MARCH IN THE SANDPIT

Around here at the Sandpit March is a pivotal month. The Winter is long gone and the heat and Sun's intensity is getting stronger as each day passes. This is the time that a lot of the plants here get moved to the precious semi shade spots. Shade or even partial shade here is very limited and in high demand at the sandpit for the survival of a lot of the plants growing in the garden.

This little Zinnia seems to like it in the direct sun. I read an article not to long ago that you can't grow Zinnia's in South Florida. It is really difficult to grow them here as they seem to be a target for every fungal disease that comes around as well as irresistible to the bugs. Maybe it is the humidity here that comes with summer. Don't know for sure but I keep trying different hybrids hoping to find one that can handle this climate . This guy is a hybrid Zinnia called Highlights. I had two seeds in an old pack of seeds from several years ago and planted both seeds on January 15Th of this year into small pots made from old newspaper. One sprouted, this guy, and was transferred to this small plastic pot collected from someone's garbage. It's blooms are supposed to be exceptionally bright hence the name Highlights like the marker pen highlighter. Comes pretty close it turns out. Since this was my last seed I might just have to break down and get some more of these Zinnia seeds. I believe they came from Parks Seed best as I can recall.

Another new favorite that I discovered just last year has reseeded itself and is producing some exceptional blooms. This is a heirloom Morning glory called Granpa Ott. It has it's origins as a heirloom seed given to Diane Whealy in 1972 by her grandfather from his farm in Iowa. One of the original variety that started Seed Savers Exchange.

This Morning Glory bloom produces some of the deepest rich purple colors I have ever seen on a plant. In the sun this bloom is hypnotic as it seems to change luminance. With it's rich colors it is hard to look away. The Granpa Ott will stand out in any garden and will positively draw attention to itself. Also reseeds itself so you get lots of free plants or next season which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.

I am also using this month to plant out some of the brick planters with the plants that were sprouted back in January and February from seed. The brick planters are heavy and will not be blown around by the winds we get here as well as get the plants up off of the ground so they get good airflow.

I put one of the Four O'clock sprouts that were germinated from seed in the left side and an wild Tomato plant that had volunteered itself in the right.

I have a lot more seed sprouts that will need to be planted out in the hear future. But that's ok because I have a lot of the brick planters with empty holes to stick the new sprouts in.

But March is not all replanting work in the garden. This month we also get to reap some rewards for the work on the planting beds last fall. The Southern Collard Greens are ready to start harvesting before it gets to hot.

This batch is fresh from the garden and is on the menu for dinner. If I can find where I put the cornbread mix we are going to have us a feast -Southern Style.

And you just can't beat that.

---SANDDUNE--

EARLY SUMMER RAMBLINGS

With the Summer heat bearing down more each day it seemed like a good as any time to plan for the next three months.

Lots of plants are already struggling in the sun and wind. Ever since I lost my big Mango tree to a hurricane several years back my backyard shade is mostly gone. Best I can figure about 3/4 of the yard is in the tropical sun now as long as the sun is up.

It's kind of similar to growing plants on the beach. Full sun all day and no shade to escape to until the sun sets.

So here are some of my South Florida favorites that thrive in the tropical summer heat.

One plant that I can always count on is the Mandevilla.

It is a tropical plant and seems to grow better for me the hotter that it gets around here.

It doesn't like the cold at all and every year around March I cut the vine back to about a foot tall. As it warms up the Mandevilla vine takes off and produces flowers up until about January. This guy will grow a good ten foot tall by the end of the summer and will be continuously covered in blooms.

Another hot weather favorite at the sandpit is the Desert Rose.

It stays in the full sun and never complains. The Desert Rose is native to Africa and likes it hot.

This plant never gets much water from me and seems to bloom better being a little water starved or so I have concluded.

Had worms eat all the leaves off it once until it was just sticks. A month later the leaves popped back out and it was blooming again. This is one tough plant great for South Florida.

One other proven hot weather survivor in the sandpit is the Everglades Wild Tomato.

They grow dime to quarter size fruit and are the best tasting cherry size Tomato that I have ever eaten.

They reseed themselves and pop up all over the garden as volunteers. I suspect the birds who also love to snack on the fruits spread the seeds.

All the better cause I like to snack on a handful straight from the bush while working outside. There are like five bushes growing now in the garden. None of which I planted.

These guys take the heat when other Tomato's are long gone. They will continue to provide tasty handfuls of fruit all summer long. They are wild so if one plants looks bad you can count on more popping up to take it's place.

And here is my great hope to help with my lack of shade .

It is one my baby Neem trees that has sprouted from seeds that I got from Zanzibar East Africa.

Actually I have three baby Neem tree sprouts growing for the nine seeds that I attempted to sprout. That is pretty good because the seeds are very time sensitive and must be planted quickly after harvest.

The Neem tree might not look like much now but it will grow quickly into a mighty pillar of a tree to solve my shade problems. Anyway that's what I keep telling the Neem sprouts.

They will have to stay in the pots until they grow to 50 cm tall. One cm is about the size of a pinky nail turned sideways so I figure by the time I figure how tall 50 pinky nails turned sideways is they should be ready to plant in the yard.

And as to strange new plant experiments here is my latest entry.

I picked up some hybrid Sunflower seeds a while back called Teddy Bear. Here is the results.

All I can report is that they are pretty weird looking and that the bugs absolutely find them irresistible.

Going to sprout some more later in the summer when the bugs calm down a bit.

I don't use pesticides anymore but have been spraying with Neem Oil to get some of the bugs under control naturally.

As for the pipe dream department here is my Zinnia attempts. I like Zinnia's and try to grow them every year with less than stellar results.

This one is a Giant Violet Queen. It has been afflicted with some unknown plant affliction as well as being ravaged by hungry bugs.

But with all that against it it still blooms for me. Now that's tenacity a trait which I admire.

So if the Zinnia's keep trying so will I.

And as to a summer suprise here is my Passion Vine flower. It is the first time that the vine has bloomed here.

For the past couple of weeks there are 3-5 blooms that open each morning than close and fall off that night.

Is that neat or what?

The bottom line is that in South Florida heat and weather you have to plan ahead to make it through the summer months.

Speaking of which it is now officially the start of hurricane season. This means it is time to plant some Moonflower seeds.

My theory is that a well grown Moonflower vine can actually bend a hurricane away from it. There's not a lot of science behind the theory but seem to me every time I have had Moonflower Vines growing the hurricanes have bypassed the sandpit.

More research may be required but it has worked in the past.

--Sanddune--