Let Me See - Gardener's Tales

 

I'll start counting backward from today's garden observation. It first started with a most unusual

bird call. Unusual as in, vaguely familiar but  it  made me to look for it's source and if possible

and make a discovery. Of course this winged wonder flitted to some dense vegetation and alas

it pokes it's now familiar self. Thinking to myself and being as quick to identify this bird as well

as I am with a plant. The familiar maple syrup colorings, long thin beak and large eyes and plumper 

than a sparrow and what are you doing around here this time of the year? Not sure if they are here

all year round. Naturally this Carolina Wren was a pleasant surprise, but I was hoping for something

more exotic., which brings to me to my next sighting.

A couple of days ago looking over the yard for the effects from last night's heavy down pour. 

As a very large black and yellow banded, large lobed swallow tail butterfly waltzes into my gaze. 

I'm hoping it will loop back so I can get a better look and while still amazed on it's size and wondering

that it must of been shipped in as a chrysalis and was let loose and cast it's spell on someone, with

it's other worldly beauty and that would be me and some on told masses.

So, how bout that Lunar eclipse? That didn't show it's pale red self until near midnight in the south 

south eastern sky.  What a bute.

P.S.  Witnessed the other day a Red-eared Slider turtle deposit it's eggs near the lake's shore line up

and away from the water. BTW, these sliders are not native and considered invasive, but still fun to

watch and observe.

 

What Does That Squirrel Have? - Gardener's Tales

 Yesterday walking out to put some scraps from my one of many meal preps into my 

trash can and what do I see climbing up one of my Podocarpus trees at the side of my yard?

A squirrel with something large and round and of undiscernible color. First thing that flashed

to my brain and I know they are not into eating animal flesh, as in a baby bird. In those split

seconds where the brain is also trying to make sense of what we both are a witnessing. The

baby bird absurdity gets set a side. I next try to use the off coloring but that comes into focus 

later.  Again, rolling through my past experience with my Florida life as a gardener my mind fixes 

on a dried orange, which there are a few stray citrus trees growing not far away in a tree line 

at the back of my neighbor's yard. Even if the color of said object doesn't tick off.

Split seconds next as my mind is still determine to complete this bewildering event of perception

verses actual events. I receive some notes of citrus as the squirrel rolls this catch and is 

sampling it's catch is when I question to myself that this must be a dried out citrus and leave it

be to one many wonders the great urban out doors just outside my backdoor.

   Well, later that afternoon I find myself out doors taking a break from the time indoors. I see

in my neighbor's yard some of the ubiquitous plastic waste that more than often makes it's 

appearance. I decide to retrieve it and it's hard to stop at one. So I pick up another and not get

carried away because this is my neighbor's way of expressing him self and leave it at that.

     What catches my eye?  A whole red potato that I suspect that it has lost alot of said red

pigment and not surprise to see this vegetable, where most vegetables rarely go. It's bleached

color is either from being exposed to the sun or that it didn't have any of said pigment that I

would have expected to find in a classic red potato. 

     My mind does what it's inclined to do to at this point to complete the picture that we both 

were puzzling over earlier to what the squirrel had possessed and have what may not be a ah 

hah moment, but it does have a knowable finalizing and that I did not really get a wiff of citrus

to help me move on not knowing if that small mystery would ever get resolved. We probably

all most know that all of this has been filed away to our subconscious to ruminate on and pop

up to revisit or in this case to complete just another one of life's little mysteries.

 P.S. While last night's rain, mostly flash and lite thunder I had a laugh to not have discovered

more rain in my catch buckets. It's around this time of the year is when our dry season ends.

So more of that good rain to surely come.

Epic Events - Gardener's Tales

     First one being that I was able to collect fifty-five gallons to fill my rain barrel. When I say fill,

I mean manually hauling it and lifting it into a fifty-five gallon drum and that drum, one of nine 

can be eight to twenty-five feet away. Not complaining, just getting a dose of exercise and hope

these will never be a challenge and not become the worst from it.  

