Winter in Florida

Last night's winter storm complete with 55 MPH winds, tornado warnings, lightening, thunder and tons of rain brought in the colder air again that had my heater kicking on and off all night long. Today was tolerable for me to be outdoors, in the 60's, but the nights are in the 40's . . . brrrr too cold for this Florida girl. But while the rest of the deep south has been experiencing snow, I just need to endure a night or two of the heater being on . . . I don't get out in that cold unless I absolutely have to.

The title photo was taken before our one night of a hard freeze a couple weeks ago. Gone are the pretty red flowers that were scattered all over my property, the hibiscus dropped their buds that night and left crispy plants behind.

Here are some photos I took of my corn plant that was also blooming earlier this month before the freeze . . .










It makes me so sad to look at these photos . . . I thought the plant would be protected under my carport, but nature wreaked havoc on the poor thing . . . my prized corn plant that I have had for over ten years. :(

I really hate the winter time and cold weather!

What's blooming tonight . . . August 2007

Originally posted on August 26, 2007

Fierce storms blew through my neighborhood in the early evening causing me to turn off the computer and catch up on my sleep.

As I turned on the outdoor lights to let Buddy do this running around outside, something bright caught my eye. I could not believe my eyes when I looked out there and saw my patches of mother in law tongue plants looking so gorgeous in full bloom . . . they seemed to glow in the dark.

I can't believe I did this, but I ventured out at midnight into the darkness through fallen limbs, overgrown vines taking over the garden and the paths to take this photo. It was worth getting this photo although all the while, I was hoping not to trip over baby opossums that are driving Buddy crazy at night . . . and me with his barking at them . . . hmmmm don't know where they are living, could be anywhere out there. Scary!

These storms are getting on my nerves even though it has been a rather mild summer as far as these fierce thunder and lightning storms go. As I ventured out to take the photo, it reminded me of the good old days when we loved sitting outdoors after a storm with the steamy air feeling fresher and the smell of rain in the air. It made me want those days again . . . I want my Paradise back to its full glory. It broke my heart to not be able to recognize an area because of all the stink weed vine that is choking out my large tropical plants that are leaning over in agony. I have got to quit putting it off for tomorrow . . . somebody kick my a$$ please!!

She Bops Around the Garden . . . August 2007

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;

they are the charming gardeners who

make our souls blossom."





Cyndi Lauper - She Bops (Special Dance Mix)





Original post dated August 28, 2007

Comments from my original entry on Yahoo 360 posted follows this entry


Nature has a way of healing everything that ails you emotionally. Since I started getting out there pulling weeds, overgrown ground covers, fighting large stalks of palms, replanting and propagating cuttings . . . oh my, I have such a smile on my face and I feel so invigorated.

I came in to take a break and this 80's song from Cyndi Lauper was playing and it reminded me of me bopping around the yard ready to tear into everything right now. You know, if I had a magic wand and could make it functional, all cleaned up and pretty again . . . I would miss all the fun.

This is a photo of the Palmetto Palm I whipped into shape today . . .







Bromeliads are growing wild in both my front and back yard. The blooming has just begun . . . it will be spectacular when they are all in full bloom. The first photo is a flower bud ready to bloom, the second photo is a flower that has been open several days, so it is not as brilliant . . .










My gardenia bushes are turning into trees . . . the blooming has slowed down, they were covered with the gorgeous white flowers a couple of weeks ago. I started them from cuttings and they took off fast . . . very easy plant to propagate.





Don't laugh, but I have this thing about making trash to treasure. One of my neighbors threw this trash can away when the City provided us with those very cool trash containers on wheels. I've been meaning to paint it . . . and I actually did not plant most of those plants in that container. I was using it to hold leaves to make leaf mold as compost . . . lol this is what happens in my yard, plants appear everywhere like magic. I love elephant ear plants (alocasias) . . . they grow wild in my yard.

What's happening in Paradise - September 6, 2007

Originally posted on September 6, 2007

The gorgeous red hibiscus was the jewel in Paradise today. What is sad is that is the only plant of this type in the garden and the stink weed is choking it out. It used to be covered with flowers all the time and I was lucky to find one in bloom.




Since I just got the new release of Collective Soul's "Afterwords" this is what I've been listening to. It is an awesome recording and highly recommend it . . . if you love Collective Soul, you'll love it!! This song reminds me of me in my Paradise . . . I'm never alone . . . I always feel JR's presence and then there are all those critters that live out there. Hope you enjoy the music!

Look at Buddy . . . so tired from leaping

around the yard like a little deer.

He is a character . . . like a cartoon dog!

