Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
The best plant sale of the year
This past Saturday was the local IFAS extension/Master Gardener's plant sale. & it was packed. they open at 8am & at &7:45 I was waiting in a looooooong line of traffic to make the turn into the IFAS extension office building lot. I have no idea if they opened early because by the time I got parked & out of the car it was after 8.
I had planned to take pictures even though my camera was on a trip to Miami (next week it goes to Paris without me!); I have been learning the camera on my phone which s actually a nice one but my hands were full almost immediately. I had brought sturdy bags which enabled m to carry plenty of plants but next year I am bringing a wagon!
I came home with one calendula which I immediately repotted (it had two unopened blooms & I was hoping to save one of them) & one cut-leaf coneflower. I actually went hoping to find one of the varieties of purple coneflower but they were gone by the time I made it to the perennials section. What I did find was a different variety of the rain lilies I am already crazy about. I also go two lavender plants because I never can resist them & four roses: two Belinda's Dream & two Louis Philippe. I forked over a whopping $26. Consider if you will that roses this size cost >$15 a the local discount rose garden. Yes I am delighted with my haul but that's not all.
The famously difficult to find UF campus IFAS bookstore had a booth where I could have easily dropped $100. What I did buy was a book on native tree identification, an updated poisonous pasture plants guide & a small but thorough booklet on fruit plant propagation with a special focus on different kinds of grafting. Yee-ha!
On the whole this event seemed to go smoothly. There were two unruly people, both of them elderly men who were probably themselves overwhelmed, not that that is an excuse. Still two cranks in a crowd of I don't know how many seems like almost nothing. There was also a snafu as I was checking out; they kept coming up with a different plant count & I nixed it each time; all of their numbers added up to an even number & I knew I had nine plants. In the end it was quite the headache to recreate the prices of what I had (they talked about going back to look but I knew the lavenders & one of the roses were already gone). As I walked away from the table I could not help but notice the older lady responsible for pulling the color stakes used as price tags still had some of the tags from my plants in one hand when she started pulling them for the next sale. Then she put them on the table & began to pile all the stakes together. The woman who was working with her caught my eye, smiled & shrugged. I can see how the crowd of people no matter how happy to be there could easily fluster a person who would rather be gardening.
In all the sale runs for five hours (four actually but there are still people there even as the are wrapping up) & it is just once a year. I have heard they made over $15K for the local Master Gardener program. A good day.
I had planned to take pictures even though my camera was on a trip to Miami (next week it goes to Paris without me!); I have been learning the camera on my phone which s actually a nice one but my hands were full almost immediately. I had brought sturdy bags which enabled m to carry plenty of plants but next year I am bringing a wagon!
I came home with one calendula which I immediately repotted (it had two unopened blooms & I was hoping to save one of them) & one cut-leaf coneflower. I actually went hoping to find one of the varieties of purple coneflower but they were gone by the time I made it to the perennials section. What I did find was a different variety of the rain lilies I am already crazy about. I also go two lavender plants because I never can resist them & four roses: two Belinda's Dream & two Louis Philippe. I forked over a whopping $26. Consider if you will that roses this size cost >$15 a the local discount rose garden. Yes I am delighted with my haul but that's not all.
The famously difficult to find UF campus IFAS bookstore had a booth where I could have easily dropped $100. What I did buy was a book on native tree identification, an updated poisonous pasture plants guide & a small but thorough booklet on fruit plant propagation with a special focus on different kinds of grafting. Yee-ha!
On the whole this event seemed to go smoothly. There were two unruly people, both of them elderly men who were probably themselves overwhelmed, not that that is an excuse. Still two cranks in a crowd of I don't know how many seems like almost nothing. There was also a snafu as I was checking out; they kept coming up with a different plant count & I nixed it each time; all of their numbers added up to an even number & I knew I had nine plants. In the end it was quite the headache to recreate the prices of what I had (they talked about going back to look but I knew the lavenders & one of the roses were already gone). As I walked away from the table I could not help but notice the older lady responsible for pulling the color stakes used as price tags still had some of the tags from my plants in one hand when she started pulling them for the next sale. Then she put them on the table & began to pile all the stakes together. The woman who was working with her caught my eye, smiled & shrugged. I can see how the crowd of people no matter how happy to be there could easily fluster a person who would rather be gardening.
