Dripping Happy

The phrase 'April showers bring May flowers' was not written my a Floridian.

In Central Florida it is a true gift to receive any substantial rainfall in the month of April or May. Spring is our dry season.

With our dry season most often come drought conditions and watering restrictions ensue.
Our county is allowed one day to irrigate. For your own county restrictions you can click here. Did you know watering thoroughly (rather than often and more shallow) only one day per week actually encourages roots in your lawn and plants to go deeper and builds drought tolerance?

Yesterday we received a much needed gift of rain. It was a good, steady rain that tapered off and on to a drizzle and soaked the parched, sandy earth of my garden.

This morning it was still dripping with liquid happiness. The nutrients contained in rain are unlike any other substitute.

Our true rainy season can begin anytime from June to July as it coincides with hurricane season. Rain will continue through October while humidity and temperatures are high. Most of Florida will receive an average of 50" during this period.

Tree cover helps to hold in moisture as does good mulching habits. Even so, without rain for weeks even in the best conditions the garden dries out.

So we are thankful today for the heavens opening up on our little 'ole garden and bringing some much needed relief.

Refreshed and renewed!

I hope your garden (and you, too) is singing happy songs today. I know I am and I'm sure I can hear hallelujahs of thankfulness coming from my plants.

Happy gardening, Meems

**all photos taken today ~~ click on any photo for description/location.

Yes, We Have No Bananas

Large leafy plants unquestionably feel exotic and shout "tropical-ness" in a lush, islandy sort of way. Every garden should have them... somewhere even if it means placing them in a container.

Happenstance would be the best way to describe the way I acquired my first two banana trees.

It was one of those typical extremely hot and steamy August days in Florida. I was shopping at my favorite garden center. The Ensete 'Maurelii' red banana trees were packed in tightly with an odd assortment of sale plants that had seen better days. I bought them each for $5. A great deal considering how well they've performed.

The area of the garden now fondly referred to as the tropical pathway was in its earliest stages of creation. You can read my 2009 how-to create a tropical pathway blog post here for an indepth look.

Ensetes are strictly ornamental and don't produce any real fruit. [Thus, the corny title to this post.] It is their deep red coloration that attracted me to them in the first place.

Both Ensete bananas are happily living at the edges of the oak tree canopy where they receive a goodly portion of filtered sunlight for most of the day. Other than having to stake them with rebar to keep them upright they receive no special attention. In winter they usually slow their growth but this year they hardly noticed it was winter. That's because winter hardly acted like winter.

Sticking with the ornamental variety of bananas I've added several 'Siam Ruby' banana trees since 2009. This one reaches only a height of about 8'. Again, it is the blotchy red on the large green leaves that helps this one blend in with the rest of the garden.

Update edit: A kind reader reminded me the banana pictured above is actually a Musa Zebrina banana. Also an ornamental without fruit. I have added 'Siam Ruby' starts to the back garden which is a brighter red with bits of lime green foliage.

Which banana trees are you growing?

Peach Fuzz

When I saw fewer blooms than last year on the peach tree in February I wondered if it had received enough chill hours this mild winter to produce any fruit.

In the correct order of things the beginnings of those tiny fuzzy orbs started popping out from the blossoms.

I've been keeping a close eye on them to observe their progress ever since.

There were many more to start with but several dropped off as they matured.

Can you see the unassuming peach tree in the center of the photo (above)~~ it lives in between the ornamentals in the northside berm.

Definitely lacking in abundance but not in cuteness. The fruit that has determined to hang on is healthy and might pretty!

Peaches don't ripen after picked so it's important to leave the fruit on the tree as long as possible. Believe me, I wanted to pick them before the critters noticed them.

It's a good thing I startled a blue jay that was quickly devouring the soft flesh of this peach.

He was my cue to go ahead and pick them off the tree. There was only about 22 on the entire tree. But I'll take 2 ... or 22.

Tropic Snow Peach is a freestone variety that requires about 200 chill hours (below 45F) making it suitable for central Florida. It is self-pollinating and a sweet, low acid white flesh peach.

