 |
| Double Purple Datura By Meneerke bloem GFDL via Wikimedia Commons |
It's been an interesting year for me. After I lost my house and garden last year and moved away, I thought I'd never see any of those plants again. Well, the county took its sweet time taking possession of the house, so my roommate and I went over and took a lot of what was left in the yard. Luckily, some of my favorites were still alive...through some sort of miracle...and I got to dig them up and bring them here. Most lived, some died. Unfortunately, the plum trees didn't make it, but there were lots of other things that did, so I found places for them in Jillaurie's yard. Some are still in pots, and come winter, I'll be planting those somewhere, but it's way too hot to plant them now. But this is what's going on in the garden right now.
Well, no additional veggies have gotten planted here, because it's so hot, neither one of us has been able to get out to do much but weed. The large patch of Malabar Spinach has seen its better days, and most of it has died, but the ones I put on the trellis are doing well. I'm going to try to root some cuttings. Someone on Gardenweb said you can grow it from a leaf. Interesting. One tomato, the Cherokee purple, is hanging on in it's large pot. I planted the bell pepper cuttings into a large pot and they are starting to grow. I stuck 5 in together, so it will be interesting to see what happens there. Sweet potatoes are taking over everything, of course. This year, I'm actually going to harvest them. The Jalepeno died, but I managed to get the last fruit, so I'll be planting more. The Tabasco pepper is going gangbusters, and I also have seedlings that I'm thinking of growing as ornmentals in the front this fall. My friend gave me a pepper I don't know the name of, and a basil with it that I also don't know the name of. It hasn't had any peppers yet, so I'll post pics when it does so I can get an i.d. I also want to plant some of the mini bell pepper seeds this fall to see how they do.
The front yard is doing well. Some of the bromeliads are starting to bloom and put out pups. The giant Crinum I planted is blooming now. I finally got the card reader for the camera, so I'm going to try to get pictures of all this stuff.
That unidentified squash vine turned out to be a canteloupe. There is one tiny fruit on it, and the vine is still growing, so who knows what will happen?
The Confederate Rose that I put into a large terracotta pot is doing well, but needs watering every day in this heat. It's pretty much stopped growing for now, so I'm hoping it will put out some blooms this fall when it cools down. I have four babies I grew from cuttings, but one isn't doing so well. I need to repot the others This is a pic of the type I have. It blooms pink and stays pink, unlike the type that blooms white and turns pink.
 |
| Confederate Rose By Taken by Fanghong CC-BY-2.5 via Wikimedia Commons |
I can see that the Aechmea blanchetiana broms are going to have to be moved to somewhere that they can get more sun. They aren't as orange as I thought they'd be, because they are too shaded under the palm trees. Problem is, I have no idea where to put them. I'll figure it out. "Little Harv" is blooming. I'm so glad I got to rescue this one, because it was one of my favorites, with its beautiful, large silver leaves. Until I can get a picture of mine, there is a great picture at the Zone 10 website. Speaking of broms, I have two pineapple plants that are doing very well, one that isn't doing so well, but it needs to be moved.
The Firebush is taking over the side garden, so I am going to have to try to cut that back a little. It's so beautiful, but they do tend to sprawl and take up space very quickly. The red crape myrtles are on their second bloom. I don't know exactly which variety they are, but they're gorgeous. I'm going to be deadheading them to keep them blooming, or at least get one more bloom out of them.
 | |
| Firebush By Quadell CC-BY-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
The Brugs aren't doing so well. They just hate this heat, plus the dryness has made the mites come back. No blooms so far, but I remember that they usually bloom in the winter and spring, so I'm just fertilizing and watering and hoping for the best. The double purple datura, on the other hand, is going gangbusters! I have quite enough seeds, so I'll probably start deadheading it to get it to bloom more. I need to pot up the Charles Grimaldi into something larger so it will grow and bloom this fall. It's tiny and already has a "Y". This is what it the CG looks like when it's in bloom. I have a Versicolor Peach, but it will never look like this picture, as they don't do too well in S. Florida. Too hot for them.
 |
| Versicolor Peach Brugmansia Wikimedia Public Domain |
The tree-form Jatropha that I stuck into the ground is doing well. Obviously, it's rooted, and is now blooming, but not growing a lot. I need to fertilize it more, but it's right there by the datura, so that just sucks up all the fertilizer. I'm thinking I'll move the datura somewhere else this fall so the Jatropha can grow.
That's enough for now. I'll hopefully have real pictures soon.
Comments
Post a Comment