Garden Plot & Garden Pot Updates
2:22 PM - Posted by miamigardener - 0 comments
Well, I have my jungle back under control! Over a period of a few days I got many of my plants repotted, trimmed and I've collected seeds, not to mention planting some new veggies and flowers in my pot garden.

Currently in my garden plot I have two Crimson Watermelon plants taking over. I also have a huge and gorgeous rose bush that is more than 5 feet tall with pretty dark pink roses. I have one large and tall yellow marigold plant that insists on toppling over, as soon as I collect some more seeds from it, I will be pulling that up allowing the watermelon more room to grow. I also have some morning glories in the middle of it all climbing up a tomato cage, they seem to be doing very good despite the watermelons taking over. Last but not least, I have yellow and green peppers growing near the edge, they're doing well, I can't wait to try my first pepper! A few more weeks and the peppers should be ready for picking! I plan on removing and transplanting most of the plants in my garden plot and keeping it for the watermelons, roses and morning glories. Everything else is going to be grown in pots, it's so much easier, cleaner and more organized when you grow a garden in pots.
As for my pot garden, oh boy do I have ALOT going on. Many of my seeds that were planted within this past week have yet to sprout. I have many different seeds planted from veggies to herbs to flowers. I have a very large pot that I plan on planting different types of flowers in, it should be beautiful when everything is in bloom. I have so much going on with my pots, I can't even think to name everything I have growing. I will take photos later and give you all updates on how everything is doing, until then, happy gardening.

Visit my absolute favorite gardening forums in the meantime: http://www.helpfulgardener.com/phpBB2/


Orchids
6:03 PM - Posted by miamigardener - 1 comments
Look at the beautiful orchids my neighbor gave me as a birthday present. :)



Backyard Garden Makeover
3:36 PM - Posted by miamigardener - 0 comments

 
Sorry for the lack of posts, I went on vacation to Sea World in Orlando, FL last week. It was fantastic, especially the Shamu show, if you're a nature lover, that is a must visit place for you! While I was gone, the weather back home was in the 90s and it rained heavily everyday. I couldn't believe what my garden and backyard looked like after only 5 days of it being untouched! The grass is 6" high, the weeds went crazy, all of my lettuce flowered, many of my tall plants were knocked over thanks to vines grabbing onto them and pulling them down, and there are spider webs everywhere! I took some before photos. My husband and I are going to do some landscaping and cleaning up back there tomorrow, I'll post the after photos as well. I've decided to do a lot of pot gardening and leave the ground for the big spreading vegetables like my watermelon and cucumbers. I'll update you later on how that goes. :)


My backyard - June 17th, 2010.




HOT days of Summer...
1:25 PM - Posted by miamigardener - 0 comments
It's another super humid scorcher in Miami today. We have a high of 91 degrees with 65% humidity... 65%!!!!! The only thing I don't like about the heat is the fact that I have to work in the garden super early before the sun starts to rise but I still have light, or in the evening as the sun is going down... and that's when all of the bugs are out! Especially mosquitos with this 65% humidity in between the rain. I wasn't able to do much in my garden today, I pruned my zinnias, collected some Mexican Hat Flower Seeds and that was about as much as I could take at one time. The spider webs are started to build up more and more since my husband and I haven't been as active in the yard, and for those of you who don't know me, I am terrified of spiders, I am the definition of arachnaphobia. LOL! How is the weather where you are?


Morning Glory Heaven...
10:46 PM - Posted by miamigardener - 0 comments
Well, I recently went on vacation for 4 days and while I was gone it did nothing but rain at my house, not to mention it was HOT (90s)! My garden loved it! The lawn was mowed 12 days ago and is already in desperate need of a mowing, the weeds went crazy as well but so did all of my flowers and plants. I'm getting lots of fruits and flowers, I love it.

Purple Two-Toned Morning Glory Flowers - Ipomoea Purpurea


My morning glories recently started seeding within the last month and I have been collecting TONS of morning glory seeds, hundreds, if not thousands already. It really is a mission to go morning glory seed pod collecting every few days. If I don't stop looking for the seed pods, I'll be there all day finding them, they're very abundant. I did plant about 15 morning glory plants in one spot and they're doing beautifully although they are starting to get eaten up by some type of insect or a caterpillar. I do all organic gardening so that's to be expected now and then.

Collecting seeds from morning glories is very easy, and FUN! It's almost like a treasure hunt. Every morning glory flower that blooms eventually turns into a seed pod. The seed pods are very easy to spot once you start looking, they are round and brown when they are ready to be harvested. The picture below shows a ripe morning glory seed pod.
Morning Glory Seed Pods - Ready to Collect

I advise using a pair of scissors the cut off the seed pod at the stem or else you will risk dropping all of the seeds. The brown seed pods become extremly dry, light and flaky and will break open if squeezed. Each seed pod contains anywhere from 1 seed to 8 seeds. Carefully break open all of the seed pods you've collected by gently rolling them between your fingers over a piece of paper. The little black hard seeds will come right out. Do not take the seed pods if they are still green, they are not ready for harvest and the seeds are not fully developed unless they look like the photo above. Your seeds should look like the photo below and be dry, hard and black.

Black Morning Glory Seeds From Dry Seed Pod

Once you have the seeds, you can immediately plant them. You can also soak them in water for a day or overnight if you want them to sprout sooner. Morning glories are fast growers once they getting going if they're in the right conditions.