Have you seen my cucuzza lately?
Well, here I am, typical sexy backyard look (no makeup, frizzy hair), showing them off. I posted pics of them previously; the plants grew the season AFTER I planted the seeds, and produced these 2 squash. I left them on the vine, planning to harvest the seeds, and when I checked on them recently, I was very surprised to feel how light they had become; they are drying out. I brought them inside, thinking the boys would get a kick out of them and they did. I'll go ahead and open the smaller one for the seeds as it was already dropped in a mishap and split but I'll let the bigger one dry some more and see what it does, just for fun.
The crazy calabazas are setting fruits so I look forward to seeing those huge squash progress. I must learn to eat more squash! I gave a butternut squash to a friend this evening and felt a little relief that I wouldn't have to eat it myself. I haven't mastered garden veggie variety yet.
I was making my daily run to the compost bin and noticed that the giant caladium (I think) in the back corner of my yard is blooming.
There's a part of me that wants to bring that sucker inside and put it in a "vase" which would have to be more along the lines of a crock to support it. I long admired the giant caladiums growing in my neighbor's yard and one finally crossed the fence to officially become "mine".
This plant gives me that "childish delight" feeling every time I see it. I don't know if proximity to the compost bin gives it a boost; I haven't had much compost since I started letting the hens dig around in there. They treat it like a smorgasbord!
A while back the boys said they had "helped" me by cutting down all those big leaves. I had a momentary "Whaaat?!" feeling but quelled it as I knew the plant would recover and they had a blast creating a lean-to with leaves and sticks.
The blooms on the angel trumpet tree by the deck are astoundingly large and after sunset, astoundingly fragrant. Each bloom, including its base, is about 16-18" long.
The plant has done so well but we've had a few mild winters so I worry about the hit it will take when we get a protracted freeze.
I miss the perennials from up north. My little gardens produced beautiful bouquets and I haven't yet matched it here in Florida but I try to be creative with what I've got. I made this one today with rangoon creeper, 2 kinds of orchids, a bit of sedum, and some stray fern fronds. I think it turned out nicely!
The character of my yard will continually change and it's fun to go back and see its evolution. Funny that for the plants I have that are really big, my citrus trees (planted 2007-2009) are still shorter than me. Makes them easy to harvest, I suppose.
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