Starburst or Shooting Star

This year I have two Starburst plants and this week they are putting on a show. The Starburt is a great plant. It is technically a shrub but it looks like a small tree. It is low maintenance and the leaf keep a great color year around, olive green on top and purple on the bottom. This time of the year is all about the spectacular white flowers that resemble stars.

I have not been able to find out where this plant is from, but I know is not native to Florida it does well in our zone 10a and 10b.

The only problem with this plant is that it sends up suckers that can be a nuisance some times, that is how I ended up with two plants this year.

Time to fix the sprinkler system.

Ten years ago I had a sprinkler system installed in my back and front yard. This is BMGP (before my gardening passion) Back then, all I had was green grass and at certain time of the year it was not so green. Watering with city water was time consuming and very expensive. So I decided to get a top of the line sprinkler system with its own well, timer and hidden sprinkler heads.
Over the years as the garden evolved, and I made changes to the original plan. I been a man would make the changes myself, “how hard could it be”. Last week I came to the conclusion that the sprinklers were a mess, most of the heads did not work, I had leaks in several spots and some parts of the garden was not getting any water at all. I announced to my wife, I am taking a day off from work to fix the sprinklers. She looked at me with that look of there he goes again.
Then she said “ honey why don’t you call the guy who did the original job” After a few minutes of deliberation I decided that she was right, I have very little time these dates and the back is not as young as it used to be.
I had an old business card so I called him. The next day he was at the house at time he told me (a rare event in today world) the only problem was this guy was about 80 years old, he told me he was retired and did this on the side. He gave me a fair price but I had a big dilemma could I give a labor-intensive job to a man that could be my father. What to do? I decided to give the old guy a chance. I am always complaining that in today world if you are past 30 you don’t matter.
Two days later the job was done, the sprinklers worked like they supposed too, the only problem was the man made a mess of my garden. I know it’s impossible to dig up and install pipes without making a mess but he didn’t take any extra care like I told him too. I guess the old dude earned the right to be messy; we should all be that lucky to be 80 and be able to work.

The Bolivian Sunset (Gloxinia Sylvatica) before the sprinkler guy made a mess.

Finally the Canna Lily is in bloom

My only surviving Canna Lily flowered this week after I transplanted the rhizomes last summer, the plant is doing well in the new location it gets plenty of sun. Canna Lily are one of my favorite plants, it does well in Florida the key is full sun and plenty of water.

This weekend we finally had a Florida winter day, the weather was in the mid 70’s sunny and no humidity a nice weekend to go out and enjoy the town. I did some maintenance around the garden, pull some weeds, cut back some over grown bushes and deadheaded some of the flowers. I am planning a major project for the front of the house but that will have to wait to the end of February when I am planning to take a few days off from work.

What else is in bloom in the garden today?

The Blue Poterflower, a favorite of bees and butterflies.

White Hollyhocks

Frogs and ponds belong together

My last posting I talked about my pond and the love and hate relationship I have with it. Today I would like to introduce you to Pat the Bufo frog that has decided to make my pond her second home. His or her name is Pat after that famous Saturday night character, you know the one we never knew weather it was a he or a she.
The Bufo Frogs or Marine toads are not native to Florida they were introduced in the late 1800 and released in the sugar cane fields in an attempts to control the beetles that damage the sugarcane, this attempt by humans to mess with mother nature has created problems for cat and dog owners in today Florida, you see these frogs have enlarged glands on the side of the neck, one behind each eye. These glands secrete a white poison that gets smeared in the mouth of any predator, inflaming the mouth and throat and causing nausea, irregular heart beat, and, in extreme cases, death. A dog or cat that bites a Bufo frog will sicken and may die.
My dog Rosie has never been interested in Pat so I let her reside in my pond. My co-worker has a dog that will hunt any creature in the yard, He has had to rush to the Vet with his sick dog several times, when the dog starts convulsing you know is because of a Bufo frog. It gets very costly the only treatment is antibiotics and an over night stay at the pet hospital and if is not caught in time the animal can die.
Pat spends the night in the pond with her head sticking out, eating her regular diner of bugs, she lets me know when is time to clean the pond, she simply will not swim in dirty water.

