Learning to blog (tiring)

After attempting to re-org this blog so that pics would be associated with posts, I am too tired to think aloud about the garden. Not much to say really. The warm weather is here, tendrils and shoots have begun to have more confidence. Still no Virginia Creeper. I was reading a intro to bougies on the IBG website. There are 3 types of bougainvillea. I need to identify mine so i can refer to them correctly.

The passion flower vine is moving. maybe too aggressive mixed in with jasmine? live and learn.

Selph is the already sending up leaflets from the rhizomes, very glad to see that. Surprising that the agressive Caribbean King isn't busting out, usually such a strong grower.  I'm sure the warmth and humidity will coax out some leaves soon.


HAVE NOT received 'The Begonian' from ABS yet. Joined over a month ago.. looking forward to reading it again.

70s/60s

 Very slight haze, humidity in 60%?, but the sun is out and the temp is in early 70's with a soft breeze off of the water. Beautiful. Everyone looks great, except, the bougainvillea on the east wall. It's getting eaten by catepillars, i wonder if I can use a systemic on bougies? I'll go to the BGI website maybe they have info. The University of Florida also is a great source of info on the culture and care of plants in the state. My rhizomatous are well into a month and a half of blooming and Cloe, Fred, Dopey are still sending out stalks. U402 also floriferous, seems to really like the tight squeeze in the new pot. After a month or 2 i'm going to start a prune here and there to begin shaping it. Duranta is sending up branches, healthy, forking as they get longer with the purple racemes of flowers forming. However, it's surprising too with what seems such a hardy plant, there are a few white flies on one of the  plants. On the other, there were small black insects which looked like small black lady bugs. I neemed oiled it. There is a lady bug zipping around on one of them, i'll leave her to her work.

Change of seasons..

Started for the gym, which is a few buildings down, it was already at least 80 and the humidity in the 80% range. Going up to 90's and storms are predicted. I'm excited, the growing season is starting to kick off!

The begonias LOVE this humidity-- others will become more prone to gnawing bugs on new growth. It's funny that I have never (knock, knock) had pest problems with my begonias. I've drowned them, I've shocked them to death, but never pests.

Rain very hard late pm. Had to turn it over and just see how things faired under our first torrential rain of the season. Everything looks great (it's still pouring). I pulled in b. "my good friend" it's in a plastic pot, it's a rex with minimal rhizomes, etc. My terrace tiles are getting a nice wash.

Bird of Paradise

1. The croton was so infested that i cut all affected areas off. Of course this left me with a bare branched un-identifyable. I was going to toss it so I pulled it out of it's large pot. It had been overpotted, with damp compacted soil-- no wonder it was so susceptible to the virulent attack.
I temporarily moved it to a smaller pot, not planted, but with loose soil around root ball to hold it until I buy a tighter cheap pot for it. Over-potting just doesn't work with containers it seems. Unless your talking about a banana whose roots will fill up anything.

So, in the crotons former home a 26" brown plastic pot, I planted a white bird of paradise.  The orange were too expensive for me today. It is a lot more appropriate for the space than a banana.The trunk lends itself to be grown against a wall. The larger stalks can be cut as it's trunk becomes leggy.

It is a gorgeous day with a nice breeze coming off the water in the 70's. I gave everyone a nice shower in the morning, they've gotten great sun all day.

I replanted a rhizomatous that had been planted in a low glazed cobalt bowl to a shallower terracota bowl. It was not going anywhere in the bowl, though far from rotting. It has a peculiar mottled leaf, it may turn out to be a bore, a friend bought the mother plant and i tore a piece off, so I don't know much about it. My space is limited, so I can't just keep growing begonias because they are begonias.

After looking at pictures of the virginia creeper, it looks just like poison ivy, and i'm just not sure.  ivy or simply more creeping fig might be more elegant. if there is anyone reading this that knows of a interesting clinging vine, i'd be grateful if you'd post a name.

