The year in review

There were a lot of mistakes and some successes. I have learned a great deal. The casualties have made me more amenable to listening to the experience of others. In any case, the love of gardening is a great gift which I've enjoyed immensely this year. For the new year, I wish you, happy reader, the quiet peace that only a beautiful pot with excellent drainage can give. And may your rhizomes never rot, nor snails make swiss cheese of your beautiful begonia leaves, nor scale attack your bamboo culms. And finally, may your tea be as expensive as you can afford and a plate of Eccles cakes always ready by the pot. 

Asleep in the quiet, dappled shade

The sun still sits low in the southern sky. Even though it's cooler, begonias can burn in the direct light, I have them hidden behind larger pots. I am going to have to design a portable "Shade-Brella" that I can spear into a large pot and have the more delicates underneath the umbra. The goal would be to block direct sun rays and protect against the heavy rains. Ideally the design would somehow allow for the "Shade-Brella" to stay in place during light to medium wind (do not try to use this name for a similar product you may design-- it's mine, though it just came to me).

The shade garden below cannot be replicated on my 4th floor terrace due to the harsher sun, wind and rain. I am a little envious when I visit this peaceful place (Palm Hammock Orchid Estate). It's easy to fall asleep leaning against the potting supply house after a good turn under the screen shaded rows of begonias, ferns, water plants, etc.

A large bed of b. "Arte Hodes" (or similiar with 'pig skin' texture leaf)  and friends, they look quite content in this gently lit understory.

The walk into Palm Hammock Orchid Estate nursery

The gentle water fall  provides ideal moisture for the adiantum aethiopicum growing on the stone. Although known as the 'common  maidenhair fern', it's delicate spray of vibrant, green leaves makes for a very elegant plant.

b. peleata, a very beautiful species begonia.

b. peleata, large leafed maiden hair, et al.

A great center piece for the dinner table.

The King and I

Went to Palm Hammock Orchid Estate today to buy gifts in celebration of the upcoming year of the dragon.  

Yours truly with newest acquisition b. "Caribbean King" 

Miami Beach 85F 12/26

12/26/2011 Miami Frank Gehry New World Symphony Park. The bougainvillea will climb all over these lattices.
[Photos: me]

Looking toward the concert hall building. Palms planted en masse like this provide a nice canopy of shade from this unusually warm winter day.

Miami Beach botanic garden, it would be great to have one of the same in Broward County

On a side note

Curiosity, imagination and compassion, not necessarily in that order, are the most precious attributes a gardener can encourage and grow. 

Absolutely nothing to do with repotting a palm, one of my favorite TV series 

Rhizomes of the Caribbean

b. Caribben Queen flowers in front of a Caribbean Corsair note
b. Odorata Alba in the background

 


Sweet. A spray of inflorescence from b. U402

 


 A must visit site for begonias

Gentle morning sky

Moisture coming in from the Straights of Florida against a backdrop of auquamarine





Teetering on the shortest day of 2011

The projected high tomorrow  26.67C. Warm temps and short days. The tropical winter. The new Vietnamese gardenia is flowering and is perfuming the terrace, when there's a break from the ocean breeze. The b. 'Caribbean Corsair' looks happy as a clam after it's transplanting. Now just have to let it grow.

The begonia 'Caribbean Corsair' is a hybrid from Tim Anderson of Palm Hammock Orchid Estate, my favorite nursery. It has a FANTASTIC collection of begonias. The best nursery. 

 I've been putting some overtime at work and I'm going to reward myself with a big pot o' rhizomatous begonia. I don't understand my enchantment with rhizomatous begonias, but I'm a goner. 

From Left; U402 (shrub like) , Little Fred (rhizome), PHOE's Cloe (rhizome) 

A Christmas tree from the Permian Age (Fairchild Botanic Garden, Photo me)

From a very old family, one of the first colonizers of terrestrial habitats

Pu-erh with almonds

The scent of this Vietnamese gardenia is intoxicating. Here she is early morn after a shower. 