What is in bloom in the garden today?

Angels Trumpets, the white trumpets are in bloom for the first time, I got this plant as a cutting from a neighbor this summer. Is very unusable to see it in bloom during the winter but this year everything is mess up.

Time to clean the Pond

I have a small Pond with running water in the back yard that I got a couple of year ago. The idea was to get some water plants, make the pond hospitable for fish and have a self-contained habitat. The reality has been that I never found the time get the plants and forget about the fish, with all the wild cats in my neighborhood they would not last a night.
Changing the water turned out to be a pain in the you know what, every two to three weeks the water gets green and murky and is time to change the water. The job is not pleasant. We have a Bufofrog in the yard (more about this frog in future listing) that comes to the pond every night to feast on bugs. I know is time to change the water when frog stops coming around.
I admit I enjoy the sound of running water when I sit in the patio with my cup of coffee and the morning paper, but I wish it wasn’t so much work.

What is in bloom in the garden today?

White Bird of Paradise

Coleus

The first crop of Tomatoes is in

The first Cherry Tomatoes of the season are in, sweet as ever. This year my tomato plants are not doing very well. Most of the flowers are dropping and the leaves are shrivel. I don’t know if this is a sign of to much water or a deficiency in the soil. I’ll take any advise from all you northern experts out there. I also had to be on the look out for Hornworms and and a brown slug that I have never seen him before.
This year, I prepared the soil a month before planting. I mixed the soil with compost, peat moss and slow releasing fertilizer. I don’t like to use much fertilizer after the plants are in the ground, I only use the Scott liquid fertilizer.

Everything else in the garden is doing well except the tomatoes. Oh well them are the breaks, may be next year I’ll buy a book on how to grow tomatoes in Florida or I should concentrate on flowers.

The Star of my Winter Garden “Brunfelsia grandiflora".

Every year around Christmas the star of the winter garden takes center stage and my Brunfelsia or as is more commonly know around here “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” comes into full bloom and it takes over my back yard. This year is spectacular, this evergreen shrub comes from South America but it has become common place in South Florida. The flowers are beautiful clusters of three colors all different shades of purple, the flower starts out dark and gets lighter each day and by the third day it drops, that is where to common name comes from.

Spring is in the air; the mango trees are in full bloom

After a harsh long winter, spring is in the air. The mango trees are in full bloom. OK, they are nothing like the cherry trees but this is Florida. But at least we get a nice sweet fruit in the summer. What do they get in Washington? A big mess after the trees are done with the flowers and no fruits.
The Mango is the apple of the tropics. There is so much you can do with a mango. From cooking it, eating it, to mixing it with alcohol (You have not live until you try a mango colada)
I don’t have a mango tree in my yard. I think I’ll plant one this year. The one in the picture is my back yard neighbor.

What is in bloom in my back yard?

Don’t know the name but it sure is beautiful

A week off and nothing to do

I been off work this week and I haven’t done much around the house, there are so many projects for the garden but they will have to wait for 2007.
Yesterday, I could not resist the urge, the weather was perfect low 70’s and sunny. I decided to take on my jungle corner and cut back the Angel’s Trumpet, the Plumbago and the White Bird of Paradise. Friday is garbage day in my neighborhood and as long as I can fit any cuttings in a garbage can, the sanitation man will take it. The work stops when the three garbage cans I have are full. I could take the cutting in my car to a designated drop off area in the city, but I have learned the hard way when you have a lease car it will get very costly at the end of the lease if you use your car to haul tree cuttings.
My father tells me that cutting back trees in the tropics should be done after the first full moon in February. Don’t know if this is a old wives-tales but he always been on target with his advised. This time I could not wait, I have a very busy month of January and February at work and the garden will not be see much of me.
Well that is it for 2006 and I hope you all have a Happy and Healthy new year.

What is growing in the Garden?

