Messed Up My Blog

I just noticed that my blog is all screwed up so will have to get into the template and fix it soon.

Rainy day so just staying inside on the comp. Later gator!

Winter Sowing

Now is a good time for me to start my winter sowing. The temps have finally dropped for awhile and I can get out there and begin to sow seeds under mulch or on top of the ground and my pots for winter sowing. I do this with only the seeds that are cold hardy like many different greens and lettuces, radishes, carrots...there are quite a few that you can do this with including tree and flower seeds.



I also like to begin taking hardwood cuttings about now for rooting. Some I will root right on the tree or shrub. I remove a ring of bark and place damp sphagnum moss around the wound then wrap with plastic wrap or foil. I leave this on till around mid March and then I remove and cut off the well-rooted branch which gets potted up in a quart container and set in a lightly shaded area outside away from winds. I especially like to do this with my blueberry plants. Can one ever have enough berries?



I will have to start publishing some of my favorite berry recipes here that are tried and true like my cobblers and muffins or my daughters killer blueberry/blackberry cheesecake that my husband actually has dreams about, it is sooooooo good!



Well, gotta run for now. Dr.'s appointment this morning. God bless all of you in the northern part of Alabama , Georgia and east who may be socked in this morning from the recent ice and snow. Later gator!

Cold January Day

A cold week ahead. I hate the cold but at least it is sunny so that helps. My daughter in N.E. GA is supposed to get snow on Wed/Thursday so she may have to stay home from college those days even if they don't close the schools. Her professors said just call but don't try and come in if you live on the mountain back roads....which she does.

Here I am planting more lettuces and spinach in pots. My son and I really can eat up the home grown greens! YUM! I am also getting pots planted up with herb seeds and will plant them out in raised beds this spring. Fresh herbs from your own garden taste so much better than the tastelss dried herbs from the supermarket. There really is no comparison.

Went to Super Walmart on Sunday and bought some Caladiums to plant out in pots for the greenhouse. That is one plant that you never have to worry about and just gives you consisitant color and beauty all season till nearly frost. For we here in the deep south..that is a L O N G time!

I also bought a bread maker but was surprised that there was only one to choose from and only one on the shelves. Are breadmakers now passe'? Is the thrill gone? I use my other breadmaker that my daughter gave me for Chrismas many years ago almost every day till I wore it out! I hope this one lasts a long time. I guess I over-use them, but there is nothing like homemade bread as well as making your own pizza dough with it. I can't knead anymore and found my Kitchenaid mixer does not do doughs as well as they make you believe they do soooooooooooo, thus the breadmachine.

We have company coming in next month so I am trying to get some deep cleaning done around here. Guess I best get to it again. Later gator!

END OF 2007

THIS YEAR SHALL NOT BE MISSED! It has been nothing but drought and misery for plants and animals alike...and I include we humans in the "animal" sense. Southern and western states fighting over water rights, farmers going bankrupt as they attempt to make it big with "bio-fuel" and instead watch as everything burned up in the fields. GREED! It will be your un-doing every time!!!

Every year brings new hope and this coming new year is no different. I am making plans for more raised beds for fruits and veges as well as planting the two big Trachy Palms that my hubby gave me for Christmas. Right now they are sitting in their pots outside, patiently waiting for their holes to be dug. I'm still debating as to where to plant them. Our place is laid out so strangely due to the necessity for a raised septic system and our overly long (90') manufactured home and then a 125'X50' retention/fish pond fifteen feet on the other side of the home, that I am in constant turmoil as to where to plant things. As the bamboo groves continue to expand and spread hither and yon, it will all soon be a "moot" point, anyway.

Db's shop has the foundation finished, but that is all for right now. I hope we can complete it before summer. I want to get the landscaping completed around the building before the heat sets in and I will have no energy or will to do it.

I won some succulent and cactus cuttings off of EBay the other day and really lucked up! Thirty cuttings (two of each species) which arrived last night when hubby brought in the mail. Since I had no mix to plant them in other than my tropical mix, I just wet some Sphagnum moss and stuck the cuttings in there until I can get some, hopefully this weekend. I'm really getting a passion for these now and have found myself becoming a collector....just what I need...another plant collection!!!!

