Florida-Friendly Agapanthus

Maybe it's the distinct coloration of the bright green stalks and the bright green stems holding individual blue flowers at their tips that gets me all shivery when these plants are on the verge of blooming. You know that goose bumply feeling a gardener gets when a bud or a bloom emerges on a favorite bush or shrub.

No question I love that perfect hue of green and blue contrast.

It is quite possibly the height of the sturdy scapes extending 3 and sometimes 4 feet erect and tall above the foliage that gets me so excited when May comes around and the buds start peeking out one by one on the Agapanthus plants. It's been my aim over the last couple of years to place them in more locations throughout the garden. The 'clumps' are easily divided by digging up the rhizomes, separating them, and creating new individual plants that multiply more rhizomes and then we just repeat the same sequence... dig, separate, create.

The Agapanthus africanus goes by several common names: lily-of-the-Nile, African lily, African blue lily. I like them all but mostly I refer to them as lily of the nile.

There isn't anything I dislike about this plant. The glossy, fairly thick, strappy leaves are evergreen. And this winter when so many of my tropicals were leveled by the rare frosts we experienced the Agapanthus never even paid attention to the low temps.

With such hardy characteristics my esteem for them has increased exponentially. It is interesting that they bloom in a sort of rythmic rotation around the garden.

Mine are all growing in partial shade where they receive a couple of hours a day of sun streaming through the tree cover directly onto them. But I've seen them growing in lots more sun and lots less sun. I'm telling you, they are extremely versatile, must-have plants.

The first ones always appear sometime in May. Those early arrivals are turning to seed to now. Since I love everything about this plant, I leave their pretty green seed pods standing high in the air for another dimension of visual appeal.

Once the bud wiggles its way up through the air it will slowly pop open to reveal the most delightful, spherical, puff of blue blooms.

Each sphere is loosely laden with so many little blue tubular or trumpet-shaped flowers. Every one with a lily-like appearance and each one making its own small contribution to the overall charm and effect of these blooms.

The Agapanthus (can you tell I just like saying that word) was my number one pick in the April post, The Six Plants I Can't Live Without.

It isn't a native plant but it is a Florida Friendly perennial. Overall it is a low maintenance, water efficient, no pests, year round performer with its very own exotic allure. And in Florida,

you can't beat those qualities!

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We have gotten a couple of days of good rain from heaven which makes the garden and the gardener thrive. It gives us both a little break.

With rain still falling it's a real good Saturday for a nap... that will get me all rested up before the grand-kiddos arrive this afternoon for a sleep over at Mimi's and Papa's.

I hope you are out enjoying your summer garden! Meems

Summer Came Early: Some Hot Blooms

Shoo-ey it's hot! and it's humid! Extraordinarily high temps started a couple of weeks ago. The tough thing is we are not cooling down at night. Walk out first thing in the morning or even late at night and the air hits you like a stifling blanket.

With summer officially upon us we can be pretty sure it is here to stay. A little rain would be nice to give the plants some relief.

There are a few flowers that like it hot. My first attempt with Indian Blanket Flower Gaillardia pulchella from American Meadows seed is happy about dry, hot conditions. They even do well in beach locations.

Some fading zinnias sown from seed mixed in with the little patch of wildflowers in a rare sunny corner.

Of all the colors of Cosmos, decidedly this deep magenta hue is my favorite. Cosmos don't seem to mind very little water.

The bushy shrubs of Pagoda flowers, Clerodendrum paniculatum, have made a comeback after being taken to the ground by the frost this winter.

The hot pink Crape myrtles are just beginning to bloom.
White ones are my personal favorites.

The Swallowtail larva is more mature today than last week when we first spotted them on the parsley in the vegetable garden. I watched today as more butterflies were laying eggs on them the parsley just today. More eggs, more caterpillars, more butterflies. Woo-hoo.

It's a good thing more milkweed was planted a couple of weeks ago. The monarchs have already found them. I counted 4 larva at different stages of maturity chomping away this morning.

My new favorite coleus. Combined here with Iresine, blood leaf started from cuttings the two of them together blend nicely next to Miss Muffet caladiums.

With our rain-less June and summer heat I'm thinking the birdies are very happy I finally broke down and purchased yet another bird bath.

Here's hoping you are staying cooler than we are while we garden. Happy summer.

The Host and the Nectar for Butterflies

There are plenty of nectar plants for butterflies at Hoe and Shovel. And it is thrilling to see so many of them floating about from flower to flower on any given day. We are fortunate enough to have them make their homes here year round due to our mild weather.

