No Rain

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watchin' the puddles gather rain
And all I can do is just pour some tea for two
and speak my point of view, but it's not sane, It's not sane.

That song always seems to play in my head at this time of year.  (Ok, all year.  I was a huge Blind Melon fan back in the day . . .)  While the rest of the country has more weather than they can handle, central Florida has been execessively dry.   We have distinct rainy seasons, the most significant lasting from the end of May to the end of September.  During that time we have daily rain showers and you can set your clock by their 4:30pm arrival.  Usually it takes a big storm to kick-start the cycle, but so far that storm hasn't come.  So it is very dry right now.  Due to wildfires over the weekend, there is a burn ban.  Fireside chats with the hubs will have to wait.  Worse for wear are my wilting plants.  They look so sad and miserable.  We have irrigation, but it is manual, and we try to only turn it on when it is desperately needed.  It was installed by the previous owners and mainly gets the grass, so some of the corners are still parched.  Today I dragged the bucket out and hand watered many of the plants.  A few needed more intensive care:

These vinca were totally shriveled up this morning when I first put them in the sink for water.  After a little time in the ICU, they perked back up. They'd only been left outside for a day and a half!  There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow.  Fingers crossed that there will be lots of rain and minimal lightening!

**The rainy season in Florida also brings the start of the hurricane season.  Every year I hear "Why would people live in hurricane prone areas?? It is so scary!"  At least with hurricanes you've got a few days notice.  I can't begin to image what folks in Alabama and the mid-west have had to deal with from recent tornadoes.  That seems like such a nightmare that you can't plan for and my heart goes out to them.

Getting Cheap and Dirty

Wow!  January 31 was my last post?? (And a kinda lame one at that.)  Time flies.  I can't say I didn't post because I haven't been in the garden.  Due to being laid-off, I've had the chance to spend a LOT of time in the garden, although the budget is a bit more restricted.  Since I've been able give it more attention, the garden is flourishing.  It is also the third year I've gardened organically, and it seems like the system has finally caught up with itself.  Thought I'd do a quick post on some of the blooms and a quick teaser for some upcoming posts I'm working on.

The irises in the front garden have gone gang-busters this year.  One day my daughter counted 27 blooms.  This may well be my favorite.  (If you are interested in how I "acquired" these irises, click here and here.)

I've been loving the daylilies this year, and a few days ago my favorite purple one came out.  I think it might be called Purple Grape but I don't know for sure, and, ( forgive me, Hemerocallis Society) I don't really care.  It is pretty.

My rainlily would not be out done.

As I've mentioned, money is tight, and since propogation is probably my favorite part of gardening, I've bought nothing that I couldn't make twenty more of in a week a or two.  The coleous above is included.  Yummm, those colors make me drool a little.

I have an abundance of some plants that for whatever reason I've not been able to reproduce, and this year I cracked the code on two, including the Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' above.  I tried everything on this one.  I rooted some in water, some in soil with root hormone, and some I dug up.  Turns out this plant spreads via an underground tuber, and I dug up and planted some of them tuber and all.  I had about a 50% success rate, which was much better than previous years.  There's a ton of small plants in pots now and have been giving them away.  Digging the tuber up and potting it worked best of all (go figure.)

The other plant I've tried to propagate without success is the confederate jasmine.  It grows wildly on my daughter's playhouse, but up until now, I haven't been able to get it to to grow any where else.  The cuttings even have tiny dry roots at the base when I cut them, making it all the more frusterating. In early January I trimmed the plant back and tried to get some of the cuttings to take in soil, which didn't work.  I left the rest in a bucket that I forgot about until just a few weeks ago.  Rain had filled the bucket and new green leaves were coming out of it.  Duh!  Why hadn't I thought of rooting them in water?  Maybe the woody stems through me off.  Now that I know, I'll be doing more!

Finally, a peek at one of the projects I 've been working on:

You: Oh my!  Is that the Corner Garden?  With a stone border? 
Me: Why, yes it is!
You: But what happened to the tacky plastic border?
Me: I adiosed it. See-ya!
You: Wait a minute, didn't you say you were on a budget??
Me: Well, that is another post, my friend.

Happy gardening!!

UPDATE: Butterfly Garden

The butterfly garden is looking soggy with all of the rain.