The terrace for sale next door- it comes with a 3 bed 2 bath condo. I wish I had the cash to buy it. It's terrace is as long as mine (35'), but it doesn't have a roof covering the mid third of it. There is a wooden pergola held up by 2 40" or so round masonry posts. If I was doing their terrace landscape work, i'd get 2 50+ gal pots of bougainvillea from Everglades Botanicals-- $300 ea? Lash those against the posts  to guide them toward the ultimate aim of having them climb up and over pergola. I'm am into  masses of messy fabulous colors, so I'd probably try to get a blue sky vine going between the boards at the same time. Maybe a jade vine? A parrot's beak vine? A giant chalice vine. Ideally, all of them. bird of paradise, vines,  a buddha belly -- it stays low and has a thick head of hair, etc.

Back to my plot of masonry and tile. Vines, vines and vines! The passion fruit I'm weaving in on the east handrail, with the jasmine, has a purple flower, I am hoping that it is a 'possum' purple which puts out good fruit. . They have a dull. sweet smell, but i can tell it's a food plant from the scent (call me crazy). A few flowers have already opened. I'm not sure if they are self-polinating or not. There is one good size fruit hanging.

I repotted the mexican flame vine, there was too much hydrasorb in the soil. I HAVE to follow directions. I used to bake good bread, and a baker has to follow instructions fairly carefully. But when I was potting it the other day,  I just threw a few fist fulls of the hydrating polymer in the potting soil. I watered it and the damn thing erupted out of the pot. I leveled the top of the pot thinking that it might be ok, but i saw some black leasions that hinted at the arrival of root rot.

No virginia creeper yet. I've seen a walls around, that have clinging vines with fairly large branches. Don't know if they're one type. I need to dig a little and find out what my options are for a third (or 4th) climber to use. The creeping fig coming out of the orange pot is starting to move. It's branching out and looking pretty confident climbing. It's not as slow as I thought it to be.  I've been worried that a vine on the wall might be frowned upon by condo powers, but walking Ricky today, I noticed several of the buildings on 'Village Lane' had creeping fig heading up thier walls-- precedence has been set.

I don't have time to tell you about my poor croton which has been viciously attacted by a host of different pests. I did the systematic treatment the other day. I neem oiled it this morning. Is it beyond saving? 

The sun has just gone down and the sky is a muddy apricot. The tempature of the breeze is delightful.

Upper 80's and clear

Beautiful, clear, hot sun today. Gave everyone a morning drench and rinse. We get a lot of salt in the air being so close to the ocean. Need to shower all to clean of briny residue. It seems to work. It's been dry for the past 2 weeks, so I've had to use the hose- which i love doing.

Looking for cheap copies of V. Sackville-West's gardening books:

• Some Flowers
• Country Notes
• Country Notes in Wartime
• In Your Garden
• In Your Garden Again
• More for your Garden
• Even more for your Garden
• A Joy of Gardening
• V. Sackville-West's Garden Book
• Midcote Manor Garden
• The Illustrated Garden Book

I hadn't known she had written so many. In Your Garden is wonderful. It gently directs readers as to when to plant and sources for seed. Very interesting to read about the old vendors.

Green Thoughts

Spent my time before showering for work trying to arrange flame vine onto handrail. It's difficult to work with as the vines are hollow tubes and bend very easily. I think that as it get's going in the large pot with lots of food, i'll be able to coax it to grow across the railing, adding a true orange color to the sweet smelling jasmine.

Bright, dry days of spring

I went to Home Depot at lunch and bought 2.5 cu of potting soil. I use the Miracle Grow, it is nice and black and has a good deal of organic matter. There was a sturdy looking Mexican Flame (Senecio confusus)  vine covered with the feathery orange flowers for $19, the handrail on the other end of the terrace needed something to balance the passion flower. Planted the Flame vine into a thick terracota pot, I used 2 handfuls of Absorbs hydrating polymer which will serve well in the upcoming hot summer sun. It is a beautiful, hardy grower.

