Spring Fever

Signs of spring are everywhere. While it's not as dreary here as it is farther north, this is the part of Florida that goes half-brown during the winter. 

One of the perks of living in Northern Florida is that I can grow violets. It's hard to imagine that anyone would regard them as weeds.

We have lots of different types of hollies here, and most are evergreen, but this one is deciduous.

The Royal Ferns are showing their fiddle-heads.

During mild winters the philodendrons stay green, and tolerate mild freezes, but this winter the cold was too persistent. This brave plant is taking a chance that we won't get another freeze before March 15th.

Rolling in Moss

There hasn't been much I've been able to do in the garden these past few months, so it seemed a good time to create a moss garden. It's an on-going project that only started in December, and it's free. It's amazing what you can find in your own neighborhood when you start looking. I can't believe the variety of mosses, just within walking distance from my house.

The site for my moss garden is under a small oak tree in an area of my garden that nothing else has done well in because the soil is dense and it holds water when it rains.

I keep a small plastic bag with me on my walks, and sometimes carry a small spoon to scoop it up. I can't believe I've found so much of it in just a few short months.

I've had a lifelong fascination with mosses. I love their color and softness, and I love the miniature world they live in.

Cold Nights Ahead

C'mon, it's March already. Seriously...

Am I still in Florida?

The best thing for a cold dreary afternoon?

A cup of hot cocoa in your own hand-made mug.

Big Work Ahead

My garden is mostly on a quarter acre that is the original property that our old (pre-hurricane) house was on. The other three-quarters is an on-going project.

We purchased the three lots next door some years back to prevent the trees being cut down and a house being built too close to ours. The property was a mess when we bought it, and aggressive vines were choking the trees out. It's back-breaking work (only done in the cooler months), but we've been attacking the vines ever since.

Our work was stopped for a few years when our home was destroyed by a hurricane, and we were focused on re-building. The vines, however, never stopped. The wild grapevines are the most destructive, but the potato vines don't go dormant during the winter. We get out there whenever we can and keep working at it. It's our intent that one day, it will be a beautiful natural wooded area.

Rat-Race in the Greenhouse

So, I have this wonderful greenhouse that my husband built for me, and I put all my tropical plants inside for to keep them safe from the winter frosts. Because I lost so many plants to the unusually cold winter we've been having, I decide to start some seedlings to have a bit of color this spring.


Enter the rats. We only considered the weather when we designed the greenhouse. We never thought rats would come in and trash my seedlings. I plant new seeds and they dig up the new babies. I can't find a way to keep them out--they squeeze through the tiniest corners.


I suppose I'll just have to buy lots of catnip and leave the door open.

Meanwhile, the seed trays are in the laundry room.

Spring is Springing

The daffodils are showing their leaves at last. I'm not sure if they've been slow because I planted them late, or if the cold winter kept them down.



The wildflowers have been this size for about two months. I'm actually surprised they survived the freezes we had, but I suppose they are really weeds.

Moss Up Close

Most of my garden may be sad and brown, but the mosses are thriving. Up close, the spores give the appearance of a miniature garden.

Gathering Moss

With most of my garden brown and sad from the cold winter, moss seems a natural choice for a little green. I low spot in my garden that floods in the rain, and since nothing else seemed happy there, I cleared it and prepared it for moss.

I didn't have any moss in my garden, so I had to go out and search for it. It's amazing what you can find when you go out and look for it.

Yes, I'm the crazy lady on the side of the road digging with a spoon.

A Cold Winter

This year's winter has been hard on my garden. I won't know until springtime what has survived.

Two-Colored Flowers

Bat-Face Cuphea--unusual, but easy to grow.

Bleeding Heart Vine, Clerodendrum thomsoniae

Some Strange Bees

I don't know what kind of bees these were, but they seemed to be trying to settle in for the evening.

More Garden Color

Lady Luck

I just saw my first ladybug today. I don't know how "lucky" they are, but I'm always glad when they show up to eat other bugs.

This is the latest part of my garden that I have been working and restoring. I am now getting to areas that have not been touched since Ivan wiped them out (four years ago). The back garden has been taken over by Wedelia, Mexican Petunias, Seven Sisters Roses, and Asiatic Jasmine. It's a lot of work.

Nice Things in My Garden

What Smells So Nice?

Gardenia and Ligustrum

Jasmine

Color In My Garden

Return of the Fern

The ferns used to grow thick around our creek, until Hurricane Ivan wiped them out, and the two year drought that followed finished them off. I was pleased this week to find four little survivors, which had been hiding under the overgrown groundcover

The back garden has not been worked since 2004. It's been taken over by Wedelia, Asiatic Jasmine, and Mexican Petunias (and weeds, of course). Now that I'm finally tackling the back garden, who knows what other gems I might uncover?

Garden Residents

A Fungus Among Us

Most of my garden is waiting for spring, but one thing that persists is the ever-persistent stinkhorn. This thing smells like a dead rotting animal, and is popping up everywhere. It only lives during the winter and I can't wait until I can come outside and smell flowers again, instead of this putrid stench.

Yes, We Have Bananas

This is the first year since 1998 that my banana plants bore fruit. With the mild winters we've had lately, I finally got a bumper-crop of tiny little bananas. It took weeks for them to ripen, but suddenly they all turned yellow at once. They are very sweet--much better than the store-bought ones.

There are too many to eat, so I am making banana bread. What doesn't fit in the bread, gets peeled and tossed into the freezer for the next loaves.

Here's my recipe: Whole Wheat Banana Bread ⅓ cup vegetable oil ½ cup honey 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 cup mashed bananas 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda ¼ cup hot water ½ cup chopped pecans 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). 2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Blend in chopped nuts. Spread batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. 3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.

Frostbitten Garden

One of the hazards of creating a tropical garden outside of the tropics is that cold weather can sweep in and wipe everything out. We tried to wrap and cover as much as we could, but the temperature went down to 25 degrees.

I raised that papaya plant from a seed. The plant grew to a gigantic size, and started flowering and producing fruit. I was so hoping I'd get my own home-raised papayas before we had our first real cold snap. Well, as least I had a bumper crop of bananas this year--yummy little bananas that also made delicious banana nut bread.

My Little Succulent Garden

I keep getting surprise blooms in my succulent garden. I guess they must be happy. They get plenty of morning sun, and little water. I think they are enjoying the drought. I threw in some shells and sea glass among the rocks to give it all a more beachy look. I call this work of art (I regard everything in my garden as a work of art), "If Albuquerque Had a Beach".

First Moonflower

I love growing moonflowers and blue morning glories. I have my first moonflower bloom, but I'm still waiting for a morning glory.