Well, enough for this go-round. I hope you enjoy the picture of the Tree Dahlia bloom. Later gator!

End of a Season

It is the end of a season after tomorrow night. We should get our first frost and all the tropicals I keep outside year round will hit the dust. I will mulch them well and wave by till spring comes round once again.

The drought has been horrid! I can't even describe how bad it is to those who have never been in something like this 100 year happening. I'm lucky as I live on a wetland and even though it is much dryer than normal, the trees have been taking it all in stride. There roots will just go down further to seek the water they need to survive.

The pond is down by 3' but all the fish are surviving. The last rain storm brought it up about a foot once it was all said and done and I was very surprised. If we don't start getting some rain soon, though...it will start to go down again. We have only lost two fish through it all and both were due to Great Blue Herons trying to spear them and dropping them due to their size and weight.

I have started my winter garden and have garlic, lettuces, and spinach growing well. They are in pots out front and on the back porch for easy snipping while cooking. Just the thing for a sandwich or quick salad.

I am now getting deep into Square Foot Gardening (TM) and bought some lumber to make my first 4'X4' raised bed. I will enclose some pics as soon as it is up and going, but that may not be until spring. I will probably just over-sow it with annual rye grass till spring with some pansies here and there for a spot of cheery color.

Speaking of pansies; I have four hanging baskets full and about ten more to plant up so I better get on the ball with them. How i would love to have the health and energy of youth! Ah, well....I must just take life as it comes and rejoice in my good days. Later gator!

DROUGHT AND SUCH

This has been the worst drought in over a hundred years for we here in most of Alabama. It has been devastating to the farmers, but of course you don't hear much of that on the National news...who cares, right? It's more important to talk of war and elections. You S.O.B.'s !!!

The shop is ready to be poured now. Just waiting on the cement guys to get out here. Hopefully today because it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Db has changed the layout of the shop and will have only two garage doors on the outside plus one entrance door. It would require too much fill to have the other two doors on the side as that side is low and would have to be raised up by about 12 truckloads of fill dirt...mucho $$. He is going to put a garage door on the inside of the shop where the paint booth will be.

As far as any gardening goes, I have been potting up the Trachys I started this winter from seed. They are growing quickly and will be ready to pot up to gallons come February for the nursery.

I also dug and potted up some of the Alocasia 'Borneo Giants" I was growing in the ground around our home. They seem to be happy with the change and are taking off like a rocket! One of them by the front porch had toppled over and when I dug it up to see what was going on, I found the beginning of rot from the nibbling of a mouse or vole. I cut out all the rot, let it dry for a day and potted it up. It is now happy as a Lark and growing like mad in my master bath solarium where it will over-winter along with many more tropicals.

My Dahlia 'Imperialis,' also known as 'Tree Dahlias', are shooting up like weeds and should bloom come November if we don't get a frost. I am going to dig them after they are finished blooming so I can divide them. I want to pot some up for sale this spring either at the nursery or on EBAY.

I have a ton of work to do today so better get off and get going. I will endeavor to write in this blog more often in the future for anyone who happens to keep up with my musings. Later gator! deb @ The Bamboo Jungle N Gardens

More Shop Talk

The shops construction is under way. Since I last posted it was graded again, a special fill brought in and leveled. Next, the foundation forms will be built next week and the concrete poured. Db showed me a plan on paper last night and it will be very nice at 30' X 50' with four bays and an entrance door. Two in front and two on the long side facing the highway. What you see in this picture is my greenhouse and office/gift shop. We are having the buildings all painted green to blend in as we did with our guest cottage by the pond.

I am going to take some pictures today so I can keep a running pictorial journal for Db and later, present him with a collage of the process for his office wall. Speaking of offices, he will be moving his present office out here after the building is completed. It is similar to the one in this picture only smaller and he has had it for about 18 years. The one you see here is around 15 years old. As you can see they last and last if kept up like any building.

With all the outbuildings we have now, we have a "sort of" Compound and I will be landscaping it in such a way that all are connected with paths and small courtyard gardens. The courtyards will be enclosed by hedges, gates, arbors covered in the many wild vines that grow in abundance here with no help from me. Muscadines, Passion Flowers, Honeysuckle, Ivy...just to name a few.

