2009 Garden Calendar::A Look Back::A Look Forward

Greedy me. Couldn't choose just one photo to represent each month of the year. So, hang on, grab a cup of jo or tea and relax for a few. Here we go with Part 2, the second half of 2009 at Hoe and Shovel. We'll have a look at some vignettes that remind us of how the garden grew July through December 2009. If you missed Part 1, January through June, you can catch it here.

2009 had its victories and its failures both in the landscape and the vegetable gardens. The failures are noted and lessons have hopefully been learned. We find out our limits as well as our strengths when difficulties are handed to us.

My wimpiest moments came following the two unusually heavy frosts in January.

When the results were in and the damages calculated a few weeks later all my hard work from 2008 seemed for naught. My battle was fighting discouragement that threatened to squelch my excitement for future projects.

To defeat those pesky spoilers we fight back and drown out the nagging thoughts with sheer determination to proceed. Plans for more durable plants such as the use of more native plants became my quest.
Even though I'm pretty sure my weakness for tropicalesque will never be replaced by a completely freeze resistant garden, learning more and more about correct placement and mixing them in with our Florida-friendly favorites has provided a greater dose of peace of mind.

The adventure and can we say... utter thrill about being an avid gardener and gardening in the climate we live is in learning as we progress. In Florida we have twelve glorious gardening months to carry out this great endeavor.

This fact which includes a spring veggie garden and a fall veggie garden is a challenge in itself. And yet what a blessing for someone who salivates at the thought of fresh, heaping mounds of healthy dirt and expectations of the promise every seed holds.

2010 is the start of a new year and a new decade. My gardening resolutions are many for today let's look at just one. It starts with burning visions for some new projects.

Some visions leftover from 'big ideas' that stir around in the back of my mind on the long list of dreamy wishes; some have been forming recently as a result of inspiration from cooler weather, stirring up my fervor for design with plans and agendas and time-lines. Elements that tend to motivate my passion for gardening without end.

This year, more than ever, no matter what I'm working on, my goal is to breathe in each experience, each precious hour spent in the garden. From the inspiration and creativity to the final load of mulch or the last harvest.

Rather than tackle each project, as I tend to do with tenacious enthusiasm, to get it finished, check it off my list, and move on to the next one... I'm going to step it up a notch to make a conscious effort to settle into whatever it is I'm working on at the time.

You know, linger in the moment. Fully capturing all the experience has to offer.

I'll not let my mind skip ahead to the next thing while I'm enjoying the current thing.

I'll give everything I have to the present and I'll take in everything the present has to offer.

And when the present tries to cheat me or talk me into believing it doesn't have much to offer, we'll turn that around by learning something new or finding something good to take away from it anyway.

It's true, this is not a new goal. I've had this as my goal before. Not just in gardening but in every part of my life. Zeal is great and we won't abandon it. But capturing the essence of each thing we take the time to do and give our energy to makes zeal so much more rewarding!

With great anticipation of good things to come in 2010, and maturity on my side :-), I'm determined to tackle this one goal this year.

You can be my helper. I give you permission to remind me when I wander off track.

Here's to 2010! To learning new things each day, growing with my garden, conquering the challenges, reveling in the splendor, and above all ... peace in my soul through it all.

Happy 2010 to each dear reader and to your own gardens go and capture the precious moments!

Meems

2009 Garden Calendar: A Look Back

How hard can it be to have a look back through the garden photos and choose one or two or three from each month as a reminder of how the gardening year has gone? Not as easy as it sounds.

Do we choose them from the veggie garden or the back gardens or the front or the side gardens?

Or do the remarkable macro shots of individual flowers and butterflies and bees give us the best images in review of the passing year?

As 2009 is fastly giving way to 2010 the photo archives of the passing year was a fun way to remember the trials and successes we've had in the garden in 2009.

I hope you have looked back at your gardening year with joy and inspiration for a new and exciting 2010 ... so many possiblities in the garden.

Spring will be upon us soon and with it comes all the new hopes and dreams for good things to come.



I hope you enjoy taking a trip down memory lane at Hoe and Shovel.

Part two covering July through December up next.

A Happy and Safe New Year to all!

Meems

A Walk Back Through 2008 Garden, Part Two

We took a little break in between Part One and Part Two of our year in review. Once the grand youngins' went home this week, after a few days of rotation, first one and then two more, Mr. Meems surprised me with a spur of the moment overnight trip down south to the beach.