In many pots I've planted snips of begonias as I don't want any  to go waste. Here is some b. heracleifolia and some b. U402 planted around a small bird-of-paradise trunk. There are some small blooms on the underside of the 402.

The small shrub-like begonia is a species from Venezuela- designated "U402" by Thelma O'Reilly as per the ABS website. It is a strong grower in rich soil and I've had good luck with blooming in smaller pots. It loves the humidity here and the winter sun, which is MUCH less direct than that of summer.

I replanted the b. Caribbean Corsair in a larger plastic pot. The rhizome seems to be spreading nicely, though slowly and the front had hit the side of it's pot. Generally it's fine to let this happen as it will crawl over the lip of the pot, but I want to try to give it a little extra space, hopefully to encourage more growth. Like many rhizomatous, it's root system is fairly fragile and when I eased the old pot off of the root ball, a good deal of soil from the bottom of the ball fell off. I packed it gently in it's new home- about 1/5 larger than old pot. I LOVE this begonia it's leaves have the texture of a fabulous Victorian stiff brocade. I hope I didn't over pot which can easily cause the rhizome to rot and die.

I'm drinking a cup of Pu-erh tea (mini Tuo-cha balls) that has an earthy, almost dung-like flavor. It is delicious. I recently bought a number of teas from Notting Hall . They have a good selection and ship quickly. I bought a Pu-erh sampler and several Darjeelings. I couldn't find any Darjeeling Tukvar second flush that used to be available at Fauchon which is too bad because it is a beautiful tea.

As I've written, I recently re potted a large bougainvillea growing alone the west wall. At that time I also split apart several bird-of-paradise and planted macho ferns and burly Marx philodendron with them in their new pots. Everyone is growing in. Notice the burly Marx cascading down. It's a great plant.

Burly Marx (behind bromeliad neoregelia johannis) busting out all over

Non dimenticare Katyna Ranieri

Goings on About Town

Galleries -- Hell's Kitchen

Terrace Gardener retrospective. 'Plant Pornography'  A collection of photographs that revisits the artists roots as a avid gardener. Wilton Manors Gallery Dec 14 - Dec 14

Palms at the far end of the mind [all photos: me]

What's this girl hiding under her skirt?
 (It's gotta be some sort of rhapsis)

Interesting article on Rhapsis Palms

Selph's Mahagony, now that's an erect rhizome!

These colors would excite even the dullest of impregnators

For your ears only

Las historias de los jardineros-- son de sangre, son de amor

No se olviden bailar en el jardin mis hijos

διάλειμμα καφέ μου .. πίσω κάποια στιγμή

Yuletide in the tropics

Entrance to Jesse Durko's, a botanic garden in it's own right

I had to put my Vietnamese gardenia down today. It had been failing, and it's quality of life was obviously no longer very good. The telltale was the rot that was showing up in the cells of a living branch when I did a investigative cut. Part of the ring was brown. It wasn't pretty. Long and short: I had to bag it. It was too big to bag in a single run, so rather like the 2 bit Italian mobster in Lina Wertmuller's Seven Beauties, I had to saw the body into pieces and tossed it down the trash shoot.

I went to the nursery where I had bought the original plant. This gardenia is fabulously fragrant when in bloom-- rather like ylang-ylang. I bought a nice 7gal pot, a nice size plant, for $40. They were asking $45, but I paid cash, and was reticent to hand over the cash, so the nurseryman took off $5.

I wanted to report on the worth of a 4 gal shop vac (5hp). It was the more expensive model-- but it paid for itself today! I was able to clean up after the gardenia, and a terrace full of wet bougainvillea petals, bamboo leaves and other hiding flotsam. It sucked it all up. The vacuum might be of great use to other terrace gardners as well.