I have several Tricolor Ti (Cordyline Fructicosa) in my back yard to add color during the winter, this plant is not known for its flower but I think they are very nice. The best thing about this plant is that any cutting will root.

Was Santa good to you this year?

Santa was very good to me this Christmas. I made it easy for my family this year, everyone has seen my re-new interest in gardening so all my gifts were gardening related.
I wanted a stone bench for my newest gardening spot and I got a beauty along with a birdbath. I can see my self seating there early in the morning with a cup of coffee before heading out to take on the South Florida world. I also got a couple of gardening books (now you will see my blog posting with a little more insight on my plants) and I also got gift certificates to Home Depot.
I am very satisfied with what I got, so if any of my family and friends are reading this blog thanks you did good this year. I am also very interested in any new electronic gadgets, (Specially an Ipod) is never to early to plan for next year or my birthday in June.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year

May 2007 bring you Peace, Health and Happiness

Retirement is wasted on the old.

In the US by the time you can afford to retire you are too old or sick to enjoy it. If I were the king of the world or “The Decider” I would make the retirement age at 50
If you want to work until you die you should have that choice. Those of us that want to retire early and enjoy life, we should be able to do so and get all the benefits we worked so hard for and be able to do so while we are young and healthy to enjoy it.
If the company I work for were to offer me an early retirement package that included health insurance and a percentage of my current salary. I would sign on the dotted line and be out of my office before the ink was dry. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate my job, I work for an International Airline the work is challenging but interesting, the pay is fair, the benefits are good and the people I work with are great.
But if the choice is between working long hours everyday, daily commutes of two hours or longer, getting home late and tired with no desire to do anything else but crash in the couch and only having two day a week for leisure activities, or the choice of having plenty of free time to do what you always wanted to do. I’ll take retirement every time.
Here is my top ten list of things I would do if I could retire today.
1 – Give more time to my Garden. The garden is like a child it needs your time, most of the time I feel like the parent that is too tired to go and play ball with his kid.
2 – Take cooking lessons. My wife is the cook in the family and a very good one, but every family should have more than one cook.
3 – Learn to play the guitar, this is my childhood dream.
4 – Take Astronomy classes. There are millions of stars out there and I don’t know the name of any them.
5 - Volunteer in my community, especially in our local schools.
6 – Run for public office, like the local community council and try to make a difference instead of complain all the time.
7 – Take up Yoga
8 – Take driving vacations in a Winnebago with no particular destination in mind.
9 – Expand my Bloging time.
10 – Read the hundreds of books I have purchased over the years in garage sales, and are in my library collecting dust.

What is growing in my Garden?
I don’t know the name of this plant, but is growing everywhere in my neighborhood. Every seed turns into a plant somewhere. The color is very striking and the round flowers give it a nice look in the garden. If any one out there know the name of the plant let me know.

RAIN and more RAIN

Yesterday my post was about water rationing and drought in South Florida, I did know that my Blog was been read in higher places because it has rained big time for the last two days.

Don’t you hate it when it rains all day on your only day off? I am not complaining we need it badly but why couldn’t wait for the middle of the week.
So all my gardening plans were ruined today, instead I paid some bills, cleaned up the garage and did some Christmas shopping.

Pictures from this morning in my wet garden, Gerbera Daisy, Hollyhock and Zinia.

Water rationing is coming to South Florida this winter.

The words water rationing sends shivers up a gardener spine, but it looks like that is where we are heading for this winter in South Florida. This past year we were lucky we had a short hurricanes season. That meant we had limited rainfall needed to keep lake Okeechobee (that is where we get our drinking water) water level high to get us thru the winter dry season.
Already the lake is about three inches below normal levels for this time of the year and we are barely into the dry season, so we’ll have water restrictions by next month.
At first the water management people will ask in a nice way for voluntary measures like “don’t wash your car, don’t water your lawn during the day, conserve water at home” things we all should do year around regardless of the availability of water.
But people been people especially in big cities conservation is not on their mind.
They expect water to come out of the faucet and they don’t care where it comes from.
We have been thru restrictions before, so when the voluntary nice guy approach doesn’t work then the water police come out with their citation, and that gets everyone’s attention.
As for my garden, I have a sprinkler system connected to a well. Conservation is always on my mind so I have the sprinkler set to run between 4 and 5 am that way the heat of the day won’t evaporate most of the water before it hits the ground. During the hot summer months is set to run every other day and in the winter only when is needed.
As the population increases on our planet earth, I hope our fellow citizens realize that water is a precious commodity that should not be taken for granted and conservation should be practice year around.



