Choice Morsels

The Garden Pic for today is a nice shot of sunset lit Chocolate Elephant Ears. I've had them for years and when the ones planted in the ground seemed to be dwindling, I rescued as many roots as I could and moved them to this pot where they've been doing well ever since.     Today, I also planted Broccoli & Cabbage plants in one of my raised garden beds for my winter garden.  I didn't do so well with my spring garden---my seeds were old and I wasn't properly prepared. The only thing that grew well was the pickle cucumbers that I dined on all summer and the self-seeded basil in the other raised bed, which is now a huge clump. So I'm going to try and do more for winter. I still have French lettuce & a spinach seed I plan on planting plus I still have two Bell Pepper plants that didn't really produce anything in the heat, but will probably make a ton as weather cools. Plus, I'm going to prepare better for next spring by picking out and ordering my seeds ...

I went out late this afternoon to miracle-gro water my veggies, daylilies, blackberries, blueberries and hyrdrangeas near the house. The tomato I planted back in spring sprouted new growth from all stems and is laden with blossom right now as well as some tomatoes I have sweet peas beginning to bloom. The beets. lettuce and spinach are still babies. The bell pepper is large and bushy and beginning a fresh round fruit-making. This is such a nice time of year veggies. No pests. Today's pics are two morning sun shots today captured back in early October: My Chocolate Elephant Ears: Actually, I read they are more related to Caladiums then Elephant Ears. They have roots rather then a bulb. But unlike common Caladiums, these are faithfully perennial. I moved a bunch of the roots to this container a couple years ago because they weren't thriving in the ground where they are. Now that they have a pot to themselves, they're doing better. They come up green with purplish veins, then ...

Today's Garden Pic is a photo of my Chocolate Elephant Ears from about the end of November.  They're a burgundy color anyway, but as the weather cools, their color deepens and becomes a richer, darker burgundy!  They make a nice visual break from all the green around here until the first hard frost, when they die back to return in spring! I consider them one of my better garden plant investments!

Today's Garden Pics include a blooming day lily and several garden views around the yard: Below is a Rain Lily. It's something like a crocus in appearance. It's a bulb. I bought a mix of yellow, white and pink (this one is a white one with the tiniest hint of pink the camera can't see.)  What makes them "rain lilies" is they bloom after a rain and the ground is wet. Perfect for a rain garden. Next : a post-rain view of my main rain garden with a good view of the Chocolate Elephant Ears  both in the rain garden and in the back right corner of the photo. I love these Elephant Ears! I love the purple color! It really breaks up the heavy green of a Florida garden. They start green when little and turn dark as they mature. They are not a bulb, but have a root system like a day lily. Very easy to split and move. In fact, I split up the single clump I had this spring and moved them various places; apparently they loved it because they look be...