Morning Glow

Morning light is so magical and changes by the moment as well as the season. It's impossible to capture the essence of its ethereal glow in a still photo. 

This time last year our pavers and pergola were being installed.  You can see photos and read about the install here.  Brrrr... that reminds me it was a much colder start to December in 2014 than it is today. Since it was completed this is where I am each morning relishing the sweet dawn of each day. 

I love how the southeastern sky is aglow beyond the cypress hammock (two lots away from us.) I feel so blessed to have this majestic natural view as the background of our garden!

I'm sure you are like me and notice the unique beauty of every season. Happy gardening, Meems.

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 ~~If you've just arrived to this page as a new gardening friend or perhaps missed the back story about how we moved from our home and garden of 30 years to the house next door you can catch up here.

All material (text and photos) © 2007-2015 is authored by Meems for Hoe and Shovel Gardening Blog. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Florida Summer Gardening

Yes, it seems endless.  In Florida you never know exactly how many months summer will occupy. It begins too early and wanes too slowly and always too late for my liking. This week the calendar indicates the return of one of my favorite seasons.

September 2015; Part of the back garden from the pergola

If only Florida got the memo. Florida doesn't seem to read calendars. Especially when it comes to the change of seasons. I think we can all agree Florida does summer very well. It might be the only truly predictable season. Hot and humid. Hot and humid with a chance of rain. Hot and humid again. No need to look at the weather report. Hot and humid. You can bet on it.

The Birdhouse Garden. All the foreground plants were planted last summer. You can read about it and view more pics here.

So, while it still feels like summer in Florida I'm going to do some catching up here. I'm back tracking a bit and posting a few photos from the summer garden that, due to my own procrastinating, I never got around to including here.

The pathway that leads to the rest of the backyard beyond the Birdhouse Garden.

I admit, as far as gardening goes, I used to loathe summers in Florida. Go ahead. Put your hands in the air if you do or ever did dislike Florida gardening in summer. My garden suffered because I dreaded the humid conditions that greet you like a wet, warm blanket (yuck) when you walk outdoors in summer.

Summer glories. Rudbekia from seed flowering in large galvanized pots mixed with salvia and Caladiums.

Over the years I have changed my attitude about Florida summer gardening. I get out very early in the morning for summer gardening. My body seems to acclimate better to the humidity when I get started early. Even though the humidity tries to swallow me, drenched me and sap the strength out of me. Humidity is a bully. It is mean. It aims to drain all the good energy and inspiration I start out with. You know it's true if you garden in Florida.

So many inches of rain this July and August. 

I won't let humidity get the best of me. These days I actually wait for summer to do some of my work. Spring is Florida's dry season. Summer is Florida's rainy season. We might not know for certain when the steady rains will start, but rest assured, they will start and then you can count on them. Rain will come. The steady rains inspire me.

Deep pink Pentas surround my blue bottle tree. 'Tapestry' and 'Radiance' Caladiums keep them company adding color all summer long.

I'm inspired to go dig up those baby Pentas that seeded themselves in the spring. I move them around to more suitable locations. I'm inspired to divide and transplant ornamental and native grasses, lilies, and many other plants with a rhizome root system.  Sprigs of Pentas, African basil, Salvias, Amaranthus, and Coleus (plus many more) root quickly in small pots in these summer conditions. When I know it's going to rain, it propels me onward to get outside before the rain and get my small rooted cuttings in the ground.

The back corner of the NE side grew up to be full size plants this year. Last summer this entire area was planted from cuttings and divisions. 

Summer rains save me so much time and energy. Irrigation from heaven. It waters-in all my summer plantings without any help from me. I don't have to drag hoses all over the garden to make sure the sun doesn't zap the soil too dry before the roots get established.

Caladiums thrive in hot and humid conditions. 'Debutante' in the front garden. 