In all the sale runs for five hours (four actually but there are still people there even as the are wrapping up) & it is just once a year. I have heard they made over $15K for the local Master Gardener program. A good day.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
52 Photos Project: Petals
It has been almost a year since I decided to join the 52 Photos Project & the second photo I posted was of a dandelion. I decided that this time around, second from the last, for Petals, for symmetry, I would revisit the dandelion:
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Let's blog about spring
Spring is really more of a moment here than a season. Okay a series of non-consecutive moments. I live in north Florida, not the panhandle. We are equidistant from the Atlantic Ocean & the Gulf of Mexico & while we cannot see either of them, we still enjoy a temperate climate. A shocking number of people here think the weather is extreme, but once I listen to them a bit more it turns out they are not insane, they have just mostly never lived anywhere else. Or they have been here for a really long time & other weather has lost its bite.
I am not saying it is always lovely & never dramatic, just that while 30F is chilly, especially if you don't own a heavy coat because why spend the money on a coat you might wear less than seven times a year (seven is my go to number- if I won't do it for a week a year, it is hard to plan for allocate funds, etc.)... So yes, it IS cold, made colder by choice but that doesn't make it not cold. & while the thermometers might have the a bit of overlap, 30s F here is NOT the same as 30s F in a place where the snow drifts so high you can only see the street from a second story window.
Sure you could say that summer's here are harder than in colder places. But they are not. I have spent some miserable drought-amplified summers here. I would still rather be here. The Midwest summer are baking & they have not built to deal with it (yes, I mean air conditioning, but I also mean houses to catch the breeze, with interior windows so it can move right through). I have spent many summers in CT, NJ & TX for the summer; it is generally more comfortable here.
But I miss Spring. Every seasonal misfire everywhere else (cherry blossoms that bloom early & get caught by a freeze) is the norm here. Every year Spring starts & stops & starts & stops & starts & then it's Summer. & I like Summer just fine. Still it would be nice to have a gathered Spring. Instead I have learned to look for the redbud tree, the return of the birds, the Chickasaw plum tree.
& brightest of all, the indian azaleas.
Spring is not so much a season, but a series of bursts between winter & summer. Even with all that color (winter being mostly a drab green & summer being a vibrant green) it can be easy to miss.
I am not saying it is always lovely & never dramatic, just that while 30F is chilly, especially if you don't own a heavy coat because why spend the money on a coat you might wear less than seven times a year (seven is my go to number- if I won't do it for a week a year, it is hard to plan for allocate funds, etc.)... So yes, it IS cold, made colder by choice but that doesn't make it not cold. & while the thermometers might have the a bit of overlap, 30s F here is NOT the same as 30s F in a place where the snow drifts so high you can only see the street from a second story window.
Sure you could say that summer's here are harder than in colder places. But they are not. I have spent some miserable drought-amplified summers here. I would still rather be here. The Midwest summer are baking & they have not built to deal with it (yes, I mean air conditioning, but I also mean houses to catch the breeze, with interior windows so it can move right through). I have spent many summers in CT, NJ & TX for the summer; it is generally more comfortable here.
But I miss Spring. Every seasonal misfire everywhere else (cherry blossoms that bloom early & get caught by a freeze) is the norm here. Every year Spring starts & stops & starts & stops & starts & then it's Summer. & I like Summer just fine. Still it would be nice to have a gathered Spring. Instead I have learned to look for the redbud tree, the return of the birds, the Chickasaw plum tree.
