Jet trail mapping

If the jet trails are very high and coming from the northeast my guess -- Paris to Mexico City.

The 6 year old scrappy blood orange tree is blooming heavily-- nothing sweeter.

The tree isn't the healthiest. White fly and black soot on the leaves have taken their toll. What to replace it with.

London to Montevideo.

Why are you reading this?

Not a cloud in the sky..

 A taste of winter's clear, cool weather the past few days..  The garden takes on a smarter look, coming out of a very wet summer.

The fresh lemon of the parrot beak vine. Bloomed from spring to November. If you have the room, and a nice large pot, you couldn't get more bang for the buck. 

The parrot vine above and the soft beauty below-- the color of Liz Taylor's eyes-- were purchased a week ago at Living Color Nursery on Griffin Road.

FYI, All of their vines have been moved to a huge field beyond the shade houses (underneath the pylons)  in a back field.

rotting fruit fermenting on the wet ground

The mangoes are gone- except for a scattered few under the mango trees half eaten; rats? Another season past.



I wonder if they would have made fine tropical clafoutis - with a fine cup of strong black coffee.





In lieu of ripe mango, here we have peaches and blueberries. This homemade tart has a big busty flavor. 

The fourth quarter:

The sun is reclining in the southern sky

The days are shorter and shorter

Dollie Parton is a genius

Surely as great as Cole Porter

Heavy weather

Some more heavy moisture looking ESE. Probably shuffling straight in from the Straights of Florida

RSCG

The Royal Society of Container Gardening-- join now, send me a dollar.

luminous moisture 6p or so

ESE

WSW

Tricky, very tricky.. these dog days

Hello, how are you?

I'm fine I suppose for one working in a container garden wrapped in the over-powering bear hug of a Caribbean summer.

Strong sun poached in 99% humidity.

The large pots are sturdier given thorough soaks, the newly planted -- the newly canned.

Take your hat's off

for this fool. I must be the only dumb ass that continues to try grow begonias on a windy terrace with searing sun..

Second wind?

I vacuumed out algae water with rotten leaves in the pot saucers and dumped the water in a trash can.

It's about 3 gallons of rotting water. Into which I've poured fish emulsion. A day in 90 degree heat, add another gallon or two of water and I'll have a nice bacterial tea.

A rotting rejuvenator.

Peppered pots with Alaska sea weed pellets. Strong roots-- just a hunch.

another word about rhizomatous begonias

Only water the porous well-draining soil when dry.

I was just told that blogs are now old school "post your pictures on Pinterest", etc.
No. Go read somewhere else.

Here are some shots of the ever changing collage of my plant collection

summer morning sky on the upper east side

the wild west

Daddy's little girl Olive. A shoo-in for best in show. 

When is enough enough? When there ain't no more shade

How many begonias in this picture? (7) Tucked beneath the blood orange tree

Listada, U402, Selph's Mahogany, b. cubensis under the parrot vine

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari..

Hopefully will give my b. listada a protective dormitory in its formative years.. It appears that the hours of exposure to morning and afternoon soon will not be excessive. 

My  Wardian case. The moisture has already steamed up the sides, great experiment. I drew a thin line of glue around all seems. It tightened  the case up significantly. Wardian case in S Florida.. too much moisture?

keywords: listada cubensis rex tremendae worm castings vermicast selph's mahogany homemade potting mix perlite russian political activism argentinian beef gay pride

1. cubic foot potting soil (rich in peat, bark, coir, etc.) used about 3/4 of the bag.

2. 8 quarts of perlite

3. 7lb worm castings

4. Ok, you have a light mix that is oooh so rich and snuggly with worm shite.

5. In a  wall planter (Home Depot) lined with coconut fur.

6. Fill bottom of planter about 2-3" small stone top with weed blocker allow free flow of water while holding in soil.

7. 2" planting mix, lay in small potted plants, fill in around these.

8. Rhizomes next pat down, fill around and over with light layer.

9. Cuttings, break above node dust with root tone I like them to be fairly long with poke them in 2" or so.

10. Water in.

11. Hang in a protected nook a little sun and a little air to keep water from sitting on the leave.. especially the hairy leaves of the b. listada. I will bring out slowly to final spot in 2 or so weeks. The final spot will get 2-3 late afternoon sun.

Plants:

b. listada
b. cubensis
b. u402
b. Selph's Mahogany
Some hanging thingy that looks like maiden hair fern:

Very humid and warm, these b's love it.

The summer solstice will  be here soon.

However... some b. listada and b. cubensis arrived in the mail from Taylor's Greenhouses, nicely packed, healthy plants. Reasonably priced. What's wrong with that? Nothing.



Temporarily stuffed together in a moss pot-- b. listada and cubensis, two species. As per the growers they'll remain in original pots for at least 2 weeks from reception. They will be planted in a free-flowing humus perlite bed.



lux verde

Still a fool for rhizatomous begonias. I didn't write down name when buying.. sheer laziness. 

