Taking a break from the Garden

I am taking a couple of months off from the DragonFly Garden; I decided to take a break from gardening for the month for July and August.  Gardening this time of the year in South Florida is simply not fun.  I will continue to do some maintenance, like weeding and pruning, to prevent the garden from turning into a jungle in no time at all.  I pledged not to buy new plants or start new projects during these months (Home Depot is off limits).

 

 

 

 

For the next couple months, I will be working on new ideas for the fall, like a redo of the vegetable garden and making space for more fruit trees.  I am committed to a more sustainable garden and fruit trees are a good start.

 

I will not walk away from the blog for the next two months, the camera will be with me every morning when I walk the garden and if I see something interesting I will be posting.

Stay cool and have a great summer

My new Zen garden

I always wanted a Buddha in my garden; this beautiful statue was one of my father’s day gifts.

   This is a perfect place to do some meditation after a long day at work.

 

Happy Father’s Day



Summer Blooms

Summer is here, and along with the rain, heat, humidity and mosquitos, the garden is blessed with new blooms.  Today I took my Nikon camera out for an early morning photo-shoot.  

The Gardenia is in bloom and the aroma in this corner of the garden
is magnificent.

 Bromeliads love the summer heat, this is the time for blooms.

 Thryallis

 White Plumeria

This little guy is from the prayer plant family, every year around
this time they pop-up all over the garden.

 Mexican Petunias

 Milkweed

 Cacti also love the heat of the summer to set blooms.  This flower
lasted all of 12 hours.

 

 

Yesterday I jointed my wife and daughter for a garage sale excursion.  I’m always looking for anything I can use in the garden at bargain prices.  The Aqua Globes were a bargain at $5 for all three, the book “Small Container Gardening” $2 (I can’t pass a good gardening book) and the antique horn for $10 was the find of the day.  

 

In Miami, this time of the year outside gardening is limited.  The harsh summer weather limits our time to early morning or late afternoon.  That’s a shame because the extra rain gives the garden a lush and welcoming look.

Rain Lilies

You know the rainy season has arrived, when rain lilies start popping up all over the garden.  This morning when I went outside to get my Sunday newspaper, I was greeted by this beautiful sight of rain lilies in bloom.

 

We had constant rain for the last four days, and more is forecast for the coming week.  The grass is high, (wet grass is not ideal for cutting) the garden looks unkempt, the rain-barrels are over flowing and the succulents are not happy.

 

This Monk Skipper butterfly is taking in the early morning sun.

 

This week we purchased a new umbrella for the back patio, my frugal wife got a fantastic deal after using many coupons. The total cost including free shipping $40.



I am on Instagram.  Now you can see many pictures taken with my IPhone and posted to the DragonFlyGarden page.  Originally Instagram was only available for phone and IPad users, but now it's available to anyone with a computer.  Instagram is fun, easy to use and popular around the world.  The program is all about sharing pictures with users with common interest. 

GO HEAT !!!

Fixing the water fountain

This week I had an unexpected project.  The metal stand in my patio water fountain rotted and was barely hanging on.  I decided to fix it and improvised with a metal planter stand I was using in the garden, the fountain was in good working order and buying a new one was not in the budget. 

This water fountain can be seen from inside my living and dining room so I added several plants (Liriope, Rose Moss and Dahlberg daisies) for a more tropical look.

 

The Fire Dragon bush was overgrown and past it’s trimming schedule.

 

 

The Caladiums were on Sale at my local garden store, I added a few in this shaded area of the patio.  The dog in the picture is Max, and he belongs to my daughter.  Max is staying with us for the long weekend.

Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival





Last weekend my wife and I visited Epcot for the 20 anniversary of the flower and garden festival.  This been the 20^th year of the festival, it turned out to be one of the best I have seen so far.  Disney went all out this year, the flowers and the topiaries were out of this world. 

This weekend getaway has become a spring tradition for my wife and I, we enjoy walking around the park with no time restrains, no place we need to be and no long lines to go on rides, the day is all about flowers.  This year for the first time they had food stands around the park serving inexpensive delicacies from around the world, (inexpensive food at Disney is a rare event) it made the visit more relaxing.   



 Italy container gardens

 France was about fragrances and perfumes  

 Monsters University, Disney's next movie. 

 Vegetable gardening exhibit

 The Butterfly House, my favorite exhibit

 The ride at the Land pavilion is a must every year

End of the season

Today I pulled out all the vegetable plants except for some herbs, peppers and the sweet pea tomatoes.  The hot sunny days are here, announcing the end of the vegetable season.  This year once again I had successes and failures, but it won’t keep me from planning next year’s garden.