Hi guys. Here I am in balmy FL. Right below you Hap, in North Miami Beach. Great pics all. Jim, I'd say she's lucky to have you and the roses are a perk. I came down here on Valentine's night. No time to take photos yet. I'll be living here and taking care of Dad for the indefinite future. Gorgeous weather, but I'm as house bound as a northerner.
Here, in my childhood garden, the star fruit is winding down. Some on the ground and a few on the tree. Coconuts are clustered, but you gotta' know some authentic Thai recipes 'cause they're all green. I'm seeing loquats from the patio, but no time to check them out.
I'm challenged with dial up and have not had computer time, but want to check in and let you know I'm thinking of you here.
Laurel
What's In Your Garden, Part 5
I've been thinking of you and your dad. Hugs and prayers being sent. We got rain today, but farther north got snow - AGAIN. We are so ready for spring. Enjoy the garden. Thanks for checking in, now I can rest easier.
Laurel, my thoughts are with you and your dad. Thanks for checking in, I've been aware of your absence. Do enjoy the weather in FL. We had 5" of snow yesterday afternoon and overnight here.
Prayers from me too...
Hap
I'm thrice blessed today. We have some much needed rain, the potinara orchid I ordered arrived in good shape and Laurel checked in. I'll keep Laurel and her dad in my prayers.
Jim
Edited to correct spelling.
This message was edited Feb 19, 2009 3:50 PM
The rain has let up a bit so I took a look around the yard. I was very worried about my spindle palm due to the freeze but as you can see, a new healthy leaf is forming in the middle of the rubble.
Jim
The iochromas are leafing out anew. Nothing yet on the copper plant nor the datura.
jim
The dwarf azaleas are happy.
Jim
And so are the big ones.
Jim
This tuff old hibiscus is doing well.
Jim
A troubling thing about some palms is they get too tall for an old guy like me to trim. My two Washington palms are now 40 feet tall and I lack the ladder as well as guts to trim them. As luck would have it, two strapping young Florida crackers showed up at my door yesterday with a big extension ladder and a chain saw. For $20.00 per tree, I put them to work on my tallest species. Here are those two Washingtonians with their new haircuts.
Jim
And this queen palm at 32 feet was too much for me as well. I think they cut a little too much from this one but it willl recover.
Jim
The Walter's viburnum is blooming nicely. It is an excellent native shrub type plant. The sun is peeking out. Life is good.
Jim
WOOHOO!!! Yes, life is good.
Great news, Jim!
Been under the weather lately. Just getting over a bad cold and venturing outside again.
Jim, you still have lots of green in your garden. My place looks worse by the day as all the gingers and heliconias are showing the dislike of freezing weather. I have to cut them all down to the ground.
My citrus trees didn't mind the cold but the fruits is falling down and needs to be harvested. Yesterday I took 6 bags to the Harry Chapin Foodbank in Ft Myers. It's an 80 mile round trip but when I wrote them an email here in Naples as to where I take all this fruit so it doesn't go to waste, they told me to bring it there. Once I got there I asked if there really is no place in Naples where they take fruit. Oh sure! And they gave me three addresses. Went to this Grace's Place and they tell me they get food from the FT Myers office of Harry Chapin. So my fruit may wind up back in Naples. What a round about. Anyway, picked another load today for my morning delivery. They give food to the needy every Friday. Here's farmer Fred's haul for the day. There is plenty more to come but I have no more boxes.
Fred
Is this devestation or not?
There you are, Mr. Fred. I thought we had lost you.
So wonderful what you are doing with the fruit. God Bless.
Hap
from the other side
My stuff is also getting worse by the day. All the helio flowers are toast and there were so many. UGH!!
Hap
I'm not gone yet Hap,
just didn't feel like doing stuff as I had a headache and simply felt miserable for almost a week. Haven't had something like this for more years then I can remember. Didn't get a flu shot this year. The Walgreen pharmacy today told me I should still get a shot and I'll do that tomorrow.
We have contractors here replacing all of our windows and doors with hurricane resistant glass. DW got a wisdom tooth removed today and doesn't want to cook. :-) So I'm off to get a quart of wonton soup.
Fred
PS JIm, my screw pine got bitten too. It will take about a year for all the freeze dipped leaves to fall off and get replaced by new ones. Had this happen once before.
Fred,
I pray for your wife. Wisdom teeth are the pits.
And why are they called Wisdom Teeth? Does that mean if you have all of them pulled, you have no more wisdom? LOL
Hap
Nice looking fruit. Hugs to your wife and glad you are feeling better.
We're having chinese too. With no excuse. I had my 4 wisdom teeth pulled last year. I looked like a chipmunk. I thought I'd have them till I fell off the twig but they wore out. They told me I'd never miss them-NOT. I want them back! BTW, I still have my sharp tongue and my wisdom in tact.
So sorry about your devastation, Fred, and your illness. I am constantly around sick teens (at my job) so I always get a flu shot and dowse myself in alcohol periodically during the day. It's a constant war but I haven't (knock on wood) been sick this year.
