Monday's Meanderings In The Garden

I did have a pineapple, I was quite proud of it and checked on it every day for weeks....and then one morning....

It's a shame because it was ripe for picking (as you can see), but something noshed on it in the night.

Two weeks ago I emptied out my compost bin into the raised vegetable bed that once housed the onions and cabbages. Within a few days I was surprised to see what appears to be squash plants coming up. 

I haven't had any luck for years growing squash because of the bugs that lay their eggs inside the stems, in order words I won't hold my breath.


Elsewhere in the garden I am amazed to still have quite a few thriving tomato plants. Some are doing better than others. The one on the right doesn't have as many leaves on it as it should, but it is fruiting and has plenty of blossoms. Too many leaves would indicate more nitrogen than it needs though. It's worth mentioning that I had a horrible year for growing tomatoes. The weather didn't help and it was the first time I grew any in amended garden soil. Finally my husband said 'why don't you go back to growing them in big pots?' It was already quite late in the season, but I grew 6 plants from seed and planted 4 of them in the soil and 2 in pots. The featured tomato plant is in a huge pot. It might be a Big Beef or Lemon Boy. I gave it a teaspoon of Epsom Salts to help it along.

The butterfly garden is a little overgrown (what else is new) and the milkweed plant is just loving all the abundant rain we have been getting recently.


Torenia has grown wild in my garden for years, I have to let it thrive where it will. It defies all attempts to be relocated into a hanging pot.



I planted this Chrysler Imperial rose a year ago. FlowerLady Lorraine (see my blog roll list FlowerLady's Musings) gave me some growing pointers, and so far so good. This rose has an amazing scent and loves all the used coffee grains it can get. Considering how hot and humid it is in South Florida I am very impressed with its hardiness.

Springtime Color & Butterfly Garden Re-Do

We had such lovely weather over the weekend, the boys cut the lawn, we had a BBQ dinner, enjoyed being outside and wandered around our garden paths.

Here was a nice surprise. An Airplant nestled in between two pine trees decided to put out a flower. A splash of color among a lot of greenery.

The little raised brick garden I put in about a month ago is coming along nicely with its red Salvias and white Pentas.

Looking South

But the butterfly garden is yet again sadly neglected and completely overgrown with Spanish Needle (which we all know the butterflies love). Also a pretty creeping plant Beach Sunflower (or something similar), has become rather invasive and crowded out the Milkweed and Coleus. Nothing will grow under Beach Sunflower. It's completely drought resistant and thrives in our sandy soils. So after pulling out two wheelbarrow loads of weeds............I was left with a whole lot of nothing butterflies like, except for the Dill.

Looking North

So a trip to the big box store was in order. Verbena, Lantana, Trailing Petunias and Kangaroo's Paw, Begonias, Pentas and Mona Lavender "Plectranthus."

Kangaroo's Paw

Verbena

Lantana

I have a rather shabby little fountain which I set up and got running. Maybe in a month or two I'll treat myself to a new one. The splashing of the water is very relaxing.

In order to define the space, I added some bricks around the revamped area and included a few pots of different colors and textures to add some height - Dianthus, Catmint, Mums. I'm fairly happy with the result. It just needs to fill in a little bit. Perhaps some Moss Rose/Portulaca would do the trick.

Tip: I added half a teaspoon of water crystals to each plant hole I dug and then I watered the area thoroughly with a soaker hose. 

This area is outside our patio so we can enjoy the view. Now I think I need a couple of pieces of garden art, but a gnome or plastic flamingo isn't on the short list. Something more rustic perhaps. I'll work on that and get back to you with an update in a week or two.