Finished transplanting the Duranta into a larger plastic pot. It's supposed to grow to a large shrub 12' - 15' (depending on trimming) and form a fountain-like habit, with purple flowers at the tips of the branches http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duranta_(1).jpg . It is a member of the Verbena family. It will add some depth to the garden by spraying flowering branches into the garden and not simply blooming against a wall.

I realized the other day when I pulled everything away from the wall how much better it looked. Having some pots closer, others almost hidden, it made a more natural, random look. I had been planting for the walls -a straight foot path versus a soft, winding foot path, one that invites the visitor in.

Ordered a copy of Eleanor Perenyi's 'Green Thoughts'. Need to see if i still have my V. Sackville-West 'In Your Garden' . I love a good historic garden diary.
Looking forward to the arrival of the Virginia Creeper.

The morning after

False aurelia has a few burnt leaf tips from the insecticide. Otherwise ok, no wilting. Croton seems fine. I'm looking  forward to the croton filling out, it's a very pretty burgundy red with yellow spots. It'll had some nice contract to bamboo. The gardenia has a few dead leaves (overnight!). Not many and otherwise it looks fine. I'll be happy to see the thrips, scales, leaf suckers go away. The pulmaria is fine after this de-lousing. I had sprayed some soapy water on the buds that were getting eaten and they're beginning to bloom.

I 86xd the banana. It had a fungus of some sort. The trunk was going soft at the top. May replace it with a bird of paradise or travelers that will provide some horizontal coveral, thought the canopy of the banana was very nice. Replanted duranta into the larger, plastic banana pot. It will fill it in and it soaks up too much water in the terracota pot.

Also, cut the large branches off of the rubber plant, they were leggy and there a number of beautiful dark branchlettes coming up that should be much fuller in terms of leaf coverage.

We went out to Flamingo Road Nursery yesterday and bought two cheap pots for the Virginia creeper.

Maintenance

Swept up, planted passion fruit in new pot, washed down the terrace.

Used a systemic pesticide on croton, aurelia, and gardenia.

Spring cleaning

Alot of work today.  Pulled all pots away from walls swept up debris. I didn't scrub and wash, I'll try to get up very early tomorrow and scrub the decks.

Fed the gardenia, jasmine boxes, bamboo with Plant Tone. Citrus Tone on the orange.

I bought a beautiful old terracotta pot probably 26" rim with the face of the sun embossed on one side. it's surface is irregular and has mold on one side-- also bought a buxom passion fruit vine to put in it. I've been meaning to get another vine for the handrail. The jasmine is to spare, though it is blooming.

I've ordered 6 bare root virginia creeper to start getting the walls green  $4 for 1'-2' plants from Cold Stream Farm. They have great prices.  I'll need to find some reasonable rectangular planters for the to put at the base of the east and west walls where the vines will be planted.

Walking to the meeting tonight we ran across a clinging vine going up a townhouse's masonry wall with big stiff branches that looked too large to be held onto a vertical surface by roots alone- but it was. On the way home,  broke off a piece and root toned it and stuck it with with false aurelia as a temp home. It looked like a wild thing covering the townhouse it was on. Maybe it will take off here too.  .

Plastic pots and the summer sun

It's been a quiet few days sans ocean breeze. Everyone is getting some quiet time in the sunshine. Cloe seems to be fine in terracota bowl. There is a real difference in terms of soil water retention between terracota, plastic and glazed pots. It'll be interesting as the wamer, warmer, HOT weather comes if having terracota will make any sense at all. The mulching I did certainly makes a difference. I enjoy watering in the am anyway so it won't any trouble. My dad loved watering his plants. Watering can tame the savage beast. Red Fred seems happy, which makes me happy. I've left him in the quart pot he came in and I've only watered him in two weeks-- a plastic container.