 Jesse Durko's nursery, the source of the Vietnamese gardenia:

A tropical (winter) perennial bed

Another bed, notice mound of begonia 'Caribbean Corsair' on lower right

10' high, a habit of prehistoric proportions

Ice in the garden

We are descending into winter here in zone10b. Windows and sliding doors in the building are beginning to be kept open to allow in the cool, less humid air. The temperatures in the early mornings are in the low 60's (F).

The Plumeria is getting shy with it's beautiful clusters of white petals. It's a very worthwhile plant to have in or out of bloom. Remember, it likes SUN, not too much water (it will begin dropping leaves) and it will be grateful for some food from time to time.

We are 1 evening away from the last full moon of 2011, it is a good a night as any to eat chocolate ice cream on the terrace.






Eat ice cream under the 'Full Cold Moon' *

 *Full moons

el color púrpura

The purple bougainvillea around the neighborhood, as well as my own, are coming into bloom. To my eye, it isn't the prettiest color of the bougainvillea, it is supposed to be the most floriferous. Mine was covered in bracts for 1/2 the year and then it stopped flowering but grew quite a bit.

The ubiquitous magenta is a pleasant color. But although I can get it to bloom regularly with some heavy feeding, it is at times, leafless and can look skeletal when the flowering slow down.

There are other colors I need to try, I've held off thinking that they would have very limited bloom periods but having sprays of different colored bougainvillea on the terrace to cheer the eye would heaven.

Not my favorite color boug, but with the variegated leaves the color really pops

Bougainvillea  is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina (Chubut Province). Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus. The plant was classified by Europeans in Brazil in 1768, by Philibert Commerçon, a French botanist accompanying French Navy admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville during his voyage of circumnavigation.   *Possibly useful tips for growing Bougainvillea

Maintenance man

Security came by and told me not to use  'excessive water' when watering the garden several days ago.

I watered in lightly this morning, always giving everybody a quick overhead spray for salt residue. 

I bought a 4 gal 5hp wet/dry vac for wet leaves, pooled water, etc. I'll report as to it's efficacy. 




Loves wet leaves? 

 

The politics of gardening

Exuberant Moscovites on their way to a garden party? -- or prison, it's hard to say. (USDA garden zone -1).

Вы идете девочек!

Hygiene

I like to have mounds of foliage that blend together and hide the gaps between the planters. In this tropical weather however, the mixture of leaves and dirt that accumulate on the terrace floor, probably encouraged by the time-release fertilizer leaching from the pots, becomes a greasy black algea that is difficult to wash off and in some spots looks to have permanently discolored the tile.

I have learned:
1. Keep the pots raised with at least 1/4" breathing room underneath.
2. Every few months, mix up as 1 cup bleach to a gal. of water and bathe the tile with the solution.


FYI:
All Persian gardens, from the ancient to the high classical were developed in opposition to the harsh and arid landscape of the Iranian Plateau. Unlike historical European gardens, which seemed carved or re-ordered from within their existing landscape, Persian gardens appeared as impossibilities. Their ethereal and delicate qualities emphasized their intrinsic contrast to the hostile environment.

Rather like the modern terrace garden.

 *Read me

Seven is a good number

Although the expensive cake brought for dessert was dry, it was nothing that a little coffee couldn't repair.

Church Mouse

A shy sprig of Duranta Repens ('Saphire Showers'?)

A taste of the Pacific

A clear, cool morning sits atop Fort Lauderdale this morning. Upper 50's with only whisps of stratus clouds.

Portulaca molokiniensis "Hawaiian Portulaca"

At right is a portulaca I bought a few weeks back at Home Depot. A native of Hawaii,  it grows 1-1.5' with yellow flowers. I crammed 3 of them, 4" apart, into a planter to make sure they got nice and full. I need to research more and determine whether it is edible or not. I may be able to grow an "apocalypse" garden made entirely of different types of Portulacaceae.

Approaching the winter solstice

The terrace is now exposed for most of the day now as the sun sits much lower in the southern sky. This late time of year brings cooler, drier days.
My begonias are thriving in this less stressful environment, though the application of some kicker fertilizer applied a week or two back is probably helping them along as well.