    About two days ago will detailing the yard and as many times I see this plant in my yard.

Most times I am admiring it's tall cone like architecture, shiny dark emerald colored leaves. 

It's coffee and cream colored smooth bark that has a wrinkle at the point where it reaches out 

with a radial reach of one of many of it's branches.  

     In case you are waiting for a name of this gorgeous garden creature, that's not important at 

the moment.  It was when I reached to cut out an oak tree sucker that was interloping upon this

plant. What do I discover?  As my mind is taking in what I am witnessing, as for instance, why

havn't seen this before as I scan this twenty eight month  o l d , nurtured from  s e e d  that I 

wrestled from it's meaty flesh. The world's largest known fruit. Ok, that didn't run though my 

mind at the time of discovery.  Just thought I would drop a hint.  As I bask in my new

discovery,  my next immediate response is to jump online and see what I can discover about 

the fruit propagation for this Jackfruit Tree and there is the reveal, I said it's name.  Having 

discovered a couple of videos and some  quick reads. I can now look at this tree in  a new 

light, while it is in the throws of wanting to continue it's lineage.  Good luck with that, now 

knowing the odds of everything coming together. That's the beauty of gardening, that time

can be a good thing or it's demise. Welcome to the world of gardening.

      I had done some online searching on how to get this plant off to a great start. From 

starting off with the proper way to process the fresh seed, just excised from it's fruiting 

body, literally.  By the way, the seeds, close to seventy or more, after deciding that I did 

not care for the sweet flesh that covered this seed. I decided to experiment and decided 

to steam the seeds and wow. Sweet!,and not in the saccharine definition. That was a treat 

in it's self and was worth the effort and would only care to do that as a one off mind you.  

About twelve lucky or unlucky as you soon will find out that get to be baptized in some 

of the best potting soil that I can conjure up. Playing the waiting game, after all the seeds 

are quite large so it takes longer to get it's act together and after all, the biological process 

of germination is exponential. Alas, the thinning process most prevail and three of four get 

chosen and those chosen the process of willowing down to two, only because I have two 

possible locations that have anything close to some decent enough sunshine. Of those two, 

this current location has only been a win win and another win for it's second placed Epic 

proclamation.  To be honest that Epic should be spelled with a lower case 'e'. As an 

experienced gardener knows what the odds are of growing anything and yet keeps going 

on knowing those odds and the joys along with the disappointments.  

     This tree was rewarded, in it's best interests of course and knowing what I had to do,

along with viewing a video of what not to do.  I won't go into details of said video other

than to recognized this unacknowledgedable, if this is not a word, so be it and shall I say 

ignorant of the facts and thank you for showing this to the world and for me to do the right 

thing. Understand I was also told that this tree is very easy to grow, mind you this is from 

someone that has gone to college to study botany and who knows what else to get said job

of caretaking a city owned garden. So easy, is subjective.

    Not only to my and some of my fellow gardeners enjoyment and amazement just not only

how fast and may I say how tall this gorgeous specimen had announced it's self to this world 

and add, to it's foreign location and only to add, it's exotic placement into my yard's garden. 

      I cut it back, severely and perhaps to those non gardeners, you know who you are, What?

I even rubbed some sandy soil bearing most beneficial microcosm of bacteria to help heal 

major surgical process called pruning, unto it's cut side.  Pruning, pruning and for emphasis,

pruning baby. I works wonders. 

     I just thought of this pruning, that it too was an epic event.

P.S. - My third previously thought of Epic event has just been downgraded and does not belong

above, but duly noted.

Florida's Native Coontie Cycads - Gardener's Tales

 Are we there yet!!!

   How many times, us gardeners with unabated anticipation and have to take 

got to peek on some planted seeds?

Lets see a raise of those green thumbed hands. 

   Twice, in nearly two weeks now, I have it in head to as when my seedlings should sprout.

