Tropical Garden #127

Bet the greenhouse and grow light biz will pick up in Washington state now that pot is legal there! Debi, would love to see pics of the new rocks in place there. We've missed seeing your orchid pictures, too.

I know this is a repeat, but I just love the color change on these funny little orchids, pink/white to yellow/orange in about a week.

I also have coral salvia and porterweed still blooming their hearts out with the fabulous weather we've had. Lucky for us, the cold fronts just have not come this far south, except for the very edges of the one that followed TS Sandy.

Some fun with foliage in the last pic, heliconia, coleus, hydrangea and Begonia 'Don Miller' putting on a little flower.



This message was edited Dec 8, 2012 12:10 AM

Your flowers are always amazing, Elaine!

If only they were frogs-- RATS!!!!! I am going to take pictures as we destruct and construct today.Should be fun.

Elaine I am going to Selby and Tropiflora with a group on Tuesday--have no business going as there is so much going on!!!

Happy Saturday everyone!
Debi

Many of the stores that specialize in organics are really specializing in growers equipment. They have these cool pop up tent thingies that are black on the outside so they can't be detected through windows and silver on the inside for reflecting the halogen or gro lights. I would love one for my attic, it would make a great indoor GH. Seriously though, this is a lucrative business so these stores only carry the best supplies and fertilizers. They are not cheap but the quality and variety are great. My gardening buddies and I who are always looking for the perfect fertilizers or potting mediums joke that we are probably the only little old white haired ladies whose pictures are in the DEA files for frequenting these places.

I use 4' seedling heat mats under containers on my open porch and deck during the winter months. It seems to just raise the temp a few degrees and that is usually all I need. On really cold nights I can throw a blanket over the whole thing. Since the porch and deck floor is wood slats, I use one of those reflective foil emergency blankets under the heat mat so I don't lost any heat down through the boards. The blankets are inexpensive in the outdoor stores, usually around $3 and I can cut one in 3 pieces to use under 3 mats.

Great score on those coral rocks, they sound wonderful. I was shopping for new tile yesteday and noticed some very expensive tiles made from slices of natural coral rock, there were shells in them and they were drop dead gorgeous. We took a lot of old pampas grass out when we bought this house, There were rats nests in the centers and the snakes loved it, it was like a free buffet for them. When you live near the water it is always a challenge to keep the rats away.

Lots of camellias blooming right now, some roses are loving the cool weather and the beautiful salvia involucrata or Rosebud Sage. It will stay in bloom all winter now. Love it.

It's where I purchase all my Growing Supplies! I figured if they were good enough supplies for pot growers, they were definitely good enough for my Big Boy Tropicals!

please say a prayer for Sherry, she is in the hospital again..

this photo is especially for KayJones... I can't believe I havn't killed it yet.

Deb, call me this morning!!!! The Bougie is beautiful!

On the tiles-- we were shopping for tile this past month and found tile that looks like wood! Loved it years ago when it was SO expensive--downright cheap at Home Depot now--thank goodness as we need 1100 square feet for the living side of the house. And I love the pebble tile--that's going in a shower floor.

As far as rats-- I always will remember when we lived at a condo hiring the men to clean out the palm trees. One fellow said--you know there's rats in those trees--and I responded, and that's why we pay you do do that work! Back then it was $15 a tree--this year we paid $40 to $60 a tree/ Well worth it as the coral snakes love the palms as well.The people who bought my parents house down the street placed a dumpster in the driveway for the renovations and yard waste ONE YEAR AGO and it hasn't been cleaned out yet. Don't EVEN want to think what is in there!

No Sh%t Debbijaynes!

Debijaynes, so now I'm learning that rats live in Palms and because the coral snakes like rats that they are in the trees, and here all I thought lived in them was that monster palmetto bugs.... so what is good about palm trees, please someone tell me before I decide to rip them all out of the yard?

Jan

Nothing good about them, Jan! They are ugly, messy and harbor critters we don't like!!!!

My son has a mess of Queen palms at his home in JAX and I could listen to the gentle sound they make when the wind blows through their fronds all day. They are beaituful when they sway in the wind too. I don't know if Queens harbor critters or not. When they first bought that home they had lava rock in all the beds including the foundation plantings. The snakes liked to sun themselves on those warm rocks and they found many, many - all non venomous thankfully. They removed the rocks and have had few snake encounters since they did that.