What is growing in my Garden

This is a Fox Tail plant or “Rabo de Mono” (monkey’s tail in Spanish) a very colorful and a very aggressive growing plant.

I joint the Composting bandwagon

Since I started reading gardening blogs all I hear is about the wonders of composting in the last couple of weeks and I been debating weather I should do it. The idea of taking all my garden and kitchen scraps putting it in a container and wait six months for the end product did not appeal to me and besides I don’t have much space in my garden. After reading about a fellow gardener composting on her city apartment balcony, I figured if she can do it I should try it. So here it goes, I hope the 6 months wait is worth it.

I planted a banana tree in my back yard this weekend, these are the small sweet bananas not like the one’s you find in the grocery store.

Gardening is good for the soul

The last two weeks have been bit rough around here, first our beloved dog Pepper died, my 85 year old father in law who has been in the hospital since August after having quadruple hart by-pass was not able to come home for Thanksgiving and my employer decided to cut employment by 20%. Yesterday I said goodbye to many good friends after working together for many years, going back to work on Monday will not be the same.
This morning I decided to get up before sun up, made some coffee and went out to the garden with my dog Rosie, it was so peaceful. There is nothing like a garden at sun up, it sure puts everything in perspective.
I spend the rest of the day doing what we gardeners do, pulling weeds, cutting back over grown plants, changing pots and much more. It was a great day.


My herbs and tomatoes are doing well, the tomato plants are full of flowers and already have some small fruits. The herbs needed some prunning, specially the sweet basil



I am getting some flowers from my “Yesterday, today and tomorrow” plant, by Christmas it should be full of flowers, this year looks like is going to be a great one.



A friend of my from Vermont mailed me a bag of seed last October and did not tell what they were “Is a surprise” he told me. This is what I have after two months, I recognize the marigolds and hollyhocks the rest look like weeds to me. I’ll let you know.



Today I decided to start composting I’ll let you know how it turns out in future posting.

Good-bye to an old friend

Last week we said goodbye to our loyal friend and a constant companion our older dog Pepper. After 15 years in our family it was time for her to go to that place in the sky where all our pets go after enriching our lives with unconditional love and loyalty.
We got Pepper as puppy at a local animal shelter; she was our family’s first pet, she grew up with my kids, spending endless hours together in the back yard. She did all the puppy things, from eating my wife’s shoes to getting out of any room we tried to keep her in.
When the kids became teenagers and Pepper an adult, she preferred to hang out with my wife and I, taking long walks in our neighborhood and relaxing by our side.
Five years ago when we brought another puppy into our house and turned her world up side down she didn’t complain; she took on the role of older sister with grace, letting the new comer get most of the attention.
Pepper was the perfect dog, she got along with everyone, humans and dogs, she was a pleasure to have around and a blessing to our family and we will never forget her.

Finally flowers after three years of TLC

Do you have a plant that you reward with extra TLC and it never returns the favor. That’s what I have with this Ground Orchid; I got it as gift three years ago. I fertilized, watered, replanted three times and gave it the best spot in the garden and for three years I got nothing in return. So I decided to ignore it and this week it rewarded me with flowers, not the best I ever seen but it is a start.

Today is the last day of the 2006 Hurricane season HORAYYYYY
This year was the best year since the mid 70’s only two name storms that came near Florida but no direct hits. We needed the break.

The Angels Trumpets flowered again. Very unusual for this late in the year since we are into the dry season and we have not had rain for weeks