In the Garden With Kristine

Yesterday, I had just come in from a few sweaty hours out in the garden to find a new post on Margaret Evans Porter’s blog, Periodic Pearls, showing her latest snowfall photos – just after she’d done some spring planting. Here in Southwest Florida (otherwise known as “the Sauna”) it’s already reaching 90 during the day. My garden is glorious and blooming and I thought I’d share some of my own snaps with you. I do not do this to boast, but rather to showcase the garden before everything that blooms and flowers withers away in the Zone 10 heat. Honestly, it’s enough to make Lawrence of Arabia faint.

Yes, that’s English lavender, doing quite well . . . . so far. Mexican petunia’s grow against the fence. All of the rocks you see were unearthed by moi whilst planting. There’s no real soil here, just lots of sandy dirt and many, many rocks. Sigh.

The Impatiens began as potted plants and now propagate themselves willy-nilly throughout my garden, back and front. I am not complaining.

Succulents, needless to say, do well in our climate
When I first began the garden, I’d bring home pots of lovely plants that would have suited an English garden, only to have them burned to a crisp. This year, I’ve admitted defeat and have given over the garden to tropical flowers.
These Daisy’s began as weeds. I finally stopped fighting them
 and now the bees have a new home.
Pentas + sun + poor soil = success
The Plumbago is in bloom
Even the roses are doing well
These are old English Heirloom Roses that I received through the post three years ago. Until this year, it looked like a rather sickly, snakey single shoot. Now, however, it’s gone crazy and is climbing the fence, blooming and throwing out many thick shoots at its base. I can’t tell you the exact name of the rose, as I threw the tag out in disgust last year. Patience is not one of my virtues.

A kind friend gave me two Frangipani’s two years ago. He cut branches from his trees and told me to just stick them in the ground and they’d grow. One is yellow, the other pink. The pink, above, has never flowered, but it’s gotten taller and has leaves. For a long time, both looked like nothing more than naked stalks stuck in the ground. My husband and son called them my “phallic symbols.” However, she who laughs last laughs best – the yellow Frangipani has not only gotten taller, it’s flowering.

Their fragrance is delicious – ripe nectarines.

Happy Easter!

3 thoughts on “In the Garden With Kristine”

  1. Beautiful! As someone who can relate to poor soil conditions, gardening here in Central Oregon has its own challenges. Number one is the short growing season. I'm just now seeing a few things blooming, but the frost could still come and kill them off. But there's always hope! Thanks for posting your wonderful pictures!

  2. What a lovely garden! And if your soil is poor you have managed a great of success with little help from the land!

    Your climbing rose looks very much like my Queen Elizabeth Heritage rose. I have had mine for fifteen years and it is putting on quite the show this week. However, the first three years all I got was a climbing, encroaching spindly vine.

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