& brightest of all, the indian azaleas. Spring is not so much a season, but a series of bursts between winter & summer. Even with all that color (winter being mostly a drab green & summer being a vibrant green) it can be easy to miss.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
52 Photos Project: Where People Gather
The 52 Photos Project prompt this month is Where People Gather. The drop-dead truth is I generally avoid places people gather as the whole gather procedure is uncomfortable for me
First of all, I cannot parallel park to save my own life, so unless there is adequate parking I just don't go. Once I get there, there is the whole bumping into people & being bumped into thing. I don't mean the casual visiting with people I know but was not expecting to see. I mean actual bumping. I am shorter than average & I have rarely made it through a farmer's market without at least one person looking clear over my head & walking into me as though I was not there. I understand why this happens- your eyes latch onto where you want to go next & then you cut through the crowd; my head being below your eye level means I get shoved. Let me be clear: I am not a 'little person", I'm just shorter than average.
So even if there is parking, even if milling around is limited or includes obstacles shorter than me (café seating or occasional tables), then there is the fact I don't actually like people all that much. Please don't misunderstand me: I have friends, I am not wholly anti-social. But something has to be "worth it" for me to venture out.
Mostly I arrange for social events to come to me, bookclub being a good example. Or I prefer smaller one on one type situations. Because two people is plenty gathered for me. & when it gets warm again, this spot next to the coral vine will be my favorite spot.
First of all, I cannot parallel park to save my own life, so unless there is adequate parking I just don't go. Once I get there, there is the whole bumping into people & being bumped into thing. I don't mean the casual visiting with people I know but was not expecting to see. I mean actual bumping. I am shorter than average & I have rarely made it through a farmer's market without at least one person looking clear over my head & walking into me as though I was not there. I understand why this happens- your eyes latch onto where you want to go next & then you cut through the crowd; my head being below your eye level means I get shoved. Let me be clear: I am not a 'little person", I'm just shorter than average.
So even if there is parking, even if milling around is limited or includes obstacles shorter than me (café seating or occasional tables), then there is the fact I don't actually like people all that much. Please don't misunderstand me: I have friends, I am not wholly anti-social. But something has to be "worth it" for me to venture out. Mostly I arrange for social events to come to me, bookclub being a good example. Or I prefer smaller one on one type situations. Because two people is plenty gathered for me. & when it gets warm again, this spot next to the coral vine will be my favorite spot.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
52 Photos Project: Round
Over at 52 Photos Project, this week is "Round" & so I bring you Beauty Berry. They are native, seasonal & round. The berries are round & they form these round clusters around the stem (this photo is actually of three clusters very close together, which makes them less round but the color is so wonderful! I didn't do anything to that photo. that's what they look like in the middle of an ordinary day.M****** told me her parents spend a good chunk of their outside time uprooting these plants because the berry-litter stains everything including concrete. It probably does, but I don't care. Every year I fling the berries all around the perimeter of our property, to attract the birds & repel the mosquitos.
So that's it: ROUND.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Yes, we have no bananas
Actually, we have lots of bananas. Seven blossoms worth. & the first set are just starting to ripen.Monday, September 2, 2013
Labor rich Labor Day
Things have been a little quilt heavy here, at least you would think so from the blog posts. The reality is most of our time has been spent outside. We have had a very rainy rainy season (YAY) so there has been a lot happening out there & none of it has had anything to do with wildfires (YAY YAY).
This weekend we went grape picking at Loftus Family Farm. We try to do this every year, but this year the grapes were bit behind schedule. All this rain is good, but they need sun, too, to ripen. Mr. Loftus told us that on Saturday 900 pounds of pick-your-own muscadine were weighed & sold. We came home with 10+ pounds of our own. I brought about a third of them over to W*****. She is doing OKay with the radiation but she is so thin! & I know she loves them.
I also brought her some cuttings from the Reve d'Or which is going gangbusters up the live oak tree, probably because of the rain & being up high in rich well-drained compost. This is the second set of cutting I have done for her. The first set got so slammed with the rain, they flooded & never took root. She will make a better rose-sitter than I ever was & if they all make it (& really they should) she will 14 tiny little rose bushes to plant along her fence.
