FIGHTING THE URGE

Why is change so hard? Back when I started my garden blog my first post was to identify my goals;

http://sofloridagardening-sanddune.blogspot.com/2009/04/defining-moments-april-13-2009.html



One of the first goal was to transform my garden without spending a lot on plants. To me this means learning to propagate my own from seeds or cuttings or generous fellow gardeners who wished to donate a plant or two
for the good of the order.

Well today I backslid from the slow progress I had been making. I saw this Bougainvillea at a garden shop and had to buy it. It cost $5.00 US. I know that I can propagate this plant from a stem cutting for free. How does one free themselves from the urge of instant gratification. It is not the price it is the principal that I need to work on. This was one step back.

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As I was leaving the garden shop with this plant siren I felt kind of ashamed . But to push on and plant this I began to redeem myself back in line with my goals. I selected a clay pot that I had salvaged and stored behind my shed to reuse to put him in. A solid hit for goal two to reuse and recycle things I would have previously thrown away.

Next I made my first withdrawal from my poorman's compost bin started earlier this year. http://sofloridagardening-sanddune.blogspot.com/2009/04/back-to-basics.html



I took my wire cutters and cut a small door in the chicken wire to access the compost at the bottom with my garden spade. The compost came out black and rich and just like the garden potting mix I usually have to buy. This was a monumental turning point for me when I realized that I was actually going to use my own compost and not have to buy dirt. It may not sound like much but to me priceless. I actually believe as I dug out the composted soil that I heard The theme song from the old Beverly Hillbillies TV show playing behind me. YES, there was Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs wailing on the banjo in their best bluegrass style and the lyrics "Black Gold - Texas Tea" as I pulled out that rich soil. HA, a step forward.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway getting back to the story. As I started mixing the compost with some of my yard soil {sand} in the recycled pot
I began to feel better. I realized that that the goal of being more self sufficient is a long road of learning and actions. I'm thinking that maybe my forward step was longer than the one back and I am still making progress toward my goals.

Besides you got to admit the finished product sure looks good.

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POLECATS FOUND IN MY BACKYARD

NOTE: CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT The insidious invasive vines that keep returning to invade my privacy hedges. This cat here formerly known to me as a stink vine has showed up again in my shrubbery. It starts out slow then before you know it engulfs the host shrub . It seems common around these parts and I have heard it called many different names usually by me and always involving profanity.




This vine gets small yellow flowers and produces orange seedpods. Inside the seedpods are extremely Bright red seeds.



If you pull on the vine to disentangle it from whatever it has tangled around it releases an pungent stink odor. It smells to me like sour eggs dipped in skunk. This vine readily transfers the funk odor to you and your clothes if you touch it.



No matter how many times I have pulled it out of the bushes it returns.

After researching what this cat is I finally found it. This is a Balsam Apple Vine or Cundeamor. Or Momordica Balsamina if that's the way you roll. It is a member of the Cucumber family and can be found from Florida to Texas .

I think that it is a pest and belongs in the polecat category. Good information on this stinky invader can be found here http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/news%20columns/Balsam%20Apple.htm .
Check it out and if you do be sure to go to the very bottom of the page in the references where it shows several country's postage stamps with this polecats picture on it. That to me is a hoot. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The second polecat on my list is this innocent looking joker. I found the info on this one too. It is called an Asparagus Plumosis or Plumosa fern and is extremely invasive. I have them in my hedges all the time where they wrap around the host and starve it of light.



Apparently the only way to get rid of this Plumosa fern vine is to pull it up from the ground by it's roots. The only problem is that since the beginning of time no human being has been found who is capable of pulling a plumosa vine from the ground. It's the equivalent of pulling rebar steel rod out of hardened concrete, just can't be done. So I just cut the vine with some wire cutters as close to the ground as I can get and put a curse on the remaining root .

A word of caution these vines are tough as leather. They have sharp edges and spines that will slice open a hand with ease. So If you see one of these polecats in your garden be careful.



I suspect these fern vines could be attractive growing in the right place. Trouble is mine never come up in the right place.---------------------sanddune------------------

MY JOURNEY TO THE DARKSIDE

Come on now I was referring to the side of my home that gets the fewest hours of direct sun. It is the northeast side and the part of my yard I don't visit that often. It serves as a sort of wild jungle of many plants mostly left to their own means to survive.