 Want to read the Thompson's chapter regarding hybridizing. I have 5 beautiful rhizomatous begonias in bloom at once. Some of the blooms stay on the stalk and harden up. I usually cut the stalk, but if it were left would seeds develop? If Red and Cloe and U402 are next to each other.. what might be born? Of course this isn't the serious way to do it, but I'm not in the serious gardener category. I am in the loving gardener category though which is a great healing gift. The green oakleaf croton is putting out nice shiny leaves with the beautiful thread of yellow down the lenght of the leaf. I burned with a liquid fertilizer batch... I turned the sprayer upside down to get all the fertilizer out, and the powder which hadn't dissolved :( but she's back. Have to be very careful of full strength anything. I'd really like to see him grow into a large, mature plant. Dopey is still just busting out all over with beautiful stalks of white with a very slight hint of pink and the yellow stamens.

The Yahoo Begonians were right. http://www.begonias.org/Articles/Vol68/B_U402.htm.

Did I mention I re-joined the American Begonia Society? Maybe have to join Palm Beach Society as well. There are some very well known begonia-culturists.

Clear early days of summer?

Clear sunny day, everyone looks healthy outside. I spot watered bamboo, Sophie Cecile, Cloe etc. weak liquid fertilizer.

I submitted my pictures of what I thought might be b. 'China Boy' to the yahoo Begonia group. The consensus is that it's a U402, a species. I'll check out the ABS webite.

Pulmaria's leaves are curling a bit but otherwise has full growth.

Found a simple home made remedy for insects: 3 tbl per gallon of handsoap. I've sprayed both gardenia and croton again with this mixture. Tired.

Daylight savings

Sweet morning, I got up at 7:30 a to a 6:30 a sunrise. Treat.

I'm pleased with how everything is looking this morning. The bamboo umbral is a very dense ball of green-- heavy dose of Espoma citrus? The durantas are both looking fiesty and have the little grapes on the branch tips that will soon become purple sprays. The begonias all look happy, of course Irene N. and Sophie C. still are adjusting to thier pruning. The newly transplanted b. 'China Boy' didn'nt skip a beat. Perky and upright in it's pot, no wilting, leaf or bloom loss. As to Cloe and Little Red, They look good and I just have to leave them to their growing! I've posted a pic of the giant liriope in the urn and the newly repotted China B.

 Reading pieces of The Art of South Florida Gardening by Harold Songdahl and Coralee Leon. A lot of pertinent information. I especially liked the chapter on fertilizing.  Oolite and marl are some of my favorite words now. 

Also browsing Stan DeFreitas' The Complete Guide to Florida Gardening it's like looking at the old Sear's catalogue.

 

Sunday, Sunday

Spot watering with the can as soil is damp all around. Doused the bamboo 2 cans (3gal) of a weak miracle grow solution. 'Cloe' got a nice bath, as did the cypress, railing boxes, pulmaria, plumbago, etc. Transplanted the little shrub begonia, it looks like b. 'china boy' as far as I can tell from Thompson's. I stole the cutting off a large plant in a nursery (it was a very small branch) and I didn't inquire re the name. I'll post a pic tomorrow. It was plantet very awkwardly in a bowl which it had shared with other rhizome b's. It looks full and fabulous in the pot.

b. 'My Good Friend' seems quite happy on the terrace. It seems to have adjusted to the terrace sun right nice. 'Dopey' is full of flower stalks.

I guess it's going to take a while for the bougainvillea to fill out. The magenta plant pinned up on the eastern wall has just finished a flush is nearly naked. No foliage, no bracts. It's in a pot that's larger than the root ball and soil is fairly loamy. Probably would be showier in a compact, sandy soil and a tight pot. I'll have to wait a few years. The purple girl on the west wall is well foliated and is coming into bloom shyly, once this one is ready it puts on a show. See the last pic at the bottom of the blog. The directions on the Bougain fertilizer, recommended by the IBS says that Bougs need food, sun but not so much water. This might be true, but is the plant going to grow leaves without water? I was at a nursery recently that had beautiful B's covered in healthy foliage, that were being watered daily. I guess we have to find our own way sometimes, hopefully the plants will live through it with us.

