Sunny Saturday here in So Fla?

Here's hoping, anyway! Do ya'll have a long list of garden chores you've put off due to the weeks and weeks of rain we've been having? I sure do! I'm headed out the door to Home Depot for about 4-5 of the big 40 lb bags of Miracle Gro potting soil. And another stack of biggish (16" - 20") green plastic pots because I never have enough of the big ones.

I've got to repot an almost blooming plumeria because the expensive "foam pot" I treated it to is cracked all the way down one side. Buddha belly (jatropha podagrica), Christmas cactus and clerodendrum bungeii all desperately need new homes and just can't wait anymore...I've got 2 tubs of aloe vera bursting out of their containers and desperately needing to be thinned and repotted... I need to prune cestrum nocturnum and jasmine and lion's ear and want to attempt cuttings for possible Roundup material...

And boy oh boy do my vines need trimming! The clitoria's out of control and creeping up the walls of the house, the corkscrew vine is trying to move into the allamanda next door, the aristolochia's attempting to strangle the michelia growing nearby... I remember when I potted those babies just a few short months ago and I never thought they'd reach the tops of the trellis', much less threaten to take over the patio! I've also got a few pots of dead-soldiers-lost-to-too-much-rain to dump out and cry over what they might have grown into if I'd taken better care of them somehow...And about 40 seeds I've been soaking in H2O2 and water for a few days that need potting...

Then I'm going to take some serious clippers to my 2 hopeless brugmansias, and the banana tree that's swallowing my entire shady corner, and the scraggly oleander branches drooping over just about everything. I'm going to cut down the branches of my floppy messy pineapple guava and make much smaller the 4 ft. monster rosemary bush before it too moves up into a larger pot. I'm going to ruthlessly track down and destroy (again) the asparagus fern that's invading from the neglected property next door. Then I'll be tired and happy and I won't even remember that I woke up in a bad mood. Gardening's great therapy!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend in the garden as much as I will, good weather provided!

Liila,

My goodness, you only have THREE days.

The sun is shining right at the moment, and I'm here at the computer finishing off my pot off coffee. Hey! the sun IS shining. I have to finish sun drying some stevia I harvested last week.

Of course, there's always weeds to pull and some of my succulents have fallen over due to too much rain. I'll either need to stake them up or cut them off and re-root them. More mangos need to be cleaned up from the yard and I really do need to give the dogs a bath. I didn't get to it last weekend, poor things.

I have plants I need to put in the ground Artcons gave me yesterday, coleus seeds to plant for a garden club test, butterfly bush cuttings to set up in the Artcons terrerium style greenhouse. Deadheading, thinning of some plants and oh yes! I need to think about getting some propagating done for our S. Florida Roundup.

My, my, I'm tired already thinking about it. Let me finish this cuppa coffee first.

Molly
:^)))

Well, girls, we've already had our first shower of the day. Delayed getting to the ComposTumbler. Bout time to empty the contents into big plastic garbage cans and then hubby will mow and mix with a can full of dead organics (banana peels, uprooted weeds from earlier this week, mango skins, etc.) to start a new batch. And then there is the fun of starting to lay on the fresh black gold compost to hold in all the moisture! :O

A fun day ahead for all of us!
Sue

I have been putting off serious gardening for several years in fact. Didn't want to put in beds near the house until I got it painted and since I had major surgery 2 years ago, my son and I are just getting to it this year. We have the 2 ends completely done with primer and 2 coats of top paint. The front is partially done and the back is half done. If only the weather would cooperate. Anyway, I have been collecting plants for several years with the intention of putting them in tropical beds eventually.
Well the side of the house that is in full sun most of the day is underway. I'll take some pictures later and post them. Just got back from picking up a truckload of red mulch.
Jan...

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men..........................

I just couldn't seem to get a move on to chores today. I did work extra hard this past week, putting days in til after 6:30 pm every day. I guess that's my best excuse..................until it started raining again. Now that is my best excuse. I'm not normally into procrastination, but it is rather pleasant having the house to myself today, just puttering around in the a/c.

Jan, in the past I was always "lucky" enough to have good weather and no work scheduled between Christmas and New Years. That's the time of year I paint the outside of my own house. It's the best job a house painter could have. 100% access to the bathroom and fridge, taking breaks without far to go to get back to work. The last house I owned I painted twice in 5 years. I think that's long enough to look at the same color on the house. I do the same for the inside colors. It also helps to keep the vines from growing on the outside and the spiders from getting too settled behind the bookshelves on the inside.

Think I'll go catch a bit more of that Desi & Lucy movie.

Molly
:^)))

Wow, You certainly have more energy. You don't want to know when the last time was I painted the inside or outside..

OK,
Here is a link to my side yard underway. Can't wait till they all grown up and fill in.
Jan...

