DonnieBrook's Subtropical Adventures!

As fall and winter settle over our NE friends' gardens, we thought we'd share some of our gardening and other adventures down here in this subtropical zone with you. It's just too hot to do much gardening yet, but I did plant the coffee bush that one of you at our RU was kind enough to give us this morning. Anyone remember whom I should be thanking? (photos to follow once it gets cooler out there). I also put 2 more tomatoes in pots in our heat zone. So, grab your hot chocolate or other warm beverage and come along with me on our fall & winter journey here.

As you can see here, my Jade Green Beans germinated in only 2 days!

The skies keep threatening, but no rain came from these clouds!

Our friend down the street babysat my desert rose through the summer. It has doubled in size and is beginning to blossom again.

Here's a shot of my living fence that we planted for privacy from our neighbors' house. They are friends, but the houses are just too close, and I decided to try to do a tropical fence. It really took off over the summer, so now it just needs some weeding and cleaning up a bit. I planted the coffee and a new brugmansia cutting today in the area between the bedrooms. I've also put a trellis planter right outside my bedroom window where I'll plant some fast-growing vines for more privacy and to have some color to see out that window.

If you look closely in this section of the living fence line between our backyards, you can see 2 young trees with straight trunks. We stuck those sticks in the ground there right before we left. They were cuttings from a friend's gumbo limbo tree after he pruned his. He said, "Just stick 'em in the ground and they'll grow fast." We did, and they did! Amazing how well cuttings do here. The gumbo limbo trees get rather large and have a sunburned-looking bark and gnarling branches that are quite unusual and pretty. We had 2 other gumbo cuttings take and they will be transplanted to the area between our front sidewalk and the road.

This is the vinca I started from seed last winter. I didn't know how it would survive the heat of summer, but it did well!

Last shot for today........variegated hibiscus, rosemary and weeping bottlebrush tree....

Beautiful, Louise! Look forward to more as the white stuff starts here.

Thanks, Victor! Happy Halloween! What are your boys dressing up as?

Same to you, Louise! Doctor and Batman.

How cool is that??? just put a stick in the ground and it grows.

Looks great, Louise! Happy that you are settling in quickly and that your babies did well while you were gone so that you could enjoy them upon your arrival.

Thanks, Jen and Jan! We're taking it in small bites here in this heat. This morning we planted 20 sunflowers. Amazingly, they germinated in 2 days! I put 4 others that had just broken through the soil this morning in my kitchen window at 8:10 this morning. They are now over an inch high!!! This variety is supposed to get to 12-14 feet high, but our bed isn't in full sun, so I don't expect they'll reach their full potential. I also planted 8 that are red with black centers. Photos to follow.....

Have a great rest of the weekend!!
Louise

Here's a shot of the sunflower seedlings now. Amazing growth in 8 hours!

Check out this hibiscus beauty I stumbled across this morning at Wally World while I was searching for planter liners! It was love at first sight! Now I'm trying to ID it. Then comes the fun of figuring out where to place it in the yard! I'm in love with this one! I know my hibiscus pretty well, and I have never seen it before.

another shot of the plant....

The second shot shows the true colors best.

Now here's a shot of the River from our front porch. We eat lunch and take our coffee breaks out here, and I love to watch all the boat traffic on the River. We see kayaks, canoes, paddlewheel tourist boats, lots of sailboats, fast ski boats and even crabbing boats. Fun. Whenever I paint my pots, I do it on the porch. Today I drew the figures on a turtle planter I'm painting for our neighbor who kept our front hedges and beds trimmed up.

lousie everything looks great and green!

Nice hibiscus. Love the porch front view!

Lovely view Louise and beautiful hibiscus. Hope Hank is feeling better, that ankle looked painful!!

A few names your hibiscus MIGHT be , but I doubt it. Too many beauties out there to look at....I get easily distracted! LOL Good luck!!

