Winter is Arriving a Little Late

Camellia japonica

Who can complain about Florida's winter weather? Not me. It's my favorite season of the year. This winter, like so many others before this, we have had gloriously mild weather. Just the right amount of rain when needed, abundant sunshine and perfectly cool but not cold has been our daily report. Until now.

A view across the top half of the back garden. February 2015

Cold hardy Old Garden Roses 'Old Blush' in bloom February 2015

Tomorrow morning in most of Florida including West Central Florida where I am it all changes. That northern blast that has brought record lows to our friends north of us is bearing down this far south with all its might.

Not as much tree cover in this garden as my old garden. Philodendron 'Rojo Congo' are too big to move. Hoping for the best.

It's been predicted we'll see the temperature drop to 32°F and as low as 27°F for about 6 hours. Just long enough to damage the crops of farmers and certainly enough to turn Florida gardeners' tropical plants to mush. Does anyone remember the winter of 2009 or 2010? They were worse.

Lots of Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' will be wishing for blankets they don't have tonight. 

I'm a bit of a weather-holic. I watch the hourly forecast on a weather app and online. I've been hoping the forecasters were wrong or just exaggerating because, well, it happens often. Even if they are wrong by a few degrees or hour or so, it's likely we still get freezing temps (not sure how low) and for several hours.

These pots will be left out in the open. They are a mix of perennials, annuals and herbs. Most are cold hardy.

Still. We can't complain. There are far worse scenarios in life than a few plants looking brown and ugly for a while. Most of them will not die. They will come back from the root.

African blue basil will not like the cold temps. My beautiful Queen Emma Crinums and Cordylines will fold under the pressure also.

Selfishly, I wish this wasn't happening. Especially so late in the season when everything is looking so pretty. Selfishly, I wish I didn't have so many new plants. I started most of my herbaceous perennials from root cuttings and they've only been in the ground since last June/July. All of that can be overcome in the long term. 

Lots of cold-hardy oaks, palmettos, azaleas, Indian hawthorn and giant liriope in the front gardens. 

Looking on the bright side there are loads of great cold-hardy plants in this garden also. AND... since it is so late in the season, we won't have to look at brown for very long. We can cut it off in the next week or two. Our last chance of frost date is 2.15.15. Oh, wait. That was 4 days ago. Ha!!!

Front garden azaleas are blooming so pretty right now.

If this cold weather wasn't right on top of us we would have all been out in our gardens this week with pruners and loppers in hand cutting back overgrown winter foliage. Old Man Winter seems to be mocking us visiting us so late.

I hope you stay cozy and warm until we see better weather. Here's some reliable researched information on what to do for your plants when the cold weather comes. 

One thing for sure. My blue bottle tree won't freeze tonight. 

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5 Reasons To Make Your Own Shade

Do you have time to wait for trees to grow? No matter how old you are, I say, yes. If you like shade, go ahead and plant a tree ...  or ten! Trees grow while you're sleeping, while you're at work, while you're raising your children, while you're cleaning the house, while you're gardening. Put them in the ground and a few years down the road you'll be glad you did it!

If I had known 20 years ago when I planted four live oaks and two drake elms in my back yard how much I was going to LOVE shade-gardening I probably would have planted a forest of them.

Each oak tree started out no taller than me and hardly 1.5" in diameter. Currently the canopy from those oaks is high and shifting sunlight peeks through the limbs from every angle at all times of the day.

As the day progresses, and the sun moves from east to west, a good deal of light floods in under the edges of the canopy. The trees have grown so tall. More light around the perimeter allows for options like Brugmansia, oakleaf hydrangia (Hydrangea quercifolia), sweet almond bush (Aloysia virgata), variegated shell gingers (Alpinia zerumbet), bromeliads, irises, ferns, begonias (and many more) ... all plants that prefer part sun but not full sun or total shade.

Photos like this one remind me of a time when every square inch of the space shown here was lawn. As a matter of fact, almost the entire back garden was lawn before I planted the trees. It never fails to amaze me. To think ~~ my very own little hands have planted every single plant visible in these pictures.

