Plant Daddy Weather Report 3-31-11

Even the March "Lambs" were ticked at going out I guess..........we had quite a wind and rain storm late yesterday afternoon and again this morning.. Here is my photo journalistic report.... 1. View out from inside my research greenhouse....this is not the normal view...part of wall is missing.... 2. Most of my little outside shade area is down....it was built to be easily rebuilt....

3. My buddy's daylilies are down......boy that bring back nursery memories......at least I do not have to stand them up....

4. This is the view from first photo taken looking back at the first photo from outside of where the first photo was taken which was looking to the north of where this here second photo was taken again looking back at the first photo....

5. A little messy in the soil storage area...relax....only one photo taken here.....

6. Some street flooding.....kind of a non exciting ending I gues....

I know this report will not make CNN but it comes close......best I have in me today....Maybe next month will be better.....I hope not to do this subject matter again actually.....

The Last of Berry Week..........Mulberry

Day 5: Mulberry..
This is a new plant for me. We have both a white and a black fruited variety. I like the white one, it has sweet berries without any real taste other than sweet.
The black ones have been disappointing due to small berries and some trees set no fruit at all.
Ahhhh.... but Mosiaci Mom loves the taste of the black ones ---- so I am in the process of getting a good black fruited variety.

This was how they looked this morning 3-25-11.

Below is the white fruited variety........it sets fruit therefore it is good......

Can't wait until these are BIG trees....won't have to bend over to pick them....

Fruit Week 2011 cont....

4. Sort of berry like =Loquats........

The loquats are ripening now and are quite sweet. The 2 trees shown were photographted yesterday. Most loquats around the central Florida area have half an inch diameter fruit. Not even worth picking since they are all seeds and no meat. The upper photo is our old tree (selected from 3 seedlings) that has fruit up to 2-inches in diameter. There is plenty of sweet plum-like goodness to enjoy.
The origianl seedlings were a gift from a plant breeder who said they should have larger fruit - they did. So we propagated the one with the largest fruit (btw...it took a few years for the seedlings to flower).
The tree below is from seed collected in China (it is about 6 years old). Its parents also had large 2-inch fruit. This is the first year we have fruit on it and they do look large - also a more yellowish color compared to our normal variety.

Loquats are great eating and always make March a good month.

Fruit Fest Continued............

Day 3: Blueberries.......we are fortunate to have 4 blueberry varieties at home that were developed for central Florida. I keep them in pots because constant watering in the sandy soil is too much hassel. Plus our native sand has a pH of 7.2.........too high for blueberries.

So we put them in outside area covered with 30% shade cloth to keep the birds away. This works great since we only have 20 pots.

The harvest starts in a week or 2 and goes thru May. Some plants rebloom and we get some fruit at other times of the year. They freeze really well and make great cobbler or pie. However, we mostly eat them fresh...YUM...

Blackberries 2011..

Day 2. Blackberries...

Took these photos this morning. The 'Brazos' blackberries are coming into flower now. The bees have found them and are in active pollination mode. Peak berry production is around May 1. The season may be earlier this year since spring so far is 2-3 weeks ahead of normal.

The berries should be nice this year as I have finally got the drip irrigation system set up correctly. No more will water be a limiting factor.

I will give a final harvest update.

5 Days of Fruit..............forget the Ornamentals.....

Day 1: Strawberries............
We grow about 10 pots of strawberries a year. This gives enough berries to eat fresh plus some to freeze for making strawberry jam whenever needed. We keep them in the greenhouse on raised benches so picking is easy. I crawled along the ground picking berries a lot when I was a kid so I know this technique is better. Also, being inside keeps most of the birds and insect away.
The berries will keep over a year in the freezer and still cook up to make fabulous jam. Mosaic Mom makes 2-3 pints at a time so it never gets old.......what a gift....!!!!

We harvest friut from January thru May. Then the new runners come (due to longer photoperiod)and we root new ones for next year. The challenge is to keep the new plants alive over the summer by putting them in the coolest and brightest place we can find. In November they start to grow and flower. Our method has worked for 4 years now with the same plants. YEAH strawberries.

Blue/Purple Flowers from Class.............

Plectranthus.........
Verbena...........

Lobelia

Ageratum

Not shown is Ruellia...........also in the purple color range............

Class Plants.......

The plants in lab are really doing well this year............here are a few.....

1. Strawflower..........fascinating feel to the flowers....hence the name...........

2. Diascia....a cool weather annual down here.........

3. Lobelia.....does not like our heat........it will die off soon.........like we all do later in August.....

Our Lizard Pets...........

These lizards live with my adeniums and other plants in the greenhouse......
We have these three types (shown below) plus the chameleons...........
They are great fun to watch, very territorial, like to puff up and bark and they eat bugs.......that is not so very good...........
Lizards also attract snakes (see Mosaic Mom's recent and past posts) and that is not so good.....
Yeah, I really like the lizards.......unless you cut one up into your salad while harvesting lettuce....
Above: regular guy....

Above: darker version of regular guy...

Above: This one is sort of a new color......something is going on in my greenhouse.....

Another kind of berry..........

The holly berries look pretty good this time of year..........we have 3 different ones at home.......So of course I show you the one at work........not bad..........can't eat them though so they have their limits..........