Daylight saving time went into effect today. By summer time it's going to be late afternoon at 8pm. More time in the garden.

Wilton Manors Nursery

Crystal blue day. It's getting hot under the direct sun. No watering today, wanted to let everything dry out after yesterday's storm. Tomorrow everyone will get a mild Miracle Grow bath. Bought a huge macho fern for $10 at the Wilton Manors nursery. Picked up another plant at the local flea market today. Posting a few I need to research.

On a clear day..

Stuck a plug of  'Dopey' in with the newly potted 'Cloe'. The leaves look beautiful together. The rhizome was 2" or so-- big enough to hold it's own. It had a bloom and leaves which were standing up when i left but were limp when i got home, i trimmed them off. There is a leaf coming out of one end of the rhizome. time'll tell.

Twister!

A cold front moved through today. Evidently there was a funnel or two spotted. There was no obvious damage to the terrace- though i didn't get home until after dark

Salty sea breezes

I should be more specific about the stones I put in the bowl around PHOE'S Cloe. I didn't entirely cover the surface of the dirt with small stones. I put a number of irregular shapped rocks with at least 1/3 of the soil remaining uncovered. This should help retain some moisture, compact the soil somewhat and help anchor the plant while it grows in, while allowing the soil to breathe. The soil does dry out fairly quicly. Maybe a boon with the coming high humidity of summer.

Today there was a strong ocean breeze with higher gusts. It looked like rain today so i moved the canes under cover. There is new soil for b. 'Irene Nuss'  to grow into before she can take too much constant wet, even the soil is very light and free-draining. b 'Sophie Cecile' has been hard pruned and i think they're both a little vulnerable until they've really started to grow back in.

I was looking in a book about native Florida plants. Virginia Creeper looks like it would be a good choice for a fast growing, tough as nails, climber. It would have to be kept in line pretty regularly. I'll keep looking. J Durko may have some suggestions.

 

Wind is going to be an ongoing challenge in a number of ways. The small pots I had on the table had to be put on the floor to protect them from the strong gusts. What effect will the heavy salt content of the breezes have on the begonia's-- or any other of the plants on the terrace- many not known for salt tolerance, gardenias, bougianvillea, etc.? Rain will be helpful in rinsing off the do leaves, but what about salt build-up in the soil? Summer storms will be a whole other story. This will be one of the real tests of container gardening on a higher floor.

The bamboo is growing back in very nicely, becoming a full green ball. I've been watering with light 'enhanced' (weak miracle grow) watering. I'm surprised that I'm not seeing a new culm yet. There will undoubtedly be at least one coming up in the hot, humid summer.

Overpotted

7AM
Partly cloudy today. No rain.

I think Cloe is over-potted in the bowl. I've put rocks on the soil to compact it. I'm going to test and see if compacting the soil is what the plant is actually looking for when it is in a tight pot. I'm curious to know why, if I put a rhizomatous begonia in a bowl with room for it to grow, it generally will either dry up or rot and fail. That maybe a function of my not allowing the plant to aclimate to a particular spot. Jesse Durko, where i bought Selph, has gallon pots with small pieces of rhizomes that ultimately will fill the pot. He has a table full of 'Joe Haydens'  that i'm sure he's done this way.  At what point do they repot the quart containers to the bowls they are ultimately sold in? What's the importance of not overpotting a plant – and yet some nurseries like J. Durko's seem to be able to get away with it?? When I go next to see him, I'll ask.

Dopey has rhizomes creeping over the edge of it's bowl. When it's incredible bloom period is over, I'll pinch off a couple and start babies.

Sending link to contact at Miami Begonia Society.

Cool and clear

Clear as a bell and just around 70. The sun is starting to hit the begonias on the table and western wall. This will last until about 10a when it passes above the portico that covers 1/3 of the terrace.
I sprayed croton down for the whitefly infestation finishuing up my organic spray. Need to find a good recipe online. The active ingredient for this one was sesame oil so i'm sure I can whip something like that up cheaper than store bought.