'Florida Sunset' (1st one that came to mind when I saw the picture)
'Mrs Jimmy Spangler'

Thank you, Bill, Jen and Celeste! We do love the view of the River. We're just close enough without having the huge taxes you have to pay to live "on" the River. I wish you guys were down here! No stones here though, Bill! Lots and lots of sandy soil though. I just took two cuttings of the hibiscus ("Mrs. Jimmy Spangler") and we'll see if they take. I used a different method than I tried with a hibiscus last year. It didn't work, so I'm hoping it will be a go this time.

Please use this thread to tell me what you guys are doing too!! There is nothing "off subject" for this thread! :)

LOL, Celeste! We both got to Mrs Jimmy Spangler! I'm pretty sure that's it. Thank you for looking for me. If it isn't that one, it's pretty darn close! Want a cutting if I succeed?

Oh, and yes, Celeste, Hank is doing better tonight! Thanks!

Beautiful hibiscus, beautiful scene from your porch.
I'll just live vicariously through you this winter....
Sigh.

Hi Sharon! How nice to have you pop in!! Thank you....and please do spend the winter with me!! How are things in Kentucky? Beautiful, I'll bet!

louise you should see the huge flat stone i found out back while clearing brush - we lost several white oak during the ice storm and thus was under one of them - big enough for a table - could not even see it until i tried to dig out a burning bush and hit it - hiding under roots and moss - got it out of the hole left when the tree tipped over - it was in the wet lands, in water and muck - just enough roots left to move it with a couple of 6' bars - now i have to move it into the yard inch by inch - i'll get a picture tomorrow for you to show hank.

It's still very pretty here, and warmish, so I won't complain yet...but I promise to send you pictures and tears when it does start its winter miseries.
Just so you can spend some time with me!

Glad you're there, and glad you have such beauty to look forward to every day. Enjoy.

hi louise i posted the rock on the projests thread

Bill - did you get rocks when you used to trick or treat, like Charlie??!!

no - always on the lookout for baby ruth houses

Wow, Bill - what a find!!!!! I'm going to check it out right away on the projects thread. Be careful about your back and knees trying to move it! I'll show it to Hank. He'll be so impressed! "Baby Ruth houses!" LOL

Hi Sharon! Please do send me some shots when you need to commiserate! I always love to hear from you!

Hi Victor!

Hi Louise! Any cooler yet? How is Hank feeling?

love the hibiscus!!!... the coffee plant came from Memory.. I got one too.. are those sunflowers the monster tall ones?

The place looks good Louise

Oh, Louise, I'm thinking of our trip already, & although the Villages are pretty, they don't compare to Ft. Myers area. If Doug is up to it, I'm thinking of renting a car & heading for Sanibel, & Ding Darling----have got to see those roseate spoonbills again! Love, love that hibiscus---I just brought mine in for good yesterday---had it in the garage when we had snow a few weeks ago, but now it's in for good! We think we have 2 of the young folks next door lined up to take care of house, plants, & dogs for us---it just takes Robs sooo long to accept new people, but we're starting today----& it's not like he doesn't see these kids everyday through the fence----your living fence is wonderful!

A neighbor of ours has just moved to the villages.Hope you run into him,he's a ggreat guy
Bill Ringwood

Hi All! Victor - Today it was a few degrees cooler, but the cold front comes in Thursday with much lower humidity. I got out there this morning while Hank was doing his jury duty, and I got a lot done before it heated up. His leg is better, but there's still one ugly area left. The bites aren't uncomfortable anymore, thankfully!

Allison - thanks for letting me know that the coffee came from Memory. It's so cool to have one, and it is doing very well in its new home! Yes, the sunflowers are the monster tall ones. The stems of the four that we didn't plant yet are about 5 inches tall now. All of the ones we planted were eaten by squirrels in one night! grrrrrrrrr. I've transplanted the 4 that are left into larger pots so they can get bigger before we put them out, and I'll start some more seeds of both kinds tomorrow. Bummer!

Thank you, Jo Ann! Once I get the rest of my plants in, things will really shape up more.

Marilyn - Be sure to dmail me if you do decide to come down to Sanibel. We'd like to have you come by. We are right on your way. We LOVE to do Ding Darling too. We'd like to see you both! I hope all works out well with the dog care!

sorry the sunflowers got eaten... that happens here too... hopefully the new ones will be ok.. loved the photos of those