I've placed the night blooming cereus (hylocereus undatus) in pots around the terrace. They are turning out to be great climbers. Creeping fig is also coming up and should soften the walls nicely (though slowly).

Tea in the garden

When time allows, the day is clear and the sun has dimmed enough to permit comfortable sitting in the garden, one might enjoy a nice cup of tea among the plants. Although I love a very strong, black-as-night cup, loaded with half and half and raw honey, the early onslaught of evening could also be enjoyed with the light, unadulterated liquor of a Darjeeling Tukvar or a slightly smokey Pu-er.*

The light begins to soften

As evening approaches, and the light treats the color of the leaves and flowers in a more amenable manner, the cleanliness of the tea, may well heighten one's appreciation of all the mistakes, prunings, scrapes, scratches and sweat at times required by even the most modest tropical terrace garden.

*For the curious, wondering, even restless mind:
Tea from the seven mountains

Ocean spray and keeping an eye on high PH

When I rinse everyone off while watering, the seabreeze-salt that has accumulated on the leaves is washed right down into the pot. Probably time to get a PH tester and make sure they are all on the slightly acidic side-- except for the bougainvillea, which come from the slightly alkaline soils in Brazil.

Along the handrail
(from left) Euphorbia, White Purslane, White Bleeding Heart
 Dwarf Yellow Shrimp Rubber Plant, Macho Fern, Bamboo, Liriope

For those curious minds

Nutrients needed in the largest amount by plants are referred to as macro-nutrients and include nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Sulfur (S). In addition to macronutrients, plants also need trace nutrients. Trace nutrients are not major components of plant tissue, but are required for growth. These include Iron, (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co), Molybdenum (Mo), and Boron (Bo). Both macro and trace nutrient availability is controlled by soil pH. In slightly to moderately alkaline soils, molybdenum and macro-nutrient (except P) availability is increased, but P, Fe, Mn, Zn Cu, and Co levels are reduced so low they may affect plant growth. In acid soils, micro-nutrient availability (except Mo and Bo) is increased. Nitrogen is supplied as ammonium (NH₄) or nitrate (NO₃) in fertilizer amendments, and dissolved N will have the highest concentrations in soil with pH 6-8. Concentrations of available N are less sensitive to pH than concentration of available P. In order for P to be available for plants, soil pH needs to be in the range 6.0 and 7.5. If pH is lower than 6, P starts forming insoluble compounds with iron (Fe) and aluminium (Al) and if pH is higher than 7.5 P starts forming insoluble compounds with calcium (Ca).Nutrient availability in relation to soil pH.

Most nutrient deficiencies can be avoided between a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5, provided that soil minerals and organic matter contain the essential nutrients to begin with.

Garden pests?

Unidentified.
Friend or foe? We may never know.

Just a little watering, early in the morning...

With a little care my garden grows happily.

Quick study

Night Blooming Cereus

Starting to scale the wall

6 weeks later-- 40"

A little more on Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)

Orange purslane with white bleeding heart vine in the planter by the handrail 

You will not regret the purchase of a few small pots of purslane from the local Home Depot. It has been one of the very best performers on my terrace in terms of soaking up 6+ hours of zone 10 sun and putting on a non-stop display of  very sweet flowers.

I use them as companions to larger plants. They need the sun and will overflow the pot with little effort on the gardener's part. When too leggity replace with some new plants.

Evidently, they are high in Omega 3 fatty acid as well as vitamin C-- do some research. Purslane can be harvested in the am for salads (it's got more tang in the am). My cat certainly loves  a nip of purslane from time to time.

Ray eating a little purslane for his health 

Dynamite

Sprinkled a little Plant Dynamite for Flowers and Vegetables last week around bougainvillea. A week later, a flush of magenta brackets have begun to appear. Too early to tell of how full she'll get- I don't want to jinx any huge flush coming up.