This building has a 'clock tower'  the pigeons love sit on the roof in the morning and the cooing first thing is sweet. No train yet.

Phoe's Cloe is sitting higher in the bowl than it probably should. Bowl is fairly shallow, and i didn't want to knock off any soil from the bottom whcn i took it out of the pot to plant.

The small leafed shrub like begonia seems very happy in it's terracota bowl. The soil in the bowl is quite compacted. When I first put the little twig (which I had broken off the mother plant in the nursery) in the pot, I put stones around it to hold it in place. The plant has grown in niceldy. . There soil is quite compacted, it getting fuller and fuller. It's been getting nice Miracle Grow baths, which will make anything happy.

PM:
Joined the American Begonia Society again today. It's only $25 and it's a great source of information. Spent a few minutes on the Glasshouse Works website. What a great collection of begonias and the descriptions are good introductions to the various plants. http://www.glasshouseworks.com/trop-b.html
also http://www.bradsbegoniaworld.com/. So much to learn.

Glasshouse also plenty of other plants I should look at as well. Especially vines. It would be great to find a vigorous clinging climber. Something with a larger leaf than creeping fig. That would really make this terrace a garden.

Sunday in the garden

Went to home depot and got a bag of mulch, the economy size of Miracle Grow for hose sprayer (not liquid), 2 quarts of giant lirope ($1.99 for 2!) and a daisy looking thing with feathery leaves and true yellow flowers. I've seen them in the ground and they grow fairly full and high. I've got to keep the labels when I buy a plant. I mulched around the terrace, most importantly bamboo, pulmaria and duranta. I'm  not mulching rhizome begs, I'm afraid in the heavy, frequent summer rains it would promote rotting. I replaced the bamboo grass in the urn (see the picture of Ray in the grass below) with the giant liriope. The bamboo grass had taken a hard hit during the cruise and I trimmed it hard.. too hard. the shoots that are exposed after a prune will often just get burned to hell and shock the plant.. The liriope looks good. The leaves echo the structure of the bromeliade next to it and it looks good with bamboo.

It rained and i got out the hose and tried to loosen up dirt smeared on tile. The neighbors won't know or mind if I wash during a rain storm. We ended up getting a nice hard rain. I hope we get a few sunny ones now so things can dry out.

I planted phoe's cloe in a terracota bowl. The kind used for small cactus or hens and chicks. I went out in the early morning and even though it had rained last night the soil was drying out. I don't think I'm going to use terracotta for it. One, i'd have to be careful that it didn't dry out fully.. it has to stay moist. I guess that's why greenhouses use plastic pots. The larger rhizomatous tend to form a ball of leaves around the roots and it keeps them fairly moist.

A freight train is going by. I bought some sunflower seeds though i don't have any place to plant them. I was hoping they had some perennial climber seeds, but they only had morning glory. I didn't know if it would be a good idea to start them on the railing with jasmine. If they took a hit with the summer heat, it could get messy.

The croton behind the bamboo on the west side is getting EATEN UP by white fly, I have to spray as soon as possible. The tips of the branches are leafless stubs. It needs some immediate attention.

Busy, busy

So much to report of this morning's considerable work which began by spraying the gardenia with an organic pest spray. It's defends against insects and a number of diseases. I found some white fly on it, a few leaves that were puckered (leaf miners?). So I sprayed.  It must be done when the sun is not out, as it's mostly sesame oil and will burn the plant. Well, it won't burn the tough gardenia leaves, but if there are any gentler plants that catch the spray, the leaves are goners.

I then picked a dead leave off  B.'Sophie Cecile'  next to the gardenia. This evolved into a more dedicated prune, meaningful but restrained - without cutting the plant down to the ground, I was tempted. I stopped myself pretty early on and the plant actually came out looking well groomed.

