborhood. I'd never sleep again.

Spring is here

I'm still not used to Florida seasons. But, there are changes. Lately, we've been enjoying the not so subtle spring changes here. Our tomato plant has a lot of tomatoes on it, and the largest one is just beautiful. The bell pepper plant that was attacked by the peacock is now filled with teeny tiny bell peppers. And, the birds are nesting. Something I have always enjoyed, and am especially enjoying sharing with the Boy. Along with spring here, comes the mosquitoes. This fact is not something I enjoy. It is a long battle with mosquitoes here, because we are a deet-free family. I won't end on an unhappy note though. The plants are just thriving right now, and that is something I can enjoy even through the windows.

Loquat Tree

My garden has been surviving the drought we are in fairly well. I tried to plant drought resistant plants, but I do have a couple that need to be watered on occasion. I've got the itch to start planting again. Unfortunately, this drought has brought on even stricter water conservation rules. Which, means I will not be putting any new plants in for awhile. I do follow our water regulations.

Which, is why it was quite a happy surprise to spot the loquats forming on our tree! I took a few pictures. This is the first year we have had fruit, and it's an exciting time. We've never eaten loquats before. I've been reading up on harvesting and how to consume them. They sound delicious. We don't have very many, but we are anxious just the same.

The Weekend

I wanted to share some pictures from our weekend. It was a bit chilly, but absolutely beautiful.







The following pictures are from our favorite spot at the Bird Sanctuary. They rehabilitate many animals each year. These are some of the birds who they take care of permanently.

Unexpected

We have been having some very cold temperatures here in south Florida. I am talking about actual temperatures that will freeze water and unfortunately, plants. I'm not too familiar with how to prevent freezing of my plants, and I regretted this early this morning.




After doing some research, I believe my banana tree will survive. I'm not sure there was a whole lot I could have done to protect it. The roots are somewhat blanketed by mulch, but I won't know the outcome until we are out of this cold weather. The leaves are definitely damaged.

I was going to talk about my fantastic experience at the Farmer's Market yesterday. And, it was wonderful even in the cold. But, instead I will share what I discovered while cleaning my gigantic head of cauliflower.



He wasn't the only one living inside the head. There were three of them. I took them all outside, although I felt a bit bad they were just going to die in the cold anyways. I realize it is a good sign that they were alive and well inside the cauliflower. This means the pesticides didn't kill them, and I am not eating poisons.

But, I have never been very good with bugs. I am very squeamish and will actually scream when something of this nature happens. I'm fine once the realization of the bug sits in, but initially........watch out. So, the cauliflower is all chopped and soaking in my kitchen sink. I do not want roasted cauliflower with a side of caterpillar as a side dish tonight!

Farmer's Market

Last Wednesday, the Boy and I took a trip to the Farmer's Market. A local organic farm that also has a CSA program, started this up in early December. I can say it easily surpassed my expectations. It was fruit and veggies galore. It all smelled so delicious and fresh. It was refreshing.

We were members of this farm for a couple of years. We stopped for awhile because we moved and weren't planning on staying in Florida. I'd like to join up again next season. For now though, this is fantastic.

We filled our basket with young Tatsoi, beautiful kale, strawberries(tis the season!),tangerines, bell peppers, and some huge globe cherry tomatoes. I can honestly say, if we had purchased these in the organic produce from any of our local stores, we would have easily paid double. It definitely wouldn't have tasted as good. I'm already planning to get some fresh herbs this Wednesday along with more produce.

Happy New Year's!

Plastic bags

I grew up in a household where we recycled just about everything. I used to be embarrassed when I was young and would have my friends over. I used to wonder why my Mom had to do something that none of my friends Mom's would do. She would always request paper bags when asked by the bagger at the store. She would bring ratty old used paper bags each and every shopping trip. As the years went on, she would add some canvas bags to her paper bag collection in the car trunk.

We also had a compost pile, but that will have to be for another day.

Now I understand her drive to do this. I'm thankful that she spent my youth stressing the importance of saving the earth. She never did it in a way that alienated anyone either. It was just a fact if you knew my Mom.

I recycle, and it is much easier now than when I was growing up. I just set out my bins and the recycle truck picks them up for me. I also take the tin cans to the bird sanctuary as a donation.

I have some bags that I use each time I shop at the grocery store. The main issue is I need some more, and preferably a bag that can smoosh up easily and hold a lot. So I've been searching for a strong reliable new bag. I've found a few ideas at this site: Eco-Bags. I can't verify how well they work, but I have read about them in the past.

Just a note on plastic bag consumption. I do reuse my plastic bags for cat litter changes and bathroom trash can liners. I do not throw them out, ever. But, the amount that are used? Here is a link if you'd like to read more: Reusable Bags.