It’s the end of 2018 and I have decided to share some recent yard happenings. One of my orchids is blooming. My orchids don’t look too good, so I was surprised to see two blooms on one of my plants.
My orchid is blooming!
The orange hibiscus plant is growing like mad! I have neglected this plant and am frankly amazed it is doing so well. I’m planning a new garden along the front of the house and another hibiscus is in the plans.
The hibiscus is huge now!
One of the plants you must have if you are a true Floridian is a Staghorn fern! And now I have one hanging from the trees out back. I had a Staghorn fern which I gave to my best friend before I left Florida and she still has it hanging in her yard. She offered to give it back, but her yard is much nicer, and if the plant is happy there then I’m happy to leave it with her. This new one is in a pot but I will re-pot it into that hanging basket eventually.
My new little stag horn fern
The rubber plant I propagated is still growing nicely out front under the oak. If I can keep it from freezing over winter it may grow and live to be tall and beautiful.
New little rubber plant in the yard
Hope you have fond memories of 2018 and the new year brings all good things!
The photo below is of my orange hibiscus and rose bush after planting in my yard. This past April, 2017, I dug up a little patch of grass in the back yard to create a space for a colorful flower garden.
The pretty double-flower orange hibiscus is a typical plant to grow in Florida. I prefer the double type flower, and I thought the color was lovely. You can see that it was a small plant.
New Garden, Hibiscus and Rose Bush – April 2017
Roses are such a bother, but this one was pretty and I decided to try it. The rose bush looks awful now, but the hibiscus has grown like crazy. This just goes to show that if you plant what likes to grow in the local climate it will flourish.
Here it is 7 months later.
Hibiscus and Rose Bush in November 2017
The hibiscus plant was watered regularly after it was planted, as was the rose. There were some mites on the buds, so I picked off the buds and threw them away. I’ve noticed that sometimes there are still mites on the plant, but it is not affecting the growth. I never water it now and it is flourishing in the sunny spot by the house.
Hibiscus are tropical plants and I fully expected it to survive quite well. I didn’t realize it would grow so fast. It constantly buds and blooms and the leaves are nice and green.
All I do is occasionally pick off the bug infested buds and give it fish fertilizer and sprinkle some bone meal around the base for good root strength.
I have plans to plant more like this in the front yard. The wind blows from the front and it’s also more shady, so I don’t know if that will be a good location.
Something I’ve always enjoyed is watching my plants grow and change. I once took photos of the Pinky Winky hydrangea in my New Hampshire yard for an entire blooming season to show the changes in the flowers from summer through fall.
It is so hot down here in Florida in the month of July that I rarely go outside. This morning I scurried around my yard and took some photos until I just couldn’t stand being out there. I think I lasted less than 5 minutes. The heat index says it feels like 100 out there. Add in tons of humidity, and you have Yuk.
So lets begin with the flowers. The crotons and hibiscus are loving the heat. They were made to withstand summer heat in this disgusting climate. Thankfully we are getting lots of afternoon thunderstorms that keep me from having to go out and water.
Red Hibiscus
My rose bush hasn’t had any blooms for a while, but I noticed a small rose and bud today. It probably needs more attention, and more fertilizer.
Small Rose and Bud
I bought some Impatiens when I first moved into the house, and unbelievably they are still looking pretty good! I also planted my mother-in-laws-tongue, or snake plant, in the ground and it is doing well. I’ve put a few of the big seashells I’ve collected into the garden as decoration. The older, worn shells look good displayed that way. I had to put them out front, away from the raccoons, so they wouldn’t drag them off!
Seashells Decorate the Garden Bed
The Persian Lime tree is doing great. It’s still in a pot, and has lost a lot of the fruit it started with, but I still have some good size limes coming. I’ll have to figure out when to pick the fruit.
Persian Lime Fruit
I have 2 eggplant plants, but neither one is growing any eggplants. They flower, and lose the flowers and keep growing tall. They are a good spot for ladybugs to lay their eggs and eat aphid infestations, but that is about it.
Maybe there aren’t enough bugs to pollinate the flowers. I need more flowering plants in and around my garden.
But I tried. I bought a bunch of marigolds because I always grew marigolds in New Hampshire. They usually became beautiful rounded bushes with tons of flowers. But that is not happening to these marigolds.
Eggplant
The marigolds have been growing for months, and I only have about 3 flowers total. The stalks have grown very long and tall, without flowering. It’s very bizarre. Marigolds are good to grow near tomatoes and other vegetables because they will help keep certain unwanted bugs away.
Orange Marigold
On to the tomatoes. I have 2 tomato plants still growing, but neither one looks exceptionally good. Both have some small green tomatoes, and I don’t know if I will get red ones to eat before the raccoons decide to help themselves.
Tomatoes
I tried covering the vegetable garden with netting, and I think that helped. But a papa cardinal somehow got inside the netting and was trapped in the garden! I went out and freed him, but I had to cut the netting off in the process. He was really freaking out, so I left the garden uncovered.