After cleaning up that cane, I started a gentle shaping on B. 'Irene Nuss' next to the banana -see the 'Big boned gal' in picture gallery for bloom and more info.  While I was feeling around at the bottom of the canes, I noticed that it was time for repotting. I pulled it out of it's pot, cleaned up dead roots and cane stubs and repotted with some nice loamy soil- Miracle Grow, we'll see, that's expensive potting soil, but it does look dark and full of organic matter.

I was really restrained with this first grooming. Later, reading the Thompson's Begonias bible in the tub,  they had  an example of re-shaping a cane and it was a SERIOUS cut. I've included photos of my poor canes. I think the Thompson's are right though. The growing season is cranked up and they'll fill in nicely. They were leggy.

I now had handfuls of mature canes that had been snapped off. I had filled up a pot earlier with a misc. cane or two and I used it as a 'cutting' pot. I put some of the Sophie Cecile in with the orange and pulmaria. I just couldn't bring myself to through them all out. I can always pull them up later if they don't work.

On to B. 'Selph's Mahogany'. I decided to cut him up and plant the rhizomes, most of which I cut to about 2" or so, in a large (36") bowl. I planted a few inches below the edge. I did keep the intact root ball which formerly had to large vertical rhizomes but now had only a leaflet at the base of the cut rhizomes.

I replanted the mouse fern that had been planted underneath Buddha belly. It had never flourished there and recently Ray had begun sleeping on it which put the nail in the coffin. There were two plants which i pulled up by putting my hand under and coercing it up and out. I trimmed the roots which were long. They looked like a Portuguese man-of-war. I also trimmed the foliage and planted in the enhanced soil.

I then watered almost everything down. and then hosed the deck. I'm sorry to say a considerable amount of debris fell on my downstairs neighbors terrace--it's now raining hard and gusting, hopefully this will clean some of it off. I feel like i should offer to buy them a palm or something that they could put beneath the draining spouts. I could water the palms for them when I watered. I don't think they'd take me up on it.

I've posted a number of pictures taken during the morning. One of the large cane getting her roots done. another of yours truly completely absorbed in my work. I also included a handful of my Vietnamese gardenia, it is covered with buds and blooms. I have also included a picture of an invaluable contributor to my work on the terrace, soil expert and geologist, Dr. Einie Glasson, Ph.D. His enthusiastic encouragement has made this work possible.

The cotton is high

3.4.2011

Only had a few minutes in the garden before work. Soaked purple bougainvilla with a light Miracle Grow-- rootball was dry and then MG should strenghthen and encourage growth in the roots. I want foliage and roots to fill out the pot. Everything else looked good, I had spot watered yesterday. It's supposed to rain tomorrow but they've predicted that for the past few sunny days. Jasmine on railing is still dripping with little flowers that sweeten the air at times. I'm very pleased with the Gardenia. The soil is porous and rich looking, and the plant is covered with blossoms. I think it is the espoma

Son of Selph

I realized that Selph will continue to grow vertically without putting out horizontal roots... or so it seems. I think I'm going to cut one of the large upright rhizomes down to an inch or so about new leaf at the bottom of the root. That will give me 8” of rhizome to chop up and plant, it'sa big beautiful plant in the ground. I'd also like to get another of the dark giant-leaved begonias at Jesse Durko's. I sold a laptop computer which will more than pay for the new plant. I was thinking that a few different large leaf might be nice in the larger pot? May not. I'm hesitant just planting the Caribbean King all by itself.

Talk of the town

3.2.2011 Tuesday

It rained a little this morning which was great not only for the watering of the plants but also because it gave the terrace a much needed bath. Once every few months I might want to rinse it down. I'll need to figure out a time that won't wash away the downstairs neighbors terrace as all of the drainage spouts off of mine empty directly onto thier terrace.

I see bougainvillas around, some growing wild, that are covered with foliage and brackets- splendid sprays. Mine are not there yet, maybe it's an issue of not having grown into the pot enough yet. Neither of the big plants have been in the new pots for over 6 months yet. Maybe as the root ball fills the pots completely, they'll start putting out a little more.

