danielle's garden blog

Meyers Lemon Blossom

2009-09-19T15:12:00.002-04:00

The Meyers Lemon is getting ready to bloom. It's got buds all over and the leaves look nice and healthy. Last year I harvested fom this tree in mid-December. I thought I remembered them blooming earlier last year. I guess three months from bloom to harvest is right...right?

The Garden Feels When Summer's End is Near

2009-09-15T16:17:00.000-04:00

The garden just knows when fall is approaching. The aloe is sending up baby plants like crazy. The first peach blossoms have arrived. The orchids are sending out roots from all over. The miracle fruit plant just put out a second crop of a half dozen berries. I transplanted the balckberries over to where the blueberries are...hopefully they will do better here.

Planted the Strawberry Pot Again

2009-08-28T09:11:00.000-04:00

Last week I planted some mint, strawberries, and ornamental sweet potato in the terra cotta strawberry planter.

This planter has been many things over the years. It's great for Basil. It loves patio tomatoes. It likes coleus.

Anne Raspberry in South Florida

2009-08-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

The Anne Raspberries have showed a poor harvest this year. There are a dozen more berries to come. They sure do taste wonderful though. These are supposed to be golden-yellow at peak ripeness.

Here's how they looked a few years ago when I planted them. I think they need better soil.

More Free Spathoglottis Grapette

2009-08-18T17:06:00.000-04:00

I spent an hour dividing the Spathoglottis Grapette (ground orchid) again. I must have pulled off 4 dozen baby plants that I planted all around the yard. I love this plant.

I started off with a one-gallon plant in 2007. After the first year, I pulled apart that plant and had 12 mini plants.

The first time I divided the plant, I dug up the whole plant and began separating the plant at the roots. This time, I just yanked small sections out of the ground as if I were pulling weeds. This was a much easier method than digging up the whole plant.

Here's the planter I filled with a few dozen baby plants. I planted the rest throughout the yard.

By the way, this plant blooms for months and months. Last year I counted many blooms that lasted for 3 months.

Pet Door Window Treatment

2009-08-17T16:08:00.000-04:00

Here's the new pet door curtain or pet door window treatment.

I left the bottom edges unhemmed for now because I need to stop at the fabric store for more green ball trim.

Back in January I made new draperies for the ladybug bathroom. I've been pretty happy with them. Handy John installed a cute pet door for the Yorkie last month and it needed some dressing up.

How long does it take to grow a pineapple?

2009-08-14T09:42:00.000-04:00

How long does it take to grow a pineapple? Well, for mine, it took two years. I planted it mid 2007 and harvested it mid 2009.

It was delicious. I planted it from the top of a grocery store pineapple.

The North Fence, Crabby Pool, and Faux Paint

2009-08-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

The patchouli on the north side of the house continues to grow like a weed. I swear it couldn't love any other climate in the world better than this (zone 9b, S. FL). The marigold grew in the tomato cages because last year, I threw the dead marigold heads behind the tomato plants. The tomato plants burned up months ago. Marigolds are commonly planted near tomatoes for deter bad insects. The rosemary hasn't ever looked better and I KNOW it's because I aggressively trim it. I can't possibly use all the rosemary I have, so I always feel guilty putting the trimmings in the trash.
It must be blue land crab season again. We found the first swimmer of the season in the pool this week. Here are the swimmers of the past. Two years ago, we had them during the first week of July and again in October.

Finally, here's the completed shot of the faux finishing job that we did in the kitchen. It really turned out great and I owe a good two days of labor to my two friends for their help.

The Brambles are doing OK

2009-08-14T08:31:00.000-04:00

The blackberries still have not blossomed. The raspberries however are doing ok. The lower half of the 2 ft long cane looks dead, but the top 12 inches is bursting with fruit. I should have fertilized them more because the fruit looks kind of pathetic. We'll see how these pan ou over the next few weeks.

The North Side of the House

2009-08-14T08:27:00.000-04:00

The summer August heat is wearing on my plants. Here is one little spot that always does really well. It gets watered twice weekly by the sprinklers. The orange mint is blooming and the coleus is jusst beginning to bud also. The brugmansia (angel trumpet) keep forming new branches each time I top it off, so it will be nice and busy. I'm happy with this little area right now.

Recycled Indoor Flower Arrangement

2009-08-11T09:58:00.000-04:00

I finally got a chance to get out in the garden today. I trimmed the Silver Buttonwood and Coco Plum bushes.

