Autumn's Calming Scenery

The artist is nothing without the gift,
but the gift is nothing without work.
- Emile Zola

September draws to a close and I'm reminded what a beloved month it is in Florida. Not only are there intermittent changes in the weather bringing ever-so-slight hints of relief from summer's endless heat and humidity.

It is when the culmination of all the sweat-equity invested during spring and summer is fully realized and appreciated.

As I am out and about, refreshing the planting beds with new mulch and adding coleus and other cuttings here and there rooted from existing plants, it is the overall scenery of September that stands out to me.

Autumn nights are growing longer or is it autumn days are growing shorter! Whichever way we say it we know that soon growth will gradually begin to slow-down. [I never really think it completely stops here as long as our sun is shining brightly.] But our winters have proven me wrong the last two years. That's another much-bemoaned subject I'll not pain dear readers with today.

Working on increasing the presence of a middle-story, this spring, there were several young trees added (this one in the foreground a Rhaphiolepis indica Indian Hawthorn tree). Each addition will eventually fill-in the visual space between the low-lying under story at ground level and the very tall upper story of the mature oak tree canopy.

In this area, the perimeter of the circle garden, the design thought was not only middle-story filler but the desire for a frost-proof, winter-blooming specimen tree. Eventually the Indian Hawthorn will serve the purpose of filtering some of the sun's rays on the most intense summer afternoons.

As this gardener is learning and practicing more and more Right-Plant, Right Place principles I find seasonal transitions easier to accept and even admire.

Needless to say, as the years go by, we are becoming better prepared for each season.

If you are curious it is easy enough to take a look at the infant stages of the circle garden when it first began this past February by following this link.
Viewing it from every angle now is a simple reminder that good design plans are the way to begin any new project. Yes, lots of diligent effort but so well-worth the rewards.

In the course of finishing this project it was decided to move existing well-worn chairs from the back patio into the circle garden pathway for a relaxing venue. There are two more chairs along the tropical pathway just a little further around the path for a shadier sitting spot. The adirondacks are perfect for a cup of morning coffee or late evening meditation.

Careful timing of succession-planting caladium bulbs later in summer than is recommended makes for lasting foliage into these months of autumn. Our ground temperatures stay warm well into November which supports keeping the colorful leaves peeking out among the borders.

The much-prized Australian Tree Fern never fully recovered from winter. *sigh* A new one, planted as a replacement, is tucked a little further under the tree canopy for better protection. Hopefully this isn't pushing right-plant, right-place philosophy. When all is said and done it is a risk I'm willing to take for the beautiful specimen it becomes in the shady garden.

The curving pathway under the oak tree canopy draws me to wander down it and be thankful for every nook and cranny in this garden space.

Energies expended to create this playground for imaginations at their purist always puts a smile on my face. Treasures innumerable are discovered by my favorite four year old while exploring every possible corner of the garden.

Spiders and their webs are of particular interest at 4. He's been learning since he could toddle it is better to let them live for their good qualities than to be afraid of them.

Some days we purposely have a spider hunt. Counting how many we can find and observing differences in body-size, coloring, shelter, and webbing. Oh, these facts are invaluable and make for endless conversation.

Seeing the garden through his eyes makes every venture into the garden extraordinary. I'm certain, as adults, it would do us a great deal of good to see our world with the sheer wonder and majesty of a child.

I am loving the blue blooms of plumbago in a container. Placed in the northside berm to help camouflage the pipes sticking out of the ground from the well-pump.

As in every garden all is not perfect or complete in this garden. But isn't it rewarding to take a look around and be thankful for the small details as well as the results we envisioned months ago!

Excitement is on the horizon for when cooler weather visits and more projects can be accomplished.

Happy autumn and gardening to you! Thanks for hanging through this long post!

Meems

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No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth,
no culture comparable to that of the garden ...
Thomas Jefferson, Garden Book, 1811

September Favorites: Blue Ginger

Gingers, ornamental tropical perennials, are just one of the many advantages to gardening in Florida.

There are several varieties growing in this garden but in September it is the butterfly gingers and the (false) blue gingers Dichorisandra thyrsiflora that have my attention. They aren't fast growers but I've been digging them to divide them each year. Won't it be nice to see them in more locations.

Hurricane Lily Lycoris radiata var. radiata, members of the Amaryllis Family, and a favorite food of the Eastern Lubber grasshopper. That means, out of 50 bulbs, there are only 2 or 3 that make it to bloom each year. It is a shame. Each one a work of art and detail. The lubbers chew the stalks and the buds.