PHOE'S Cloe is a real trooper. It takes 4 or so hours of sun and seems happy as a clam. I have it on the outside dining table, see pic., with another rhizome I can't ID. I will have to move them with a strong wind, as I've mentioned.

Let's see, plants other than begonias.. the jasmine is filling in on the handrails. Regular light Miracle Grow feedings should give them a good leg up. I'm looking forward to the railing being fully covered. I've got creeping fig in a few places around the terrace. There is one that has begun to climb from the orange pot. That's a good pot as it's going to stay where it is for a while. I have another pot under the Gardenia, in it's own pot, that has begun to climb as well. There is a variegated in with the Cavendish banana, an interesting combo.

I gave the the duranta, the larger one, a HARD pruning, and it's begun to sprout back. I tend to overdue the pruning. I think I cut the back to the point of what most people would call 'renovation'.

The gardenia has buds all over it, interesting they are smaller than we've gotten in the past, but it is more floriferous this year. I wonder if the Plant Tone is working it's magic. When the blooming cools down on this, I will cut this back fairly hard to. I'd like to shape and size it some. I hope the pruning I did on the orange was done correctly. Some of the branches were higher than I wanted and I wanted a fuller body, so I trimmed the top back to a fairly even line. It looks like the leaf ball might be too high on the trunk, looking a little top heavy. I'll put a pic in. Hopefully it will fill out. I'm sure it will in a year or two. Time fills anything in.

I'm going to have to work on the new large that was going to be dedicated to 'Caribean King'. I'm not sure if there should only be one begonia in the pot.

The days go by, and two new begonias

I've missed a few days of reporting. We've had at least 2 weeks of dry weather. I'm glad that I’m back and able to water every 2 days or so. Bamboo is recovering from its shock of not having been watered for over a week. It's slowly filling in and providing some needed green.

I've begun fertilizing with liquid fertilizer (Miracle Grow) in weak batches. It's definitely growth time and everyone needs water and food!  Put 3 or 4 cups of Citrus Tone around the orange and watered in well. I bought some Plant Tone 5-3-3 for general application all over garden. I'll apply in a week or two.

I've also been watering the bougainvilleas. I want to water in Bougain fertilizer in hopes of more foliage and a fuller flush.  The east wall magenta plant is fairly leafless, though it just had a pretty full flush. The west wall which has a large purple bloomer in the corner, see opening pic of blog, has foliage but isn't coming back as aggressively as it did after 2nd flush. We'll see if this fertilizer works as advertised.

The past weekend I celebrated my 49th with a trip to Palm Hammock and bought beautiful begonias: b. 'My Friend' b. 'PHOE'S Red Fred'. Red is PHOE's newest hybrid. I'll post a pic ASAP. Good Friend is a creeping rhizome Rex. Fabulous leaf coloration and texture. There were a lot of begonias in bloom it was quite a treat. I joined the Miami begonia society. I would like to have joined the ABS instead but the ladies seemed very nice and like the club needed support.

I have to start thinking about how I'm going to provide shade during the summer sun, without completely hiding the begonias. Wind and rain during summer storms... I may have to move them. We've had some breezy days and it's blown around Cloe and the Pulmaria which I moved away from E. boug as it was shading the lower part of the plant too much. But, the pulmaria is tall and top heavy. It's strong, but gets pushed around by wind. I've moved it where it used to be against outside rail next to pillar. I've wired the middle of the plant to the rail which holds it some.

Still no off-shoots from the stems of Selph's Mahogany, I'm wondering if I should just pop off a piece of one of the rhizomes and plant in soil and see how it comes up.

I repotted Caribbean King. I pulled apart the rhizomes and planted chunks in a larger pot with nice soil. I'm not sure it's worth having that large pot dedicated to that one as the leaves are pretty plain. I've thought about putting in some rhizomes from the b that looks like a Prince Palomar, though I’m not sure. The mix of the two might be interesting. The prince is coming into bloom and though it's sparsely covered with leaves (an over pruning). I'll wait till it's done.