This trip revealed my Aloe plants gone wild. They are growing in a large flower pot that I had stuck into this planter box to get it out of the way so I could do some painting. As life often goes despite my intentions of replacing it back to its original location I never did. Now the pot is stuffed full of every size Aloe Vera that need to be thinned and given there own space. I am adding that to my list of things I really should do sometime. The Aloe Vera [ Aloe Barbadensis if you must ] is a succulent semitropical native of Northern Africa perfect for zone 10. It is great to put on burns as its sap takes the stinging away. That's why I planted it in the first place for its medicinal properties. This plant has over 50 different medicinal home uses dating back centuries. If I get a bug bite, scrape or burn I just break off a piece of the Aloe plant and rub the juice inside on it . Works for me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




This big Florida native is a Sea Grape or Coccoloba Uvifera. I planted two on this side of my house from seeds I found at the beach one day. I wanted to plant something to shade the air conditioner unit to reduce my electric bill and as a privacy shield of my backyard from the street. These Sea Grapes as you can see do both. These are tough plants and require little care just an occasional pruning .



You can leave them as a bush by pruning them or just let them grow into a tree. Mine after about three years has reach up to the top of my house. I think the Sea Grapes are really cool and I want to plant some more. Yes its official, I am adding that idea to my list of things that I really should do some time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





My other privacy planting is Gardenia or Gardenia Argusta if you insist. This bush produces large white flowers that smell like perfume. I look forward to its bloom each year and take the flowers inside the house. Their smell is sweet and sensual.



The downside is that everything attacks these plants here in South Florida. They like acid soil and of course mine is alkaline so I do give them some fertilizer for acid plants. They don't like to be planted by concrete as the alkaline leaches out of the concrete and gives them a tummy ache. The nematodes in the ground here attack them and mangle their root system. That's why The Gardenia grown around here are grafted onto a different rootstock to better resist the nematodes. Part of my master plan is to use compost from my poorman's compost bin around this Gardenia . Something about the compost is supposed to repel the Nematodes in that your average Nematode doesn't like compost. And yes, I am now adding this to my list of things that I really should do sometime.
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LEST WE FORGET

To all the men and women who put on a uniform each day and go into harms way to protect us.

And to the family's of such special people who sacrifice daily alongside their loved ones.

God bless you and thank you. Your sacrifices are not forgotten.

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ARE YOU A KNOTHEAD AND OTHER RAMBLINGS

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The term knothead as I understand it is derived from first time visitors to South Florida who stand under Coconut or Avocado trees during moderate to high winds. The falling fruit bouncing off a tourists head besides making an audible "thonk ", leaves a noticeable swollen knot. Hence the slang heard from Florida natives," damn ,that guy is a real knothead".---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have an Avocado tree situated in my backyard garden. You can see in the above photo taken in October that it is loaded with fruit. You can also see in the above picture how severely I had to cut it to remove the shattered limbs after hurricane Wilma several years back.

With the gusting winds here yesterday several of the fruits were blown free from the tree. I put a ruler next to some to give you an idea of their size.

I don't know what type of Avocado that I have but I have read that there are over 500 different variety's. I just refer to mine as the Cannonball species due to their propensity for firing off the tree and producing large holes in my fiberglass back porch awning. My metal shed has also come under attack from these two pounders. Any late November hurricane virtually guarantees the siege will be on and these Cannonballs will be flying.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I figure if these guys had a load of black powder behind them they could really obtain some distance. Some pictures of cannon I took in Cartagena, Columbia this October. If you look at the bore size of these old cannon closely my two pounders would fit just fine.

Spain which owned Cartagena back in prior century's stored all of its loot pillaged from South America in this city.

Back in the 16th century Spain began building this wall with the cannon around the city of Cartagena. They had pirate problems as the pirates figured it was profitable to loot the city and steal the treasure. Spain kept their stolen loot inside the city until one of their treasure fleets could be put together to transport it across the sea to Spain. Seems to me they could have used some of my Cannonball Avocado's back then to ward off the pirate attacks on the city.