Golden rod Solidago sempervirens

Crinum angustifolium 'Queen Emmas' a favorite scented bloom and remarkable foliage.

Crinum angustifolium 'Queen Emmas'

White Queen caladiums, continuing to perk up the September garden.

Miss Muffet caladium

White Christmas (I think) Caladiums on the edge of the tropical pathway.

Jatropha podragrica, Buddha Belly's large foliage leaves are always a favorite.

The bloom is sort-of insignificant albeit unique~~ making it a favorite autumn bloomer.

In the northside berm, alocasia, coleus, and caladiums combine for a lush display we've been enjoying for months.

Dragon wing begonia (or is it an angel wing?) in a container on the front walkway echos the shades of the Ti plants behind it. A VERY favorite foliage, easily rooted from cuttings.

Cassia alata or candlestick plant begins blooming in August and carries on through September/October. A favorite of so many buzzing critters and a host plant for cloudless sulphur butterflies. Candlestick is an easy carefree perennial. It will self-seed prolifically but seedlings are easy to pull or transplant.

Tiger Swallowtails are a favorite on one of their favorite nectar plants, Red Pentas lanceolata, making it a favorite for the gardener, too.

Amazing bloomers in sun or partial shade they are a must-have perennial for Florida gardens.

Bulbine frutescens ‘Yellow Rocket’ didn't bloom great until the last few weeks. It is a bright spot street-side although kind of hard to notice with the purple muhly grass sending up its clouds of purple in September.

Oh, yes, purple muhly grass Muhlenbergia capillaris a Florida native, is by far the star of the front gardens in September. More on this plant later. Don't you think it deserves a post of its own!

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All plants listed are considered Florida-Friendly.

Thanks to Susan at Simply Susan for her creation of "My Favorites This Month". Be sure to visit her for more varieties of Florida-Friendly plants.

Emma Prevails to Bloom

Any plant in the Amaryllidaceae or amaryllis family is a choice (but not exclusive) target of the Eastern Lubber grasshopper. This summer it was my Crinum angustifolium 'Queen Emmas' that took the most noticeable hit from the Lubber's bothersome habit of mutilating foliage as it feeds.

Most of the beautifully elongated and oversized leaves have been severely chewed ragged leaving them in a pathetic state aesthetically. So severely affected were the three Emmas located in the front gardens they were eventually dug up late July and moved to the VERY back-of-the-back garden to recover.

You may remember how the Emmas were initially acquired as a gift from a generous neighbor which you can read about here. There are currently six of these much-loved dramatic centerpiece specimens in the garden.

Caught in the act, as previously mentioned in another post, it took me by surprise that the enormous buds of Emma were included in the Lubber's menu. In normal conditions buds atop tall scapes shoot forth 2 and 3 at a time, in succession, on any one plant.

The good news is those magnificent umbels have burst open this week. Glorious clumps of sweetly scented trumpets have made it to maturity.

I refuse to give up and give in to those menacing chompers. But WOW, I'm still seeing several (and pick them off to die) each day. I wonder if there are worse years than others or is it just that I have added more plants that offer food and cover for them??

All hail to you, Emma, for prevailing even in a particularly tough environment.

May you bloom for the rest of your season without interruption.

My Edible Garden :: Personal Reflections

Seeds for the fall edible garden were recently sown. Choosing to do this early in the morning promises stillness and uninterrupted tranquility.

The day dawning in softness gradually evolving into brightness in the sunny side of the garden.

A well-worn path through a grassy lane runs the length of the vegetable garden. It serves as the main walkway from the front to the back gardens.


Planning for a new season in the edible garden begins weeks ahead of actual seed-sowing day.


There is clean-up from spring's leftover garden. There is all the prep for the ground soil which has been discussed previously here. Then there is review of the garden layout to be sure crop rotation is done correctly and room is made for combining varieties correctly.

Somewhere in between there are always more seeds to order. Not that more seeds were needed this season. But the temptation for additional seeds is too great given the imagination one has for planting more than can possibly fit into this small designated plot.

There is much anticipation as the predetermined day arrives for seed-sowing. It is a distinctly quiet and might I say ... almost sacred time. Purposely.

Sowing seeds requires my full concentration. But that's probably just me. This task is nothing like transferring plants from pots into the ground. Or designing and building a new garden bed. I find that easy and exhilarating ~~ not requiring mindful consternation.

