The Many Pretty Faces of Agapanthus

Assuredly (this is solely my humble opinion) there are few perennials grown in central Florida offering as much zing in the summer garden as the tall and towering Agapanthus, A. africanus Lily of the Nile when it flowers.

For that reason alone each plant has been divided numerously, over the course of several seasons, to spread its generous contribution into almost every border of the front and back gardens.

From the day the first buds seemingly spring into the air on 3-4 foot scapes, above clumps of evergreen strappy foliage, this gardener is awe-struck.

Embarrassingly so at times.

Lustily adoring each phase.

As that singular, large green pod gives way to multiple, smaller buds with the promise of a larger burst of blue with each opening.



Given a few more days, in keeping with its steadfast loveliness, each developing blossom, waits its turn to break forth into individual lily-like flowers. Gradually each one popping open to display yet its own pretty face.

Not wanting to miss a single phase of the transition I find myself paying close attention to the transformation from each tightly budded beginning to the final result of each pom-pom shaped flower.

Most of the year this wonderfully evergreen and cold hardy plant is quiet yet faithful to perform as an integral part of the foundational plantings. As the strappy, arching clumps mature they spread on rhizomes that can be split up and transplanted with little effort.

I prefer to see Agapanthus planted in groupings for increased impact or, if singly, used in containers in combination with coleus or other summer annuals.

This year the first buds arrived in the beginning of May. All the way into this week more new buds are shooting up to aid in prolonging my admiration of them well into summer.



Recalling how it was named among the six plants I can't live without article I wrote last year it is easily confirmed that it would make that list again if I were to write it anew today.



The cool blue-ish hue of the blooms and contrasting bright chartreuse stems blend in next to wildflowers, caladiums, firebush, Indian hawthorn, impatiens, coleus, plumbago, and ornamental grasses.

As I think about it, there isn't a single situation in which it doesn't merge nicely and make a home for itself with ease in any combination.

Possibly to increase my joy of these favorite beauties the butterflies and pollinators are equally attracted to it for nectaring.
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Dear readers, you are the best allowing me to go on and on over any number of plants I love to love. If you don't grow this one I highly recommend it if you couldn't guess that already. It is drought resistant and cold hardy. Some years I give it a boost of bone meal just before blooming time. Other than that it is fully on its own.

Happy Gardening,
Meems

Wrapping Up An Enthusiastic Spring

With eager fervor many projects were tackled in the garden this spring. Too many to detail but suffice to say there have been at least (I stopped counting after a while) 9 yards of dirt hauled and spread, 7 yards of pine mulch, several yards of horse manure, 15 bales of pine straw, 418 pounds of flagstone, hundreds of square feet of sod removed, and oodles of plants planted, divided, seeded, and tended.

So before we say goodbye to this most beloved season of possibilities and promise here's a look at some of the overflow of photos from the bulging spring files.

Somehow none of these recently-snapped photos have made it into a blog post before now. So here goes a random mish-mash of scenery from many parts of the garden...



































Hello Summer!
While our passion is not nearly as great for your arrival, we greet you with whole-hearted resolve to meet the added challenges you bring our way.

That sounds good anyway, doesn't it!

Butterfly Orchid

Last week the wispy buds and delicate blooms of the butterly orchids, Encyclia tampensis living on the oak trees were noticed as I rounded the corner to the edible garden. This weekend I finally remembered to take some photos.

Butterfly orchids are epiphytes so they receive absolutely zero attention from me. That along with their demure size means they could easily be overlooked. Tiny blooms maybe but nonetheless beautiful and capturing when observed.

An epiphyte causes no harm to the host plant it is attached to as it receives its nutrients from the air.

Last year I wrote more extensively about this sweet Florida Native which you can read here.

The Skinny on Tropic Snow Peaches AND Thank YOU

Yesterday after I harvested almost all the peaches from my newly planted (February 2010) Prunus persica 'Tropic Snow' peach tree I was so OVER THE MOON (as I've mentioned previously but I like having a reason to be OVER THE MOON so I'm saying it again) with delight I hurriedly took some photos and thought I could get by with posting a few words to go along with the visual.

