Due to technical issues beyond my control, I wasn't able to spend any time tending to the garden for almost all of the spring season. Mrs. Paco, however, somehow managed to do double-duty, and the flowers and vegetables and fruit did pretty well. We had another good crop of strawberries, and the pink lemonade blueberry bushes yielded a small, but delicious, harvest. We had a cantaloupe vine that produce five melons, but four of them succumbed to bugs and/or disease; nonetheless, the one we were able to salvage was delicious.
I planted some orange rattle-box trees a couple of years ago, and they're presently going through their second blooming period of the year (the first bloom occurs in late spring). The tree is native to Brazil, and I don't know how the things got here, but I first spotted some on the dirt road leading to the firing range. I picked a few seed pods, planted them, and the results have been good. Here's a shot of the foliage and flowers:
The tree somewhat resembles a mimosa, but with orange flowers. Growing them is easy, but you have to scarify the seeds and soak them in water overnight - a bit of a task, given the smallness of the seed and the extraordinary hardness of the seed case.
We've got perennial hibiscus growing all over, with flowers ranging from white to dark pink to red. In fact, I thought about starting a hibiscus ranch; they're pretty easy to grow, and I saw some selling for fifteen bucks per 8-inch pot at Lowes. Here's one with white flowers and an extensive pink blush:
And nothing says coastal plain of North Carolina like pine trees:
10 comments:
Those orange rattle-box trees look purty.
There's nothing like planting something and seeing it get big years later.
I did that!
Not me of course, I have a black thumb.
Yeah, planting things and making them grow is something that has appealed to Mrs. Paco and me for years. When we lived in Miami, we could grow anything. I was pruning a tropical hibiscus one time and, just to see what would happen, stuck a cutting in the dirt of the planter in front of the house. The thing started sending out roots and sprouting new leaves inside of a couple of weeks. We planted several exotic fruit trees. The one that didn't do too well was the mamey; the leaves were literally the number one food of choice for Japanese beetles. The others did pretty well. The honey-bell tangelo produced a dozen or more delicious, juicy fruit, and the mango tree generated a bushel or more of the best mangos I ever ate.
It was a fair amount of work, though, with the planting and maintenance. Arizona offered us an alternate take; the only thing in the yard was gravel, cactus and mesquite - very low maintenance.
My gardening consists of killing weeds in my gravel. That's more than I want to do.
I like weeds, even I have a problem killing them.
When I retire and move to my compound in the desert, I'm planting bougainvillea, the only care is you lop them off at the base once a year and cover them in the occasional freezing temp.
They flower 3 months into the 'hasn't rained since February' times.
We had a bougainvillea when we lived in AZ; it did pretty well. We've got a couple here, in pots, that we take in during the winter (our neighbors spend a small fortune buying potted plants and then just toss them out at the end of the season; we frequently collect them and put them in our ICU unit - the shady side of the house - and we manage to keep most of them going, planting some in the ground, leaving others in pots that we bring inside during the winter). The boogs are stubborn as hell about blooming, though.
Never heard of the orange rattle-box tree, so I searched and one of the websites that came up was the 'Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants' in Florida. Uh-oh. What's Paco spreading here? :-)
From the website: Impacts: Displaces native vegetation and wildlife by forming dense thickets.
Preventive Measures: Do not plant.
Well, it's a bit late for that preventive measure, so I guess you just need to keep it from becoming a thicket!
Yeah, I knew all that stuff before I planted it. Its native habitat is in the tropics, along streams and rivers, so I can see why it would be a problem in Florida. The pods fall into the water and that helps the seeds to sprout, once they wash up on the bank. Grown as an ornamental in a garden, where the pods can be picked before they pop and distribute the seeds, I think it's fine. Even though I've never picked all of the pods off the trees, I haven't had any seeds sprout on their own; the soil isn't wet enough, which is why you have to scratch the seeds with a knife and then soak them to get them to sprout.
What a great post. I'm a big fan of taking seeds and cuttings off existing plants and replanting them, which is how I got a lot of my flowerbeds and garden when I still had room for them. Growing things is in dirt is, in my opinion, an essential part of the human hardwire, and a wonderful way to order the mind. I can only do it in large pots now owing to space, but I'm gratified (and exonerated, I think) that my daughter has now discovered the satisfaction of a large garden on her country expanse (as well as canning, which I never mastered). I don't know what orange rattle-box trees are, but I hope they prosper and live well under Mrs. P's excellent and admirable care.
Mrs. Paco and I have been avid collectors of seeds and cuttings for many years, and you're absolutely right: it's a great way to expand your garden. Pacos have been farmers for generations, and, although this isn't quite the same thing, it all ties back into what you're saying about growing things being a part of human nature.
We've had an enormous canvas to work with here in Southport, since the property originally had a big dog leg of barren space running along the north and east boundary lines of the lot. It's a ton of work, but it is so gratifying when you see the first spring blooms heralding an end to the dismal winter, or a plant coming back that you thought for sure was a goner.
Now, if I can just get the rabbits under control...
My Granny was one of your kind. She'd break off a piece of a plant she fancied, take it home, stick it in the ground, and it prospered. We had wonderful papayas, amongst other things. But the one that was most enthusiastic was the plantains. It sounds good until they start taking over the yard. Plantains were hardy to every attempt my Dad made to cull them. I don't remember if he won, or just left them for the next owners when we left Hawaii.
Deb: We have a pineapple plant in a pot on the front porch (we bring it in during the winter). It's actually growing a little pineapple fruit. Incidentally, I was astounded to learn of the length of time it takes a pineapple fruit to sprout and ripen - something like 2 1/2 years. There are a couple of little green lizards (anole lizards) that use the leaves as hammocks at night.
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