I only have a vague sense these rather large seeds, fatter than a winter plum pit. Winter being

that they are from across the southern hemisphere and almost as disappointing as the forlorned

winter tomato that deservedly at it's best, some varying degrees of red and that's it. 

These cycad seeds were harvested while walking home from a grocery store, at the dark

of night and announced themselves with a bright flash of pulpy orange. It helped that I was 

close to a road intersection where there was a street light and just happened to have been looking 

down?  Keep in mind I had made a couple of these treks in the dark within days if not a week 

and only now noticed them at the time of they're gathering.

 

   Jumped on the internet and found out how to get these seeds into propagation mode. Don the

rubber gloves, use a sharp object to rid this seed of it's succulent coating, well succulent to some

non human. I bet if I dug deeper on the internet if only to find that these might be edible, not that

 I am suggesting that they are. Surely there has to have been some other human who was the first 

to test these out and may or may not have lived to tell about it.

   A rather lengthy process and stopped at about six of seven seeds.  The remaining unmolested 

seeds sat there for I don't know how much time before stripping some more seeds for when that 

day when that little gardener's voice in my head that gives me a task when to put these seeds in a 

medium and beneficial environment for it's propagation. Not too dry, nor too wet, you get the idea,

the Goldilocks zone.

    This man made mini habitat, conducive to encouraging these seeds into being a fully productive 

biological specimen.  Carrying on the time honored tradition of encouraging and coaxing  some of 

our natives to thrive in this urban environment I call a garden paradise. 

    So low and behold and lets welcome these teeny tiny and did I say little bursts of life? That I can

only hope they well grasp this human endeavor that invites them to live and thrive no matter the 

challenges. After all it is a native and might have a slight edge either way, regardless of the 

human interventions that more often than not, that get in their way no matter the intentions.

 

Well Into The Season - Gardener's Tales

                MyFlorida season has not only sprung and the competition is furious.

                The competitions are no game other than, what will remain at the proverbial 

finish line. A never ending competition, no medals, although the prize may be it's next

meal.        Take for instance...

                 Yesterday's witness to a baby Mockingbird chick getting snatched from it's nest 

by eithera Cackle or Starling more than twice the size of the defending Mockingbirds.  As the 

black bird made off with it's catch, not two but four Mockingbirds gave a futile chase.

                  This happened just days after discouraging a stray cat from making a snack of,

you guessed it, a Mocking bird chick. It's that time of the year.

 

                  There's nothing natural about my yard collection other than it's in abundance

and they to have to compete to.  Many are in pots and have to rely on this human to meet their

water needs, the most basic and during our dry season too.  This morning's attention getter

was a kitchen scrap cum propagated and now going into seed with it's rather nondescript four

petaled yellow flowers, as it's calling card.  This constant gardener does what this naturally 

curious gardener does and takes a whiff of said welcoming blanket to all those pollinators, me 

not being one of them ofcourse and wow wow wow.  Was not expecting a bouquet of fragrance 

that's going to give the competition a run for it's roses.  There was already an army of tiny black

aphids sucking the life juices from this life specimen.  No doubt there is plenty where those juices 

came from to help produce and broadcast this plants come hither ye pollinators perfume.  All the 

while two other orchids hanging close by that have thier fragrance amplified by a million. By

the way these orchids this year have been host to several sizes of hornets, who knew.

That just goes to show me there is and will be something new to see by just stepping out of 

doors, out of our always changing misperceptions and just what ever it is that makes up our

inner world and that will always be our Season.  The season to wonder.

p.s. Imagined in your mind what this yellow flowering kitchen munchkin might look like.

Venturing Out Into The Familiar - Gardener's Tales

    Stepping out into my yard, be it just to take out some refuse from my kitchen pail or perhaps 

with last night's intention still lodged in my brain to find a better location for a potted specimen.

The encounters one comes upon with a free and open mind to welcome what one might not

have ever anticipated and yet it is still familiar.

                            Take it in and enjoy what your life brings you every moment.

 

 

This Valley of White Violets

 

Lives many giants.