You can read about that adventure here if you like. And if you do click over you'll be checking out my new blog. Yeah, you are thinking the same thing I am. I don't have time for another blog. I can barely keep up with this one sometimes. But, here's the deal. Going back through my photos from 2008 I realized how many photos I never have published. So many of them having to do with nature, critters, and places I visit. Besides having two blogs will organize and delineate between gardening and well, let's just say all things out of the garden.

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So, where were we with our review?

July 2008

We'll start in the north side garden. This is the view standing in the side yard facing back toward the street (the veggie garden would be behind you). Two large 'islands' come together here, divided only by a natural pathway, and using the foundation of oaks and palmettos I've planted borders and filled in with xanadu, pentas, bromeliads, azaleas, and impatiens have self-sown in every pocket they can wiggle their way into. And, well, there are too many plants to name in these two large plantings but it bears saying that this is where the blue ginger reaches high above this front border, behind it, all visible from an angle not seen here. The Pagoda flower; Clerodendrum paniculatum in the back center of this photo was a featured plant in July. It blooms practically all year long.

You may remember the White Queen caladiums came out very pink this year. The bulbs were plump and large but the red veins bled into the white which can't be known until they unfurl. Even so, they made for a nice blend of color anyway poking through the foundation perennial shrubs.

Paired with the white impatiens in the shady part of the back yard it was another year of enduring the intense humidity and heat of summer relatively well.

August 2009

... Definitely our most difficult month in terms of heat, humidity, and stress on the garden overall. No, I wasn't going to mention the gardener who should be braced for Florida summers by now. LOL

August is the month for maintaining. We pulled out all of the vegetables for lack of production and a wealth of pests.

It is the time when we garden VERY early in the morning and keep to the task at hand without starting any new projects.

Thank goodness for the deep drifts of blue the plumbago provide us during this strenuous month. Fortunately, they are happy as can be with the overwhelming humidity and high temps. We like to gander at them through windows while enjoying the air conditioned house.

Did I use the word humidity enough?

September 2009

Rounding the calendar into the transitional month of September, down here, it almost always seems just like summer. There are slight changes in the daylight hours and towards the end of the month the angle of the sun is noticeably different.

Even though the caladiums look lush in these September photos they are on their way out after delighting us through summer with their tropical appeal.

In the meantime I transplanted these tropicals from various places in the ground into a shallow bowl container for a focal point in the front garden. I've mentioned many times how I like to plop container gardens right into the midst of the landscape for a potted grouping among planted groupings. It raises the entire combination a level visually and helps to control the environment a little more than being in the ground. The deeply eggplant-hued underside of these elephant ears has me staring at them as I drive into the driveway. And even today, in January, this container is looking very lively with a new leaf unfurling from the elephant ears.

October 2008

I always breathe a sigh of relief when once we make it to October. Even though the garden in front and back is what I call 'badly bruised' from the stress of summer, we always know by this autumn month we are surely on the verge of some better temperatures. This October the plumbago looked just the same as it did in July, August and September. As a matter of fact only recently did it drop its sturdy blue blooms.

October is the time when it seems like spring all over again. Every shrub needs trimming (again) to tidy up from the excessive growth of the last few months. Gardening days are full with lists of chores to ready for the next growing season. With our mild winters these next few months continue to feel much like spring except for the much shorter days and much cooler nights.

Here you can see the purple queen bushing out with a height of almost four feet. I trimmed it back right after this photo and propogated several stems for more planting in the spring. The pink pentas are still blooming today... I've trimmed them back severely but they are blooming and attracting butterflies, bees, and other beneficials to the back garden.

Turns out this is one of my favorite photos in this posting. I think because it is the back side of the center island and one has to walk around to it in order to enjoy it. It is an angle I can't see from the back porch. It reminds me of how many different views there are in one garden.

November 2008

Oh, how I love the month of November here. Thing is, I'm going to be saying that about every month from now until June. All the coleus along this curvy planting bed were propogated from two Peter Wonder coleus planted in a couple of containers in the back forty.

This is the month when I'm busily dividing and transplanting and tending the fall veggie garden. It was the most glorious November I can ever recall. Crystal blue skies abounded. Several cold fronts came through that brought us just the right amount of crisp air to make gardening in Florida a dreamer's paradise.

With cooler temps than any normal November in years, the veggie garden slowed production considerably. It turned lush and green but delayed producing much harvest until December.

A wider view of the November back garden as seen from the back porch ... before I cut back most of the coleus.

December 2008

It's always a challenge to keep up with the demands of the holidays and the garden in the mild month of December. It is my goal each year to have all the clean up, and other time consuming tasks (mentioned in the November text) completed by Thanksgiving.