I’m not trying too hard to garden these days. It’s too hot, and I don’t think the vegetables like it either.
……. Happy 4th!
Taking garden photos to share on a peaceful Sunday morning.
Is there anything better than a quiet, peaceful (and fairly cool) Florida morning? Sure, lots of things, but today I enjoyed the cloud cover as I checked on my gardens this morning and took some photos with my iPhone.
Hibiscus Colors
The hibiscus is blooming profusely and I noticed today that some of the flowers are a lighter color than others. They look pink here, for some reason, but they are really light orange. I was too lazy to use my graphics program to fix the color – look at the photo below to see a more true version. …….Still, the beauty is apparent.
The Sunflower is Growing Tall
In New Hampshire I always had sunflowers growing in my garden during the summer. They sprang up on their own, known as “volunteers”. I just let them grow where they were and planted my vegetables around them. In the Fall, little goldfinches and chickadees would land on the big heads and eat the seeds.
Because I don’t feed the birds in Florida, no sunflower seeds will voluntarily grow after being buried under the winter snow, so this one I had to plant. In fact I planted a lot of seeds, but this one the only one growing. Animals (squirrels) probably ate the other seeds.
Big “volunteer” sunflower in my northern gardenOpen Rose
My rose bush is doing fine so far. I am seeing roses bloom continuously. Their color is stunning, but the flowers don’t last long.
Watermelon Vine
I’ve never been able to grow my own watermelon, but I am trying again. This one seems to be doing well enough.
Desert Rose is Flowering
The Desert Rose, which at first was thought to be a Plumeria, is planted in the ground and doing well. Lots of bright pink flowers have bloomed and I am seldom watering it, as required.
Little limes growing on the Persian Lime tree
The Persian Lime tree is blooming like mad and little limes have formed. Many of them will end up falling off, I assume, but I’m hopeful that some will grow to be edible size.
Other happenings in my small yard: I saw two black snakes (black racers) yesterday within the span of about 3 minutes. They are “good” snakes and not poisonous, but still creep me out as I watch them slither through the grass. Now I’m back to watching where I walk.
Later today I will pick the one zucchini growing on my single zucchini plant. The potatoes have been dug, and the carrots pulled. Time to plant some new things that may, or may not, be able to take the Florida summer heat. At this point, it’s all an experiment.
It’s Easter 2017 and I have worked online most of the day. We have no special food to eat, just leftover chicken from yesterday. It’s not a big deal here. I know what Easter is all about and I used to spend the morning at church, the afternoon eating, and the evening cleaning up. I hid Easter baskets, and worked hard leading up to this day. I know that Jesus rose from the dead and it’s a wonderful thing, but I just don’t celebrate as I used to.
Living in Florida means growing at least one hibiscus in the yard.
One plant that every Florida yard should have is the fantastic hibiscus.
A hibiscus will bloom constantly for much of the year in Florida. It loves the sun and does extremely well in the hot and humid climate.
Newly Planted Hibiscus Shrub
Hibiscus plants come in a wide variety of colors and types. Some can grow in northern climates, but the ones I refer to here are tropical. They will not die over the winter. It’s not really necessary to know your types (unless you are searching for something specific, or mail ordering) because local stores will sell the types that work in your area of the country, or world.
One problem I remember having is aphids that get on the flowers and plant, but this new hibiscus contained a tag that said it was protected from aphids, white flies, and some other bugs. So we’ll see.
They are easy to plant. Remove any grass in the area and dig a big wide hole. Mix together some kind of fertilizer, bone meal, and or garden soil and add that back into the hole with some of the dirt that was removed. Push the dirt down around the edge of the root ball and then water thoroughly… that means a lot. If the plant still looks great the next day, then you did a good job. Water again, and continue to water well until it gets established.
My new hibiscus has a double orange bloom, which looks like a ruffle compared to the flat types of flower. It was the prettiest flower I saw among the bunches of plants at the local Home Depot. I planted it in a spot that should get a lot of sun year round. Once I buy some mulch, I’ll put that all around the bottom to help keep the soil moist. Then I can water it less often.
Double Orange Hibiscus
Although I have mainly been shopping for plants at Home Depot, I prefer to support a privately owned nursery. I am not very familiar with any around here. I’ve already been to Lindleys, and wasn’t all that impressed. One that I plan to visit is Garden Arts and is located on Flagler Ave. Generally I only go to the very touristy Flagler Ave. to eat at Breakers Restaurant. I will brave the crowds to eat a yummy fish sandwich while looking out at the ocean.
Some friends just told me about the Garden Arts nursery and suggested I visit. I have a free parking pass for the beachside lot (yes, they charge to park now!), so I may do just that. Then I will write a review about the place, and visit often … if I like it.
Now that I have a hibiscus growing in my yard, it’s a reminder that I’m settling into my new lifestyle which is a throwback to a very old life. When I see my photos of the huge piles of snow, and remember suffering without power for days during ice storms, I really don’t miss dealing with those problems. Walking out the door, without a coat on, day or night, is quite a sweet change of pace for me.
Hydrangeas Blue 