Choice Morsels

I have 2 Amaryllis, each in a container out in my front beds: one is a dark, solid red and the other is this reddish-orange & white. Both have been faithful to bloom for like 15 years! Today's other picture is Chinese Stonecrop in one of my patio containers, which is just now starting to bloom. I'm not quite sure how it got there exactly, but it looks really good!

I opened my Blue Blue Nesting Box this past week to see if any Blue Birds were nesting. And I saw this, which is not a Blue Bird nest. This is a Black-Capped Chickadee nest! I was very pleased to see a pair of Chick-a-dee's make use of the space! Every bird has their own unique style of nesting building. Blue Birds, here in Northwest Florida, primarily use long pine needles, they wind round and round in the bottom of the box. Chickadee's like BIG stack of green moss bits topped with something soft for the eggs to rest in. They have a preference for shed pet fur, if they can find it.  Bird nests are amazing architectural art!  (If you brush you doggie in spring, empty the brush outside and leave for your bird friends to use for nesting!)   Next, a nice shot of sunlit Bridal Veil flowers!  (Shrub is called Spirea)

Today's featured Garden Photo is my Maple Tree that's pretty red with seed agasint the green of other trees in the background! I guess Maple seeds are nicknamed, "whirly birds," because of the way they spin to the ground when they fall. These are the single wing type. Some Maples have double wing seeds.  

Last week, one winter day when was warmish and muggy after a rain, I found this "Stinkhorn" Fungus in my flower bed that's along the walkway to the front door.  Also known as Column Stinkhorn or more amusingly, as "Dead Man's Fingers." Stinkhorns have emit a smelly odor to attract flies and so on, who then brush against spores and carry them off--that's how it reproduces.  They are quite unique---though I don't put my nose up close!   Last week we had our first hard freeze--everything except this Alyssum and the Broccoli in my raised garden got freeze-fried.  I was out of town right then, so unfortunately I wasn't able to cover my Salvia or anything. But amazingly, this Alyssum carries on!

I've been watching various birds the frequent my feeder teaching their young fledging's how to feed themselves.  Today's photo is a Eastern Mockingbird Parent on right teaching the Fledging sitting on the suet cage that,"this is the cafe where we dine on suet." It's actually quite amusing. You can tell the fledging has no idea what's really going on.  The parent and junior land on feeder and/or suet cage. Junior keeps eyes on the parent. The parent feeds junior a couple bites, then flies away. Junior just follows them with his eyes, then just squats on the suet cage, wondering what's going on. Sometimes, Junior will help himself to a bite or two of suet, but mainly is waiting for parent to return. Clearly the parent is trying to transmit the idea of feeding themselves. One pair of Mockingbirds have 2 fledgings, who also dumbly squatted there when the parent flew off. The two Mockingbird families have been working on this for a couple days now. They are...

This Weeks First Bouquet: This is Glads, Hydrangea, Gardenias plus stems of Greek Oregano and Chocolate mint as well. I like to pick glads as soon as they bloom, because they tend to fall over from their own weight. The t rick with glads is they bloom bottom up, so I need to take apart, snip and rearrange the bouquet every couple days. I like remaking the bouquet, though. Flowers aren't the only garden bounty: from my raised veggie garden I've started getting beans, one zucchini so far and tomatoes that should be turning soon! Finally...weeded This photo is the front corner bed between my driveway & sidewalk--I'm finally mastering the crab-grass weed spots. I worked on the area along the blocks, removing young crab-grass, then laying down newspaper on the exposed soil and topping with mower mulch. Last season, I didn't keep up with the weeds very well and the crabgrass not only got well established in the front end of this bed, but went to seed--that is a mistake I...

Today's Pics: A fun colored Cosmos! It came from a selection of butterfly flower seed from Dollar Tree.    A nice shot of my ceramic cat under Hosta in my front container garden: I planted red Caladium for a bit of color amidst all the green. The secret to a large container garden is using quart size nursey type containers that you plant you feature plants in, then arrange inside the container on top of soil to the height you desire, then surround those containers with soil. Then in the soil in between you can plant annuls or whatever. In this case, I put Hosta in the soil between containers. It's a little over happy, despite thinning it out once already. If I want to plant a new featured plant, I just pull out the container, then put in back. Makes it easy.