Rocks or not, we have snakes! As long as you keep your trees and shrubbery trimmed and neat, I think for the most part you can keep the population down. No bird feeders that's for sure! Pine straw attracts not only snakes but fleas love all things pine! Marco Island mows on a regular basis all the vacant lots, carefully avoiding the gopher tortoise and owl nests(burrowing). I also find that keeping plants away from the foundation is a help.

Maybe I don't want to live in Florida after all.

We have bird feeders, about 6......and live on 11 acres, that backs up to 3500 acres of St. John's Wildlife management,We occasionally have snakes...sometimes venomous, but more often than not, just good old Black, Blue, or Rat snakes.....you just need to know the difference. Do your research....

Good on ya, Mj. Hey folks, you want a balance of nature in your garden. If you evict the snakes, you will have rodents until the snakes come back. I do have more rodents and snakes since I put out the bird feeders, but I also have a lot more birds that eat bugs and caterpillars that harm my plants. I welcome the snakes and never ever kill one on purpose. (ran over one with the car once, sadly) Never seen a venomous snake in Florida myself, but I do know they are around and know how to ID them, too.

Yes, we have or have imported, every bug and critter on the face of the earth in Florida, but well, mosquitoes are a bother, and raccoons - which are not indigenous - are a pain in the patootie but I'm not bothered by anything else in my garden, in general. They're all living here for the same reason we are, which is great weather. I can sure live with them, the trick is to just be aware. When I lived in Vancouver, Canada - a very large and sophisticated city - we had to be aware of black bears raiding our gardens, birdfeeders and garbage cans. What's more scary?? They have coyotes in the streets of NYC, not to mention dangerous people all over the place. There are scary things everywhere that you should be wary of.

Jan, if you rip out all your palms the critters will live in any other tree or shrub you plant. I have a few palms and they are beautiful, easy care and not messy. Mostly I have huge live oaks that harbor an amazing ecosystem. You make a beautiful garden for yourself, but because you nurture and water it, it's beautiful to all the other living things, too. Even if you make a desert out of your yard, you will have critters you don't want. Scorpions love it hot and dry. May as well have a lovely lush garden and learn to live with everybody you attract.

I've been here in Grand Cayman diving all week. Saw a hammerhead on Monday that swam by 20ft from me, scores of invasive poisonous lionfish, green moray eels, stingrays, sea urchins. Tons of things that could hurt me but didn't. The cars on the street are more of a threat to me than anything in the sea or my garden, I think. Statistics back me up, too.

Elaine... Coud not have said it better myself!

Same here. Even though corals, copperheads, diamondbacks and cotton mouths are indigenous to this area, I have never seen even one here at my home. I often wonder about my yankee neighbors who see them all the time, I suspect they don't stay around long enough to get a real ID. I do have bird feeders, quite a few of them actually, and they do invite the rodents but, to me, the birds are worth it.

One thing I have changed however is to remove pampas grass. This introduced plant harbors rats nests around here. As the plants age, they develop an opening in the center at the base, this turns out to be a toasty warm spot for the rats to nest. Short of dividing the grasses each year it is inevitable so we chose to remove the pampas. When we first moved here we could actually hear the baby rats at certain times of the year and we saw many more (non) venomous snakes prior to the removal.

I do keep all plant material and my pine straw well away from the foundation - at least 4' - and that helps with the palmetto bugs.

All that being said, I think the snakes are there and you just don't see them unless you go looking.

Yes, I forgot to say, agree about keeping plants and mulch away from the foundation and keeping irrigation away from the house, too. When the weather is dry we do have snakes and other critters like various frogs come into the pool cage after the water. I've taken to putting out a tub or two of water (c/w mosquito dunk) for the critters so they won't feel it necessary to visit the pool. We also have a little water garden in the front yard that I'm sure a lot of animals drink from.

I was checking out some "white stuff" on this fairly large croton this morning and look what I found. Who knew????

Remember that Hedychium horsefeldii I was so disappointed in a while ago. The flowers were so insignificant. But, check out these seeds, now I remember why I bought it.

We had some really high tides this week, that is my neighbor's house in the picture. Yikes, I am glad our house sits on higher ground.

As long as I know the snake is nonpoisonous, I have no problem with them.
at the other house there was always one that lived in my GH. We had to have a few 'conversations' about wraping around the hanging baskets (and scaring the daylights out of me). So far here, I don't have on in the GH, but plenty in the yard. I was finding one about every week or so for a while. Found the 'Mom' laying in the yard a couple of months ago, but I relocated her, because the cats kept circling her and wouldn't leave her alone.

