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

March 16, 2026

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

We’ve been celebrating for at least a month, but My Mom’s husband is a redhead.  So . . .  It started with Leprechaun Gardens.  Yup, made them from stuff in Our Garden.  A few big rocks, top cracks packed with a little dirt.  Stick in some clover and top it with moss.  Then, decorate with your favorite little rocks, stick signs, and of course, a Leprechaun.  LOL!  These were so much fun, but needed lots of water.  

We also painted some clover and such on little medallions, tied some Celtic knots, made some ‘Lucky’ signs, and set up the Leprechaun Trap, of course.  It’s hard for us to not celebrate ‘Green’.  It’s kind of in our DNA.  Hopefully, you found a bit fun as well.  If not, keep trying.  It’s there for the taking.  Woo-Hoo!

Around Our Garden

We didn’t just have green indoors.  With all the heat and rain last week, it felt like the Rainy Season started.  We broke heat records down here in Florida and had rain every afternoon the last several days.  It’s weird, and some of the planties are freaking out.  All the Buttercrunch Lettuce went to seed.  Dang.  We didn’t get to eat any of it.  Since we need some fresh seeds and we have Swiss Chard in the ground and more Lettuce in the nursery ready to go into the ground, we’re probably not as upset as would seem appropriate.  LOL!  It’s kind of amazing anything survived multiple cold snaps, and then, a heat wave and pounding water.  Remember, most Lettuces die in the Rainy Season.  Too hot and wet.

Our slow recoverers like the Sisters Dracaena, Crotons, and Lobster Claw Heliconia did not start recovering.  Dang.  Don’t get me wrong, there are small signs of green.  Barely there, but there.  You’re not alone if you’re feeling very impatient.  The water is going to help.    

Spring Prep

Mostly done.  Woo-Hoo!  The leaves have been gathered, placed into beds as the top compost layer, around the borders and walks as mulch and into the compost baskets for later.  Planting beds and pots have been turned and supplemented.  Luckily, the Veggies beds were done months ago.  We applied our yearly application of slow-release plant food granules, Garden-wide.  Except the Amaryllis.  You wait to fertilize those until all the blooms are done.  And, they are in full swing.

Still lacking: trimming of the Bougainvillea on the front berm, more clean-up of the Bromeliad beds, some of the log boarders still need to be replaced, bug treatment application and we still need to super-bloom the Wisteria, Pomegranate, and Lemon tree.  For some reason those need extra to make even a few flowers.  After that, we can get back to our projects.  Woo-Hoo!

Harvest

Besides more Coconuts, we only brought in some Leafy Greens last week.  Dang.  We’re at that time where things are just growing.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great place to be.  Food yet to come.  Many Farmers and Crop Growers take a break after the Spring planting.  We just take care of the other stuff.  Like working on the new walking path which I seem to be staying out way too long in the mornings to mess with at the moment.  LOL!  Apparently, Spring Prep is not enough.

The Coconut palm fronds are still falling, taking Coconuts down.  We opened another that was so close to being ready, but not quite.  The white meat part was still a little too soft.  We grated and dried it out anyway.  It’s good, not as sweet as our normal stuff.  Also a bit more toasted because the bits were small and large.  LOL!  We’ve got the remaining Coconuts out there ripening.  As long as they didn’t crack falling, they should get more ripe.  We’ll see.

Flowers

We’re featuring one of our favorite wildflowers, the Orange Cosmos, from last week.  If you want pollinators, these bright, ever blooming masterpieces, are a great addition.  Our pretty green plants usually reach 4 feet, throwing blazing orange beauties out in every direction.  And, they always have visitors.  We call these ‘A Pot Full of Cheer’.  LOL!

The Red Amaryllis joined by the Candy Cane pink ones are still popping new bud stalks all over Our Garden.  March is such a red month between the Amaryllis and Kalanchoe.  One large, one tiny, both super eye-catching red.  The Yellow Walking Irises are also making a comeback.  All the plants froze.  Now they have flowers.  Woo-Hoo!  Also looking amazing, the Purple Queen.  Small and beautiful.  Enjoy! 

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.