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=12&uid=655234&gid=7810074&

That was neat...a talent unto it's own...very impressive...thanks

Hap

Nice production Jan. I wasn't expecting music, heard the click click click and tah dah. I almost fell off my chair.

Lovely garden, you have such a variety of plantings. The paint job on the house looks great too. Can't wait for part II.

Molly
:^)))

Hi Molly,
I was going to use Beethoven's Fifth but didn't want to give anyone a heart attack :-)

Molly, do we live in the same country....country, not county.....

I was out in the sun all day gardening.......I think you just wanted a day off.,heheh

Yes Nance, we are in the same country AND the same county. We had some bad storms over here this afternoon, oh bout 3 I guess. Bad enough to lose the satellite so thank goodness the puter is on the DSL.

Well, I've been out sweating now, fighting the skeeters. My iceplant, the big one even though in a pot and sitting up on stones, still has too much water. I had to cut off a couple rotting stems. I set it up even higher on an upsidedown 5 gallon bucket so the stems would hang down and not sit in puddling water.

Just looking around, one of my hibiscus is blooming again, I think it's Petra, maybe. Have to jump the fence to read the tag. All those big ears I got from Living Color, still in pots in the shade garden were crowding each other, so I spread them out a bit.

Thinned out some of the lily pads in the pond, they are growing so well, they are blocking the sun so the blooms rot on their stems before they ever break the surface. I know, my pond is too small, but can't help that. I'll tryto do better on keeping it clear a bit.

I just love that papyrus Art gave me yesterday. Now I have 2 kinds. The other one came from Rylaff and is in the bog bucket behind the pond. Oh the things I can do with all those 5 gallon paint buckets I use on the job. I need to paint some more of them to pretty them up if they are going to acts as bog containers or plant stands.

Ok, I'm burning daylight, better get back out there and pick at a few more chores.
Later,
Molly
:^)))

I wasn't expecting the rain at all, and suddenly everything turned black and the skies opened up. The thunder hovered right over the house and I had the darndest time trying to comfort 5 frightened dogs all at the same time.

You ladies have such beautiful yards, and plantings. It's by reading posts like yours and seeing pictures of your yards and gardens that I find myself inspired, too.

I'm chipping away at my chores, though, just like you gals. I'm about to give up on datura completely. I've lost 2 purple mail order seedlings (from different companies, too) and still can't figure out why, my huge white one is now a lonely stump in a pot, and I have a teeny baby popping up from seed but I'm filled with dread because I know it'll end up dying anyway, too. At some point you have to pack it in, give up, and move onto plants you don't kill all the time.

I lost most everything I had during the hurricanes last year, (they had perfect shelter---until it blew away) and I got my current crop intending to keep them in pots and able to carry to safety should the 'canes hit again. But now I'm really wanting to stick them in the ground and see them reach their full potential. I've got future beds swimming through my head all the time just dying to be manifested. The only problem is that some of these 'babies' are so big all ready that I'll need 10 strong men just to dig the holes. ;-D

My fiance and I are looking at houses right now and the first thing I do is inspect the outside for gardening potential and interesting little nooks and crannies. Then I look for a nice big Florida room or porch out back. He looks at garages and roofs, I look at the *important* stuff! ;-D

Molly, I can hardly wait to see your yard (and your plants!) if we hold the Roundup there or get together sooner. I'll know to look for the *most freshly painted* joint on the street with the gorgeous yard. I love papyrus, too. Voracious appetites, though! Logee's said they do well with average moisture (it's a lie) but I sometimes water twice a day and it's still screaming for more. It also gobbles up fertilizer and gets mad if I don't give it fish emulsion at least once a week. Plus epsom salts.

Happy 4th of July! I work today and tomorrow, and was actually hoping to get my entire list of stuff done yesterday. Didn't happen. I got about 5 things done out of 50 but it's something at least.

Liila,

I am in a rented house now and although the outside has a pretty new coat of paint on it, I didn't do it. The landlord did. However, I did paint the inside before I moved in. He had everything painted white and I needed color. That made it simple, all I had to do was paint the walls. Ceilings, baseboards and doors were already perfect. I did paint the toolshed last winter to pretty it up when I mounted some dowels to hand my orchids on. My gym has a plywood ramp on it. All these rains built up a "slick" and I was slipping everytime I went in and out of the building. So I had my son clean it up and I painted that and added some Painters sand to give it some traction. Sure glad I did. The gym is also my potting and packaging station so I make a lot of trips in and out, rain or shine.

Today I am really going to try not to procrastinate and get these things done. The sun is shining at the moment and maybe will for a little while. My son is coming back today and I will think up some things for him to help me with. It's good for him to keep him busy and productive.

Well, I'm off and about for a bit.

Molly
:^))

Liila, you can come by anytime to visit me and the garden. I would be glad to meet ya.