Updates
7/1/2008 - I decided to spend an hour in the Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden this afternoon trying to capture all of the activity with my camera. It may be a Butterfly Garden, but that doesn't seem to stop every flying insect within the neighborhood from stopping by. I've even seen swarms of Lovebugs in the garden when the goldenrod is in full bloom.
While I sat patiently waiting to take pictures, the hummingbird visited twice, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to capture it. However, there were plenty of butterflies, bees, dragon flies and wasps that were more than willing to oblige. Click on the image for some pictures.
6/24/2008 - I couldn't resist - a recent Peace Rose bloom:
6/22/2008 - I love those unexpected moments in the garden when something truly beautiful suddenly pops out at you. After a morning of digging up my drainage system and getting hot, dirty and cranky, I happened to glance over at the Butterfly Garden and noticed a blur of green skipping from flower to flower. It was a hummingbird, the first one I'd ever seen in Florida! After running in the house, grabbing the camera and rushing back outside, I was surprised that the female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird was still flitting about the garden. I was able to get several decent pictures (click on the image below to see them) before she flew off.
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6/10/2008 - A year ago I bought a small Brugmansia or Angels Trumpet from Burpee through the mail. I must admit that I was distracted a good deal of the time last year and the Brugmansia did no receive a lot of care. Despite my abuse, the plant survived and even set a few flowers by January of this year. By April the plant had almost doubled in size and set a profusion of flowers. I repotted the plant in a much larger container and moved it into the pool area to show it off. The Brugmansia is now going through yet another flowering cycle and looks spectacular. You can click on the thumbnail below for a larger image.
5/22/2008 - Build it and ... they will surf. Central Florida Garden is now two years old. Happy Birthday! In its first month of operation in 2006, it managed to attract all of 27 visitors. A year later, the visitor count had grown to 800. During the second year the site hit its stride and now experiences over 3,000 unique visitors a month. Wow!
What mystifies me is that the most popular single page on the site continues to be the Jasmine page. It receives about 600 visits a month. Why? There is nothing markedly different about it compared to the other pages on specific plants. But the world seems to be beating a path to its doorstep.
5/17/2008 - We just returned from a trip to Greece where I took far more pictures than I expected. The scenery and ruins were so stunning, I must have spent half the trip with one eye looking through the camera lens. I was particularly entranced by the bright red poppies that were everywhere. I put together some pictures that you can find here.
4/18/2008 - Nature does not disappoint - the Butterfly Garden is recovering nicely from the freeze. While one of the Pentas was killed to the ground, it is slowly coming back and the other Penta is more than making up for the loss. The Passionflower is spreading everywhere, above and below the ground, and already has several blooms. The Blue Anise Sage, after a disappointing summer and fall last year, has sprung forth with some striking flowers. Then there is the Bronze Fennel, which has tripled in size.
To demonstrate how much the garden has changed in the four months since the major freeze on January 3, look at the pictures below:
The Tibouchina right after the Freeze:
The Tibouchina today:
The Butterfly Garden right after the Freeze:
The Butterfly Garden today:
Why did I ever doubt Mother Nature?
4/14/2008 - It's spring time in Central Florida - a time to revel in the spectacular blooms in the garden. Like:
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Crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet'. A prolific bloomer. I bought this from The Southern Bulb Company a year ago as a bulb and it's already bloomed three times. |
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We have not had great luck with Birds of Paradise. We planted two 'Birds' last year in front of the house and both withered away. The third time proved to be a charm - the plant has already sent out three blooms. |
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It is nearly impossible to grow Bearded and Dutch Iris in Central Florida. There are substitutes, but they do not compare to the regal beauty of a vase full of Dutch Iris. One interesting replacement is the Brazilian Iris. Granted, its flowers last only for a day and you can forget about cut flowers. However, they are tough plants and the blooms are gorgeous. |
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The Blue Anise Sage, after a disappointing summer and fall in the Butterfly Garden last year, has sprung forth with some striking flowers. |
3/30/2008 - Once in awhile one of the local Red-shouldered Hawks appears out of nowhere to remind me that our house now sits where, but a few years ago, the bird likely had its home.
1/5/2008 - "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone." There is nothing like a hard freeze to remind a gardener of the truth of that adage.
But Nature is always ready to tell us to stop whining and appreciate what we have, like this morning's Amaryllis blossom:
1/2/2008 - Partly to protect my plants and partly to see how much I could actually accomplish, I tried to put frost protection fabric on all my sensitive plants in anticipation of tonight's hard freeze. Whoa, did I overestimate the time and materials that were required! It became such a monumental effort that I've recorded it all on a separate page.
1/1/2008 - Happy New Year! Now go break out the blankets (for yourself and your plants), 'cause we are in for a major cold front on Thursday morning:
If you need help deciding what to do to protect your plants, there is a page on this site dedicated to Cold Protection of Plants along with a page on some suggested materials you can use. Also, there is an excellent discussion on the cold front going on over at Garden Web.
Welcome - This site is intended as a resource for gardeners in Central Florida. It contains extensive links, lists and other helpful guides for growing trees, shrubs, flowers, vines and other plants in Hardiness Zone 9. There is a significant amount of material on this site along with as many pictures as I can stuff on the page. Try the Search box above to help navigate the pages. For more information about this site, click here. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at bsewall@centralfloridagarden.com. |
Check These Out - New to Central Florida? - If you have recently moved to Central Florida and want a quick introduction to gardening in this region, click here. Search - There are over 400 pages on this site with details on nearly 100 plants. If you are interested in a particular plant or topic, try the Search box at the top of each page or go to Search. Butterfly Garden - I've become a passionate butterfly gardener and have started a diary of my experiences. Hardiness Zones - After several months of research and contributions from visitors to this site, I was able to put together a comprehensive set of pages on the history of Hardiness Zones. Something Different - Tired of surfing the same old Web sites? Try these sites for something different. An Old Favorite - Looking for information on a particular plant, try the Favorites page. |