Michael Faraday went squirrel chasing (nothing new there) up the banana tree (uhm...OKay) & took down the stalk with the closest-to-ripe bunch. We have had seven banana blossoms this year (I can stop talking about the rain right?). Those stalks are quite sturdy but Mr. Faraday is no lightweight. Since they have already started to turn yellow, A cut the stalk & it is hanging from a rope tied to the covered walkway between the house & the garage. We are hoping this will approximate the light it would have gotten in the banana thicket. The blossom still had some petals, so I brought it over to W***** with the rose cuttings & the grapes.
So you see, it is not all quilting-quilting-quilting. Of course, with all the rain I get a chunk of time inside to do something pick-up-put-down, like bind a quilt or... No more about quilts or rain, for a few days at least. I promise.
This weekend we went grape picking at Loftus Family Farm. We try to do this every year, but this year the grapes were bit behind schedule. All this rain is good, but they need sun, too, to ripen. Mr. Loftus told us that on Saturday 900 pounds of pick-your-own muscadine were weighed & sold. We came home with 10+ pounds of our own. I brought about a third of them over to W*****. She is doing OKay with the radiation but she is so thin! & I know she loves them.
I also brought her some cuttings from the Reve d'Or which is going gangbusters up the live oak tree, probably because of the rain & being up high in rich well-drained compost. This is the second set of cutting I have done for her. The first set got so slammed with the rain, they flooded & never took root. She will make a better rose-sitter than I ever was & if they all make it (& really they should) she will 14 tiny little rose bushes to plant along her fence.
Michael Faraday went squirrel chasing (nothing new there) up the banana tree (uhm...OKay) & took down the stalk with the closest-to-ripe bunch. We have had seven banana blossoms this year (I can stop talking about the rain right?). Those stalks are quite sturdy but Mr. Faraday is no lightweight. Since they have already started to turn yellow, A cut the stalk & it is hanging from a rope tied to the covered walkway between the house & the garage. We are hoping this will approximate the light it would have gotten in the banana thicket. The blossom still had some petals, so I brought it over to W***** with the rose cuttings & the grapes.
So you see, it is not all quilting-quilting-quilting. Of course, with all the rain I get a chunk of time inside to do something pick-up-put-down, like bind a quilt or... No more about quilts or rain, for a few days at least. I promise.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
52 Photos Project: Fresh
Which brings us to Fresh. Naturally I thought of fresh as a daisy. So I thought I would share these daisies. Yes, they are past their prime.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
52 Photos Project: Layers/Stacks
This week it is Layers/Stacks over at 52 Photos Project. There was so much to choose from: stacks of quilts, stacks of books, stacks of quilt books...
In the end though, I went for the banana blossom. We have SIX now, very exciting. For me anyhow. We have never had more than one a season in the past & had none for the past few years. I know the reason is extremely cold winters coupled with crowding in that corner of the yard making us thin out the big banana tree trunks. But last winter was mild & the summer before we did very little to the plant, clean-up-wise. Now that we have pavers running between many of the plants, we hope not to have that crowding problem again. Not that the bananas respect the pavers, but when a shoot comes up & lifts a paver off the ground, it is easy to see which little grove needs some cutting back.
When the blooms first emerge from the top of the stalk, they are not the rich purple they will become, but they are still odd looking. They look like something surfacing, a lizard or a sea monster. Once the whole shoot is out, it broadens at the base & the leaves begin to turn purple. The stalk continues to grow, but the blossom gets heavier, curving it back down & then the layers really emerge.
The first layer of purple peels back & underneath is an arc of small new bananas. Once exposed they will also plump up & change color, the stalk will grow & further along, another petal will fall away & there will be another arc of new bananas.
When the blooms first emerge from the top of the stalk, they are not the rich purple they will become, but they are still odd looking. They look like something surfacing, a lizard or a sea monster. Once the whole shoot is out, it broadens at the base & the leaves begin to turn purple. The stalk continues to grow, but the blossom gets heavier, curving it back down & then the layers really emerge.
