annus horribilis

Bad time of year for my begonias. Humid, wet days. A lot of leaf and rhizome rot going on. It can be heartbreaking.

First time with plastic

The begonia 'Puff Adder' is really to date, my favorite begonia. It has a large, hairy, emerald leaves that begin to spiral as they get larger. I repotted from a terra cotta pot using the lighter soil in a plastic pot. 

A more friable soil mix

Mixed up mix of approx 1/3 Perlite with 2/3 Miracle Gro moisture control potting soil. Used by itself, the Miracle Gro potting mix has too much peat to it. It compacts easily and turns powdery when dry. No good. The perlite ensures a more airable, freer draining soil. I probably should be using plastic pots for my begonias for even moisture control.

Went ahead and repotted Ramshorn and Red Fred with new mix -- kept them in the 5.6" pots.

Looks like another sunny day. We had an exciting, though fairly brief, thunderstorm, in the late pm yesterday. Plenty of lightning and fast, low blowing clouds.

The first month of summer

It's been dry for a few days now, hovering in the low 90's, mid 80's in the eve, the heat of this direct sun can get uncomfortable quickly.

The plants have new growth that wilts easily in the sun but bounce by the am. 

I watered via the can today with some feed in the water. Bamboo, oak-leaf croton, selph's mahogany all got a nice watering [all begonias going forward will be getting water only at the soil level, I'm losing young plants due to leaf rot]. I was especially please to note that ALL the pots that were watered drained quite rapidly. Nice. I was hesitant to water the bamboo again, but it's blades were curling. Perspiring in the hot sun as was I.

Saturday

Upper 80's and breezy. Watered where needed. Bamboo on these sunny days always loves a  good gulp.
Having a lot of trouble with the begonia leaf rot. Frustrating.

dry, dry, deluges, dry though thunder off and on

Wild rain on Tuesday. Off and on hot sun. Yanked fungally challenged mandevilla. I'd like to replace it with a bleeding heart. There is already one in the planter. I am a little afraid to put another in as they will GROW-- I did roll the dice and bought another bleeding heart for the sun embossed pot that once housed the passion fruit vine. I put in screen-- 1" rock-- screen and it's sitting on a coaster that raises the pot off of the ground and allows unobstructed drainage. 

Hog tying the bougainvillea

I don't think many people come out of the gate knowing how to train a bougainvillea. I spent 2 or so hours in the noonday sun trying my best to un-twist, pull, tie up, (trying to avoid thorns) and trim the purple bougainvillea in the southwest corner. It looks a little odd now, but I'll give some time to grow and bend itself proper to the sun and see how I want to continue training the branches.

It's hot out, I need to water, maybe in the early evening or tomorrow am. Need to continue using the miracle gro in the watering can-- it's the growing season and everyone is hungry!

Weekend in the garden

It's been sunny for the past few days. Nice to have things dry out some. It is tricky business when there's a pm storm everyday for what seems to be weeks in a row. Of course perfect drainage is a must. If I've learned anything in my 8 months on this terrace it's the importance of drainage. I don't think a pot can have too much drainage. Soil is a different matter down here. The Miracle Gro moisture control I use can seem both heavy after watering (rain), but dries out unevenly in smaller terrcotta pots. Plastic pots are used buy commercial growers. Need to find a cheap source for a few smaller plastic pots.. Even moisture so very important for the begonias. Practically no need to water with the humidity down here.

Passion fruit vine gone

Passion vine suddenly began to wilt last week. It was not due to lack of water. It was not a drainage issue-- (i'm pretty sure). I don't have a lot of patience with a tawdry wilted vine that doesn't even have a bloom on it although  it did have one fruit. She was removed from the handrail and sent down the rubbish chute.

What's vine shall we try next?

The mango festival at Fairchild

HOT. We were on the tennis court by 8:45 and it was too hot to stay very long.  Went with Thom to the Fairchild Botanic Garden which, as always, was enchanting. The collection of palms, philodendron, ferns, alocasia, cycads, orchids (the list is a lot longer than this) is extraordinary .

I hadn't noticed the huge stands 4' of B. Nelumbifolia, large beds B. Ricinifolia and many others. I would like to dedicate a trip just to focus on the begonias there. Of course, being so close to the amazing tropical nursery Palm Hammock Orchid Estate, I would have to do a drive by there too.