When I think of the feeling the December garden exudes it reminds me of a sense of rejuvenation actually. The softer sun, the gentle breezes, the shorter daylight hours, the crisp sunshine, and the tropical feel in general is reminiscent of simpler times. Not as many hours are demanding this gardener's time.

Outdoor meals and long, relaxing moments in the garden chairs are enjoyed reading, blogging, and talking in December and January.

December's winter, most years, is very kind to the garden. As long as we don't experience a frost or freeze we will keep happily growing.

And now we embark onto a new year. There are some dreams and plans in the works around Hoe & Shovel. January and February are very busy gardening months. We need to take advantage of the mild days and get our heavy digging completed. Any new beds will be carved out and new beds in the veggie garden are in the works.

Thanks for coming along with me on this reminiscing tour. It's remarkable how many things can be learned by the gardener while perusing the year's photos. I've made some notes to myself. But also, it's easy to forget the victories while toiling away from month to month. I was reminded of the challenges AND the victories.

Here's wishing each dear reader the very best 2009!

A Walk Back Through 2008 Garden, Part One

January 1, 2008

... started out with lots of color and mild temperatures... much like it is today... the last day of the year ... December 31, 2008.

January 3, 2008

... we woke up to ice on the leaves from our one and only freeze of the year. There was a bit of damage even though we blanketed all the tenderest of plants. But just enough mostly to make all the flowers ugly.

February 2008

... brings a flurry of azalea blooms in every color, every where in Florida.

... we built our first ever raised beds and started our first ever vegetable garden.

... Mona Lavender kept us dressed in shades of purple during that all important transition month.

This doesn't have anything to do with gardening but looking back through my photos I realized how very many wonderful long weekends we spent at the beach last winter and early spring. It is a gorgeous time to visit Florida... even if you already live here!

March 2008

... First of the Amaryllis brought us bursts of oranges and reds.

African Iris shrubs bloom with the spring rains urging them out of their buds.

Bromeliads that begin blooming in December are intensely prevelant by March.

April 2008

Oh, the month of April. So much of the garden is responding to warm temps and longer, sunny days by now.
There were so many projects still on-going at Hoe & Shovel in April... so many long hours spent glorying in the garden. I was inspired to try some new plants in 2008. Illustris Taro was just one of them. Happy, happy their deep purple leaves and lime green stems they did make this gardener for the entirety of the summer.
Meanwhile that veggie garden we started back in February with much fear and trepidation was producing yummy tomatoes that reminded me of childhood days when all vegetables were fresh and good.

May 2008
And then in the month of May there are so many blooms that will only be seen in that flourishing gardening month that we must spend a little extra time to take a gander at several photos now.

We'll start with the bloom of the variegated shell ginger above.

Don't forget to inhale very deeply as you peruse the ginger and the magnolia bloom coming up. You wouldn't want to miss the exotic fragrance of each as you take this walk back through the stunning month of May.

The very large blooms of Magnolia Grandiflora that will wake one's senses not only with its magnificent beauty but the scent wafting through the air is delectable.

Still, the vegetable garden is teaching me lots of new things and bringing me many delightful joys in May.

In May, the Agapanthus begin to shoot forth their tall and glorious blue/lavender pom-poms to bring yet another height and dimension to the colorful garden. Also known as Lily of the Nile, they are one of my very favorite blooms in the whole garden.

June 2008

All the garden is alive by now with blooms and lush foliage and is almost too much to keep up with except for long hours spent toiling along with the ever increasing heat.

Zinnias sown from seed in March, or was that February, are now cheering every garden visitor with their bright and perky variety of blooms.


June was the month I fell in love with lemon-lime draceana and began planting them in so many places to add interest with their amazing lime-stripey foliage. Not a single regret about that... they are still performing with great ease.

The critters abounded by the month of June multiplying at the rate we tend to think only rabbits do. There were good ones and bad ones. That Eastern Lubber hoard of grasshoppers tried hard to damage as much foliage as fast as they could. I managed not to spray any chemicals but kept my pruners handy for their sure demise as I tracked them down to find them before they chewed a perfectly good plant or bloom to the ground.

June was the month for coleus to make a statement as my beloved caladiums began to make their way up through the ground. It is also the month when we try to finish up all the expansions and projects due to the ever increasing heat and long days of humidity.

We'll leave it here for the first half of 2008. I used more words than I intended. For some reason I just have to talk about the photos. Hmmmm...

Thank you for coming along with me to take a look back through the journals of Hoe and Shovel. We'll have a look at July - December next.

Have a very happy and safe New Year!

"An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life."

from Niall Edworthy's The Curious Gardener's Almanac