I really appreciate rain-cooled summer days,too. Any drop in temperature on a hot, steamy day in Florida is a reprieve. I've learned to enjoy every season in my Florida garden. I'd rather be outdoors than anywhere else.

Since we built the pergola at the end of last winter, that is where you'll find me most mornings at the break of day and as often as possible at the end of day, too. Every season. Florida's summer no longer dictates to me when or if I garden. We've become friends. We get along much better now that I accept summer's conditions and I've learned to work around them.

What about you? Do you loathe summer or have you tried to make friends with it?
Happy Gardening,
Meems

**** Come hang out with me and other gardening friends for daily updates from Hoe and Shovel on Facebook... here's the link
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If you've just arrived to this page as a new gardening friend or perhaps missed the back story about how we moved from our home and garden of 30 years to the house next door you can catch up here. 

All material © 2007-2015 by Meems for Hoe and Shovel Gardening Blog. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

A Year Later

Pinch me. I think I blinked and an entire year has passed.  June marks a year since I've been gardening in my new garden. What a year of gardening it has been!

Grass has diminished, gardens have increased, root cuttings became plants, transplants settled in, divisions have grown, structures have been built, and newly purchased plants continue to find their way to this new garden.

This was the first bit of grass that needed to be removed to make room for plants I couldn't live without from my other garden.

On June 1, 2014 we signed a contract to sell our previous home andgarden of 30 years. Before I could even begin to think about packing the house my mind raced with gardening plans. How was I going to keep my most beloved plants? Plants that loved ones and friends had generously shared with me over the years. How could I make enough space in my new garden quickly to at least start slips and divisions that I knew I couldn't afford to replace? I hired a couple of teenage helper-boys to start digging out grass on June 6, 2014. For the next 5 weeks I was on an Adrenalin high until we officially closed on the deal. The boys (usually one at a time) dug grass and moved the heavy pots and stones and garden furniture while I planted plants, mulched, and started root cuttings. If my amazing mom had not steadfastly urged me to start packing also (and helped me packed - along with so many family members) I'm not sure I would have ever made it inside the house to get our household stuff moved also. I would have been happy to just get the garden moved.

One of the stipulations when we signed the sale contract was that I could take my gardening accessories with me.The birdhouses in the Birdhouse Garden were moved over late June to their new home. You may remember that I had only had them for a year.  This scene remains one of my favorite spots in the garden. 

I picked that spot because it can be viewed from the open back deck and from the inside dining room as well as from so many vantage points in the garden. 

The opposite viewpoint. From the east looking back toward our open deck.

I'm surprisingly content and happy with the way this garden is coming along. Surprised because I cried a thousand tears at the decision to leave my old garden. This garden had some great bones to start with! There are always more projects to finish. Visions dance in my head with new ideas. That's what gardening is all about though. It's a journey. A working garden is never finished.

The Birdhouse Garden is on our south lot line and runs perpendicular to our house.  Our lot line ends about 30' beyond the chairs you see. The large banana trees you see in the background are my south neighbor's. The cypress hammock and water conservation to the south of us keeps our property filled with wildlife and visually adds to the width of our property. 

Thank you ALL for being so encouraging along the way and for following this journey. You have each been a huge source of inspiration every step of the way. Some of you have had to make much harder decisions and it was your stories of leaving your beloved gardens that comforted and consoled me when I couldn't imagine ever loving another garden. All is well. I do love my new garden. God knows me better than I know myself. He gave me the strength I needed when I needed it. 

More before and after photos to come...




****
Come hang out with me and other gardening friends for daily updates from Hoe and Shovel on Facebook... here's the link:

*** Hoe and Shovel on Facebook  **

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you've just arrived to this page as a new gardening friend or perhaps missed the back story about how we moved from our home and garden of 30 years to the house next door you can catch up here... http://www.hoeandshovel.com/2014/07/a-new-journey-bitter-and-sweet.html

All material © 2007-2015 by Meems for Hoe and Shovel Gardening Blog. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.