Tropical Garden #62

A cup of coffee sounds great right now! How do you remove the papery layer from the beans, is it sorta like that papery skin on spanish peanuts?

Here is the Green Coffee before roasting.

To remove the papery parchment layer, I run the beans through a loose grinder to help crack & loosen the layer. Removing the parchment from the Green Coffee is very laborsome.

Roasting Coffee requires a good amount of time and attention. It must be constantly stirred to get an even roast.

Here it is just starting to change color.

Thanks Annette. We've been to Hawaii two years running now and it could easily become an annual thing. The islands kinda get under your skin!

I agree Tropic. Coconut trees should be banned. I planted these right after I moved to FL and started gardening. A real Dope I was. Hurricane Wilma took down one, so I got 5 to go. But then comes the problem of no shade. URGHH!!!!

Hap

PS is 69 this am. YAY!!!!!

Great photos everyone.

Lin, orchid name is(...)Brassia. some of the letters are erased.

Dave, I can almost smell that coffee this morning. Ummmmmm

Just saw where our lows tonight will be in the upper 50's. Yaaayyyyyyyyy

We've got a low too, expected to turn into a cyclone within 24 to 36 hours. Okay, different type of low. It's doing a loop at the moment but is expected to finally move away, perhaps. If it moves away it'll probably take the rain away for a while.

Habenaria orchid, might be ochraleuca, not sure.

Dipodium stenocheilum

Dendrobium affine (not flowering) in a Raintree.

Ban Coconuts? Never! They are great along roadways and borders.

The Coconut frond didn't take the phone line down, it just folded on it; it was easily removed.

Coconut fronds are great for weaving, making fences, temporary roofs. The nuts are great food, and make bowls, spoons, etc.
If a tree has to be removed, the heart of the palm is excellent eating!

Here is the Coffee almost done roasting!

The finished product should look dark and shiny.

Yes, Dave, they are pretty too.

Hap

Coconuts are a must for any Hawaiian garden.

They were the base of the economy in pre-contact times.

Hawaiians planted groves of Coconuts for use by the community.

Here is Sugar Cane in bloom.

The Hawaiian A'e A'e Banana.

Hawaiian Hala, Pandanus tectorius.

Here are the first photos- It almost looks as though a fire ravaged the place.
Here are the factors that have totaled the garden.
November snow followed by freeze: cosmetic damage, but things survived.
Last week 3 consecutive days of temps at 25F or lower
This week, 3 consecutive days of higher temps with non stop drizzle rain.
Next week will finish things off at daily temps of 70F.
Anyway..we'll start off at my favorite, the beautiful tree fern.

The rain seems to be polishing off the remaining branches. Two of those folded today.

Like Dutchlady said, many of these things will recover down the line.

Heavy gauge frost cloths work well for a short freeze, but not extended...these are the rubber trees, all were covered.

Philodendrons anyone?

bright side, seems that the new fiddles seems to be in fair condition. (tree fern)

This message was edited Jan 16, 2010 4:54 PM

This was the philo before the freeze

Well, here's ta spring! the nurseries will be busy this year!

Oh, rj, I feel your pain and I know that you have it. But it will grow and you and your plants will be stronger. I think it's a test of some sort. When I figure it out, I'll let you know.

Until then, lots of HUGS....

Hap

thx Hap!

Rj, so sorry for you. I know the disapointment of loseing plants. Our power went off in the night a while back and froze almost all my tropicals in my greenhouse. Some in my house I had brought in are looking almost dead so not sure if any will put out at the roots or not and they were some of my favorites I had ordered back in the summer from plant places online and costed a fortune. Rare plants. Was already just hoping that I would live long enough to get to see them all bloom, not much use to starting over now with cuttings again, never know what will happen later on to them so I just gave up on trying. If it will live outside here, I guess I'll grow that. Just down right depressing.

Dear Mekos,

Been there, done that.

I was devastated after one freeze here and then Hurricane Wilma in '05. But, things do grow back, and if not, maybe we should not push the envelope. Gardening is challenging from the start and we all try to tweak it just a little more. Sometimes it works for awhile and then we are hit on the head with a bat.

It's a learning experience anyway you want to think about it.

Again,

HUGS


Hap

Thanks happy. But I'm not going to fret any. I still have lots of plants and hopefully things will maybe put out again and if not, well it just wasn't ment to be. Not losing sleep over it. I sure hope the rest makes it though and will keep trying to push the envelope till I start pushing up daisyies.