I should clarify.

It's not the act of seed-sowing that creates a bit of anxiety. It is more my LACK of feeling fully confident in seed choices and siting and how many seeds and timing of when to sow what that still creates a bit of trepidation in me. Sounds silly I know.

An example of how the garden map ends up looking ~~ this one from spring 2010. Scribbly notes are made here for quick reference. An excel spreadsheet backs up the actual data in more detail.

So ... one can imagine... I spend a lot of energy P L A N N I N G.

Every season I'm learning more and more having started my first-ever veggie garden in 2008. At the same time the desire and need for improvement is ongoing. I suppose it always will be. Nothing wrong with that.

One of these growing seasons, I anticipate, I'm going to feel like the edible garden is second nature. More like how it feels to design and create new projects in the landscape garden.

That is going to happen ... one of these days. Right?

For now... this initial step ... getting it started each season ... still feels kind of foreign to me.

So, as my natured goes, I lean towards methodical.

The supplies are gathered and in order.

Seed packets.

Plant labels.

Extra plant labels.

Labeler.

Companion planting book.

Garden map.

Red pen.

Green pen.

At this juncture, it does my soul good to plop myself and all my supplies right down in the heart of the garden.

In these alone and quiet moments, as all the planning comes together, it strikes me. The time is here to gently open up the warm earth, count out the seeds ~~ tiny and so full of promise~~ press them into good soil and let God's masterful creation come to completion.

Then begins systematic planting. One bed at a time. This method helps me keep track of where I've been and where I need to go.

As morning unfolds the solitude and sacredness of this dawns on me. Here I am in complete harmony with what I dream of accomplishing. Loving THIS. Fully engaged in the peaceful quietude and stillness of a new day. Grateful and blessed to abide in the beauty of my small plot of ground.

A keen awareness of the activity stirring around me begins to fill my senses. And from this calm, sunlight streaking through the dawn, the gentle sounds of buzzing and fluttering begin to break the silence. In a delightfully, familiar sort of way.

It is in the midst of intense contemplation, resources in hand, deep into thoughts of orderly seed placement and notations that my attention is redirected from the paperwork, upward.

Stirred from serious concentration. The need now to delay the plans and just savor the freshness of every single bit of life surrounding me. And notice. Notice the tiniest, seemingly insignicant, flying insects whirling about without a care to the most obvious beauties of butterflies and birds busily gathering their nourishment without regard to my presence.

Thankful for the gift of this small reminder to slow down and absorb the essence of every experience in this place. I'm at once wholeheartedly aware once again ~~ this is where I belong. This is MY garden.

Just me and my garden and God's tender nudging.

In these solemn and altogether joyful moments it doesn't really matter if it all turns out according to plan.

Naturally, I know this in theory but to practice it I need these still, small voice encouragements.

There is so much more to be said for personal reflections gained. Lessons. Invaluable truths to experience along the pathway to good (and likely some not-so-good) results.

Planting, nurturing, tending, growing ... a beautiful picture of real life.

Happy gardening, friends! I know you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't know exactly what I'm trying to express.
Meems

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Seeds planted so far (reference for my Florida friends):
Collards~Georgia Southern ~~ Baker Creek Heirloom
Beans~ Blue Lake Bush 274 ~~Baker Creek Heirloom
Beans~ Old Homestead Pole~~Baker Creek Heirloom
Carrots~ Sweet Treat Hybrid ~Burpee (later I'll plant some heirlooms)
Cucumber ~Burpless Beauty ~ Burpee (haven't tried this one before)
Dill ~ Mammoth ~ Burpee
Leeks ~ Lancelot ~ Pinetree Seeds
Lettuce ~ Heatwave Blend ~ Burpee (later I'll plant some heirlooms)
Onion ~ Tokyo Long White-bunching ~ Baker Creek Heirloom
Onion ~ Red Creole ~ Baker Creek Heirloom
Pepper~ California Wonder Heirloom ~ a gift from Botanical Interests (new one to me)
Radish ~ Cherry Belle~ Pinetree Seeds
Spinach~ Monstrueux de Viroflay ~ a gift to trial from Botanical Interests
Squash ~ Early Prolific Straightneck~ Baker Creek Heirloom
Zucchini~ Eightball ~ Pinetree Garden Seeds

Waiting for cooler weather:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Peas
Succession planting of radish, carrots, lettuce will be added throughout the cooler months.