I am blessed with a tremendous immune system and almost never get sick. When I retired from government service, I had over a year and a half's worth of sick leave built up and hadn't taken so much as an hour's worth in over 14 years. Also, I am a blood donner and they love to see me because my blood is CV negative. I'm not sure what that means but they can give my blood to infants with no problem.
No Chinese for me. My wife is gone to Peru for ten days and I can cook whatever I want. I do all of the cooking anyway but she is a picky eater and I am normally limited on just what I can fix. Tonight I am having breaded chicken breast stuffed with cheese and broccoli, a fresh tomato and avocado salad and toasted English muffins with black olive hommus and smoked Swiss cheese. Not to mention the 1991 French Pinot Blanc. Yes. I know that is old for a pinot blanc but I just found it in the wine rack and it is delightful.
Good to have you back Fred. I keep up with my oranges and grapefruit by juicing them but the lemons are overwhelming me. I make lemonade but won't drink it because of the sugar. I've tried several sweeteners and it is just not the same. I solved most of the overload problem by grafting cocktail trees, i.e. three or four fruits on one tree. It gives me a smaller quantity of fruit but a larger variety in a reduced space.
Jim
I wound up NOT going Chinese. DW suggested some Mushroom soup out of a can that was fine with me. I can't cook at all and have a hard time making coffee. Have been spoiled all my life.
Jim, you have three or four fruit on a tree? I have a dozen on the end of one branch. They hang all the way to the ground. Take a look.
I mean look at this. And I have a bunch of trees like this.
Tomorrow I'm cutting all these shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) down and let them start over again. The varigated ones did much better.
these heliconias (Lobster claws) are going down too.
Lots of stuff to remove all over the garden. Been at it for a while now off and on.
You misunderstood Fred. I ment three or four different types of fruit on a single tree. I started with sour orange root stock and grafted naval orange, ruby red grapefruit, Orlando tangelo and Meyer lemon twigs to it. After some trial and error, they all took and now I have a cocktail citrus tree with four different fruits on it. It takes up the room of a single tree and provides just enough of the four fruits for our use. As a member of the Rare Fruit Council, International (RFCI), I can get the root stock whenever I want. Then it is just a matter of cutting a twig off of the productive trees that you want. I do have some regular citrus trees such as pummelo, wekiwa tangelolo and ugli tangelo because I covet that fruit and it is worth the space.
Also, don't sweat the ginger. Mine go to the ground every year and come back stronger than ever. I wish someone could reassure me that my datura devil's trumpet will come back. It does not look good.
Jim
Jim,
Your datura will probably not come back and mine is about black too. Save the seeds and you may be surprised, for it self-seeds. If not, will check mine for seeds and send them over.
Hap
Hmm, are we are talking Datura/Angel Trumpet as in growing against my house wall in the front border and coming back year after year here in zone 6b?
RUK, Datura would be "Devil's Trumpet" Angel Trumpets bloom down, as Angel's from Heaven. Devil's bloom up, as in....................................................
Molly
Ahh Brugs!! sorry, didn't connect.
Btw those Oranges etc make my mouth water by just looking at them.
Here is the flower Ursula.
Jim
Jim, I hope it comes back! That's a beauty!
If I see no signs of life by the end of March, I'll buy another one because I think it is cool. Unless, of course, if Hap wants to send me some seeds. I looked and I have none of my own. This time however, I'll be smart enough to cover it and protect it from the cold. I was in such a panic to cover all of the plants I knew were tender that I forgot all about it. I'm still happy about how I survived this year's freeze. My mango tree is putting on new growth and the lychee tree looks great. I saw some small sprouts on the curly-Q copper plant and the rest is just top burn. Tonight is cold again, down to 40 they project, so the orchids are tucked into the garage. It takes me about an hour to do that. Tomorrow is a warm up so they all go back outside.
Jim
I left all the orchids outside. I simply covered them with frost cloth. It's just too much work for an expected 40 degrees. Naples is 45 so I expect about 40 where I am a bit inland. It was cold in the sunroom and now the heat is on. So all the orchids in there share the human warmth.
I hope I'm not expecting too much from my orchids outside.
Got all the ginger types cut down today. Also did a lot of watering and making labels. I noticed life on ground level on some of my baby trees which looked dead. Maybe something will happen higher up too as it warms up some more. Also many of the the assumed dead baby crotons are alive and kicking out new buds. About 1/2 the Christmas palms are goners though.
My Lychee lost all of its blooms as did the mango. Never have been able to keep daturas alive very long here. Brugs are recouperating like crazy.
Took 7 boxes of fruit to the foodbank today. They grab the oranges very quickly. Grapefruit is not as desirable. Don't know if they can even get rid of all of my bounty. Will find out though.
Fred
Fred,
They will love the fruit and I WILL all go. Thanks.
Hap
My neighbor just called. He is working the Tampa Spring Plant Expo at the state fairgrounds. He said today is the last day and all of the exhibitors will be taking down their displays and selling the plants for a song so they don't have to mess with them. Yes, they have orchids. I'm off; talk with you later.
Jim