Plumeria Cutting is finally Coming Alive

A plumeria tree is one of the easiest trees to propagate. Cut off a section of a branch and stick in the ground. That's what I did. Some people allow the cutting to dry out for a few weeks before planting, but as you can see, it's not necessary.

A neighbor gave me a cutting from his plumeria tree about two months ago. This twiggy, Dr. Seuss-looking tree is also called Frangipani and produces tropical flowers which Hawaiins use for lays.

I'm worried about getting myself in trouble by planting all these trees lately......
plumeria
orchid tree
royal poinciana tree
peach tree
avodaco tree

......I don't have the yard space for all this stuff.

How to Propagate Patchouli Cuttings

I cut some large woody branches off the patchouli tree a few months ago. The cuttings are doing very good and I think I'll be moving them from the incubator area to a home of their own pretty soon.

I cut off mature branches that had already flowered. I stipped the leaves, dipped in rooting hormone, and stuck them in this pot. They get misted every 3 hours for two minutes via my drip irrigation system. They get full sun for a good 5 hours each day, then bright filtered sun the rest of the day. The new growth sprouted from the nodes. The root system is showing through the bottom hole of the pot.

How to Propagate Royal Poinciana Seeds

My garden wish list has included a Royal Poinciana tree for over a year. This morning I planted 5 seeds I collected from a local tree that was dropping seed pods.

I soaked the seeds overnight. I also dipped them in boiling water for 2 minutes. Ss shown in this photo, the seeds opened up after soaking. I chose 5 seeds that were very different...a green, a yellow, and 3 brown ones that were various sizes. We'll see which ones germinate first, last, biggest, smallest, etc.

I planted them in a mix of sand, perlite, and potting soil.

UPDATE: this post contains misinformation! These are not seeds...they are unbloomed flowers that I planted. Duh! Please see my new post with REAL seeds to learn more.

Please Don't Be Oyster Plants

I yanked out a bunch of oyster plants, then planted my new peach tree. Then, I planted a bunch of seeds and was too lazy to make out plant markers. Great...now I don't know if these are little oyster plants or seeds I spread out.

If they are oyster seedlings, I don't know what I'll do. I really don't like them because they're messy and will interfere with my little flowers I planted under the new peach tree.

The Unplanted Orchid Tree

So, I have a really bad habit of digging up seedlings to see what's going on under the dirt. Here's an orchid tree seedling (that needed to be moved anyway).

This seed bursted from the tree back in mid-April.


Here some of the seeds that bursted into my garage from across the street.

Themed Gardens - Florida Gators

So, I frequent Gardenweb.com's "Florida" forum. I came across a recent thread about themed gardens. It made me want to blog about my small themed garden pieces. It also gave me a ton of ideas, one of which includes a yellow brink garden path. I can't wait!

Here are some photos of our Florida Gator pieces. I spray painted a cheap pot blue, then antiqued it wil acyrlic craft paint. I had a hard time finding blue flowers. I ended up with a plumbago (which you can't see here b/c it dropped it's flowers). I also purchased blue boy bachelor's button seeds.

Here's the mailbox which has two beautiful orange hibiscus right now. They were only $5 at Lowes a few weeks ago.

Elephan't Ear Bulb Sprouts in 2 weeks

The elephant's ear bulb I planted the first week of May has sprouted and look very healthy. I have a feeling this will be a vigorous grower and will need to be put in the ground within another two weeks. The package did not say what variety these are, but it should reach a height of 6 ft. So, I'm thinking they will have 2-3 ft leaves.

I really want one of those gigantic varieties with 7 ft leaves. If anyone knows where I can get one, I'd be a happy gardener.

The Orchid Tree Propagation Project

Back in mid-April, I blogged about how the Orchid Tree seed pods explode...literally burst off the tree. I planted two of the small seeds just for fun, and they've sprouted!

Above: Bauhinia variegata seedling

Now, this tree is considered invasive to Florida and I will only grow it if I can keep it contained in a pot. Infact, it was one of the original eleven species that the Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association recommended for removal from the market by its members.

It sheds leaves, seed pods, and looks scraggly a few times per year, so it's not the most desireable tree. Ironically, they are planted all over town. The tell-tale sign of an orchid tree seedling is the lobe on both sides of the leaves; this facilitates the opening and closing of the leaves. Apparently, the leaves are edible and the wood is called ebony and is prized in countries like India, its native home.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about the Bauhinia variegata is that it's in the pea/bean family. It's not an orchid. Now you're schooled on orchid trees...happy gardening!

