Alien Invasion

When I say aliens I'm not talking alien people. Nor even aliens from outer space. I'm talking about something much more frightening to a gardener. Cucumber beetles! Hoards, flocks, waves, masses of the yellow spotted devils. So many that just walking through the garden, I have them on me like flies....

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Another lazy August day at the DragonFly

August in my opinion is the worst month of the year for Floridians. The weather is so hot and humid that working outside is wishful thinking, even in the early morning hours. We have been stock in this weather pattern for months with no relief in sight, and to make things worst August is the start of...

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Flower of the week

My Brassavola Nodosa or Lady of the night orchid is in full bloom. Today I performed tree surgery on my powderpuff tree. The main branch split in half early this week during a rainstorm.Invaders.It has become a weekly routine to cut this invasive vine coming over the fence from my neighbors yard.Why...

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Preparing the fall vegetable garden

Flower of the week - The Yellow Ground Orchid.This morning I started the long process of preparing my vegetable garden for fall planting.First step pulling out all the weeds and moving the milkweed to another location.Future Monarch Butterfly cafeteria. (Milkweed is their favorite food)Next week I will...

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Since 1992 when hurricane Andrew devastated the tree cover in our southern end of the county, our county government has designate several days a year as adopt-a-tree day. Today was one of those days, and it was my first time attending the event.Each homeowner is permitted two free trees per year; the...

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Awesome Austin

Where do I begin? We only spent 2 days and 3 nights in Austin, but boy did we pack in a lot of fun and it will take at least 3 postings to do it justice (just a hint of what's coming...a funky, famous chicken place in Round Top, TX; Madalene Hill's gardens at Festival Hill, a trip to see Mexican bats...

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Good Food and Chickens, too!

Let's see, how do I tell you about this next chapter of Austin? I'll have to delete a letter or two to not offend anyone, so here goes, Chapter 2 (with one more to come after this - Festival Hill Gardens and Royer's famous Chicken place).I planned 2 surprises for Josh in Austin, arrangements I'd made...

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