ellen Hello all! It has been such a long while since I have been gardening or normal. We have been working on the house, but slowly, I have been adding to the garden.
I started a veggie plot with two 4×8 beds and a small 2×5 ish one. Let me tell you what loves it here, BASIL! I have had so much success with basil. I have Thai, Greek, purple, and cinnamon. It is a pesto extravaganza weekly in the kitchen. Something else I have learned is that hornworms are serious pests. I had tomatoes growing, several varieties, and each morning, I was hand picking about 5-10 hornworms off of the tomatoes. Unbelievable. I had a brick and a stone where I smashed them. It felt a little bit like daily sacrifices, but it was necessary. Once the tomatoes got so leggy and through their prime, I took them out, and no longer do I have hornworms. We will see, there is a volunteer tomato plant that has cropped up, but so far, no hornworms. Onions, parsley, sage, Mexican tarragon, stevia, eggplant, hot peppers, watermelon, kale and Asian greens have all been very successful.
Lucky for me, I have a wonderful neighbor that has a very well established, and beautiful, tropical garden. She has divided up truck loads of plants for me. Now, we have five dogs, so not everything has made it, but most has. The things I am most excited about are the heliconias and the ornamental gingers. If her garden is any sort of ledger for what to expect with plant size, then I am in for a real treat! Clumps of plants up to 4-6 feet wide and 7 -15 feet tall!!! It will be like my crazy sunflowers in Chicago. Height! I also have come across a white bird of paradise plant that I divided in two and seems to be growing nicely. It should reach 30 feet at maturity from what I have researched. Just amazing.
Along with the planned gardens I am trying my hand at, there are just some amazing wild orchids and iris that pop up from time to time. New gardening zone and many new things to learn. I am excited to document what I learn from it all. Here’s to plants! Cheers (pina colada or mojito in hand)!
