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!

The Mama Kat Prompt topic for today is: "Show Us a Before & After." Last fall and this spring I had two major  drainage issue locations: one in the back yard and one on the side of the garage. After hours of TLC they're greatly improved. Here's the before & after on both: First: The Back Yard Pond : This happened every time we had a heavy rain: After: Same spot as it looks now. Paradise. I took advantage of the naturally concave area by edging it with flagstones and filling the center with gravel & water loving plants. The Chocolate Elephant Ears here are gorgeous! Second, The Other Pond: This bed edges on the garage near the front of the house. After:  I edged the bed with paving blocks, raised the dirt level on the grass side, then planted grass plugs. Now that it's late summer,  it's nicely filled in! I consider rate these two projects among my most successful---though not all gardening  exp...

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...

Welcome to my continued adventures in Florida gardening! Today's Pic of the Day is my hard working rain garden! This shot is about 9:30 in the morning after a pretty good rain. You can see the standing water.  By about 5 pm, all that water was gone. You can see the ruddy leaves of my Giant Red-Leaf tropical lily in the center and, behind it, the similar colored Chocolate Elephant Ears! With all the lilies in bloom, it looks rather stunning! Also, I have two shots of recent vase arrangements I've had in the house I arranged from what was blooming outside: I was a florist for 17 years, which helps. Last week: White Easter Lilies! (Trivia: Lilies last longer if you snip off their stamens before putting in a vase!)  This week: Blue Hydrangea's & Purple Gladiolas! Trivia I've recently learned about Hydrangea's: They should not be trimmed back later then July, if at all. Snipping on them in the fall ruins their spring bloom! (f...