The Presiding Garden Gnome

Ever wonder who pulls all the weeds at Danielle's Garden?

It's this little guy. He's actually a Christmas gnome bearing gifts, but each night the garden gloves go on, and he gets to work.

The Oregano Propagation Project - Green Thumb Sunday

Green Thumb Sunday

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Nearly 4 months of occasional attention and I have successfully propagated two little orgeno plants! (this photo also shows two pea plants)

All my oregano originally came from a March '07 plant, but this is the first time I documented the process. Here we go...

Above: Feb 1, 2008

First, I took a bunch of cuttings from my own yard to see what I could easily propagate. Shown above are croton, copper leaf, song of india, dracaena, oregano. All were successful except for the copper leaf and song of india (but I haven't given up on them yet).


Above: Apr 6, 2008

Next, I let the cuttings sit in water for a couple weeks on the porch. Then, I planted them, and waited. Now, they are thriving!

Basil Bolts Early in May in S. Florida

My favorite variety of basil so far is this lettuce leaf basil. It's gotten quite bushy because I always pinch it back. It's just recently begun to prematurely flower, or bolt, because of the 85-90 degree weather we've been having. It receives full sun and a few drops of water every 3 hours. I see a pesto panini in my future!


In Italy, we ate panini's from corner shops and at airports. They are cheap and smaller than anything you'd get here in the US; I liked that the portion was just right. Anyway, the recipe everywhere was the same: mozzarella, prosciutto, and basil. So, that's what I'll be making for dinner tonight. Maybe I'll get some Peroni Beer for John, and some gelatto for dessert. Just like an evening in Florence!

How to Pinch An Avocado Tree - Part 3

I pinched my avocado tree back in mid-April. Now, in mid-May, there are 5 new branches that formed near the top of the plant. Each will branch out and form a bushy tree instead of a twiggy tree. Here's the original posts about how to pinch an avocado tree. The arrows in this photo show where the plant formed a little scar over the part I pinched off.

The new branches began just above leaf nodes. They started out as little red nubbies and have formed into these branches with leaves.

Florida Hedge Recovers from Freeze

Our fence hedge has finally recovered from the 20 degree weather we had back in January. The bougainvillea snapped back a lot quicker than these plants.

Remember when I figured out the difference between a frost and a freeze? Here's an easy way to remember it...it takes a lot more time to recover from a freeze.

From left to right...
oleander (just beginning to bloom for the season)
dracena (can't really see)
palm (don't knwo the variety)
peach double hibiscus
fuschia bougainvillea
red hibiscus
fuschia bougainvillea

Faux Sundried Tomato Recipe

I just picked most of the patio tomatoes I've been growing. I was really happy with them and will plant a bunch more next season.

Use the search bar at the top of my blog to look for earlier posts about these little 'maters.

Faux Sundried Tomato Recipe

Halve and core the tomatoes
Spinkle with sea salt
Place on a baking rack on top of a roasting pan
Stick in the oven at 200
Leave them in for 6-12 hours

Make sure to check on them after 6 hours, then again every hour. Pull them out when they look right to you.

The Well-Travelled Tomato - Part 3

The well-travelled tomato plants have grown about 8 inches in the last 13 days. Here's Part 1 and 2.

The first photo was taken April 30; the second was taken today. They are both watered for 3 minutes every 6 hours via the drip irrigation system. There are little tomatoes all over the plant and I'm beginning to think these are determinate plants (not indeterminate).

Rate of Growth: Peas

I posted this first photo on Earth Day to document one of my small ways of helping conserve water. Here's the same pea seedling 8 days later. These very pretty little vines grow quite rapidly in the early stages.

How to Pinch An Avocado Tree

One year ago, I blogged about how to pinch back your avocado tree so it will branch out instead of growing straight up. This year, I have another young avocado tree that needed to begin branching out. Here's what I did...

The above photo was taken two days after I plucked off the top 2 inches of this young tree. I just pinched it off with my fingers.
Less than a week later, new growth is bursting out all over. The new growth is bright red and grows from the top few inches of the main stem just above a node. Now, each of these three red blobs will form into a tree branch. Each will grow straight up and should begin to form leaves within the next month. Pretty cool.

Node: (noun) the part of the stem of a plant from which a leaf, branch, or aerial root grows.