Lime.

In town on business

Always a pleasure to see my friend the iguana, posing here in the parrot vine. 

The roses were a debacle. Black spots, shriveled new growth, I don't have time to figure them out. Maybe in my retirement.

Place Bougainville

Found some 4lb bags of organic worm castings on lunch break at Flamingo Road Nursery$7 I remember them seeming a lot pricier on-line so I picked some up. Tried to make a tea overnight but it didn't dissolve and made muddy heaps which I had to flush into the soil. Better to add to top soil and work and water in. Bought fish emulsion same trip, I thought I was buying seaweed but it was fish. Smells rather taint-like.. now this you can make a tea out of, a right stinky tea. Probably loved by all.

New growth on the rose. Trimmed down sternly after first flush.. it tried to send out a water sprout below graft, which I pinched off immediately, nothing allowed below graft. It gets 4 hours of sun more or less. I've sprinkled a little Bayer Feed and Protect and watered in, keeping a little water in saucer that can be wicked up.. coaxing roots down? It's in a 3 gal pot, I'd like to leave it there.

New growth.

Goings on about town..

5/7/2016
The soil in the large magenta bougainvillea seemed to have taken on a clay-like consistency. I trimmed main branches that will be used to splay the plant back on the trellis and then after some chipping away at the top soil in the pot slid the plant out onto a plastic drop cloth. Went around the root ball with small shovel knocking off about 1/2 of the root ball. Didn't find large "tap" roots that I have encountered when repotting other bougies; may hidden inside remaining root ball. Great pot for $140 from Flamingo Road Nursery. If you're in Broward county, probably the best for large ceramic pots.

Finally found a underliner that was a good fit and matched the dirty white tile somewhat enabling me to repot see above.

Weed blocker top of drainage holes
2" white granite
Weed block above granite
Mulch, just composting trimmings from garbage about 1"
Mixed 3 cubic foot yards of soil with 2 bags perlite and 2 7lb bags of worm castings
This was done in a large contractors trash bag, I could mix well and then poured 2 cans of water in to make some fun mud. My soil wouldn't compress much when watered later. Put this in bottom 1/3 of pot. Put in root ball. In another bag, mixed soil and perlite and filled in around ball.
Tied the thorny trollop tightly to the trellis.
Stuffed some sanchezia and burle marxe in for some base filler.
Watered in well.

Splayed bougie on month later..

2 months after repotting

The compulsory purchase at the nursery: one of my favorite bougainvillea-- the magenta pops with the variegated leaves.

Fabulous when in full flower.

Like a lavender candy

I don't think these are very floriferous, but the lavender ice bracts are refreshing.

My mother's lipstick (1960's)

Trying something new. Roses in containers, blown by ocean wind, underneath serious sun. The subtel fragrance and the gorgeous color of "Smoking Hot" captivated me. It's grafted onto Fortuniana roots. If it looks like this might be a successful effort, it would be beautiful throw them in a big pot with bougainvillea 

She's smoking hot!!

baby love

b. Selph's Mahogany in late winter-- the sprays of pale reddish pink are gorgeous. Usually lasting 3-4 weeks.

Overwatering vanda during overcast winter days..

A few yellow straps on what was a perfectly green 4'5" vanda.. overwatering i think on these cool rainy days.. what is happening to our weather? Probably not too late.

Winter time at last. A dry, cool sunny day.

Spent a very nice afternoon at RF Orchids then to the nearby White Lion Restaurant, which I give a very good and I love to eat

Trichoglotis Brachiata, I've tried this before, but I think I've had an epiphany on orchid culture.. it's all in keeping the velum alive.. so the plant can absorb moisture and food--without provoking rot. This girl will need overhead sun, but I don't live in a screened hot house. How to acclimate?

A number of piglets coming off of the main stem

A place of bright overhead light, direct sun will probably have to wait until she is more acclimated.

Dendrobium Aggregatum-- straight from the hot house.. notice moist green on rootlets?



Cladiums. I think of my mother and the deep south when I see these.
A striking leaf that doesn't shy away from the sun.



 

 

Combo

 

Sea Grape and bougie combo

The rainiest fall and winter since our arrival in S FL in 2003.  The orchid's velamen have been kept warm and wet. I've been supplementing with foliar fertilizer- to good effect. I've spent a good deal of the last year studying for a 3 part professional exam that's taken me off garden duty to my soul's detriment. I passed the exams.. not sure i'll ever be able to apply to my professional life. My idea of sea grape and bougainvillea has grown into a combo of striking size, color and free habit.

Pretty fluted pot

The little clay pot was lying in the dirt underneath the red orange tree. The dendrobium slipped right in. Maybe the tight fit will lend itself to a pretty spray.