Here we are in the middle of a hot, muggy Florida Summer. When it rains, I have to mow and when it doesn’t, I water. The rest of the time, I seek the air conditioning. It’s not the time of year that I take on new ambitious garden plans. I’ll save that for Fall when the sun isn’t quite so hot and the mosquitoes have died down.
Many you must be seeking the air conditioning too because I have noticed more people visiting my blog. For all of you new visitors, welcome. I hope you will make this one of your virtual garden spots. Please bookmark it and share this blog with your friends. I also hope you will comment and share your experience. I really do want to hear from you but please, share from your heart. I don’t mind letting you promote your favorite blog but if all you do is treat it as a promotional opportunity, we all lose. First and foremost, this blog is about gardens and people who love them. If there is one thing gardeners have always been good at, it’s hanging over the garden gate and sharing what works. That is what I want to hear about.
I named this blog Outdoor Garden Statues because garden ornaments are often the finishing touch for a lot of hard work. After you set one in your garden, you can’t help affectionately visiting it from time to time. They have a warm spot in my heart but this blog isn’t limited to garden ornaments. I like to take pictures and share ideas. Sometimes the best way to deal with a problem in your yard is by seeing what other people have done.
Feel free to send me your pictures and tell me a little about your garden project. I would love to feature you here on the blog.
For those of you who noticed that I hadn’t added much lately, my husband died suddenly last October. As you can imagine, it turned my life upside down and I didn’t feel much like blogging. However, I keep taking pictures of what others are doing and am finding myself getting excited about sharing some of this new stuff. I also have a move in my future and if things go as we are hoping, my family and I will be taking an ugly duckling and turning it into a swan. The house we are trying to buy really has been neglected. It is going to be an ambitious project and I want to chronicle it every step of the way. I hope you stick around for the fun!
If your thermometer looks like Spring is dragging it’s feet, I have good news. This morning I took a little walk and saw many signs that Spring is about to burst forth and if it’s here, it will be coming there soon. I always love it when I see the first robins of Spring.
Being migratory, they don’t stay in Florida but often stop here on their way further north. This morning a whole flock of them were bouncing around as I made my way around the neighborhood. What a welcome sight as our winter has been colder than normal. (Yea, I know as soon as it turns hot they will be yelling about ‘global warming” but where are they when the thermometer drops?) I know it’s hard to see but that bird below the hose on this house is a robin. Unfortunately they were too shy for my camera to get a good shot but it’s there anyway.
Other things I noticed were people replanting palms the cold had killed and the first new leaves on crape myrtles among others. Spring is definitely coming and I am looking forward to some nice days in the garden before the summer heat sets in. Now I have to get the hibiscus trimmed back, the hedge clipped, etc. It sure feels good to be working in a T shirt!
Where ever you live, it’s time to plan for this year’s garden season. I’ve talked about careful placement of statues, fountains and benches in other posts but I want to remind you to consider the scent of your garden as well.
This morning, I was wandering through some gardening blogs and came across a listing of a top 10 listing of fragrant roses. My father always had roses growing in his garden in New York State. Mom often brought some cut flowers into the house as a centerpiece which helped all of us learn to value them. He also had a vegetable garden and grew amazing zucchinis, tomatoes, green beans and chard. I was too young to do more than follow him around and talk about what he was doing but that is where my gardening roots began.
I have tried roses in Florida and there are some nice ones that you can grow but we have to constantly fight black spot and mildew. Our humid summer weather means you can’t relax your guard so I don’t grow very many of them. Instead, I’ve found that I like to include such herbs as rosemary and basil. They are very easy to grow. The rosemary makes a little bush (kind of like a boxwood) and every time you brush against them or even water with the hose, they release a wonderful scent. It doesn’t hurt that they are always on hand when you are cooking as well. Saute a little chicken with rosemary and it has wonderful flavor. I like gardening that stimulates all of your senses without straining your budget.
If you decide to add herbs to your garden this year, please come back and share your experience. Basil, Rosemary and chives top my list as easy to care for and use. I tried oregano with limited success and mint hates our summer heat so it is seasonal at best. I’m still looking for new favorites.
February is a wonderful time to garden in Florida. It’s not hot and we can grow things like lettuce, broccoli and spinach that can’t take the heat.
After that extended nasty cold spell we had, it’s time to cut back the damage. Of course I wanted to do it right away but they say that the damaged areas protect the plant from more cold so I’ve been sitting on my hands and counting the days until I can clean up this mess. Over the next few weeks I will be cutting back the hibiscus and scheffs as well as that thorny bougainvillea. Things are going to look a little bare until the new growth comes in but will look great this summer.
On a sad note, even though I had covered my fountain it sustained a hit. I am going to have to epoxy it back together. If I had known the cold was going to last as long as it did, I would have taken it inside. Record cold is no joke. 
Here we are in the middle of a hot, muggy Florida Summer. When it rains, I have to mow and when it doesn’t, I water. The rest of the time, I seek the air conditioning. It’s not the time of year that I take on new ambitious garden plans. I’ll save that for Fall when the sun isn’t quite so hot and the mosquitoes have died down.
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