This year we are working towards planting more host plants for our flying pretties.

Even though I was duly warned about the invasive tendencies of the passionflower vines it was decided to purchase one anyway.

So this spring a new vine from that family (Passifloraceae), Passiflora incarnata was trellised in the (mostly) sunny SE back corner of the garden. It quickly climbed to the top and is amply rambling over the top.

Just as was hoped the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) butterflies found the leaves right away and began to lay their eggs.

The number of eggs they lay far exceeds the number that actually turn into caterpillars. Something else surely is eating them... but that's how the life chain works. Ants are aggressive predators of small caterpillars and eggs.

This family of vines is also host to the Zebra Heliconian, Julia Heliconian and Variegated Fritillary butterflies. We do see the Zebra Longwing (one of my favorites) and an occasional Julia but no Variegated Fritillaries so far.

The larva is orange with dark green stripes. This young stage caterpillar is not even one quarter of an inch long. Each body segment has a transverse row of long black spines.

Most of the leaves are tattered and munched but we are happy to provide the food the larva needs to grow.

A last stage caterpillar this little fellow is out in the open for the world of birds to see. But would you put those dangerous looking black spines in your bird mouth?

If you click on the photo to enlarge you can almost see him munching.

Adults of the Gulf Fritillary occur all months of the year in our part of Florida and south. During late summer and fall countless numbers of them migrate southward into Florida from throughout the eastern U.S.

We welcome them to find their way here.

Saturday Veggie Garden Update

It's been sweltering hot outdoors these past few weeks. Not good conditions for a vegetable garden.

So today with my best three-year-old helper at hand we got an early morning start. Even so, we were hot and sweaty in no time. I knew you wanted to know that little bit of trivia.

We adjusted one of his Papa's hat for the little one to help keep the sun rays out of his face. He's an eager gardener... always ready to help. His very own tomato plant has yielded some juicy 'morning sun' heirloom yellow tomatoes.

He gets so excited about them he just eats them right there in the garden as fast as he plucks them off the vine.

I prefer the taste of the 'black cherry' grape tomatoes. I've mentioned here before that even though none were officially planted in spring several came up on their own. If only tomato plants lasted as well and as easily as they get started. Notes for the veggie garden journal: must figure that one out.

Cubanelle peppers are thriving but the squash and zucchini are long gone. The succession green beans are giving us enough to add to a meal but not enough to give extras away.

We pulled up most of the remaining carrots today. I've only left them in the ground in an attempt to prolong the use of them. I planted lots more this season than last but honestly they aren't as sweet now that it has turned so hot. No matter. My little guy has so much fun pulling them up it is worth leaving a few a little longer just to share the utter joy with him another time.

After we watered and picked tomatoes and pulled carrots we noticed some very healthy pole beans hanging on the vines. The vines of those beans are not at all attractive at this point.

My little fellow went right to work pulling those, too. Then it was around to the back yard where we do have some squash and okra planted among the flowers just for fun . It was all about watering dry and thirsty plants today, a little baseball and of course cooling off with a swim. Afterall, it isn't just about the work on Saturday morning.

Overall the vegetable garden isn't looking anything like it was in its prime a month ago. But amazingly it keeps giving us some produce. As long as it keeps making efforts we will keep nurturing it.
For more blogs with vegetable garden updates go have a look at Tina and Skeeter's blog.

It was about time I joined in for their monthly garden review... but this very well could be my last entry since my vegetable garden is rapidly declining.

Morning's Harvest and a Bit of Miscellany

Every trip out to the veggie garden is more of an inspection than a culling feast these days. The soil temps are in the eighties and the bug meter is off the charts. Still... not too shabby of a morning's harvest for a vegetable garden on a rapid decline. I must say I've been pleasantly surprised the last couple of weeks while the plants hang on for life. Each basket of veggies is one more delight I didn't expect.

I'm quite thankful, too, for the black cherry tomato plants that volunteered their way up through the soil this spring. None were planted by the gardener but there are several at this point providing plenty of salad candy.

Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar
Just after mentioning my wish that the swallowtails would find the parsley... they did. Yay. Probably more like I found him ... this fellow has been around for a while.
Little Ones Adding Beauty to the Garden

Last weekend we enjoyed all the grand-kiddos at the same time. We swam, we ate pizza outside, we played games, we watched a movie, we braided hair, painted toesies and just had lots of kid-fun together. Children are marvelously invigorating and inspiring to have around.

