Well, it's official, my Crimson Sweet Watermelons have taken over my yard and they're starting to make their way into the grass. I really hope that I get some delicious watermelons soon. More updates later. :)
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! It was nothing but rain here in Miami and it's supposed to continue throughout the week. It's no fun because it keeps you in the house but my garden is really loving the humidity, heat and inches and inches of rain it's getting.
A few weeks ago I found 2 beautiful rain lilies in my front yard, growing randomly in the grass. They were so pretty that I dug them up and transplanted them into a small ceramic pot. The blooms went away but after all of this rain, they opened back up. They tend to stay open for about 2 days. They have such beautiful light pink and white petals, they're very delicate looking, beautiful flowers. Yesterday, I found 11 more growing along the side of my house where it usually gets weed whacked which must be why they were just discovered. I am going to replant them all in a better suited place. They look best in bunches as it is.
Hopefully the weather will clear up enough and dry up enough so I can get out there and do some much needed maintainence on my flowers. :)
Hopefully the weather will clear up enough and dry up enough so I can get out there and do some much needed maintainence on my flowers. :)
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/
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/
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.
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?
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.
Okay, now that I have my little "introduction post" out of the way, I can start talking about what's really going on in my garden right now.
My current garden plot is surrounded by rocks and approximately 12' long and maybe 18' wide. I have laid mulch throughout the whole garden since I do completely organic gardening. It's too hard to keep up with pulling the weeds without the mulch, even with the mulch I have to go out there to clear weeds at least once a week, it does help though.
The current veggies, fruits and herbs that I have growing in my garden plot include: Green Peppers, Yellow Peppers, Corn, Cuban Oregano, Dill, Watermelon, Yuca, Cherry Tomatoes, Lemon Balm, Spearmint and Chives.
The current flowers I have growing in my garden plot are: Marigolds, Roses (dark pink & light pink), Alyssum as a border, Sunflowers, Nasturtiums, Morning Glories, Zinnia, Red & Yellow Aster, 21st Century Phlox, Geraniums, Pink Cosmos, Mirabilis Jalapa (Four O'Clock Flowers) and Petunas. I think that's it for the flowers? The flowers listed are currently the only ones in BLOOM, I have about 15-20 flower pots starting flowers and other plants as well.
I have been harvesting MANY seeds from my 4 O'Clock Flowers (aka Marvel of Peru) and Morning Glories along with my 21st Century Phlox plant. I am still looking out for seed pods on my other flowers.
My goal is to have a tropical haven of a backyard with tons of colors, fruits and butterflies.
I currently have Butterfly Weed aka Milkweed starting in a pot but once the leaves start coming out, the butterflies lay eggs and before you know it, they're munching away on the baby plants. If you don't grow them inside, you have to do daily inspections and scrape the eggs off of the leaves to prevent caterpillars eating the whole plants before they get to somewhat full grown stage. Butterfly gardening will be my next post. :)
My current garden plot is surrounded by rocks and approximately 12' long and maybe 18' wide. I have laid mulch throughout the whole garden since I do completely organic gardening. It's too hard to keep up with pulling the weeds without the mulch, even with the mulch I have to go out there to clear weeds at least once a week, it does help though.
The current veggies, fruits and herbs that I have growing in my garden plot include: Green Peppers, Yellow Peppers, Corn, Cuban Oregano, Dill, Watermelon, Yuca, Cherry Tomatoes, Lemon Balm, Spearmint and Chives.
The current flowers I have growing in my garden plot are: Marigolds, Roses (dark pink & light pink), Alyssum as a border, Sunflowers, Nasturtiums, Morning Glories, Zinnia, Red & Yellow Aster, 21st Century Phlox, Geraniums, Pink Cosmos, Mirabilis Jalapa (Four O'Clock Flowers) and Petunas. I think that's it for the flowers? The flowers listed are currently the only ones in BLOOM, I have about 15-20 flower pots starting flowers and other plants as well.
I have been harvesting MANY seeds from my 4 O'Clock Flowers (aka Marvel of Peru) and Morning Glories along with my 21st Century Phlox plant. I am still looking out for seed pods on my other flowers.
My goal is to have a tropical haven of a backyard with tons of colors, fruits and butterflies.
I currently have Butterfly Weed aka Milkweed starting in a pot but once the leaves start coming out, the butterflies lay eggs and before you know it, they're munching away on the baby plants. If you don't grow them inside, you have to do daily inspections and scrape the eggs off of the leaves to prevent caterpillars eating the whole plants before they get to somewhat full grown stage. Butterfly gardening will be my next post. :)
Hey everyone, how are you? I'm a 3rd generation gardener and I live in Miami, FL Zone 10B. My Mother and Grandmother always grew plants and vegetable gardens. Now I have my very first garden. It's not very big but it's big enough for me to pretty much grow whatever I want, in moderation. I really wish I would have started my blog when I started my seeds last September but a garden never really starts or ends so why not start my blog now? Let me catch you up on the past 9 months. Remember, I've started pretty much everything from seed. :)
When I first started my garden, I planted tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, dill, italian cilantro, cuban oregano and a few other random flowers and plants.
My tomatoes did great but got out of control because I didn't use cages. My 6 plants were like a jungle! I learned my lesson with those, I am currently restarting my tomato plants, in cages, and I'm in the process of clearing the old plants out. They gave me, my family and friends more than enough fruits. I grew beefsteak tomatoes last time, this time I'm growing cherry tomatoes from seed. :)
My cucumber completely took over most of my garden so they were taken out. I never got to try those but I would like to start one new cucumber plant soon. I currently have no cucumbers growing. They are very pretty though. The photo below shows my cucumber plants which were grown from seed.
(Cuban Oregano - Origanum Vulgare - Member of the Mint family.)
I am also a butterfly garden and do all that I can to attract butterflies and so far it's worked wonderfully with the Monarch species and the butterfly weed I have planted.
When I first started my garden, I planted tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, dill, italian cilantro, cuban oregano and a few other random flowers and plants.
My tomatoes did great but got out of control because I didn't use cages. My 6 plants were like a jungle! I learned my lesson with those, I am currently restarting my tomato plants, in cages, and I'm in the process of clearing the old plants out. They gave me, my family and friends more than enough fruits. I grew beefsteak tomatoes last time, this time I'm growing cherry tomatoes from seed. :)
My cucumber completely took over most of my garden so they were taken out. I never got to try those but I would like to start one new cucumber plant soon. I currently have no cucumbers growing. They are very pretty though. The photo below shows my cucumber plants which were grown from seed.
Cucumber plants - Cucumis Sativus - The Vines Creep and Creep
My dill, oregano, parsley and cilantro herbs did beautifully as well. I collected tons of seeds from both plants. I often find myself asking, "Where do I look for seeds on this plant, will it be in the flower, or will a seed pod develop?" Well, on my blog, I'll answer those previously asked questions of mine.
I've had many pretty flowers come and go. I always try to collect seeds and restart new plants.
This blog will consist of updates on what I've planted so I can determine how long things take to germinate and fruit and develop seeds. I will also share my seed collecting photos and tips.
(Cuban Oregano - Origanum Vulgare - Member of the Mint family.)I am also a butterfly garden and do all that I can to attract butterflies and so far it's worked wonderfully with the Monarch species and the butterfly weed I have planted.
(Monarch Butterfly - Danaus Plexippus - Emerging From It's Cocoon in My Backyard)
Tomorrow I will come back and update you on what's going on with my garden now, I have many, many things growing, fruiting and seeding. Until then, happy gardening!
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