A Gardener's Journal

Oh my goodness Gracious, the updates I have to tell you all about my garden!!! The bees and butterflies are loving me right now. Where to start!? Well, I brought home some pencil cactus from my Mother's greenhouse and started the two cuttings I have in my backyard. The pencil cactus are very cool, inside them there's a white sticky glue which is actually a milky white stem latex that is a local irritant and can cause rather strong discomfort, so take care when handling. To start propagate a new cactus from a cutting, you cut it just below the node on the plant. With this particular type of plant, after cutting it, you just set it down on a clean surface until the glue on the cut end has dried, and once it does, you plant it into fresh soil. I really hope my cuttings take and they develop into 6ft. tall plants!!
When I came home, I was very happy to see many of my plants flowering, my giant african marigold had the biggest blooms I have ever seen on a marigold. My dark pink and red Crysanthemums were in bloom and oh so gorgeous! And my butterfly weed!!! I have never had so many flowers and such healthy, leafy plants! They are starting to seed and I see many, many pods forming. It's rare for my butterfly weeds to flower or seed because my monarch caterpillars usually eat them all up before they get a chance to. My new puppy loves eating caterpillars when I'm not looking though (LOL!!!) so because of him, my plants have actually had a chance to grow.
I also have some big, beautiful Nasturtiums which have lily pad like leaves, they have yet to flower though. My herbs are all doing fantastic as well!!!
That's just covering a few of the many flowers, fruits and veggies I have growing in my south Florida backyard. I will try to update more often as the beginning of Spring is here and my plants are LOVING IT! So am I! XOXOXO Happy Gardening!











OH!!!! And my ALOE flowered!!!! This is very rare! I planted the seeds today, I hope I get a few sprouts!!! :)

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated my garden blog, this post is a little on the personal side but I would love to share it with whoever may come across my blog.
Many people tell me I have a green thumb. My green thumb & love of gardening was given to me by my wonderful Mother, and she got her green thumb from her wonderful Mother. My Grandmother just passed away on February 11th, 2011. She was a beautiful, loving woman and she will be dearly missed. Now, when I garden, I will always think of her. I am visiting my family in the Detroit area and it is very cold compared to my home in Miami, but thankfully my Mother has a greenhouse so even though it's snowing outside, she has tons of gorgeous plants growing year round. She has so many different types of awesome cacti and flowering plants, I will definitely be taking some cuttings from her and starting new plants once I return home. I will be planting them all in my Grandmother's memory. I will have many updates on my garden and all of my new different types of plants once I get settled back home. I hope you all check back soon because spring time is coming and my garden is starting to look lovely. Peace, love and Blessings. Rachel
R.I.P. Geraldine Helene Umerlik (Best Grandma ever!)