Gradually. Lovingly. Passionately. Every single plant.

Shade gardening is so much easier than full sun gardening. Of course that's just my opinion.

I have my reasons for making such a claim.

Here are my top 5:
1) Tree cover helps hold the moisture in the soil which means my shade plants don't require nearly the amount of water that full sun areas do.

2) The umbrella of outstretched limbs from trees protect plants from scorching, intense sunlight; in winter that umbrella acts like a blanket to keep the more tender varieties from frost-bite. Shade keeps me cooler, too. No matter how hot and humid it is or the time of day~ I can garden in the shade.

3) Less weeds. I don't know about you but weeds in the sunny areas are a constant battle. In the shady areas the percentage of weeds is greatly reduced. Weeds are very manageable in the shade.

4) Shade is peaceful. Walk from a sunny, bright spot in the garden to a shaded area and relief is the first thing noticed. Beyond relief is the pleasant shift to a restful, tranquil environment even in the midday hours.

5) The varieties of plants to choose for a shade garden is endless. Colorful, textural Florida-Friendly plants mixed with natives and fun tropicals neighbor well together in happy masses creating an easy-care environment.

Go ahead and plant a tree if you wish you had more shade.

Did I leave out any great reasons why shade-gardening is the BEST!?
Meems

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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?

When Winter Decides to Pass You By

Spring began in December at Hoe and Shovel. I know some of my gardening friends right here in Florida were visited by some dipping temperatures this winter. But here we were barely noticed by winter.

Only two or three nights when we dipped below freezing and hardly a plant was affected. I always attribute my protective microclimate to the canopy of mature oak trees.

I've diligently worked to install cold hardy plants into every planting bed as insurance for harsher conditions. That way *if* I lose my tropicals the entire garden isn't devastated.

But WOW! this year has been so nice. And SO different than the last four winters when we had so many frosts and unusually cold nights.

When winter passes you by it means getting to see winter bloomers that haven't flowered in January or February or March in many years.

Beauty that inspires outdoor activities, playtime, gardening time, breathing deeply, meditating pauses.

With mostly spring-like days encouraging growth of all the plant life there are annuals wildly sprawling when ordinarily they would be knocked back by natural conditions.

Don't worry the fast-growing Lantana camara is contained in a pot. It hides the well pump in the berm.

I'm thinking the Musa Sumatrana that seems to take forever each year to come back from the cold will finally put on some good growth and look its best by the end of spring -- for a change.

Never has the spinach tree bloomed in winter. It is a tender one that my friend KH (hugs, My Friend)gave me from a cutting. This year it has a chance to actually look like a small tree.
The butterflies love the small white blooms it produces.

Tropical leaves of all sorts continue to stand tall and erect through *the winter that wasn't*.

Tropicals are happy.

Color and blooms abound.

It's been a bit strange I have to say. Instead of cutting back due to frost damage I'm cutting back greenery and even flowers just for the sake of pruning perennials for their health. I like it for a change. It reminds me of the mild winters this area was known for when I was growing up.

It will be interesting to see how different the garden looks by summer. Starting out with almost no set backs. Gardening is always full of surprises. Happy 'official' spring!!! Isn't it exciting!!!

*** For ID or more information on any photo just click on it to take you to the web album with captions describing each one (you'll have to back click to come back to the blog).

Powder Puff

Winter bloomers.
Powder Puff (Calliandra haematocep​hala) an evergreen shrub with multi-branching formation that saves its glory for the deepest parts of winter. I love that.

Bright, red, puffy pom-poms lining each drooping branch for every moment of three months.

Bees and butterflies are big fans, too.

This is the first year in three that the cold weather hasn't knocked it back. So beautiful to see it in its full strength and brightness mid-winter.

It is happy in the sunshine or partial sun. Mine is planted in the middle of the northside berm with tea olives behind it and portodora in front.