Sprinkled in a bowl of begonias as well.  "Arte Hodes" (Pigskin begonia) after this feeding is getting a little ornery, pushing some other big begonias in the bowl out of it's way.

I'll always be looking for that magic pill that will make the garden uncontrollably vigorous, busty and floriferous.



I checked out Parks Seed for some of their products. Algoflash and the seaweed fertilizer are interesting. More Later.

Leaves. Deliberate on textures, sizes and shapes before committing to the garden.

Does it add up to a tropical Garden? 

The plant / pot ratio in the container garden

It ain't the pot but the plant that makes the container garden.
Keep the foliage at least 2 to 3 times the container size.

Splayed the branches of the bougainvillea

Why all the talk about bougainvillea? It can take unadultrated caribbean sun, salt air, strong breezes and is quite floriferous in season, which is usually the dry winter months. I had the magenta plant blooming all year in cycles with some regular feeding. The wet summer months are it's real growth period.  Hardy in zones 9b and higher.

I splayed the branches of the 48" I bought and planted last weekend and stuffed some creeping fig in with it. I'll place the creeping fig against the wall.  After trimming a good many of the smaller branches and dead wood, I got 6 or 7 nice branches, some to throw over the handrail (sun all day!) and 2 strong branches to climb up a fishline 'trellis'.

Have to untruss them, find the strong branches and clip off the rest, rather like a rose 

He vuelto

Impulse buy at the Fairchild Botanic Garden's 71st annual "Ramble"
Aechmea Dean:  a large landscape bromeliads reaching a height of 5 feet.
With an elegant green/ orange foliage and very large corn like bloom.

Tu sabes.. 

Oolong steeping

On the road

Cup of coffee on the terrace in the early morning. Watered everyone in well in the  late afternoon as I'm going out of town until Friday. It's cool enough that there probably won't be any suffering.

This is my "out of town" signage from the folio:



I'm out of town, please come back and visit later!



A strong force pulled me off of the road

The past few days have slipped by without an update on my non-stop carryings-on on the the terrace. The center handrail which you see from the main room was missing vine coverage, color-- something. It had 2 dwarf cypress at both columns as vertical accents. Cypress are not tropical looking. So, they had to come out. A friend happened to be passing and I gave both evergreens to him.

I wish I knew the name of this Euphorbia.
Notice white puffs starting to appear along the stems.
Begonias to the lower left. Gave them all a little
Plant Dynamite [click for large pic with details]

I had gone to Home Depot earlier in the day to buy potting soil. As usual, I start looking at the plants and lost track of time. They were having a special on nice looking 26" rustic Mexican terracotta pots for $19 which I couldn't resist, bought one of these. Also picked up some  Plant Dynamite, Plant Tone and some high nitrogen tree and shrub food, mainly for bamboo who likes the nitrogen. Plant Tone is an organic fertilizer, 5-3-3 made of bone meal, dried blood, smells like offal but it has beneficial microbes in it, an my instincts tell me it keeps the soil alive.

On the way home, I lost control of my car and pulled into the local nursery, one block from my house, the Wilton Manors Nursery. There is an old cracker who runs the place (the term 'cracker' refers to the Florida cowboys that ran cattle all over the state in the 1800's, now it means more or less a 'good old boy') with whom I haggled for two bougainvilleas in 3 gal pots. I only got $2.50  off the combined price but it opened the door to haggle in the future as I go there every few weeks.
I got everything home, planted bougainvilleas, approx 36"-40" high, where cypress had been, placed recently purchased Pandora Vine along rail and the results were sweet.

The tropical cottage garden (along a handrail).

Worked all last night,  I need to gather some steam and get some more potting soil as I never got around to planting the creeping fig and night blooming cereus into the fabulous square fiberglass planter I bought from Hay Needle for $69.

New planter

Planted: creeping fig, night blooming cereus, euphorbia 'Silver Fox'

On the dog walk: the chalice vines are starting to bloom