I brought the cuttings inside and stripped the leaves off the lower 5 inches of each branch. In my hand I clumped them together with the taller branches in the middle and the shorter ones on the outside. It looks really cute. We'll see how long it lasts.

Big Crop of Miracle Fruit

2009-07-15T09:10:00.000-04:00

We came home yesterday to a pleasant surprise. We have dozens of miracle fruit berries ripe! They need to be eaten because they have a short life span. Read on for a bit more info about this awesome little berry.

When the fleshy part of the fruit is eaten, the fruit reacts with the taste buds in the tongue, causing sour foods to taste sweet. You eat the fruit as you would eat a fresh cherry, except keep it in your mouth for about 30 seconds before discarding the pit. It tastes good.

The fruit works by distorting the shape of sweetness receptors so that they become responsive to acids, instead of sugar and other sweet things. This effect lasts 15-30 minutes. I've been growing the plant for years, and it's finally mature enough to produce berries!

It is completely natural
It grows naturally all over Africa
It is not genetically engineered
It is not a type of tribal drug or voodoo magic
It is not some new fad
It's organic because I don't use pesticides in my garden

So, on to my personal testimony about eating my first berry a few months ago.........

I the berry like it was a cherry. It was over in about 30 seconds and was kind of uneventful. The taste was like a cross between a cranberry and mellon and the taste didn't linger...it went away after 30 more seconds and I didn't think it was working because my mouth didn't taste sweet.

Then, I gave a lemon wedge a lick. It tasted like very sweet lemonaide. Then I ate the whole lemon. The sour didn't make my lips pucker...it tasted like the lemon had sugar injected into every single little bit of pulp.

Then I ate a lime. Same exact reaction.
Then I ate an M&M...it tasted no different than normal because this fruit only reacts with acidic flavors.
Then I ate tobasco sauce...it was like sweet BBQ sauce. My throat could still feel that it was spicy, but the flavor was sweet.

I could ramble on....but I won't. Go ahead and google Miracle Fruit. It's scientific name (genus and species) is Synsepalum dulcificum.

More Rain Again Today

2009-06-05T19:49:00.001-04:00

We got some heavy rain today at 7:30 (pm). Here's a few shots as the rain cleared up and the sun just began to set.

The Miracle Fruit is Thriving

2009-06-02T13:37:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to eat the first miracle fruit from my young bush. I planted the seed in a pot on the countertop and noticed today that it sprouted. These are very slow growing plants, so it will take years to produce fruit.

Below is the third berry. I gave the second to a friend and it totally messed up her happy hour. She made a limeade-rum drink and could not drink it because it was so sugary. I think I'll give this one to my Mom. She has been wanting to try it for a while.

Something I noticed...people are often leary about trying the fruit. The general perception is that MF is some type of new genetically engineered fruit that people should not be eating. This is not the case

Time of Year for Palm Trees to Bloom

2009-05-25T09:04:00.000-04:00

I don't fertilize my palms like I should. Even with my neglect, they still manage to bloom a couple times each year. Right now, the queens, Christmas, and Areca are in bloom.

Grapette Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis Grapette)

2009-05-18T16:10:00.000-04:00

The ground orchids are performing soooo nicely. I just want to document how beautiful they look right now because in another 6 months, they will look pitiful. I guess they are worth it.

Pictures of Miracle Fruit

2009-05-18T15:57:00.000-04:00

I got a Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) in feb 2008. It has been blooming like crazy for the past few months, but the blooms are tiny and look and feel/look like brown paper bags.

I did not think I had any fruit, but one day a few weeks ago I found one and it was ripe! I ate it, spit out the pit, then ate an entire lemon. It tasted like lemonade.......almost too sweet. It tasted like there was a cup of sugar that had been injected into the lemon.

I bought the plant for this reason, but for some reason, I didn't believe all the claims. The claims are spot on. This is now my favorite plant in the garden!

Mother's Day Flowers from Garden

2009-05-14T16:27:00.000-04:00

Here's the Mother's Day arrangement that I made the other day. The elephant ear and caladium did not hold up at all. Everything else did ok.

How to Care for An Outdoor Outdoor Orchid

2009-04-29T13:35:00.000-04:00

I tied up an orchid to an old piece of driftwood today. I also stuck two air plants from the yard on the driftwood. Then, I hung the wood from a screw on the front porch.

