Creatures in My Garden: The Birds and the Bees... er Deer

On Sunday we decided to have our lunch out on the lanai. This isn't something we do very often this time a year as the temperatures are in the mid to high 90's, but the sun was shining and everything was so green outside - we just couldn't resist.

We don't use a lot of harsh chemicals in our garden, with the exception being fire ant dust, which tends to just relocate them. As a result of that, we've got a nice coexistence of lizards, bees, butterflies, dragon flies, squirrels, birds, rabbits, and various other creatures.
Recently, in the hibiscus on the west side of my lanai (just behind the parasol), right against the screen, I discovered a Mockingbird building a nest. I went to have a peak and discovered three blue eggs. I don't want to frighten off the mother bird, so am trying to stay away. It's been a harder time keeping Harry away, but for the most part he's actually been very well behaved.
Looking out over our roses, rosemary, and sea grape - we saw a first...
... a deer. It was lovely seeing it roam around. I've never seen a deer by our house and while it was sweet to see it, it was also sad as on the other side of those trees is a wall. The wood isn't very deep there, so is not the best place for a deer. Even more worrying is the fact that an alligator has been residing in the area by the water that the deer was walking. This was something I didn't care to witness. Fortunately the alligator was either sleeping, or had hopefully moved on to another lake.
We've had snakes, herons, egrets, pelicans, and roseate spoonbills, however the alligator is the only unwelcome creature we've had in our garden.

Ikea's Basil From Seed

While I do have a fairly green thumb, I've always been intimidated by gardening from seed. For Christmas this year, my fab friend Gloria gave me a bag of goodies from Ikea. In the bag was this kit to grow basil from seed. I started it on 03/07. In the pot was a disc of potting matter that you soak for 15 minutes in 1 cup of water. It expanded to fill the pot, then you scattered the seeds on top... and wait.
I'm not known for being the most patient person, but this really started to sprout in days! One week later, on 03/15, this is what I woke up to find:
By 03/30 the bright green sprouts had started to take a yellow hue. I was also noticing fuzzy mold spores starting to appear. As the instructions weren't entirely clear, I wasn't sure how much water or sun I should be giving it. I'm not sure if there was something I was doing wrong or even how to correct it.
By 4/07, the mold was starting to take over. Sadly, this was the end of my Ikea basil plant.

Gardening: Valentine's Weekend Plantings

I apologize in advance. This is by no means my most interesting post. But it is that time again, the time of year when I don my garden gloves, grab the secateurs, slap on the SPF and go at it like a mad woman. I LOVE to garden, and while I have a very small yard, I make the most of the area that I have. So again, I apologize for this post, but it is a good way of my keeping track of things I've done.

James bought a box for me last year to grow herbs in on the lania. We've had a few things come and go, but it is still very enjoyable and I like the seasonal change. As my Lemon Thyme was dropping too many leaves, we decided to transplant it outside to a container that has Rosemary. This created the opportunity to bring in something new, and I was happy to find a Nasturtium at the Farmer's Market. Not only do they remind me of my recent trip to France, I love adding them to salads and using them as a garnish. The pretty, delicate flowers have an unexpectedly peppery flavor that goes nicely with other herbs and a simple vinaigrette.
When I first brought the plant home, James asked why I paid for Dollar Weed when we had it growning for free in our lawn.Alfie and Archie are still holding court in the box. James suggested their names be changed to Charlie and Tipsy. The jury isn't in on that one yet...
The biggest surprise in my herb box this year was the arrival of Cilantro. Last summer I had bought a bunch of Cilantro that still had the roots attached from Jessica's Market. When finished, I planted the roots. It has been about six months since I planted them, and am very excited that they decided to sprout.As we were on a roll, we decided to transplant our other Rosemary outside between my roses. For whatever reason, I am not able to keep a rose alive in this spot. I'm hoping that not only will the Rosemary thrive, but that the smell might deter some of the pests that are attracted to the roses. As it was Valentine's Day, I had to give my Curry Plant a little TLC. One of the branches was partially snapped off. I didn't want to remove it as that would create a large gap, so I took a bamboo skewer to hold it back up in place. So far it seems to be working as none of the green leaves have started to turn brown. Ok, apart from the ones that are already brown in this photo. While reveling in the success of my Cilantro, I decided to try it again with some Dill roots from a recent purchase. I chopped the tops off...and divided the roots between two planters. Fingers crossed I will have Dill shoots sprouting up in no time.

