Isaac is closing in

We have been getting rain off and on for the last day or so.  We moved all the lose items from the garden.  The only thing that concerns me is driving into work tomorrow.  Lets hope the weather report is wrong for the morning.  Squalls are predicted at the time I need to leave.

Wildflower Symposium

2012 Florida Wildflower Symposium joins with Wings & Wildflowers Festival.  

So, I have never joined a gardening class or any of these plant festivals.  It's silly how excited I am.  Of course the husband is going with.  He says since I join his hobby, why not join mine.  I am not sure how this will go but the offspring are going also.  

I signed up for a few classes I tried to sign up for all, but I can't be in two places at once.  Since I just got started with all this gardening, I'm hoping the classes will make things a little easier.

Happy gardening!!

What had happened...

What had happened when you just don't have the energy to move and the garden is neglected for over a month...

SAD!

Well it is all pulled up now and waiting on mulch.  I took an idea from another website and have newspaper to lay down as weed tarp.

The vegetable garden is label and seeded.  We even have a few sprouts!  In just a week!  Mother Nature has been very kind with the sun and rain.

Time and ignorance

A few months ago, my husband had picked up a butterfly bush for my daughter and I to help start our butterfly garden.  I had never seen a plant like it.  He said it must not be native if I didn't know what it was... LOL.  Well I still thought it was pretty, and put it out front until I could decide where to plant it.  Well, in the matter of a few days, it started to die off.  I felt really bad about it.  I put it off to the side and hoped maybe it will come back; if nothing else, I will just reuse the pot.

As time passed, the bush started coming back, slowly.  I watched as the leaves started growing and finally a bloom began.  Low, and behold, time heals all wounds; even ignorance on plant care.  The plant turns out to be a pink Buddleja, or Buddleia.

It is native to Asia and can be invasive (oh, of course it is; cause I like it!) like this page states http://insects.about.com/od/butterfliesmoths/qt/substitutes-for-butterfly-bush.htm.

Well, I can't tell you how excited I was when a new bloom showed up on the plant.  This bloom was red and shaped differently.

Salvia! Salvia Coccinea was growing in there also!  Yes!  This is one of the plants we are planning for the butterfly garden.  Really it will be the main plant, since the daughter and I find them so beautiful.  I believe the plant originated in Mexico, but it is on the http://www.fnps.org/plants/specieslist/Pasco list for butterflies!

Life Happens

Life happens.  I would say it a different way, but this is a family show.  The last month or so has been tough, but I realized something:  the sun will continue it's internal thermonuclear fusion reaction, the moon will continue it's pull on the tides, and life will continue in all it's majesty and wonder.

I have proof that life will continue.  My garden is overrun with weeds in just over a months time.

I started my plans in June to rearrange the front garden.  The plants I would like to keep are getting moved into pots.  Everything else is getting mowed, since it is just grass.

Somehow, the idea for a vegetable garden was planted.  The ground has been tilled and seed planted.  I have no idea what I am doing, but the kids and I will try and make some plants grow for dinner in three to four months.

So here is to growing! I believe I will go get a beer after all the hard work today.