The Good Thing About 3 Days of Rain

After three solid days of rain, the sun finally came out today. I had been noticing some crinum bulbs blooming about town, especially around the older neighborhood my daughter's school is in. They are growing in huge clumps, even in gutters. I keep thinking, "If these guys knew how much these plants are going for on Ebay, there wouldn't a single one here!" Well, I went out and checked my plants this morning and look what I found:A bloom! When they are blooming, I want a thousand. The rest of the year I'm wondering why I planted so many crinums.

The salvia has perked up too! Maybe I'll keep at this gardening thing. . .

Weekend Weeding

Spent the weekend weeding out the butterfly garden with my daughter. This is "her" garden and she is very protective of it. Here is the before:And the after:

The garden is looking pretty lately, waking up a bit from the intense summer heat. Above are Mexican petunia blooms.

Some pink salvia in the back of the garden.
I planted a bunch of pentas in the butterfly garden. They were cheap ($.50 for a 4-inch pot) and somewhere I heard they were decent cool weather plants. The cashier said they were "hummer magnets." Yeah, yeah. I've lived in Florida for 20 years, and I've never seen a hummingbird. I've heard that they are around, but I've also heard that big foot is around these parts if you spend time in the forest. Well, damn if I didn't plant these the other night and yesterday evening we saw a hummingbird. It was small, about the size of my thumb and looked a lot like a large bug, but it was a hummingbird. Makes me think I've seen them before but didn't know what they were. I went out this morning and bought more pentas for the front garden. Now I'll be like the little old ladies with all the tacky bright red plastic hummingbird feeders, perched by the window just waiting. . .

Propagation Station

So all of this probably old hat for most experienced gardeners, but it is what I've been doing this weekend, and maybe there is a newbie or two out there who might benefit. If you are like me, maybe you just like to see what other people do. I've been cutting back all of plants, especially in the butterfly garden, to make sure everything looks nice and lush for July 4th. As a result, I've started A LOT of cuttings this weekend. In addition, I've been gathering seeds and dividing plants. But first I thought I'd show my new little trick this season, a Propagation Station!

Even though I have rooted plants in soil for years, I'm only just realizing how crucial humidity is. Without sufficient humidity, water transpires out the leaves quicker than it can take it up through its new roots and plants wilt. Some times they bounce back, sometimes they don't. To increase humidity, I've put my plants in a large, clear plastic bin, which seems to be working well. I strip off most of the leaves and as soon as new leaves start to appear, take the plants out to harden off on the table. If you want to do something similar, be sure to keep it in a shaded area where the plants won't over heat and air out daily, or drill circulation air holes.

With certain plants I just get lazy. The ruellia (left) and the sweet potato vine (right) easily root in water or soil, so I often go the easy route and throw them in some water.

When I feel more ambitious, I will collect certain plants. Here is some of the salvia I was offering. (1.) I'll wait for a dried stalk on the plant and put it in a baggie, collecting several. (2.) After pulling out the stems, (3.) I'll smoosh and smash the baggie until the seeds separate and fall to the bottom of the baggie. (4.) I put the pile on a white piece of paper to clearly see the seeds and pull the flower husks out. Wa-La! Seeds.

Seeds

Now, if I said "Free Seeds" in the title, I thought I would be completely inundated with requests. But that is what I am offering. I have an over-abundance of these salvia seeds, so if you email me your address, I'll send you some. Not sure of the variety, the nursery said "pink salvia". I have enough for about three people, but in a few weeks I should have more. I may ask for a self-addressed envelope if I have a lot of requests. Right now all I want is you to let me know how the seeds are growing.

Type "Free Seeds" in the subject line. wickedgardener76@yahoo.com

Too tired tonight after a long day to post much, but are some pretty blooms in the yard today.

Ruellia

Pink Salvia

Update of the Butterfly Garden

The butterfly garden has perked up.

Yellow Snapdragons

Happy looking salvia.

Even the lilies have come up.

What's Blooming?

The coleus is blooming. It is not supposed to. You are supposed to take these off. But I'm trying to collect some seed. If you have collected seeds from these, I could use some advise.

salvia guaranitica ‘Black & Blue’

The butterfly gingers are still going strong

I love the gingers!

This is the prettiest view in the garden.




Coral Cannas

Yellow Cannas

Grasshoppers. I thought they were very cool until I watched them for a moment. I could literally hear them chomping on the bird of paradise.