Here is one that was at the front door. Almost grabbed him when I went to move the plant.

Whoa, Alice I wouldn't try out the hammock until the tide goes out, your patootie would be hanging in the water! Cool picture though.

Nice snake shot, Paula.

In this part of the country hammocks are for show only, the bugs would eat you alive if you tried to relax in one. LOL

This is the pic I meant to include.

Ardesia looks like it is decorated for the holidays.

I'm thinking the only reason I haven't seen the rats is because of my two collies who patrol the yard. However, I've seem more than enough snakes, I don't care how wonderful snakes are, I will never care for them! But those palmetta bugs are the worst thing (to me) about living in FL. The rental house has mulch all around the house (I am trying to educate the owner, to the fact this attracts those darn bugs) but he like the looks so we have to deal with those darn things. His solution to get rid of them is to keep spraying the chemicals. Why is it that folks think, spray the chemicals and everything will be alright, shaking head over this type of thinking.

So on with life here in my beautiful FL with all the snakes, palmetto bugs and what ever else makes it way into our home bubble....LOL

Jan

all i have to worry about are tree rats ( squirrels)and flying rats( sparrows)

love the blooms on that croton, did not know they bloomed.. wow!

Home from our dive trip, to a very happy kitty cat and lush garden that got a couple of good rain showers while we were gone! Yay.

Dirty little raccoon paw prints all around the edge of the pool, too. I think this one likes the smell of my brugs. Charles Grimaldi is in full fragrance right now. If the cat is fighting with the 'coon tonight, he's getting trapped and removed tomorrow night!

A few pretties from the botanical garden in Gr. Cayman. Rainbow gum tree had the prettiest 'painted' bark. Begonia odorata alba still lush and blooming in a sunny spot over top of a hedge. Poinsettias - huge ones 7ft. tall with bracts 18in. across. Little orange butterflies loved them. Cool leaves and flower bud on a breadfruit tree. Lovely pink-flowered mandevilla (I think) vine climbing 35ft. up a column at a shopping mall.

Gotta love that rainbow gum. If I ever lived somewhere warm enough I would have a whole grove of them. I saw a huge one in HI on a mountain where it regularly dropped to the high 30's at night. Had to be the mild days and abundant water perfect growing conditions.

Debra, just wanted you to know you and your sister have been in my thoughts and prayers.

Beautiful Rainbow Gum love the foliage and flower of the Breadfruit tree Elaine.







10 full weeks from "bump' at petiole / trunk tie in, to opening of Philodendron giganteum inflorescence.

This message was edited Dec 18, 2012 6:58 AM

Great growing Drew and Debra, you and your sister have been in my thoughts as well.

Good morning everyone - Merry Christmas! Here is my little Christmas Angel, Feona, born Dec. 4, 2012 - she's 9 days old in this picture:

awwwwwww. congrats! She is a beautiful lil Angel.

Feona is the best Christmas gift of all.

Aww, how sweet! That's my mom's birthday. Congratulations

Another beautiful child. Seems to be "going around" with my friends. I'm way past the grandchildren stage and have started GREATgrandchildren. Each new soul is such a blessing.

Thank you, everyone - she's definitely an angel!

Sometimes, the mightiest things come in the smallest packages!
You are very blessed Kay!

Oo, sweet baby! I can't wait for my kids to come visit in January c/w my new granddaughter.

Found some pretty colors still hanging on in the garden:
- Matchstick brom I got as a start from Mj - so pretty, thanks again!
- crazy Brazilian Red Cloak blooming again, after being in bloom all summer and fall!
- faabulous colors on Coleus 'Dipt in Wine' another start from Mj
- purple firespike slowly reaching its full glory despite a low of 41 this morning

Then we had to go to the Borg (big orange retail giant) and I snapped a couple of shots of their gorgeous array of broms there. Such a treat to see these beautiful colors at this time of year. Too bad they were so expensive, I would have bought a whole bed full!

My coleus "Florida Sun Rose" is never the same color twice.

I have seeds of my pale yellow Abutilon if anyone would like some.

All are SO PRETTY - a breath of fresh air - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Elaine, great pics...we went down to 28º yesterday morning. Heavy frost coleus are for the most part mush now. Glad I saved cuttings !! Brugs are all wilted, as well as a lot of other tender leaved plants. Had a lot covered tho or up in the barn or greenhouse and those up in the Oak hammock area fared pretty well.
Hope all have a Great Holiday !!!
Hoya imperalis var. rauschii