I've just started my 7th week of broken arm recovery and I don't have to wear a brace anymore, though sometimes, it's still helpful. I've been working on driving short distances locally and wearing that brace gives me extra support. I drive a six-speed and that gives my right arm a good bit of workout. I go to physical therapy twice weekly. This week I drove myself to my Wed PT appointment myself.  My friend Diana was driving me to every appointment and we'd have lunch after. I'll miss that. It was nice having regular company to have lunch out with. I have a couple Garden Pics this week: Edging Change: This black edging is a pound-able type that is a series of interlocking 6 inch segments.  Originally, it followed the 90 degree angle of the sidewalk that leads to my front door. They only interlock on the straight; in the corner their edges just met. My toe clipped that bit of corner edging and that's what tripped me into a fall. So, a week ago, I pulled up 4...

Here's a delightful early morning shot of Orange Spiders Lilies in the middle of Pink Vinca!  Orange Spider Lilies are a type of magic lily common to the Deep South; harbingers of autumn, a single stem or two springing up from the ground out of nowhere. Then, once the flowers are done, their leaves pop-up, lasting until spring when they melt away.  

Two photos today of some of the Vinca flowers in my garden! Vinca are a common annual flower that comes in white and a range of pink from very dark to very like. They also self-seed readily, so once you have them, you generally can just transplant the seedlings wherever you want flowers when the come up in late spring. Here in the Deep South, Vinca can winter over, though it depends on location whether they are in shelter, sunny area or not. They are susceptible to freezing otherwise.  I have come from random seedlings that popped up in various places in my flower beds and I just transplant them here and there.   Most of my Vinca blooms have a style like this photo below: they usually have a "pink eye" at their center. Though, occasionally, I'll see all white without a pink center, but the pink center is the most common. However, one of the seedlings I transplanted to my front bed this year looks like this: Dark pink with a extended white center!   I've never seen o...

Today's Garden Pics: My White Daylily: Though, among Daylilies, "white" is more a creamy white with a trace of yellow in the center. It's relatively new. I bought and planted this one 2 years ago and this is it's first bloom! It's petals have a ruffled edge and the greenery is tall and doesn't die back during winter. (some do) I grow these special colored hybrid daylilies in particular to photograph.   And a Balloon Flower: The bud just prior to opening looks like a hot air balloon, thus the name.  I like it because it is a blue flower. 

T oday's Garden Pic is a nice January shot of some Common Ajuga draping over the edge of a large container out front & my bumper crop of lettuce Ajuga: It's a ground cover with a burgundy tinge to it's leaves. It reaches it's best color in shade, but can tolerate light sun. This Ajuga just gets morning sun. It throws runners like a strawberry does, spreading along the ground. It's reaching for the ground and will establish once it touches around the shady side of the stump the container sits on. It's a member of the mint family.  My Winter Crop of Lettuce: This is a french head lettuce I got ordered from Seed Savers for spring 2021. It went to seed in May 2021, then dozens popped up around Sept. I separated them, this whole 4 x 8 raised bed with them. I dined on fresh crisp lettuce all winter! I've left 2 to go to seed on one end of the raised bed, so can have lettuce all winter again!  I've joined a group a ladies in a Book Club that meets once a mo...

  Today's cheerful winter picture is Red Salvia! It's very Christmasy looking through December, if there aren't any hard freezes. A freeze is coming. I have three Salvia blooming in 3 pots and plan on covering them. I grow them from year to year from their own self-seeded starts they leave behind. Nowadays, I really only enjoy blogging about the garden. I don't cook enough to do recipes anymore. This week I decided to look into a new car insurance carrier, one that would fit my budget better. I belong to the neighborhood app "Next Door" and saw people recommending this and that local insurance company. I decided make an appointment with a independent insurance agency recommended. They were so nice.  Long story short, I'm now set up with car insurance does fit my budget much better and includes benefits my previous insurance didn't offer, like car rental coverage and road assistance. Only funny part of the conversation was I asked how was I going to te...