The first layer of purple peels back & underneath is an arc of small new bananas. Once exposed they will also plump up & change color, the stalk will grow & further along, another petal will fall away & there will be another arc of new bananas.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Speaking of trees
I have ranted before (here, in person, on the phone, etc.) about how offensive I find this business of measuring everything by money, cost & savings.
I am not sure the guy with the newest, latest & greatest tv/car/home experiences a better quality of life than the guy who lives in a small house without a tv & rides his bike to work but so much about our society emphasizes the guy doing the most expensive thing is the happiest.
Which brings me to Arbor Day, as last Friday was Arbor Day...in Cambodia. In Alaska & Maine it was the week before, but I wasn't organized enough to get this posted in time. For most of the UStates, Arbor Day is in April or March. Here in Fladidah Arbor Day was in January, but you would not know it Or maybe you would, we have a lot of trees. Not in downtown Miami, but in general, throughout the state. We probably have fewer than we used to, though, but maybe not. new homes sales are still in the toilet here (which I am fine with, actually), so not so much clearing is going on.
So trees. Who doesn't love trees? Well, it turns out lots of bloggers have neighbors who hate trees (just go ahead & Bing it; I think my favorite was this one; it starts slow but that response along the lines of "worry about what your neighbor might do that isn't cutting down a few branches" has possibilities). Mostly neighbors seem to hate the tree next door that sheds in their yard. This is apparently the tree version of that guy who lets his German Shepherd crap at the top of our driveway. If you saw where I lived, you would realize how ridiculous this is. See that photo at the top of the blog...see that little opening in the trees, between "cockatiels" & "chickens". That is the driveway this dog needs to hit. & hit it he does, more than he misses anyhow. Unless they walk by more than once a day.
Where was I? TREES. Trees are good. Trees are great! But don't take my word for it, go ahead & road test this exciting Tree Benefits Calculator. & if it turns out they actually improve the cash value of well, anything, then that's a win-win. If you live nearby & are short of trees give me jingle because our cedars, loquats, redbud -even the magnolia no matter what the experts say- are prolific & it kills me to just mows over them.
I am not sure the guy with the newest, latest & greatest tv/car/home experiences a better quality of life than the guy who lives in a small house without a tv & rides his bike to work but so much about our society emphasizes the guy doing the most expensive thing is the happiest.
Which brings me to Arbor Day, as last Friday was Arbor Day...in Cambodia. In Alaska & Maine it was the week before, but I wasn't organized enough to get this posted in time. For most of the UStates, Arbor Day is in April or March. Here in Fladidah Arbor Day was in January, but you would not know it Or maybe you would, we have a lot of trees. Not in downtown Miami, but in general, throughout the state. We probably have fewer than we used to, though, but maybe not. new homes sales are still in the toilet here (which I am fine with, actually), so not so much clearing is going on.
So trees. Who doesn't love trees? Well, it turns out lots of bloggers have neighbors who hate trees (just go ahead & Bing it; I think my favorite was this one; it starts slow but that response along the lines of "worry about what your neighbor might do that isn't cutting down a few branches" has possibilities). Mostly neighbors seem to hate the tree next door that sheds in their yard. This is apparently the tree version of that guy who lets his German Shepherd crap at the top of our driveway. If you saw where I lived, you would realize how ridiculous this is. See that photo at the top of the blog...see that little opening in the trees, between "cockatiels" & "chickens". That is the driveway this dog needs to hit. & hit it he does, more than he misses anyhow. Unless they walk by more than once a day.
Where was I? TREES. Trees are good. Trees are great! But don't take my word for it, go ahead & road test this exciting Tree Benefits Calculator. & if it turns out they actually improve the cash value of well, anything, then that's a win-win. If you live nearby & are short of trees give me jingle because our cedars, loquats, redbud -even the magnolia no matter what the experts say- are prolific & it kills me to just mows over them.
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