Monday, November 11, 2013

Chocolate Chip Bugleweed


I bought two of these ajugas to fill in my planter in the front, giving a little spiky height to the mix of purple petunias. The purple and blue were very pretty together, and I let them go for a while in the pots after the petunias were shot.  They spread out a bit, and I separated them to fill in the area by the seagrapes, ripping out the obstreperous beach sunflower. They are so lovely, and they are multiplying before my eyes. Can't wait till they bloom in spring! I moved the mulch away from their leaves so they'll continue to have plenty of room to spread.  12"! Can't wait to be able to divide them and put them in other locations.  John Markowski points out they're great groundcover because they're so thick the weeds can't get in. A self weeding groundcover.  

More excitement: I started the moringa seeds Bethia gave me last week and a tiny sprout was up this AM. 
Nutrition from moringa: Vitamin A 6780 mcg Carrots: 1890 mcgVitamin C 220 mg Oranges: 30 mgCalcium 440 mg Cow's milk: 120 mgPotassium 259 mg Bananas: 88 mg Protein 6.7 gm Cow's milk: 3.2 gm
Which is all well and good, but when will I actually start breaking off the limbs and chowing down? They're supposed to grow 20 feet a year!!!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Fruit Trees

So sad. My four citrus trees no longer bear fruit due to greening, the Chinese imported bug that infests them all.  They still look ok, and they still bloom, it's just the fruit is very woody and flavorless.  Marty is all "But they're still trees!" but I want to be able to go out in my garden and pick luscious fruit, at least for some part of the year.  Bethia & John bought me a Mexicola Avocado, and I planted it outside Janie's window. Unfortunately, I didn't realize at planting time that it's a very tall tree, so I hope I didn't plant it too close. It's doing very well, shooting up daily.

Everything is growing wildly because of the prodigious rains we've had this summer. Rain every day, just like in the old days. The bamboo outside my window is wonderful, and I've started a nice new clipping of red-leaf hibiscus, which I swiped from Bethia.  The maple leafed shape foliage is a beautiful color, and the leaves are tart and tasty.