Being that I usually ramble on and on about plants
1) because it is easy to ramble about plants
2) because I tend to think since I want to know details EVERYONE must want details. Although I've lived long enough to know this is not necessarily true ... but that's another subject... for another time... or not.
:-)

So yesterday, with that quick entry, I thought I'd given you all a break from my ramblings and sufficed to exclaim my utter amazement at harvesting peaches.

Turns out:
1) There were lots of questions in the comments from (mostly) Florida gardeners which I will do my best to address in this post.
2) I actually DO have a few more words (and visuals, too) to say concerning peaches. If you can imagine such a thing... here we go.

Firstly, the photo of the peaches started out like this (above). So many of you commented about the photo I knew you'd want a detailed explanation of how it came about.

Each peach is a mere 2 inches or so in diameter. Piling them in a basket gave the photo the sense of the peaches being swallowed up. So I simply lifted them out of the basket ~cloth and all ~ and gave it another try.

Yesterday's photo (that I copied and included as the first photo on this post also) is the result. It just happened to turn out nicely with the cloth and the peaches piled on each other rather than in the basket.

But that's the fun of photography. Keep trying and you're bound to get a few good shots.

All in all there was a whopping total of 12 peaches harvested yesterday ~~ other than the two I plucked last week. There is a smattering ~ think: 3 or 4 ~ left on the small tree.

But ONE was more than my little heart ever imagined to harvest. So you can now understand better why I was OVER THE MOON for these few.

Secrets to growing? There are none really. My theory is the tree was too new for the bugs/critters to find it as it is planted among ornamentals. The TRUE test will be IF it produces fruit again next year. We shall monitor and report.

The tree was purchased at my favorite local garden center, Duncheon's Nursery & Landscape. They carry a goodly assortment of healthy fruit trees. I amended the area around the tree with aged horse manure and compost. Other than that I've only made sure to keep it well watered. I did not have to plant more than one tree for pollinating.

Here is a link with growing instructions for peaches (for Florida) from one of my favorite garden centers in north Florida.

As far as Pinellas County resources I suspect peach trees available at Jene's Tropicals.

These varieties for gardeners in subtropical areas are low-chill (150-350 chilling hours) peaches and nectarines you might find available in your area: Peach ‘Tropic Beauty’, ‘Tropic Snow’, ‘Flordaprince’, ‘Flordagold’; Nectarine ‘Sundowner’.

Even though peach cobbler is one of my favorites to make and to eat I won't be using these beauties for cooking. One by one each fuzzy orb is being peeled and sectioned and savored for all its worth. With each delectable bite its worth increases! The juicy, white flesh is deliciously sweet and flavorful.

Peaches have always been one of my favorite fruits!

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Happy Blogiversary!

Lastly, today marks the beginning of my fourth year of blogging since creating Hoe and Shovel.

For the record... that's a lot of chatting about plants, folks.

When I wrote my very first post for Hoe and Shovel I had NO idea another single garden blog existed. Hard to believe but that is the truth.

What a remarkable world has opened up to me in sharing this passionate hobby of gardening with each and every one of you.

Today I'd love to give out heartwarming hugs to all commenters and readers who spend precious moments of their lives reading this blog. Feel free to read last year's entry to hear my heart regarding how garden blogging has brought more friends and connections than I could ever have imagined going into this.

Thank YOU for making this virtual 'extension of gardening' an extraordinary experience.
God bless,
Meems

Peach Harvest

You may remember my excitement when the Tropic Snow Peach tree was planted in February. It was blooming those wonderfully delicious pink blooms on spindly, woody branches that looked oh, so, wintry. Just the thought of the possibility of peaches was thrill enough.

Actually harvesting peaches has sent me OVER THE MOON!

Perfect (okay, so that's a bit of embellishment but trust me... they are close to perfect) little fuzzy orbs concealing white fleshy fruit and a fragrance that sends all my senses straight back to memories of Grandma's house.

The flavor is pretty outstanding, too.