Each of them, in their own special and individual way, has an appreciation for the garden. Early in the morning our granddaughter sat with her Papa outside in the garden. Him with his coffee, her with her hot chocolate. They were just relaxing and chatting it up about flowers and plants... and every other thing on a little girl's heart. I love it that her small, gentle hands love to touch the soft petals of flowers near by.

Native Orchids

It seems fitting to give these little beauties more blog time.

I already posted about them here if you'd like more information about the Butterly Orchid's characteristics. I'm still getting so much enjoyment from their continual blooms each time I pass them by.

The tiny but colorful blooms on Butterfly Orchids are intricate and fascinating. Each flower hardly a full inch from one petal tip to the other. So delicate and wispy they are dangling from the oak tree they are attached to. I've taken so many photos of them still trying to capture the essence of them.

Maybe it's just me but a plant that needs no soil or extra water and yet provides such simple beauty deserves lots of admiration.

I wish you all a very happy weekend... and surely that will include some valuable time spent in your garden! I'm heading in that direction now... blessings to each and every one... Meems

Two Year Blogiversary Takes Us to the Archives

What is that saying about how time flies? Oh, yes, that’s it…
My. How. Time. Flies.
June 2007

Two years ago today Hoe and Shovel was launched as a way for me to “talk” about my love for gardening. Soooo… in honor of this Happy Blogiversary I’ve poked around in the archives a little bit to help us reminisce from whence we began our blogging life ... in June 2007. Seeing these photos reminds me how we've gradually removed more and more of the lawn grass to make way for more and sometimes just bigger planting beds.
June 2009

My super-creative, smart, and talented daughter is the one who actually pushed me off the diving board with the idea to blog. Always my biggest cheerleader for every endeavor I’ve undertaken, she came up with the plan to start a blog for me. I chuckled at the thought at first. Said I didn’t have time to blog. HA! I still don’t have time to blog but somehow I make time for it. I have to admit, blogging has been an experience that I never (not in a thousand years) would have thought I would like. It has turned out quite differently than that first thought.

July 2007 (couldn't find this view in June)
Humoring my good friend and sweet daughter I gave her the go ahead to set up my Blogger template. She is the one who came up with using the pseudo-name Meems. I’m not so keen on sharing with the entire Internet world my given name. Meems is actually a nickname my grandkiddos – and now kiddos and spouses of kiddos – call me on occasion. We do that in our family… start with one name and end up with several. In case you don’t know already, Meems is an adaptation of my grandma name, Mimi. And now you know me as Meems, too.

June 2009 (same view as above)

As far as the name Hoe and Shovel. Well, that's been discussed thoroughly already and you can read about that here if you’d like.

My first post ever was June 16, 2007. For some reason (probably because I didn’t know how) I didn’t even upload a photo. My daughter was the only anonymous commenter. I had no idea there were other garden blogs when I first began. NO idea I’m telling you. It took a couple of months before it was realized there actually were garden blogs all over America and the world, too. Not too many in Florida at the time, however.
June 2008

June 2009

Anyway, blogging has been an eye-opening experience to say the least. I’ve learned so much from my blogging friends. You have encouraged me to try new plants and new methods and inspired me to take risks. Your knowledge has sparked my interest in Native plants, bulbs, seeds, cuttings, and bare root possibilities.

April 2008 First Veggie Garden EVER
With so much help and excellent support at my fingertips it was blogging that first and foremost gave me the courage to start a vegetable garden last year. A desire I’d had for many years but just hadn’t taken the plunge until spring of 2008.
May 2009

In the spring of 2009 I tripled the size of the veggie garden. Truly my greatest thrill has been adding this element to my gardening experience

Blogging has been a wonderfully creative outlet for me to play with photographing the garden and all the creatures that live there. Being behind a lens and capturing what you want a photo to “say” is one of those things that I didn’t realize how much I loved until I started blogging.

Gardening is such an integral part of what moves me. I will always go to the garden with my heart open wide to possibilities and potential. There are daily lessons to be learned, sounds of life to cheer my soul, peace to center my being, smells to delight my senses, designs to lure my creativity, and the thrill of soil for my hands to work.

To each and every one that has traveled along this blogging/gardening journey with me it has been my privilege. Whether you are a new reader or a long-time loyal reader… just the fact that you take your time to come here is appreciated more than you can know. Your input and your friendship (some of you off-blog…some of you face to face) has been so very enriching. Thank you!