Humid With a Chance of Rain

It's a good thing there are some summer bloomers that don't mind humid, hot conditions.

The July garden offers just that. Day in and day out. We start out warm and we end up warm. Crape myrtles come alive at the onset of summer and thrive in our humid conditions.

Florida's rainy season begins in summer following our long, dry spring.

We are grateful for the six plus inches of rain that started the rainy season off with much needed heavenly liquid.

As a result of our consistent warmth and rainy conditions the garden grows like a jungle.

Frequent walks through the garden to pick up fallen branches/sticks, pull weeds, soft prune and to pick off dead flowers is beneficial.

Getting out very early (or late, or both) and staying in the shade through the middle part of the day is advised in this kind of heat.

Weeds grow as fast as the plants and can get out of control quickly if ignored.

It's the season that reveals the plants we've sited correctly (or not) for size, sunlight needs, and water requirements. Putting the right plants in the right place is essential for summer happiness.

It is easy to see which plants are quite content as they continue unfurling new growth.

There are a few Agapanthus blooms that first appeared in May still scattered about in the midst of July.

Their numerous trumpeted flowers shaped into large round orbs atop tall scapes are providers of nectar to all sorts of flying critters.

In the front garden where spring's new plantings replaced the last bit of the lawn there it's easy to see how rapidly they are filling in with all the rain.

Caladiums have popped out of the ground so happy to be a part of the summer scenery. Some return each year. New ones planted to fill in the gaps go in the ground June/July every year also.

There are pests that thrive on summer's feast of overgrowth and hide in its lushness. The Eastern Lubber grasshoppers are my biggest problem in the summer garden. Without a predator (except me) to ward them off they eat huge portions of my big-leaved tropicals leaving them tattered and unsightly. This one unpolitely chomping on the sweetly scented blooms of butterfly gingers.

Colorful foliage of Stromanthe in the shade resembles a water color painting from the back side of their lovely leaves.

Over in the sunny edible garden weeds have gone awry and need to be tamed. Soon. But the flowering perennials and annuals loving summer's heat draw the hummers and pollinators regardless of the overgrown weeds.

Gardening in the summertime in Florida can be challenging. It's when I am MOST grateful for my mostly shady garden that protects me (and the plants)from the direct sunlight as I work.

Like every other season the garden is where you'll find me in my free time. And like every other season the summer garden has its glories. I want to be right there in the face of them so I don't miss a thing.

Happy gardening wherever you are! Meems

**All photos taken Sunday during a stroll around Hoe and Shovel. For photo identification click on the photo. You'll be taken to my Picasa Web Album where each photo is captioned. Back click to return to this post.

Crapes of Tuscarora

Crape myrtles are said to be the quintessential trees for southern states. Having grown up with them I would say I became a little bit unappreciative of their many good characteristics.

After all they are known for good drought resistance. And they've been hybridized to resist mildews and pests they once were susceptible to. When they start blooming in late spring their striking flowers will last for several months brightening up the middle story in the summer landscape.

Many years ago (when I knew even less than I do now about gardening) I planted two Lagerstroemia x 'Tuscarora' crape myrtles as specimen trees within a few feet of each other and to the corner of the screened enclosure.

As a matter of fact they are squeezed in between the pathway leading from the brick patio out to the back gardens and the screened lanai. Their large plumes of coral pink are blooming their heads off right now. Fortunately, this variety is a smaller crape than some.

Even so, branches of the trees dangle over the pathway making it necessary for adult-sized passersby to either duck or hold them out of the way. It isn't really an ongoing problem until the crapes come into bloom which causes the limbs to fall a tad bit under the weight of the showy flowers.
Not exactly ideal. All the more reason to be sure the space a tree is given can handle its size all the way to maturity.

This spring, as my admiration of these beauties has been renewed, I've added 4 more to the garden. They haven't cooperated in setting buds... yet. We might be waiting until next year for that.

Hopefully my placement of them has improved over time. But now that I think about it ... I did push the limits even on the newly planted trees.

Why is it some lessons are harder to learn than others!

Plant a Blooming Tree for Mother's Day

Losing a HUGE shade tree this winter has presented some challenges to a few areas of the back garden. I've grappled with several design ideas. I've thought long and hard about what the overall best recourse would be to provide a little bit of relief to what used to be an area covered with shifting shade of the most refreshing sort.

Other than creating the new 'circle garden' and installing plant materials that don't mind the hottest mid-day sun for a few hours it's been my aim to get something shade-growing sooner than later. And, admittedly, I've really struggled and resisted my constant urge to put in another live oak that would eventually create dense shade.

It isn't anything new around here to put something in the ground to commemorate a particular event or to honor certain persons. Just one example being the four live oak trees in the back garden that are a continual reminder of how my three children grew up strong and courageous just as those trees did.

In the blink of an eye!

The oaks were planted as thin-trunked seedlings only 6 feet tall in 1992. One in honor of each child and one for the ever-stalwart and longsuffering Mr. Meems.

My family knows me well. I manage somehow to increase my plant inventory with each gift-receiving celebration day. Gardeners are good at that I think.

So in celebration of this Mother's Day I was gifted with spending a leisurely morning this week sauntering through the garden center picking out some fun gardening assets. One of them was a blooming crape myrtle tree Lagerstroemia x 'Natchez'. I settled on a standard version with a single trunk. It blooms large plumes of white flowers when mature. This new one may actually produce some blooms in about a month if all goes well. A tree of the same variety with multi-trunks can be seen in the background standing a solid 20 feet tall.

I planted the new one at an entrance to the circle garden pathway. (And just on the other side of where the large 'old drake elm' stump is still preventing me from digging.) The crape won't get as big as the elm. But being a fairly fast grower it should soon add some much needed filtered shade in that area at just the right height and width not to interfere with existing trees.

In Other Views from the Garden...



Not a big fan of canna flowers I snipped these off of the attractive leaves just after these photos.

The brilliantly hued, tropical leaves are why I plant them. They shall stay.

The day lilies that usually bloom in March have only recently started flushing out. All are situated at the base of the multi-trunked Natchez Crape Myrtle.

Happy Mother's Day to all the hard working moms!

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”
~~Washington Irving