The last and least exciting transplant of the weekend was a Gardenia that I've had in a pot. This is purely for my memory's (or lack there of) sake. I am hoping now that it is planted in the ground that it will start grow a little stronger. It was doing really well until recently when it turned a little yellow from the drop in temperature. As it responds well when I sprinkle it with brewed coffee grounds, I'm confident that it will be green and healthy once again in no time.

Thanks again for letting me indulge in this post. I'm sure it will be useful for me in a few months to hopefully confirm my botanical success instead of leaving more spaces that need to be filled.

Camouflage Tree: A.K.A. Sycamore (10/02)

My sister-in-law treated us to a lovely lunch at a hotel on the lake. It was such a beautiful location and the garden was lined with these stunning sycamore trees. They were the most striking trees I have ever seen. Each one was a work of art: they all looked like they had been painted in a perfect camouflage pattern that could be plucked straight out of Domino magazine. Now - we probably have them in the US and you might not see what the fuss is all about, but to a Florida girl, they were magic.

A Walk in an Alpine Meadow (10/02)

We didn't find an open place for lunch, but went further up the mountain to a lovely meadow. While it was starting to cloud up in the distance, it was sunny and warm where we were at. Here are some of the images from that walk:

This was beautiful, past bloom but still stunning. I can't remember what this was called, but will post it when I find out. If you know what it is, please leave a comment.

Having a Wild Thyme in France! An obsession of mine is identifying edible plants in the wild. As you would expect from any Ricola advert, wild thyme is growing all over the Alps: Swiss or French!

Gardening: Curry Plant Update

My curry plant is doing well and is getting larger. I haven't transplanted it as I haven't been able to get another one so still haven't decided where I want to put this one.

Last weekend I found a recipe for potato salad using curry plant. I wasn't expecting much as I've heard it isn't really that great for cooking. While it wasn't horrible, it wasn't very good either. It didn't ruin the taste, but there was this strange smokey flavor that I'm sure was from the curry plant. It will definitely be kept for the scent, and not flavoring food.

Gardening: My Bougainvillea

This bougainvillea is outside my kitchen window. It requires little attention and is absolutely amazing. We fertilize it two or three times a year, it is drought tolerant and is almost always in bloom. Our house is very close to our neighbor's, so it also gives us some privacy. We've let it grow larger than we've had it in the past, first due to the fact that there was a bird nesting, but then we just couldn't bring ourselves to make it any shorter. We've had two different neighbors next door and they both have said how they probably get to enjoy it more because they're looking at the front when their blinds are open. So to sum it up: beauty, privacy, drought tolerant and shelter for the birds, what a lot in return for such little effort!

Gardening: Some of My Roses

This bush is on the side of my house and is probably my fullest bush. It blooms in clusters, which are absolutely gorgeous when cut and in my favorite vintage mustard jar with a sprig of rosemary.

This is on the side of my house, which is the best place for my roses as it get the most sun. It requires little maintenance, and produces these large, lovely scented, vividly-colored roses.

This is one of my favorites and grows like crazy. The scent isn't very strong, but it is a very bushy, hardy plant.

Sadly, this one is gone. It had the strongest, most divine scent.

This one took it's place, but isn't doing too well at the moment. J trimmed it down last weekend and we're giving it lots of TLC. Watch this space...

Gardening: Luna Red Hibiscus

A couple of weeks ago we stopped at a local garden center to look at edging borders and came out with this... I was so taken by the flowers, the color is so vivid and the blooms open up to a flat 7" to 8" diameter. Growing up in Florida, I always hated hibiscus, what was I thinking?