Mothers Day weekend to visit relatives. It was a great opportunity to go plant scavenging in that my sister inlaw lives on the edge of a tidal marsh of the St Johns river. The back of her property is woods and swamp and is like finding a wild plant store but the price is only your labor to retrieve them while surviving the attacking bugs. This trip I was able to bring back a small Mimosa tree that I am trying to nurse back to health from the heat and shock of being dug up. I also found what I have only heard called a Butterfly Bush and 
was able to get it for the yard.
was able to get it for the yard.We had one several years ago and liked watching the multicolor flowers as well as the butterflys it attracts. I have heard a lot of folks think this bush is a pest but I always liked it. It gives off a distinct smell that some folks don't like but I am glad that I stumbled across this guy for my garden . The last scavenged plant I have no idea what it is but it grows into a large bush with white flower clusters on the ends of the branches . It got severly dehydrated before I could get it dug up 
and in a pot so at this point it is a question if it will come back. But to grow here in South Florida you must be tough to handle the summer heat and humidity. Only a few more days will tell if this swamp plant will revive. It was good to get back as my plants went without water for four days in the brutal heat. I found that almost everything was dehydrated except for the Bell Pepper plants which appear to like being baked in the heat. I planted them out on May 1st as small sprouts and have these two left the third a Thai Hot Pepper fell victim to some type of insect who devoured the new sprout at the ground. It is hard not to resort back to spraying poison when the bugs kill 
your plants. I am trying to stay with my goal of using organic methods and more research seems to be in order to find a solution to the insects without breaking out the old sprayer and insecticide to combat them. The good news beside my new additions from up north is that my Mandevilla vine produced its first bloom of the summer today. I had cut it way back to about six inches tall in December and the vine is now almost nine feet tall growing up a vertical piece of rebar steel I had concreted in the ground as a growing stake. I plan on taking some cuttings from this vine and starting some new Mandevilla's from it. The garden for now is endeavering to persevere in the heat untill the
and in a pot so at this point it is a question if it will come back. But to grow here in South Florida you must be tough to handle the summer heat and humidity. Only a few more days will tell if this swamp plant will revive. It was good to get back as my plants went without water for four days in the brutal heat. I found that almost everything was dehydrated except for the Bell Pepper plants which appear to like being baked in the heat. I planted them out on May 1st as small sprouts and have these two left the third a Thai Hot Pepper fell victim to some type of insect who devoured the new sprout at the ground. It is hard not to resort back to spraying poison when the bugs kill 
your plants. I am trying to stay with my goal of using organic methods and more research seems to be in order to find a solution to the insects without breaking out the old sprayer and insecticide to combat them. The good news beside my new additions from up north is that my Mandevilla vine produced its first bloom of the summer today. I had cut it way back to about six inches tall in December and the vine is now almost nine feet tall growing up a vertical piece of rebar steel I had concreted in the ground as a growing stake. I plan on taking some cuttings from this vine and starting some new Mandevilla's from it. The garden for now is endeavering to persevere in the heat untill the 
rainy season can get here and give us all some relief. ...sanddune....-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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