Let me tell you about the birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees

I tried to capture the parrots using the extreme zoom on my Samsung Galaxy phone. This is as good as I could get, given how they are about 40 feet up in the trees. When we moved into this house in South Florida, we inherited a dead royal palm tree (along with many beautiful and … Continue reading Let me tell you about the birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees →

I have baby red pineapples!

For all practical purposes, I have become something of a banana/pineapple/papaya farmer. I have planted so many of these around our property - I am not sure what I am going to do with their crops. With respect to pineapples, I have planted two varieties - a sweet golden variety and a red variety. There … Continue reading I have baby red pineapples! →

Rhapsody in hue

I have spent many sublime hours working in the garden over the past few months trying to get some major projects done before the real heat and humidity of the rainy season set in. We have booked a long camping trip to Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee … Continue reading Rhapsody in hue →

Somewhere only we know

“In secret places we can think and imagine, we can feel angry or sad in peace. There is something to be said for just being, without worrying about offending anyone.”Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden For the last year that my family spent living in Southern California, my parents leased a house in a suburb … Continue reading Somewhere only we know →

An accidental focal point

I devoted an entire day a while back to removing several very large shrubs that the previous owners had planted along the courtyard of our house. I had decided our property will have a tropical aesthetic exclusively, so the scrubby plants had to go. It was difficult work, as these were not small plants and … Continue reading An accidental focal point →

Permaculture and deep mulch gardening

I have been gardening for decades and have built some fairly remarkable outdoor spaces in the various places our family has lived. However, it was not until we relocated to Florida that I discovered two approaches to living in harmony with the environment that have radically changed my worldview. Those would be permaculture and deep … Continue reading Permaculture and deep mulch gardening →

“Winter” blooms

The name [Florida] comes from the daring adventurer Juan Ponce de Leon, who accidentally stumbled upon the Florida peninsula ....The year was 1513. Ponce de Leon was searching for gold and the "fountain of youth" -- a legendary spring that gave people eternal life and health. He sailed from Puerto Rico on March 3 with … Continue reading “Winter” blooms →

My favorite gardening tools

Every time I visit a nursery, I unlock some new achievement level for fitting plants into my SUV. Between Christmas and my own shopping, I have found some amazing gardening tools worth recommending to others. (Note: This is not a sponsored blog post. I am not getting compensated in any way for recommending these items. … Continue reading My favorite gardening tools →

A remarkably easy way to construct a sturdy trellis

For most of the country, the colder months mean preparing garden beds for their winter dormancy. Down here in the South Florida tropics, however, folks are preparing their garden beds for winter planting. Crazy, I know. We are frost-free year-round in Zone 10a, and living right on the water means we would not have much … Continue reading A remarkably easy way to construct a sturdy trellis →

Our urban orchard is happening

A mature mango tree behind our house. Mango trees will grow as tall as you allow them, so many gardeners keep them trimmed to more reasonable heights than this one. Doing so makes it easier to harvest the fruit, but also prevents you from getting clocked on the head by fruit bombs. (I live in … Continue reading Our urban orchard is happening →