We recently had to cut down a natural arbor that had been produced after one of the many hurricanes we experienced a few years ago. A tree had toppled part way over and Muscadines clamored over the Oak Tree and latched onto a Willow tree on the other side. Db loved it so much that he left it be and would prune it only enough to keep it passable by vehcles. It just killed me to see all the un-ripe fruit tumbling down to the driveway as he sawed and pulled away at what nature had made with no help from man. We will let it grow over again as soon as the big trucks are through with their comings and goings.

The drought and 100+ degree temps. have pretty much put gardening to a screeching halt, other than keeping everything watered sparingly...just enough to keep my rare plants alive. Praying constantly for rain and relief from the 100 yr. drought- record- breaker. Later gator....

Rainy Week Means Smiles Here!

We have had rain every day this week except for yesterday and that is good new! I guess the drought is over, but we still need much more before we can make it official.

I was fortunate enough to find someone on EBAY who lives in SC and sent me some Water Hyacinths. They have been outlawed in AL but this woman obviously was not aware of that as she sold me a big box of them. I hope they grow in my fish pond and help shade/cool the water. There were no roots on the plants and I am not familar with how they grow, but I assume they will root.

It is ridiculous how they will outlaw any plant that is beautiful, grows well and needs little assistance from mankind to keep free of insect and disease. Instead, they need to find a good use for the plants. Look at all the uses found for our nearly native Kudzu !!!! (by the way, I am a Kudzu fan from way back) If you wish to flame me on this in the comment section...don't bother; I've heard it all. I am not alone in my thoughts on this.

Some of the plants I grow that I have been flamed on are, Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus , Arundo Donax, Kudzu, Japanese Honeysuckle...just to name a few. I've been growing them for years and keeping them in check. It's not hard if you aren't the lazy type.

Well, since it is cooler today, I am off to pot up some more plants for the nursery. Have a ton of Trachys that need to move up as well as Papaya and Tapioca trees..later gator!

DOCK GAZEBO PROJECT

Db and I have been working on the dock gazebo for the past month and today we will finally put the screening in. When that is completed we will celebrate with a little champagne toast tomorrow night. I am trying to think of what to put inside the gazebo as it has four corner shelves and four hooks to hang "whatever" inside. With my penchant for a "tropical" theme, you just have to know that it will be exotic! Ha! Ha!

I will take a picture of it tomorrow night and post it here. This current picture is when Db began work on enlarging the dock to accommodate the gazebo's larger size. I will say one thing...it was definitely an experience with just we two putting it up!!! One time it almost fell on my head and bent a few of the metal hinges, but Db managed to straighten them out with his hands; then we ended up having to take one corner down in order to get the second roof on correctly. It's been an interesting journey; one of many in our twenty-two years together! Later gator...

Alabama Drought '07

The on-going drought here in some of the southern states is absolutely devastating! My fish pond is down by two feet and I worry about all the many stocked fish we have. So far no fish kill, but my dh tells me fish are dying in ponds in Montgomery now. I pray for a tropical storm or tropical depression daily...in fact off and on ALL DAY! Since I live on a wetland, it's not as bad as some have it, but I am starting to see leaf kill on some of the plants on higher ground.

We have a new puppy. His name is Little Boo and he is twelve weeks old now. He is a PekeaChi. Have no idea if that is a recognized breed now or not and really don't care. He is a doll. Am having no problems with house training him but am exhausted from going up and down the steps so many times a day to make sure he doesn't have any accidents. He is black and white and looks more Chi than Peke.

Our son left for Florida on Monday where he and a buddy have moved. He loves the ocean and this was always his dream so now that he is 21 he decided this was the right time. He wants to eventually become a police officer and has had to wait till he turned 21. He wants to make sure that he is happy there before he joins the police force, though. Only time will tell, but so far so good.

Now that I have a completely empty nest, I find myself in a bit of a slump. I am so used to taking care of others that I feel lost. You would think with all the critters I have to care for that I wouldn't feel this way, but you can't cook for your critters and find yummy recipes to try out just for them. Well, I do make my own healthy puppy and kitty snacks) I'm sure this will pass as I have sent off two daughters into the world over a decade ago and I survived, but then again Chad-E was just a little guy then and I had my hands full.