Graceful Colors In Flight

Oh, it has been a spring to remember! Wonderfully mild temperatures with a stellar winter melding into this current season when we celebrate all things bright and new.

So it is no surprise that the butterflies stayed with us magically right through winter. We saw caterpillars feeding and chrysalises hanging on in January.

The current population of them is more like what we typically see in summertime. We are quite happy about the presence of these graceful critters at any time in the garden. As you can see from these particular photos Verbena bonariensis is a popular favorite among them.

Dragonflies play an important role in this subtropical environment. They are agile predators of numerous insects. They are equipped with powerful speed to hunt down flies, mosquitoes, and gnats out of the air. They feed on ants and termites as well. I do adore watching them in flight.

In the bright sunlight the buzzing and flitting about of beneficial insects is evident around the flowering plants especially. Syrphid flies, green sweat bees, bumble bees, honey bees, and many tiny flies that I do not know the names of sing their buzzing song as they diligently pollinate the flowers and edibles.

Splendidly colored wings and bodies to cherish in any garden. The underside of the bright orange Gulf Fritillary (below)is a masterful work of art.

Each one of these helpful beauties is a great reason to avoid the use of pesticides and insectides. Nature, when left to balance on its own, has a wonderful way of overriding the small amount of bad with the abundance of good.

The average lifespan of a butterfly (varies with each species) is only about 1 month. Isn't it amazing that the numbers of them in the garden doesn't seem to fluctuate!

They are busy creatures in their short life time. Each species needs their respective host plants to lay their eggs and provide food for the larvae. Once they mature into adults they will be looking for flowering plants to retrieve their nectar. Little do they know how much enjoyment and entertainment they provide to the gardeners who diligently work to attract them. :-)

Which butterflies are you seeing now in your garden?

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Click here for my latest Lowe's Creative Ideas Gardening Blog post. It is titled 5 Tips to Make Your Garden More Sustainable.

Cranking Up The Troy-Bilt Saturday6 Team

It's that time of year again when gardeners everywhere look forward to a good long day of gardening when Saturday rolls around. I know I love a Saturday without obligations so I can garden completely uninterrupted. A full day in the garden is a treasured commodity for gardeners.Troy-Bilt is a company I admire for their hard-work ethic and family owned values. They started their company in 1937 with the first tiller introduced into the market. Florida doesn't use tillers as much as the rest of the country. They offer a wide range of dependable lawn and garden equipment with caring customer service.

Above we are visiting The Chef's Garden Micro Greens Grow House and taste testing (I'm not in the picture).

Last year Troy-bilt put together a team that makes up the Saturday6 bloggers from different parts the U. S. You can read my articles describing our adventures so far here and the link to my Saturday6 page is here.
Each of us will individually choose products to review, write helpful articles to help make all of our Saturdays in the garden more successful, and we will include some videos to show you how we do it right here in our own gardens. Sound like fun?
I'm still in the process of choosing the Troy-Bilt products I'd like to review this year. But without the least bit of hesitation I'd like to remind you of how pleased I am with the lawnmower and the chipper shredder I was given in the last campaign.

Of course, it goes without saying, the lawn mower has become necessary equipment to crank up weekly for mowing that last bit of lawn in the back garden.

My chipper-shredder? Oh, it is a life saver and a favorite power tool.

Our oak leaves fall in the winter/spring and provide oodles of organic goodness to return back to the garden in the way of mulch and organic amendments.

All I have to do is wheel it out of the garage, give it a start, and I am on my way to shredding glory.

It is always at the ready for helping out in the garden. I love what this machine accomplishes for my garden!

Watch for Saturday6 monthly articles when you sign up here (click on Tips, Advice, and How-to's) for 'The Dirt' newsletter Troy-Bilt publishes.

You can *Like* Troy-Bilt on Facebook to see what fellow gardeners are saying and doing.

Disclosure: My reviews and/or recommendations are always my own thoughts. I am being compensated for my partnership with Troy-Bilt as one of the Saturday6 team members. This post is in conjunction with that partnership.