Greetings Growers & Lovers of Green Things
The Tropical Grower welcomes you to the online version of Our Garden. Check out our What’s Bloomn’ slideshow featuring last week’s flowers, cruz the latest topics at the Blog Page for information, enjoy the Photos, or just check out what’s happening this week in Garden Dirt. While we are Growing Tropical, growing is for everyone, and we’re here to share the green.
Garden Dirt
October 7, 2024
Again? Thanks, Milton
Just after saying goodbye to Hurricane Helene, we’re battening down the hatches for Milton. Boo-Hiss! Milton is a giant, and our Zones A and B are under mandatory evacuations. That’s along the coast, low-lying areas, and freshwater flood zones along the rivers and water bodies. Any place water is going to collect and rise. It’s so much more area than you’d expect. Florida is barely above sea level. Â
They are predicting the storm will drag water from the Gulf up onto land after it. We call it storm surge, and we’ve watched it climb up to the fourth story of buildings down on the beach before losing the feed. Scary stuff. People don’t just get carried away, they get trapped and die. And, we are not even where they expect it to hit, that’s north of us about 2 hours.
The problem with Milton, like Irma, is he’s a big boy. Not just in strength, but also in area. So, wherever he hits land, it’s going to cover most of the state. It’s been raining since yesterday morning, and we are having Irma flashbacks.
Around Our Garden
Yes, of course, most everything is put away, or secured in some manner. The pool furniture is in the pool. The propane tanks are stored, little dragon statues and glass safely nestled in fence corners filled with vegetation and weighted down. We’ve been through it all too many times to count.
More concerning is the Fall/Winter crop is fully planted. Happy little baby starter plants and sprouted seeds starting their new little lives. Yup, out there in Our Garden where a storm is about to hit. While I do have a few more succession plantings waiting in the nursery, the vast majority of the crop is outside. Dang.
While I could be fretting, it is the least of my worries. People are getting crazy out there. Actual brawls. Sometimes things go bad in Our Garden. Last year, it was so cloudy, the plants didn’t grow enough for a true crop. The year before that, we got hit with Hurricane Ian. Most babies survived, and I replanted the rest. So, we are going to stay calm, and move forward.
Harvest
Hurricane Helene confused the Orange Tree. That was the storm we got the week before last. While some fruit was knocked off in the storm, a whole mess of them started turning Orange on the tree while others started gaining color and fell off. It doesn’t seem to know what is going on. We have simply been gathering the fallen and hoping they will ripen further. I’m not sure what to do about the Orange ones on the tree, yet.
Over last week, we also Harvested 3 Eggplants. The 2 year old plant gets bigger and healthier looking everyday, and it just keeps producing. Pretty purple fruits all over the place. Then, there was the Habanero throwing out 4 peppers. We don’t keep those. They go to My Brother. I’m glad I finally got a bush to establish for him, but I don’t believe it’s enough for his cooking team, yet.
Flowers
We’re Featuring the Dendrobium Sonia Orchid from last week. Its bright purple splash of color is unmistakable hanging out there in the tree. It’s 28 years old. LOL! I know because My Mom gave a spike of the flowers to the florist to make Opal’s Mother-In-Law corsage for My Mom’s wedding. It was lovely. I’m sure she enjoyed it.
We weren’t surprised to see all the Dendrobiums going crazy at the same time year. They seem to love the rainy season. Their thick petals don’t get damaged. The Zinnias hold up nicely as well, but I’m pretty sure we will have some downed flowers by the end of the week. You should enjoy them now, along with the Dahlias. We’re expecting some big winds. We’ll see. Stay Safe out there!
Check out What’s Bloomn’ slideshow for more flowers or visit Garden Dirt Diary to catch up on what’s been going on around Our Garden.
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