I bought that tonic that is supposed to be so great for plants with all the vitamins/minerals/hormones. Well, guess what? It's not what it is cracked up to be at all. I have noticed absolutely no difference in any of my plants since I started using it. My own secret plant tonic does, though, so I will just continue to use it instead.

The banana plants are taking off like a rocket with these super hot days and I am keeping them well-watered so they keep it up. I must remember to water the Butia palm that Db and Chad-E gave me for Mothers Day. It's out back by the chicken coup and clothes line and I tend to forget it when I get busy out there. These 100 degree days are murder though, and I can't forget!!!

Well, It's 6:20 and I want to get out in the gardens before it gets too hot so I will quit here for now. Later gator!

Where has time gone....?

I can't believe how fast time is slipping away from me. It is so depressing to get on this computer with my slow modem. The internet is so far advancing and not considering the hell we folks on slow modems have to go through just to read our email, let alone try and surf anything on the web!

I live out in the country on a main Hwy. that is fast growing with homes for the rich. You would think that they would get DSL out here. The more the area grows, the harder it is to use the internet as the phone lines (old as it is) just get too much traffic on them. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Can't something be done about this? No, not interested in Satellite. Have heard nothing but complaints about it from folks around here.

Well, as far as the gardens go, the drought is bound to take it's toll eventually if we don't receive some blessed rain soon. The sport fishing pond is down by two feet and losing more water every day that passes with no rain or measurable rain. My water bill jumed twenty dollars last month from having to water despite using as much mulch as I can get my hands on. Guess I will have to go out into the woods with a tarp and start raking up leaves for more mulch. Unfortunately, I need to make more borders around the beds/trees in order to keep them contained or else the night wildlife just rakes it out everywhere by morning in their search for bugs.

Db has been working on the dock since the water is down. We bought a really attractive screen room at Lowes last month and had to enlarge the dock by about six inches all the way around for it to fit. We did that Sunday so now all we have to do is paint the new boards and then put the screen house up. That will be a wonderful place to get away from the nasty mosquitoes that drive us in every night.

I stopped selling plants and still have a goodly amount of Tapioca, Papaya, and some Tree Tomatoes left (Tamarillos) Guess I will pot them up to one gallons for next year and raise the price a few dollars then. Too hot to continue shipping, unfortunately. I could put up some more Yucca trunk cuttings. They would make it through the heat with no problems.

The area was cleared for the shop this morning. The gentleman was out there for about three hours bush hogging and grading. It will really be nice to have Db back here on the homestead, just like the good old days. He is really excited and has drawn more layouts for the shop building than I can count! My job will be to landscape it all, which I, too, am looking forward to.:-)

Enough for this go-round. I need to get out there and take photos of the progress from start to finish and now is as good a time as any. Later gator!

Winters Back!

I really couldn't believe the weather forecast the other day...50's for highs and clear down in the twenties for lows???? It's April for God's sake!

I have been bringing plants in from outside the past two days trying to save as many as possible from the coming freezes. April 5th !!!

I can't even imagine what this is going to do to all the trees and flowering shrubs and vines that are in full swing here. It can only be devastating and will take weeks for the plants to recover. My boo is shooting so I can't even imagine what that will do to the tender shoots and leaves! I am just sick at heart over this.

I really don't see how they can scream "Global Warming" because after all my decades on this earth...I see more of a new "Ice Age" than "Global Warming".

March Days

Spring is so beautiful here in southern Alabama that I have no problem waking up each day in a good mood and ready to greet the day.

The first thing I do is to grab my first cup of coffee of the morning and take it out to the dock where I watch the birds flying back and forth in there frenzy to make nests to raise their young.

As I sit awhile longer, the Catfish let me know that they are hungry so I put my almost finished cup of coffee and go to the storage building to get them some fish chow. Boy, are they hungry! They jump up like a trained porpoise in their desire to get as much of the food that they can. The competition is stiff as they swim en mass like so many sharks in the ocean. Finally the feeding frenzy ends as they eat the last floating pellet and they once again go down into their dark world at the bottom of the pond.