I think the only challenge will be to keep it misted with water. It won't receive direct sunlight, and the roots can flow anywhere.

DIY Upside Down Tomato Planter

2009-04-27T15:01:00.001-04:00

Here's an affordable way to have an upside down tomato planter that doubles as a regular hanging planter.

I cut a strawberry-sized hole in the bottom of this hanging planter. Then I stuck a tomato plant seedling in the hole. It will always turn up to grow toward the sun. Here's the posting from a few years ago that shows the hole.

How to propagate a lily

2009-04-26T08:33:00.003-04:00

I got this little lily with the bulb still attached. Some people would throw away the bulb and put the flower in a vase to enjoy for a few days. Instead of cutting off the stem, I decided to pull up the stalk, bulb and all, and plunk the whole thing into the vase. I didn't know how it would work.

After the bloom died, I planted the bulb, which already had new growth emerging from the top of the bulb.

Now that it's in the ground, I think I will cut off the stalk so that the new foliage on the top of the bulb is forced to grow. It should also stimulate the roots to grow, which will make the plant stronger.

By the way, how about those new garden gloves?! I ordered them at the same time as my gardening shoes from gardenshoesonline.com. I still can't say enough good things about that place.

Amaryllis is blooming

2009-04-25T09:08:00.000-04:00

The amaryllis blooms each year at this time. It's been in bloom now for a week. It's so beautiful!

I wasn't even trying to grow this plant

2009-04-25T07:54:00.002-04:00

I had some rodents knock over a cilantro seedling in my incubator area of the garden. I was too lazy to move it, so it's been growing where it fell. In front of the cilantro seedling is a little royal poinciana seedling that just popped up. I wasn't even trying to grow it.

What's so cool with the (above) RP seedling is that I planted these seeds 10 months ago. Only a few seeds germinated and I have baby RP trees (shown below).

So, the little seed this seedling sprouted from was planted 10 months ago and it has just now decided to germinate. Pretty cool.

New Shoes and a Peach Problem

2009-04-11T10:01:00.001-04:00

The good news for the day is that I got an awesome pair of Garden Grips. They are from GardenShoesOnline, and they are the most comfortable pair of garden shoes I've ever had. Normal crocs have holes so my feet get wet. But these are awesome and have all kinds of support inside. The big plus is that they're not 6 inches wide like most crocs. Plus, if I wanted to, I could wear them to the gator games because I was able to get orange.

Next on my list is the problematic peach tree. Yesterday I had to cut out a rubber tree stake that I left on the trunk for too long. It grew right into the tree trunk. Stupid mistake.

Today, I took a better look at that one lonely peach and noticed some kind of brown gummy goo on the peach itself. I spent a few hours today on the internet and still I don't know if I've got borers or something else. At any rate, I yanked off the golf ball size fruit and then doused the tree with Bears fruit tree powder. Argh. Worst case scenario, all the leaves fall off...it's not like I'd be killing all the fruit.

Duranta Gold Mound

2009-04-10T13:28:00.002-04:00

Duranta Gold Mound is very popular around south Florida right now. It's popularity exploded a few years ago. Nearly all of our street medians have Mamey Croton, Gold Mound, and Society Garlic. The combination of red, lime green, and purple is unbeatable. If the society garlic (crinum) wasn't so stinky, I would have it all over my yard.

Here (above) is my tiny rose bed, I have a large patchoulli in the back, two roses on the right, an asparagus ferm in the middle and a row of gold mound in the front. There's a trick to growing pretty gold mound...

Trick...only the new growth is this fluourescent lime green. So, you need to keep it trimmed not only to maintain size, but also to maintain that showy bright color. If you were to let the plant go for a year, it would still be pretty, but also a tyipical medium dark green color. The whole reason (in my opinion) to use duranta is so that you can achive that big contrast in color and texture. That's why it's so striking when used in combination with a red or dark green plant.

So, this brings me to the second point of this posting... I blogged about Duranta Gold Mound last year. Last week, I was looking on eBay for some duranta seeds and found a seller using my picture from last year (seen below). You can see my car mirror and the link to my original posting.

From danielle's garden blog

So, clearly I need to be better about watermarking my images. But, the image is hosted on an "all rights reserved" site and was published on my blog which clearly states my copyright notice. Further, all images unless otherwise stated are always copyrighted by the creator...it's a law. But, when it comes to prosecution, the law is still pretty hard to use.