Undoubtedly if they had you would have heard the famous historical expression, "damn' them there pirates sure are knotheads". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway enough history as I understand it.

My garden helper Yorkshire Terrier Odette. She became upset when I was taking pictures of the Cannonball two pounders in the grass. She claims every fallen Avocado as her property and she is very possessive.

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A GOOD DAY FOR RESEARCH

Today is a good day to stay inside and do some research. Tropical Storm Ida is out in the Gulf of Mexico and its low pressure is sucking air across South Florida to fuel it. Winds out of the ESE at 22mph gusting to 32 outside now. Just enough to blow my Avocado cannonballs out of the tree. Don't care to take a shot from a two pounder, Thank you.
I was able to find out what the white butterfly is that is so determined to avoid being photographed. It is a White Peacock or Anartia Jatrophae. It hangs out in The southern half of Florida and Texas as well as in Mexico.

This one is a Gulf Fritillary that is on the Mexican Sunflower bloom. I have never seen the Mexican Sunflower listed as attracting butterfly's but in my garden it attracts the most. It is one of my favorite plants to grow in the full sun. Try it in your garden and I think you will be pleased with the results.

I found out that the White Peacock butterfly uses this Ruellia or Purple Showers plant as its host to lay eggs. I was given this plant in the picture but didn't know it was a host plant for the white butterfly. I just liked the plant. It blooms daily with new purple flowers that fall off each afternoon. The next day it will be covered with a new crop of flowers.

This vine is a Passflora Suberosa or Passion Vine. It is the host plant of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly also pictured above. They lay their eggs on the plant and the caterpillars hatched then munch out on the plant leaves before becoming butterflies. This vine in the picture has sprouted up by my back patio of its own volition. Now that I know what it is I figure to leave it there to grow up the metal support poles for my awning. There are several of the Passion Vines at different places in the backyard. They never seem to flower though the caterpillars chomp them to pieces first.

Another question of mine was answered also. I never knew the name of this bush that is now covered in yellow blooms.

I put an inquire question and picture of the bush on the GardenWeb Florida Forum. It didn't take long till some fellow astute gardeners clued me in. This bush is a Christmas Cassia or Cassia Bicapsularis if you are so inclined. It Flowers in the fall and is tropical growing in the south United States. It is supposed to be the host plant for the Yellow Sulphur butterfly here. I have seen a few of the yellow butterfly's on it but my plant is hosting two foot long green Iguana's now. I think that they are eating the flowers and leaves from the bush. Yes, other areas have problems with deer eating their plants but here you deal with Iguana's. Only in South Florida,go figure huh. One last thing to add . I found a fantastic website that is helping me to identify some of the critters, butterflies and birds found in my neck of the woods. It will tell you a lot about butterflies and the right plants to host and attract them. Probably more than you want to know. Check it out if you are so inclined. I am definitely saving this one as a reference to {get some edication} as we say in the south. The site is : http://butterflies.heuristron.net/index.php .

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ANOTHER TASTE OF COSTA RICA

I added some more pictures of a fairly recent trip to Costa Rica.

NOTE: CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO MAKE IT LARGER.

Arenal volcano - it is active and smoking which makes it rather unnerving to spend the day here. Back in 1968 it erupted and destroyed the town of Tabacon killing 87 people there.

Of course the place we went is the Tabacon Resort. But it makes you feel better to know that the management disavows any responsibility if the volcano erupts. By the way have a pleasant stay with us.

Anyway once the feeling of impending doom wears off you can enjoy the tropical plants and landscaping.

I think this guy is a helionia Rostrata or common name lobster claw

One of the streams volcano heated around 1o4 degrees. Perfect to take a dip in the hot mineral water. When you get out you resemble the lobster claw plant above.

Or you can stand under this small waterfall and let the hot water cascade over onto you.

A cool looking tropical plant. I have no idea what it is called.

And lastly my friend the Costa Rican Lizard . This little guy followed me around for the longest time.

This is a really beautiful place in a country that is a tropical plant lovers dream. My advice is if you ever get a chance to visit Costa Rica take it.-----------------------------sanddune---------------------------------------------------------------------