I get up and walk around the pond, which is 125' long by 50' wide looking for signs of Bluets, of the genus Houstonia (or Hedyotis), of the madder family, esp. H. caerulea, a low-growing plant having four-petaled blue , pink, violet, and white flowers. the first spring flower at our place. I spot some and am thrilled as if it were for the first time. Of course it is not as we have lived here over a decade.

My geese are in the mating mode so they squawk and yell if I get too close to a nesting mama. I carry a bamboo pole to avoid attacks by the one mean goose I have. He is so mean that I won't even name him. If I could find a home for he and his mate, I would. Mr. and Mrs. Goose-Lee are all I really want anyway.

Now I go in to start my day. I will check my email, then hang out some laundry then straighten up the kitchen and make some breakfast for the guys...the sun is streaming in the kitchen window as it dances on the surface of the pond and makes such lovely sparkling designs on my ceiling...God bless another day!

Spring in the South!

It is spring in the deep south now that mid-February is here and the excitement grows as seed starting begins and the signs of spring begin to come alive outside.

The first thing I look for are the Red Maples flowering way on the tops of the trees. You can see a faint red glow as you are walking or driving around and then you know that the race is on!

Every day there is something new popping out or up. I begin to look for the tiny Bluetes that blanket the ground around the fish pond all spring. Blue, pink, violet, and white sparkles to usher in springs arrival.

My geese are mating now and I have the first egg of the season to prove it. I'm swamped with more eggs than I can possibly make into artistic creations so may start selling the extras for a little extra feed money. Let them earn their keep! Ha! Ha!

I wish you all a wonderful up-coming spring no matter what part of the country/world you live in. It's just a heartbeat away! Later gator!

NOVEMBER MEANS RYE GRASS PLANTING!

It is getting dull looking outside now so it is time to give the place that winter time "boost" with a large shot of annual rye grass seed. There is nothing like the bright, primary green color that this grass gives to a yard in the deep south. Even the Highway department uses it on the sides of the state highways and interstates. Much safer than dry grass which can catch fire from a cars passengers throwing lit cigarettes out their car windows.

Yesterday, right before the rain started, I went out and began spreading the first 100 lbs. Of annual rye grass seed around the pond and driveway. I also sow it in all my pots that aren't already filled with colorful pansies. We will be sowing four hundred more pounds before we are finished. It's cheap and the bang you get for your buck on this stuff is well worth it. Winter flies by when you have a green lawn and colorful flowers blooming throughout. One year we skipped sowing the annual rye grass and pansies due to other issues that were more important at the time and winter seemed to never end. NEVER AGAIN!

If you live below the Mason-Dixon line...Give annual rye grass a try. It's very inexpensive and well worth the short time it takes to sow and germinate. (must faster germination than perennial grass seed) 3-5 days and you're on your way to a beautiful lawn. You can keep it cut if you like, but we just let it grow till it falls over on itself. It is like walking on satin and you have that wonderful "new mown grass" scent all winter.

Some more reasons for planting annual rye grass is it is a wonderful cover crop and will decompose as soon as the hot weather begins, adding tilth and nutrients to your soils. Great to use in fallow raised or flat beds, flower pots and baskets that you don't intend to plant over the winter. Give it a try! Later gator...

Garden Junk Art

This is a pic of 'The Bomb' that Db has been working on for months and is finally placed in the antique WW2 bomb carrier that was given to him from one of his long time customers.

Db has decided to make this a memorial to my father, a WW2 vet with many honors as well as all the other WW2 vets that served. It sits in a jungle of five different species of bamboo and is being allowed to grow up and through the piece.

We have finally found a special marker in white for writing on this art piece and will send another pic when it is complete.

I hope that others will take a lesson from this and use their own imaginations to produce other art pieces for the other wars this country has been involved with. We need to honor all the soldiers who fight for this country as well as other countries freedoms. Use your imagination and run with it. Db did.

Fall In The Deep South

Now that the weather has cooled down to the 80's it is once again pleasant to work outside. I have been moving some of the Agave americana into the greenhouse and also started a compost bin in there to help with the heat needs at night. Sure can't afford to heat it anymore!