Hap: Ditto to the "Been there, done that."

My yard and all the yards in the neighborhood are brown and ugly right now. Although all of my potted plants were on the back porch and others under the covered deck (and everything was wrapped/covered with old blankets) some suffered a lot of damage while others don't look affected at all. I guess that's life, huh?

It can sometimes be very depressing to lose cherished plants but we can't control mother nature. We do our best trying to protect our lovely plants from the elements, whether it's from heat and burning sunlight, rains and floods, or devastating freezes. Sometimes I think it's in the plan to remind us that we are not in control. All we can do is pick up the pieces and try again. I feel really bad for nurserymen and farmers who are in the business of growing and selling plants. It's their livelihood, sometimes their only income and it can take years to recoup ... and sometimes the loss is so devastating they aren't able to recuperate at all.

We had Hurricane's Charley, Frances and Jeanne hit our area all within a six week period in August 2004. Many mature trees in our yard and neighborhood were completely uprooted or broken in half, the landscape was a total disaster. I was thankful our house was intact with no roof damage etc., and being without power for five or six days sure made me appreciate air conditioning and running water! After power was finally restored and we were able to watch the news on t.v., it sure put things in perspective for me when I realized that some families in parts of the state lost their homes and everything they owned! I guess disasters of the magnitude like the Tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, and now the devastating earthquake in Haiti this past week, remind us all to count our blessings. All we can do is keep on keeping on, try to keep things in perspective and send prayers out to all those in need.


When the weather warms up in spring I know there will be a lot of sharing going on here in this garden ... the essence of what DG is all about!

RJ: Was that Philo of yours a Monstera deliciosa? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1204/
I have an extra Monstera that I will gladly send you when the weather warms up. It's nowhere near as large as your beautiful plant was, but if you want it to try again, I will put your name on it!

I don't have any rare or special plants like some of y'all do but I will share whatever I can when the time comes!

Mekos: Love that attitude and the words: "Keep Trying Till You're Pushing Daisies!"

((((( Hugs ))))) and Blessings everyone!

Lin

I know plantladylin, My heart breaks for the ones in Haiti. I do count my blessings everyday and pray everyday for all the unfortunate ones devistated by whatever has happened and will continue. I believe it is our duty to pray for others and help all we can when we can. I'm always happy to share what I have with anyone who asks, if I can. That is what friends are for.
Stay warm and safe you guys, winter has just begun and no telling what else is in store before spring gets here. The almanac said this would be a colder and wetter year and so far it has been right.

Dave that is a very nice A'e A'e and Tropic that Dipodium is very pretty and I bet it has a lovely fragrance as well.

R.J. Yike's on your garden but don't let it get you down too much if possible. Like Lin state's we are not in control of Mother Nature...unfortunately! From one of the picture's you posted concerning your "tree fern" it look's like it will survive that devasted look and I would say more of your plant's may as well.

Everyone that feel's like you may have lost some cherished plant's.....don't give up on them yet.

Mekos, if you've got anything to do with it I'm sure they'll be lovely daisies too ;O)

ALL blue ones. I love blue.

It's good to see the positive attitudes shown here. Not so good seeing some of the photos, but sadly that's the reality at present.

Rachel, I hadn't smelled the Dipodium before so I raced out and gave it the sniff test. Results negative. But we've just had a torrential downpour so maybe that washed it out. Will try again later.

Dave, Pandanus tectorius is one of my favourite pandanus, especially the types I saw in Madang in Papua New Guinea.

This is still the Madang plant, but they also had one in the botanic gardens in Cairns. I found a seed there and it's now at home and sprouting. Just hope it isn't one of the other common varieties that fell near the P. tectorius.

I was in Homestead yesterday and a lot of the farms there had severe damage. Tomato plants were being plowed under while we watched.
Their temperatures didn't go that low and as a friend (who owns a nursery there) told me, it needed just some simple overhead irrigation (which he applied) to protect from the cold. He fortunately had no damage whatsoever but he did lose two nights of sleep....

Some friends and I were discussing the Florida strawberries last evening. They have been so hard and tasteless. We decided they had been picked and shipped quickly before the freeze and before they were ripe.

Randy, your jungle is no mo', but that's temporary. After Valentine's day I plan to trim all dead stuff to the ground, mulch it heavily and start over. This kinda cleanup was overdue, so Mother Nature decided to nudge me a little.

Today has been lovely and I trimmed a couple of roses. Also painted some labels, in preparation for the many new plants that will find their way to my garden.