04-11-2021

After the storm last night I expected to find the garden in disarray with branches everywhere and hours of cleanup. 

NOPE. Not a branch anywhere and very few leaves littering the place. The storm actually washed the stepping stones off.

BUT, there was damage because gardening in South Florida has its own little and big problems. They hatch out little and grow really big and are vegetarians. 

WAIT... Is that a tail????? So, I pulled it.

Ouch... That was my tail!

Did you eat my nasturtiums? What nasturtium? I know no nasturtium. How about my beans? Wasn't me. Ask him. 

WHAT????

Err... Hi there. I was just looking, honest.

I'll be going, now.. no foul, no harm.

I'm on the fern. Never touched those beans. Don't listen to that other iguana. I am innocent.

There is not a leaf left on the upper 3 tiers of the beans. I guess neither of you knows anything about that....They must have fallen off in the storm last night.

Where did my bush cucumbers lose their leaves????

Which one of you demented little reptiles actually ate MUSTARD leaves???? Do you know how hot they are? Well, one of you does.

So now you know the perils of gardening in South Florida. There is no point in cursing the little devils. More will come and there are two more exactly two sizes up. The big one controls how many small ones are allowed and has even run off the carnivorous big knight anole. You have to admit, that takes nerve. 

Yard King. He eats whole moringa trees.

Number 2 Iguana.

Number 3 Iguana

Number 4 Iguana

You have to admit, #4 is cute. That is how they get me to let them stay and then they are number 1 iguanas a few years later and eat whole trees. I guess I just have to  plant more.

10-25-2019....Those pepper can be HOT!

10-25-2019

It has been raining sporadically since last night and still I found a passed out impatiens. Fortunately they recover quickly. Just to give you an idea of how it is down here, I went into Publix for some of those special grapes and it was sunny and hot. I came out to a drenched parking lot and it was again, sunny and hot. No wonder the plants are confused.

I lost another mustard which leads me to believe they just can't take the heat. It is in the high 80's and low 90's every day. I must admit to being puzzled as to how some of the tomatoes are setting fruit. I did buy a tray of red Romaine lettuce. The red leaf veggies tend to take more heat than the pale green ones. If it doesn't need to set a head, it takes more heat.

All the peppers are going crazy, growing and setting peppers but you have to remember, peppers are perennials. Yes, even those regular bell peppers are perennial in hot climates with no frost. My Big Bertha is celebrating her second birthday. I almost lost her to mealybugs but she threw them off. Plants are capable of defending themselves and even communicating with nearby plants. Not a mealybug was found on any other pepper so they upped their chemical defenses, too. I have to pick some of the Loco Peppers. They are a cute little lavender round pepper which I bet they will make you sorry you tried to eat them. Although cute, the breeders say they are as hot as a cayenne pepper and not very tasty. We shall see. It seems all ornamental peppers are really hot they have little flavor. They are hottest when red rather than lavender. I have Scotch Bonnets in case anyone is suicidal. They have a heat rating of 80,000 to 400,000 Scoville units or very hot. It is one of the hottest peppers in the world. I will cage it as soon as it starts bearing because we all know George is going to accidentally pop one in his mouth like he did the habanero pepper.

Yes, I got my “witches finger” grapes and they are delicious. They aren't calling them that but Publix has them for 1.99 a pound. I got two bags. It is the best grape you can find. So far, not a seed.

The rain and heat is keeping me from working like I would like to. Danged diabetes and its messing with your internal thermostat. We can actually overheat and start sweating so badly, we dehydrate, sort of like the impatiens.