Ohhhhhhhh, it is scary similar to a Florida forest with remnants of most of you use as house plants, flowers and tropical plants. Buddy and I ventured through to the middle of the jungle so I could get some good photos . . . didn't see one snake . . . cool and encouraging cause next time won't be so scary!



For the benefit of my new friends, my garden has been virtually untouched for the past five years since my husband passed away and I had no interest in even going out there . . . a denial of acceptance thing I guess.

This is also documenting "before shots" as I have been slowly working on it by myself . . . a monumental task since it is a huge 2-city lot property with my small house built in the middle of it.




What you see as a mass of fern and groundcover should be the paths . . . the stickweed/potato vines are also taking over and choking out my tropicals . . . I really need to take care of the vines first. I'm kicking around some ideas on how to make money with all these plants, how to market it . . . all that fun stuff! Would be nice if my way to survive is back there in my Paradise!




The last time I posted photos, there was one flower bud on this patch of bromeliad that has spread and is growing wild . . . an awesome splash of red in the middle of a weedy spot that is supposed to be a clear and open area . . . the side entrance to the back side of the property that a vehicle can fit through . . . ha not now!




A closer view of the gorgeous red spikey flowers . . . they've been open for a while, so they are a little spent and not as brilliant as when they first open, yet still gorgeous.




These bromeliads have grown and multiplied like crazy . . . they are sitting on a table under the trees in a shady spot growing in containers . . . I'm sure they are growing way out of the pots. I won't be able to get to them anytime soon . . . they are way into the scary part of the jungle!




The pentas are growing wild and spreading like crazy . . . the flowers are red on these plants, but I also have hot pink in other areas.








They are growing all over the property . . . these have taken over the path. The butterflies love this plant and throughout the day, they are covered with them.




The four-o-clocks were just starting to open up . . . it wasn't quite 4:00 at the time I took the photos.


Hope you enjoyed the tour through my Jungle Paradise . . . I can't believe I was brave enough to venture to the middle of all that fern! I couldn't resist getting photos of the splashes of color I was seeing from my back room . . .

Once the resurrection goes into full swing, I'll do the before and after photos in a section on my gardening website. The progress will be a regular feature of my blog since everyone seems to enjoy seeing my garden and what's going on with it.

Blooming bromeliads and the carport jungle

This was originally posted on September 18, 2007

While sitting out in the carport jungle, I was constantly distracted by the gorgeous red blooms of my bromeliads that are now blooming in the carport jungle. They just started a few days ago. I had to get my camera and take some photos to share with you. Here is a closeup of the gorgeous red spikey bromeliad flowers . . . they have to be one of my favorite blooms in the garden, so showy and dramatic. Everyone has them in the neighborhood . . . I think it is one of those things where the seeds blow around and everyone ends up with them in their garden.


These bromeliads are not actually growing in the ground, but are in containers that are spilling out of the container. They are growing in everyone's yard in my neighborhood and I've seen some that are growing up the trees and are so spectacular. Once I get this area cleaned out, I'll be training them up the tree.


Last week I posted photos of my back yard jungle, today it is the carport jungle. This isn't so bad . . . while it is a large area, it is not overwhelming and I have taken care of a big chunk of it already . . . still, there is a long way to go!! One of my favorite plants is the green and white speckled leafed plant that is called Florida Beauty. Past winters have knocked it back a bit, but I'm gonna try to take cuttings of this one and get a bunch going for a mass planting of this mixed with the showy red/purple leafed good luck plant for my carport flower bed. I'm still not sure what will be planted at the fence area, except for some crotons and red double hibiscus.

Trash to treasure in the garden . . . recycling

I'm still amazed at the number of people who recycle stuff in the garden. Here are some photos of a revolving paperback book rack that JR pulled out of the trash at a convenient store that had a second life in our store and after that went into the garden. It is still standing after all this time, although it has been moved around to various locations and had different type of plants in it. It is my single most favorite trash to treasure in my garden . . .

I took this photo in May . . . one of two gorgeous staghorn ferns that balance the top of the rack . . . it was one of the many surprises that JR came home with to put a smile on my face. They were little tiny babies when he bought them for the purpose of growing into the rack. It has become much larger with all the rain this summer. I'll get some new photos soon.







I lined the rack with chicken wire and packed the sides with spaghnum moss and filled with soil. When I want to plant something in it, I just poke a hole in the sides or plant inside the pocket. Very cool . . . when I get things cleaned up, I'd like to get a few more of these.











This was it's first planting . . . with colorful and beautiful impatiens . . . this plant didn't work because the soil dries out too fast and imipatiens like it moist . . . so it ended up with plants that can tolerate drought conditions and it has worked out perfectly. But it sure was pretty with the colorful impatiens.

Hope you enjoyed the pics of my Paradise!