My passion fruit vine, which until 2 or 3 ago, seemed so vigorous, has begun to wilt. I'll give until next weekend and then cut it out. The jasmine has been doing well there, so that will cover some of the rail. I'll ponder on another type of handrail-suitable vine/shrub.

I've finding centipede like bugs in some of my soil. They're not earthworms, so I'm not sure if they're destuctive or not.

The day stripped herself naked-- from dull grey shroud to a clear, sweet blue pm

Rain in the am, clear blue bowl of a sky in the afternoon. Mid 80's, breezy. The bamboo is rustling, leaves are waving. So nice to have a break from the humid rainy days of late.

I tend to focus on begonias. Although some of them can grow well in the sun and rain, others need coddling. Of course, the youngsters always need special care.

But terrace gardening must be about finding plants as tough and beautiful as possible. Plants that can be grown in 6 or more hours of hot south Florida sun, wind and rain. Now I haven't gone through a hurricane yet so I can't speak to that kind of challenge.

Who are some of the winners so far on my terrace?

Plumeria-- loves sun, can take a drought, and bloom time seems to be pretty much non-stop, though the hot summer sun has really kicked it into high bloom (along with some of mommy's little helpers 20-10-10 fertilizer).

Bamboo-- I'm growing Buddha belly, it grows slowly, is low growing with a thick umbra. The sections of the culms are bulbous, they remind me of the bell of an English horn. Don’t forget to feed her... it wants a lot of nitrogen... once again I use a 20-10-10, but I think it really responds to the gallons of miracle gro I dowse it with, slightly diluted. I have 5 culms sticking their pointy snouts out of the ground. They are moving slowly though, I guess for the best. At some point, hopefully not for a few years, it will bust out of its beautiful big pot.

Bougainvillea—of course.  Keep it in as much sun as possible. Keep it in a tight pot. I feed mine every few weeks with Bougain, supposedly especially formulated with micronutrients. It seems to work well. The purple bougie is markedly more floriferous than the magenta. The rain has brought some nice greening of the magenta which has been pretty skeletal until now.

More later, as dear Jack used to say

Gray and green

Gardens are very important on rainy days.The wet, rich greens of the leaves offer solace from the dull dripping sky.

Very humid, seasonal weather from the islands

Humid,  the terrace looks fairly good all around. Doused the bamboo with 6 gals of weak gro solution, giving 'emerald maid' a nice shower. She and 'arte hodes' are sitting below the umbra of the buddha belly. 'Fred' , 'puff adder' and the baby selph's are either sitting under the plumeria or on the tea stand next to the plumeria-- shielded from the wind by eastern wall. That location has sun but for a limited period. We'll have to see how everyone acclimates in their new seats.

The 'ricinifolia' is getting some nice sun-- a few midday hours, the soil is moist, it's growing with growing conviction. They all say that begonias can't take 10b midday sun-- both of the b. 'Selph's Mohagany' are in some serious sun-- and we're intto summer-- and seem to be absorbing the light and heat and groovin'. 

I moved the duranta that was on the east side of the terrace into 6 hours of sun a week and a half ago. It's grown 6" and has begun to send out it's beautiful grape color racemes. Sun, a must for most bloomers. It's branches fork as they grow, fractal-like. It get's big too (it'll provide some much needed shade for those in need). 

The newly planted mandevilla, 3 days in the ground, is holding it's blooms and buds are in the making. Maybe I've found a new workhorse for the handrail. It's white flowers are very pretty. 

Fourth of july

Got eye hooks up for the bougainvillea. Tied plant tightly against the wall. It's not the way it'll be arrange in the future, but it will hold in place for the coming summer rains. Ideally, I'll spread out the branches high against the wall framing sliding door.

Perfect for some youngsters (ye ole tea cake stand)

A lot of work today. Drilled more draining in trough-like planter by the handrail, lined with screen, 1" lava rock and another layer of fabric. Filled the bottom with about 2" with Moisture Control potting soil. Bought a white mandevilla and white bleeding heart to plant with a yellow dwarf shrimp inbetween the two. Really nice looking. These should really put out some sprays of blooms over the summer.

Potted 'Puff Adder' and 'Emerald Maiden' in 5.25" azelea pots. Puff Adder looks like a robust thing.  I've attached a pic of Puff and Freddie on the tea stand.