The leaves are still on the trees here. It is always a hit or miss as to whether we will have a pretty fall or they will just turn brown and fall off. Too far south.

Chad-E's friends came over on Monday to do some fishing in the pond and caught enough catfish for a nice meal. I love to watch these young men sit on the dock, patiently waiting for a "bite" and then to reel the monsters in. Sometimes if it's an extra large "cat" or bass it will actually take their poles right out of their hands and they are seldom seen again!

The Great Blue Heron is back. He stayed at the pond all day yesterday and I watched him out the kitchen window from time to time. He and the King Fisher apparently have a few ponds they visit. When the Heron is here I can always tell as the African Gray Geese will swim in strange patterns in the center of the pond over and over again. They share the pond with the wild birds, grudgingly, I think.

I am hoping to buy some flats of Pansies this weekend for the winter garden. Just doesn't seem right not to have their smiling faces all over the place along with the emerald green annual rye grass we sow by the hundreds of pounds each late fall. It makes for a beautiful and quick winter. I make sure I have pots of pansies visible through every window in our home.

The picture is looking through a grove of my bamboo towards Db's latest "yard art". An authentic WW2 bomb carrier with a "faux" bomb loaded. (made from an old, non-working compressor he had laying around) I will be doing a blog on that with more pictures, soon.

That's it for this go-round...later gator!

Brugmansia-Angel Trumpets Are In Bloom

I have been putting off taking pictures of the gardens since my cameras battery compartment door is broken and taping it up is a hassle and a royal pain in the neck! I broke down and accomplished the feat this morning since some terrific storms went through last night and everything was glistening with rain drops at sunrise. Just too beautiful to pass up! This Brug was started from a cutting over the winter and placed out this spring. Sat there forever during the drought since I was busy with a full house and couldn't remember to water as I should have...after the drought ended it took off like a rocket and you see the results.

The Bamboo Jungle: Mosaic And Garden Junk Art

One Sunday while Db and I were walking around Lowes, we came upon this Styrofoam planter. Hmmmmm, we both thought, this would make a great lamp for over our picnic table in our kitchen.

Once we arrived home I immediately began the painting of the raised areas on the planter. I was really exhausted after walking around the store that morning so I set everything up on my bed on a tray and worked for the next two hours carefully painting the bamboo design as well as the bottom and top and inside of the pot. Db drilled the holes in the pot and I glued violet cellophane squares over the holes on the inside to give it a different look. I love the southeast Asian "feel" in my gardens and thought this would fit right in. On to the next project!

What a Summer!

What a spring and summer this has been! Daughter's husband lost his business after months of trying to hang on to it and I ended up with my daughter and young grands living here from mid May till almost the middle of August! We managed to keep from killing each other and actually had a lot of fun over the weeks that ensued. You learn a lot about your child when you live with them after adulthood has set in. I could see parts of me in her as well as parts of her father...Those were NOT the good parts! Ha! Ha!

This mingling of age groups allowed me to get to know my grands better and to let them get to know me past the twice a year, three day visits. I taught them how to start seeds and cuttings and how to transplant them to larger and larger pots. How important the right amount of sun and water were to each individual species and to see the joy on their faces when their Zinnias bloomed.

Art is also a big part of mine as well as my daughters life. We are both selling artists so paint and clay came into the picture on almost a daily basis. My daughter made comical heads of each of us as a keepsake that were surprisingly life-like and very colorful. I am going to make cloth bodies for these heads and turn them into dolls over the winter.


The drought ended shortly before my daughter moved back to N.E. Georgia where she was starting college to finish up her RN degree and the kids to a new school year. We had many a good time sitting out on the back porch with either coffee, an herbal iced tea, or an ice cold Corona talking about gardening, cooking, and life in general. We came to know each other on a new level and I think this time together taught us a lot about each other and our rolls as mother/daughter. I learned to keep my mouth shut on things that she needed to find out for herself and she learned that others could reprimand her children with the same love that she did in her own home.

I think every mother and grown daughter should live together for a few months once in their lives. It teaches you so much about each other and forms a bond that will last forever. It's one of those cases of "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger" type deals....Later gator!