  Today's Garden Pics are my "Chinese Forget Me Not" & my Lettuce: This is Cynoglossum Amiable. Also called  "Chinese Hounds Tongue"  I just figured that out today, googling pictures. I didn't realize there is a true type of Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis Scorpioides), which has flowers with yellow centers and tends to be invasive.  The Chinese Forget Me Not has blue centers and is more garden friendly. It's the type found in wild flower seed packs. Back in spring I bought "wild flower" seeds from the Dollar Tree that were on a seed mat you roll out and this was the ONLY seed that sprouted. he leaves are slightly fuzzy (thus the name "hounds tongue") and look very similar to Black Eyed Susan leaves. It started blooming in early December. For Florida, that isn't unusual. I have Gerbers blooming right now. And I promised a picture of my booming lettuce crop: here it is:

 The Garden Pic today is one of my Gerber's putting up a fall bloom! Here in Florida, Gerber tend to bloom in both spring & fall, but not during the heat of summer. A couple days later...s ame Gerber, but with an empty Cicada shell underneath.  At first I thought it might be a sleeping bee, but on closer look saw it was just a cicada shell. It's just an Annual Cicada, which have a green tint to there wings. The adult die off in winter. A nymphs like this pop out from underground, craw up something to hatch the winged adult.  A few pop-up now and again thru-out the year and take to the trees to find a mate to start the process all over. I've   found at least 3 shells on my grill cover this year. The other kind, the 17 year type have a red tint to wings and a slimmer body shape.

Garden Pics today include a nice shot of my Blue Cape Plumbago shrub blossom and a pretty look at my backyard garden at sunset: Blue Plumbago : I collect blue flowers, so a Cape Plumbago was a must! They are common here as landscape plants. It took me a number of years to find the "right spot" one would thrive in. They don't like being overly wet. So I planted this one in the woodsy area in the backyard in vicinity of maple tree that is higher ground. It's doing pretty well now. Fairly bushy. I think I should fertilize it better in spring & summer for a better bloom. The area is partial shade during spring & summer as western sun hits it late in day. During late fall & winter, when the maple is bare, it's in full sun.   Here's a nice shot of my backyard around 6pm, as the sun is getting low: Oh, and the Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillar I so carefully took care of made it to being a butterfly this morning! I forgot to check the crystallis, so I mis...

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 ...

Two Garden Pics today: First, my one Gardenia bush is blooming again! It seems to be a variety that blooms heavily in spring, then again less heavily during fall and winter. It's flowers are not as large as the other I have that strictly blooms just once a year, but I have  to give it kudos for enthusiasm! Next, New Garden Art: I kept back a few mugs from my purge in July for charity give-away that I thought would be nice additions to my garden. This one is a very large Cracker Barrel mug that I put in the front bed by the mailbox. I planted Chinese Stonecrop in it and planted sprigs of Golden Creeping Jenny nearby. Both are ground covers that like sun and both winter over. I like the red lava rocks and add them here and there as accents. In the shady spots, being porous, they become homes for moss.

  Today's Garden Pic is a pretty Native Daylily sunlit by the last rays of the setting sun. In other news, I'm looking into replacing my rain gutters. The first company I called, the owner said " he'd shoot me a text before he came on Wednesday," but when 4 o'clock rolled around, I texted to ask if he was still planning on coming? His answer was to tell me about his daughter being sick and about having to stay home with his son and that he was super busy and said, I quote, "he didn't need me to be there to hold his hand while he looked at the gutters." I was like, "What?" I didn't quite know what to make of that. It seemed a little personal and not very professional. A professional reply would've been, "I've had some expected things come up today---can I reschedule?" I tried to be gracious, telling him I was sorry to hear all that; that I was just trying learn what to expect and that, being retired, I was generally...

I flew down and visited friends in Orlando a week ago. It was a nice getaway and got to know them a whole lot better. This week for Garden Pics, I'm featuring some "Blues." I collect flowers that bloom blue because they are uncommon. Bloomed earlier this spring: Portuguese Squill    Blooming now: Blue Clematis It's sort of a soft lavenderish-blue. I bought it for this color and because it's smaller stature for a clematis (5 feet), but my soil is acidy, so it was much more violet last year. So I watered it often last fall with water with baking soda and also added some lime--so this year, it's more the proper light blue color!