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"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

The Sunshine State

so we have certainly had more than our share of sunshine with daytime temperatures of over 90 degrees for the past 2 weeks. anything resembling "fun gardening" has been minimal. not much going on beyond the usual maintenance. every year in september and october i do major pruning to be ready for the winter months. i won't fertilize the shrubs and bushes which promotes new growth-- just because with our mild winters, everything will keep growing anyway. it is, however, almost time to deplete my compost pile by transferring it to all my flower beds.


the weatherman forecasts a dryer, cooler front moving through our area tonight and into the morning. my son in north florida said today was perfectly beautiful there with temps in the 50's this morning. i admit i'm a tad jealous but i'm holding out for us to get cooled off a little this weekend. we won't see 50 degrees anytime soon but anything in the 60's in the morning hours would be sweet relief... and enjoyable gardening weather.

today i thought i'd post some random garden photos i've taken over the past few days.


the teeny bloom of my pink polka-dot plant


this angel wing begonia fascinates me with its deep burgundy underside and its rich polka-dots on the upperside. it sports a beautiful white bloom and it roots very easily by either putting the cuttings in water or directly into soil.

i followed this gulf fritillary to my next door neighbor's butterfly bush for this snap- i'm pretty sure this is the first one i've captured at home.


the snow bush i trimmed a couple of weeks ago is already pushing out this pretty 'autumn looking' new growth. from the front of the planting it just peeks out over the top of the blue plumbago blooms.


honestly, i'm a bit of a baby when it comes to the heat. don't get me wrong, i'll work in the heat-- like today, i worked in my yard all day long, but i prefer to do big projects when its cool. it only makes sense to me, because i want gardening to be a pleasure. being outdoors in beautiful weather is half the motivation for me to have such an extensive garden. i would rather be outside anytime than inside.
i have some big ideas for when we actually do feel some autumn breezes here. stay tuned for a major project i hope to start next week. it may have to wait until the following week. it all depends on the weather and if i can find all the "stuff" i need to complete it.

4 comments:

  1. Gosh, I hate to rub it in, but it's been great! Last night, it got down to 46 here. Our property is kind of an extreme mini-climate. It gets colder in winter and hotter in summer than the surrounding area. Already tonight, it's below 50.

    I just love your angel wing! My poor nelected begonia is getting leggy. Any idea how to get it to bush out? I need to air-layer my false aralia, but I've never done it and I'm a bit afraid I'll hurt the poor lanky thing.

    Have a JESUS-filled weekend! ^i^

    ReplyDelete
  2. sophie: there are so many varieties of begonias but i would say the advice for a leggy one of any sort would be to cut it back. the ones you see in my photos i constantly pinch back. they are hardy performers in containers.

    i have to admit i'm too lazy to do any air-layering.

    it's okay about the weather... i keep hearing about it from everyone i know up there... i know it has been perfect the last few days.we'll be up that way again next weekend... i sure hope it holds out for us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know, I feel the same way about the heat, the older I get the more it bothers me. I had an Angels Wing begonia but I losted to the snails, is one of my favorites.
    PS Cooler weather is coming I already feel it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi. I saw your angel wing and it is the only one I have found online that looks anything like mine. I was wondering if you knew the *type* (strain?) of angel wing? I got mine from my mother who got it from her mother. It looks rather tree like so I am trying to get in back into a good state since I have better windows. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Have a blessed day,
Meems


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