Wow, what happened to November. It flew by so fast best I can figure is that a space-time wormhole must have descended over the sandpit.
Ever got the feeling that time has accelerated or slowed down. Last I looked it was October and now it is December.
This here is what one of them there wormholes probably look like from Wikipedia.
South Florida is like a magnet for weird stuff like this. Not sure if I saw one of these jokers hovering over the pit during November but the month sure did go by fast.
Believe it or not, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it...
Anyway the garden is inching along fast as Molasses pours on a cold day. I have been slowly transplanting a lot of the plants that were being grown in containers directly into the ground in my new fenced section of the yard.
This Bougainvillea really likes getting out of a pot and into the ground. It was started from a cutting taken last year from one of my bushes . Since I do not use anything but natural fertilizer it doesn't seem as lush as a lot of the Bougainvillea's I have seen. But I am determined to stick to organic methods and have patience for them to take hold.
This is another plant that is having a birthday. This Shrimp plant came from a cutting last year around this time. I almost lost it a few months ago. I had put the plant in it's pot inside a container and didn't notice that the outer containers drain hole was plugged up with a wood chip.
The plant started looking worse and worse . I figured that it was not getting enough water and was drying out as most of the plants around it were. After giving the plant some water a few days later all the leaves started falling off.
Couldn't seem to figure out what was wrong and I finally felt the pots soil . It was underwater and had been submerged for several days.
After draining out all the accumulated water and setting the plant in the sun it finally revived itself.
New leaves grew on the former sticks and today it is happy and blooming.
Another yearling plant Is this Croton. It was made from a cutting also around one year ago.
I put this guy in the ground and it is looking good. Matter of fact I might just make some more cuttings as these plants remind me of the principal of sustainability. The plants pictured above were all free for my garden just costing the effort to make the cuttings from the parent plants.
As for the Nasturtium hanging basket I ran out of patience waiting for December to plant seeds and try it again. So I planted eight seeds in the hanging basket round near Nov 11th .
Seems like four plants came up and are growing so far. I plan on sticking some more Nasturtium seeds in the pot so that if it takes there will be four trailing type and four upright jewel type flowers. If it grows to expectations it should be spectacular. Hope springs eternal!
I have never grown Nasturtiums except for my summertime attempt which wasn't pretty.
I hope that this attempt now that it is cooler will pay off. They are looking good so far anyway.
The slightly cooler South Florida weather has been just what the old doctor ordered for the Dendrobium Orchids. They have all been blooming this week.
These purple blooms are from my Countryboy Dendrobium Orchid that grows wild attached to a Avocado tree trunk.
It has like six large stalks each covered with these purple blooms. There are even a couple of seed pods on some of the older stalks .
So that is a quick update from the Sandpit where I was sucked up in a time travel wormhole for the month of November and spit back out in early December.
I realize that there will be sceptics out there who do not believe in wormholes sucking people up and sending them through time.
I mean that would be like saying that plants have attitudes. Like saying an Orchid can stick it's tongue out at you.
Nahh, couldn't happen! Right?
----SANDDUNE---
Friday Flower Flaunt .... Mid-Summer 2025
1 week ago
I'm glad to see your garden in tip top shape, and I hope that December, January and February also fly by... at least up here. Its supposed to be on the brink of freezing for the next week, and I don't want to say goodbye to the garden! The heliconias will probably be grumpy come next week...
ReplyDeleteLove those orchids! I think you are definitely right about the worm-hole sucking up the time. Only for me, it's been hovering over me since about the year 2000. Your free plants are looking good and you should be proud of your staying the course with the organic practices.
ReplyDeleteRFG,
ReplyDeleteYou do an praiseworthy job of growing tropicals up in North Florida. I used to live in Jax for a while and know just how cold it can get there. Hope this Winter is not a repeat of last year and your plants fare better. Even down here the Heleconias look bad during the Winter. They don't seem to like cold at all or at least that is my experience with them..
NanaK,
LOL, a ten year time warp well if that ain't tougher than a pine knot I don't know what is. The plants made from cuttings are great. Every time I go by the garden section at a store and see the price they charge for the same plant It makes me smile. One of my new garden rules is' "Never pay for nuthin' if it's free from a cuttin".