Hibiscus

I have found lately that I have fallen in love with hibiscus. They are so wild and over the top! It's so interesting how different every plant is and how many different varieties there are.

Last year we got the first one. A vibrant red hibiscus with a braided trunk. Amazingly a walmart find that didn't die! (So many times, any plant I buy from Wal-Mart always seems to have to suicide plan.) It made it through the winter and most of it has come back, but being the first one in the yard it holds a special place :-)



Love this picture. Took it in the early morning with my phone and it just looks like a painting!

I have a few cuttings that I picked up one day of hibiscus and I am very happy to say that all three have rooted. All three are different colors. Last week the first cutting bloomed!



And last week we added two more: a variegated and a maple leaf. So far the varegated does not have any blooms yet, but the maple leaf hibiscus has already started! The crimson buds look like little turbans littering the stalk. Hopefully soon they will be opened up!

Maple Leaf Hibiscus bud up close



Here comes the rain again!!!

Here comes the rain again! And this time it seems perfectly planned! So far we have gotten rain the last three days and everything seems to be happy in the yard without having to run up the water bill finally!!!

Caterpillars ate up the tomatoes, so anything that was on the vine that they half ate, we dropped to the top of the pot, cut down all the vines, covered with compost and allowed the fruit to reseed itself. With all the rain, we finally have baby maters starting again!

We started the oak garden #2 last week by planting shrimp plants, clerodendron (starburst/shooting star), and set out all of the rest of the plants to fill in. There's a wonderful mix of spider lillies, amaryllis, hydrangeas, Hawaiian tai, bromiliads, and aloe just waiting to be planted, but placed where we want them. Although we have yet to plant the Hydrangeas in the oak garden, they have already started to bloom.

And just next to the oak garden # 2 we planted figs. Three of them: Two from mom's old place in Palataka that we have had in pots for nearly a year and one that was from our favorite- the clearance rack at Lowe's! I am so happy that we found a place to get these into the ground. We planted them on Saturday and with the three days of rain, they already have buds that are ready to shoot new growth!

Bougainvillea number 2 from the transplants is starting to fill in. I saw all kinds of green shoots last week and now it has little magenta blossoms starting to find their way out! It will only be a matter of time before the one color panel is covered in a sea of green and magenta bougainvillea!

The first Oak Garden on the south side of the back lawn is finally coming back. The lack of rain and lack of me regularly watering it made it struggle hard. This was one of our gardens from last year. Yet again filled with more amaryllis and other bulb lillies. I also have coleus surrounding the oak tree. Since the rain has come, it looks like everything is springing back!

I am so happy to have rain again!!! It really seems to be making the yard open right up! I can hardly wait to see everything in full bloom!

Captain's so vain...

Captain's just so vain sometimes... Laying in front of the mirror and staring depply into the eyes of the most beautiful cat he's ever seen!

Hilltop garden

To the north side of the pool there is a small hill. The hill is not tall, but is more of a berm about 30 feet long. Last year we threw wildflower seeds along the hill, and got two cosmos. Nothing else. We also tried gladiolas, but only one took and it didn't even bloom!

So this year there was a new plan!

It took us two weekends to finish the weeding, but we pulled everything out of the hill. Then it took us another two weeks to get all of the compost dirt to amend the sandy hill. And then we were ready. We covered the top of the hill with Mammoth sunflower seeds and then used a red variety mix and a lemonade variety mix of seeds to surround the Mammoth. Below that on the grade of the hill, we staggered about 80 gladiola corms. And then finished with four o'clock seeds and marigolds. We used our broken concrete pieces from around the yard to create a border.

We have been very diligent in watering. After only a week, the first sunflower seeds sprouted. A day or two behind them, the gladiolas sprung up and so did the four o'clocks. It's been about 4 weeks now and everything is coming along nicely! I can't wait to see the blooms across the hill!!!

Long shot of the garden.

Sunflowers

Stick Plants

Last year we went to the garden festival in Winter Garden. We were so excited to find our first set of plans and we brought home all kinds of beautiful plants that died. Only a handful of the plants survived. The survivors include: Plumbago (which is barely holding on),  Flatwoods Plum (which is thriving), and our Plumeria (stick plants).

The Plumeria was purchased as sticks. Each stick was about 12 inches long without any leaves, flowers, or even dirt. Just sticks. We followed the directions, placed then in the sun, and last summer it was great to have sticks with leaves. Fall came, the leaves fell off. Winter came and we protected them through the frosts. I am happy to say that with Spring this year, we got more than just leaves!!!

As leaves started to spring up, we saw little branches with bobbles at the ends coming up.

Then the little bobbles turned into little buds. And then grew to about an inch long. and then "boom" all of a sudden the plumeria flowers started to open! 

Hopefully soon the whole cluster of buds will open up. The plumeria has a very strong sweet smell and is fragrant enough that if they all open, it should perfume the backyard entirely!

Orange Ground Orchids

Several weeks ago now, Sam came home with plants from Lowe's. He has developed a newfound appreciation for the clearance section of the garden center. (It brings a tear to my eye how much I inspire him sometimes!)

He came home with Figs and some orange Ground Orchids. I had never seen or heard of them before! (Not the figs, but the ground orchids...) So there they sat for almost a month in their Lowe's pots. And every weekend, we had intentions of doing great things with them, yet every weekend there they sat.

And then we came home with some beautiful pottery that we picked up in Altamonte. I thought for sure they would be in there in no time flat. But no... The pots sat empty and the ground orchids sat. Until last week...

Same took the initiative to plant his ground orchids - and how amazing do they look?!

Except for the fact that the pots are blue and the flowers are orange... I think they look great. This is a big step for a Seminole... But I am going to let them be!

Sam's Avocado

Last year my friend Elisa and I had a great lunch together. As usual, she had her avocado with lunch. How on earth one person can eat so much avocado is just beyond me. She she finished and was about the toss out the pit, and I asked if I could bring it home for Sam. She looked a little perplexed, but sent it home.

Sam was on a mission to grow anything that had a pit. Peaches, Nectarines, Avocados, and then he even tried apple seed. And had no luck... Until I brought home Elisa's Avocado pit.

He was soooooo excited!!! He found a nice pot, filled it with compost, and potted the pit. He created a daily nurture ritual of watering it, and pulling the weeds. months went by and nothing. Two months, three months, and then I believe it was about 4 months later that a chartreuse sprinng emerged from the black soil.

He never left his routine and has continued to monitor the progress of his baby avocado daily. And now it has grown  a foot tall. So we decided today that it was time to find it a permanent home.

Sam dug a whole, we blended ashed from the firepit with compost and Sam placed his avocado in the hole. As we covered the roots with more compost, the evening sun engulfed the leaves of the avocado.

Crossing my fingers that she grows fast and procudes fruit one day!