April Orchids

This cutie just opened up earlier this week. It's a blend of soft spring colors. See that little white packet in the pot. That's slow-release fertilizer wrapped up in a small piece of netting fabric. So, everytime I water the orchid it gets a little fertilizer. This is one of my "mom's ideas" (sorry for mentioning that mom!). And, since she told me about it our orchids look better than ever.
And, this orchid's name should be "faithful" because it blooms about every other month 'year round. I've had it for 20+ years, and I still get excited when I see new blooms on it.

The rest of the orchids are carryovers from March. They're still in bloom and still looking good. You can't beat phaleonopsis for their lasting blooms.

Please Don't Toss the Leaves

It's the time of year when our oak trees totally transform themselves by shedding their entire canopy of leaves and regrowing a fresh new cover. Just think of all the energy it must take to complete this cycle. A really awesome and magnificent undertaking of nature in my opinion.

I'm fortunate to have 10 oaks (laurel, live and water) in my yard that create a great canopy of shade that I am especially grateful for during the summer months. With a good portion of leaves already off the branches we can see more sunlight and blue sky, and it's easy to spot squirrel and bird nests.

Many people get rid of their trees because they're messy and grass doesn't grow well beneath them. But I feel that their benefits far outweigh the falling leaves, as well as branches and moss that I pick up throughout the year.

As their leaves slowly float to the ground many end up in my flowerbeds as mulch. It's a real time-saver to have self-mulching flowerbeds. And, they're FREE! Which translated means - you can spend more money on plants when you don't have to buy mulch. These azaleas love oak leaf mulch.
And, then there are the ones that end up on the grass. That's where I come in. Every couple of days I go out and rake them into the flowerbeds. But most of my neighbors rake, bag and toss them to the curve.

And that's when I find myself (among protests from my embarrassed daughter) pulling over to the curb and quickly tossing a couple of bags into the back of my S.U.V. I have to agree with her that it is a little embarrassing but I just can't resist a bit more of free mulch especially when I didn't have to rake it.

By the way, I must confess that I come by this practice honestly. I actually never saw my mom snitch the neighbor's leaves on the curb. Instead she raked the neighbor's yard each spring and now she has beautiful garden soil. So, there we have it, another one of mom's ideas!

Chilly Weather Headed Our Way

It looks like winter is arriving here in Florida. We started out with unseasonally cool temps in November, followed by a warm December. But now that we are officially in our winter months (January & February), our first taste of really cold weather is headed our way. We'll have to bundle up our plants and bring our orchids indoors.

My mother came up with a great suggestion for my sister. She lives in a rural area where temperatures can be lower than in the city and she has a large number of orchids. My mom suggested that she place all of her orchids on a small trailer (used to haul 4-wheelers). She can easily bring them into the garage, and then pull them out again when it warms up.

I thought that was a great idea and it got me thinking about how I could simplify the task of hauling our 44 orchid plants in and out for the next couple of months.

Voila'! Thanks to my mom's idea I came up with a solution to my orchid conundrum. I used an outdoor table and cart (do you recognize these Jane?). I placed as many orchids as possible on these two pieces of outdoor furniture and now my husband and I can easily lift them and bring them into the house when necessary.

When it warms up, we place them right outside the back door on the patio for easy watering. I can't get all of my orchids on them, but it has significantly reduced the number of trips required to get them all indoors. My mom always comes up with good ideas!