Vincas

I have vincas in the Aerogarden now. They have been in there for a long time, and this is just ONE plant. They are so cheerful.

Potted plants producing

I'm very happy with the health and production of my potted plants.

Bell pepper



Eggplant



Jalapeno



And the watermelon, although they don't look like much, they are vining and blooming so maybe I will get a watermelon this year. I hope so!

Sprouts a'sproutin

Onion, turnip, swiss chard, radish, squash


Watermelon (struggling)


Cabbage

Hello World

5 rows of seeds were planted in this bed just 4 days ago and already 2 whole rows have sprouted. And a few sprouts in the smaller bed are starting to come up too! (Too small yet to see in a pic. )

We planted red onions, turnips, radishes, swiss chard, squash, and cabbage. I've grown turnips before (just a few) and they did well. I have also grown squash before, which were all affected with a fungus and died of rot (never got fruit on the plants due to leaf rot). The other vegetables that we planted, I have never grown before. Boyfriend claims cabbage is super easy, radishes are just as easy as turnips I am sure, and I have a coworker growing swiss chard right now. He said that it's a piece of cake to grow.

So I'm hoping for great success. I usually don't thin my plants, but I think I am going to this time, to see if I will have a better result.

Ready for bees!

Two flower gardens planted and bee house up. Bees were around while I was planting so I have high hopes!

I counted on mason bees but I don't know if they really are in Florida due to the humidity (I am getting mixed info on the web about it), so I am going to participate in the University of Florida's Native Buzz project, documenting and ID'ing the solitary bees I get.

I'm excited!

Since I planted I seemed to instantly attract butterflies too!

The flowers are hanging out with my pineapple and aloe.





See the viewing feature on the side? The wood panel slides out to reveal the inside of 2 bee tubes behind plexiglass.





See my previous post to view the flowers I previously planted. The bees should have plenty of reasons to stay in my area and use the house. One other thing I'm not sure about though.. is it the beginning, middle, or end of bees season? Well, either way, plenty of bees are around. But if they already have nests, then I may have to wait for residents next year.

Also, a few of the watermelon sprouts got stem rot, but I have some strong ones too and they are starting to vine along the ground. Pics coming soon, once they get a little bigger.

Solitary Mason Bees

I have begun an hobby of keeping solitary mason bees!

Here is a video all about them:
http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/solitary-bees-pollinators/

The bee house is being shipped. It's a 20-tube house with an observation window (basically the window is plexiglass with a piece of wood that slides over it, so it remains dark for the bees until you want to view). I did get it through the company on the video, Crown Bees, which sells through Amazon.

Here is the bee house I ordered:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G7Q1F6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There were nicer bee houses to choose from but I really want the observation window, especially since this is my first time keeping bees.

Step 1 was to add native (flowering) plants to the landscape. I have alot out front but not too many in back where the house will be, so I planted a ring of pentas around the bird bath.



I have more flowers to plant (coneflowers, blanket flowers, black eyed susan), but I don't know where to put them yet.



Here are some shots of the front of the house where I know the bees will have a field day.







Pentas:






I might move this plumbago to the back...

Watermelon

I started a watermelon garden! Check it out!



About 5 days later:



Started tomatoes in pots. Beds are a no no since the episode of fusarium wilt.



Transplanted an unproductive pepper from spring from the bed to a pot, after a friend told me peppers are solitary. Now it's doing great!

Mushroom farm

I bought this at Fresh Market. This thing is cool!

Started seeing progress within the week




2 days later!




And all this needs is only 1 tsp water twice a day. It doesn't even need sun.

Tomato diseases

We have had too much rain and my tomatoes acquired a fungus which I believe to be Fusarium Wilt. I tore up most plants, but still got a decent harvest. There are a few sad plants left but I am waiting for the tomatoes to get red before I pull them.





The garden also got overgrown with weeds, so I have been pulling every day, then I laid down some contractor bags and tacked them down with landscaping staples.

I started new tomato plants from seeds as August is the new planting season.

And the morning glories reseeded their pot. Now I look outside and see nothing but love!

Today's harvest!

Garden is doing ok. Very weedy though. I need to lay down some weed paper or something. For now, I'm pulling. Tomato plants are looking twiggy but are still making a large number of tomatoes so I am letting them be. Peas and green beans : I got a small harvest off them but then they got twiggy and died. They have been replaced with cucumber seeds which are growing well. The sweetie tomatoes are really producing and are less prone to fruit cracking than the romas. I will grow them again next year. Upside down tomato planter, which is in its second year with the same [cherry tomato] plant is kind of looking sad now. I will swap it out. The topsy turvy morning glory planter has "reseeded itself" and is now growing new morning glories. I cleared out the old to make room for the new.

A friend I was visiting sent me home with these:



Aren't these cool? These are lily bulbs, different from the rain lilies I have. These are more tropical looking lilies. The bulbs look bizarre, like turtle eggs. I will be putting them on top of a pot of dirt so they take root.

Morning glories

Morning glories in the Topsy Turvy









I haven't done much with the front garden but the pentas are spreading to cover it and they are in bloom. I pruned a little and used the clippings for a small mason jar bouquet for the bathroom.

posted from Bloggeroid

Growth spurts

Growth spurts caused by rain!

posted from Bloggeroid

Getting ready to harvest

The morning glories in the "Topsy Turvy" bloomed today! That is the great thing about morning glories. They look really cool as vines, but one day you wake up and there they are - colorful and beautiful. Thanks, Dad, for the planter!



Their leaves kind of fold up when the sun gets too hot, and they open back up at night. Very adaptable, eh?





This is called a Plumeria. I got it at this weekend's arts and foliage festival. All you do is stick it in sand with no water and it roots with just light and heat. These come from Hawaii. They grow only as big as the pots they are in. If planted in the ground, they grow up to look more like a tree. Otherwise I guess you would call them flowering shrubs. Their flowers are used to make leis in Hawaii. This one I selected will have yellow and cream colored flowers. I think the variety is called Camela or Camelia or something..? (Once it starts growing, you can prune again and root the new cutting).



Peas! - my first time growing these


Tomatoes!


Bougainvillea! (First year blooming)


Garden beans! - My first time growing these


Also we have some itty bitty cucumbers coming out too. Well, that's it for now! C-ya!

posted from Bloggeroid