New Blooms - Part 1

I've already been treated to so many new blooms this year. The camellias, and matchstick bromeliads were a pleasant surprise, but I'm most excited about my irises.

I have such a specific area in my yard that needed just the right plant. The mass of cannas along the back fence was missing something.

The problem was finding something that could handle full sun and standing water. That's not an easy order to fill.

Luckily, I spotted a vender at a plant show at USF last year. They advertised the magic words: Full Sun, Wet Soil

I came home with an iris. I'm pretty sure it's a Blue Flag, but I'm not entirely sure. (a lesson learned about bringing home those plant tags)

I divided that pot into 4-5 plants and put them in front of the cannas. I think their bright blue/purple color will look great in front of the yellow/orange.

Now let's bring on the rain!

Florida Freezes

A Florida freeze seems sort of contradictory, no? Really I never even thought about the difference between just being really cold and an actual "freeze" until I started gardening.

This year I think I came through our first and hopefully only freezing pretty successfully. I brought everything in pots onto the porch and put a blanket over them. Nothing in the yard was covered.

The day after the freeze I only noticed any damage on two types of plants. One of the Bougainvilleas and one type of Hibiscus.

Hibiscus and Bougainvillea day after freeze

Interestingly, out of 4 types of Hibiscus, only 1 type suffered from the cold, and all 3 plants of that variety were damaged. Then out of two different Bougainvilleas only one type suffered damage.

The Knockout roses on the other hand, came through like a champ!

Fast forward a few days...

Its getting ugly on the Hibiscus.

And the Bougainvillea is dropping leaves rapidly.

I know I won't totally lose the Bougainvillea, and I'm only semi-worried about the Hibiscus, but we will see. How did your plants do?

Container Gardening

I love using the term "container gardening", it sounds fancy. I have to admit though, I'm obsessed with pots. I love all types and sizes, colors and patterns. Some people like to take time and pick out just the right pot, ehm "container" for just the right plant.

Not me.

I scour clearance racks and pick up whatever looks like it won't crumble by the time I get home. I'm not afraid of a chip or crack, or even worse...no pre-drilled holes. (Why do they never come with holes!) I've been known to track down a sales clerk to see if they will discount a chipped pot I find on the regular shelf.

Picked up all these containers on clearance at Home Goods.

Total price $12.50

One of my favorite places to shop for containers is Home Goods. Even their not on clearance pots are cheaper than most other places, and with a great variety. Where are your favorite places to shop for pots or containers?

Unlocking the world of gardening online

*Gate at Bok Tower Gardens

Finding a good link is so very important.

When I began by just picking out what looked cool or was on sale as the garden center, I quickly realized that those little tags they sometimes stick into a plant (if your lucky) usually just don't tell you a whole lot. So I quickly created a Garden Favorites folder, went to town on google, and snatched up absolutely any site I came across that I could get even the tiniest littlest something out of.

Sometimes you

need to just look up a plant and find out the basics. I like to useDave's Garden which is probably the

leading garden community website. People from all over the world post and comment about different types of plants. If you can't find it on Dave's Garden, it isn't to be found. A couple of really great Florida plant databases are Florida Gardening and Floridata, to only name a few.

Blogs are also essential to this newbie gardener. I have found a couple of great local bloggers, and it is worth its weight in mulch. Having a real live person who gardens in your zone/area can provide some vital information.

A few of my favorite local bloggers:

Hoe &

Shovel

Probably one of the best central Florida blogs. She has an extensive and informative site with great insight.

Graceful Cottage Gardening A local gardener who has a long history in this area, and whose seeds have even made the rounds all the way to my garden. More to come on that later.

The

Rainforest Garden

A wet, tropical garden of on envy. Tropicals and sub-tropicals are still mostly a mystery to me, but this guy has some really great ideas and knowledge.

DragonFly Garden A great south Florida blog, with lots of tropicals and a semi-informal design style that I'm working towards.

Central Florida Gardener

A wonderful site for industry news and really great articles.

Also, don't forget Facebook! Probably my favorite site in all of gardening is The Dirt on Facebook (Or their TBO.com blog) I can not begin to state how many tips, tricks, and ideas I have gotten from this site. It is a DAILY read for me.

Almost as good as the blogs themselves, are the comments. All of the blogs I read, started as a comment on someone else's blog.

So don't be afraid to explore, and get out there and fall down the rabbit hole of garden sites, blogs, and references.

What are your favorite Garden links or blogs?

*Picture taken at Bok Tower Gardens

Starting Again...

Well it has been quite some time since my last (and first) post. I think I got a little garden shy, and intimidated. I mean who am I to start a garden blog, when I had only just purchased my first plant ever?! So I took some time out and did my homework.

So know I now the difference between an annual and a perennial. And, that gardening seems to largely be about trial and error. I'm a proud 9A: full sun, poor soil. And i'm embracing my weedy, wet, and wonderful yard.

So with some dirt and some water, I hope to turn my yard into a garden.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! This will be about my experiences as a first time gardener, and all the trials and errors along the way.

A little bit about my surroundings. I am in the Tampa, Florida area, where its hot and wet. I'm working with a pretty blank slate, with not much in the way of old growth. However, I have made a few small improvements along the way.

My favorite area is the pond. It has been a major work in progress, but its starting to come together.

I have Red Fountain Grass, White Fountain Grass, Brazilian Red Hots, Aztec Grass, Cannas, Zinnias in a container, and Mini-Catail and a Water Lily in the pond.

I have a large area of Cannas that came with the house.

Finally, I have a small butterfly garden.

I have Pentas, Butterfly Weed, Lantana, Plumbago, Mexican Petunia, and Bromeliads

As soon as I learn about how to use this site I will post some more pictures and updates. I'm very excited to start sharing my journey with everyone!