On Generosity in Gardening

Overall, gardeners are happy and generous people. It might have something to do with the fact that we're constantly nurturing, the tendency of plants to multiply, or maybe we just get our nature fix on a regular basis. I have been blessed with passalongs from neighbors, local growers and other bloggers over the last year that I've been working on The Rainforest Garden, and the generosity hasn't been limited to plants.

The Term "Urban Homesteading" is Owned Now.

In Garden News... I'm usually not one to get into gardening politics, and I am not an urban homesteader myself, to be honest. I have to let you guys know about this though because it threatens the rights of bloggers, writers and everyone else in gardening community. The Dervaes family of "The Urban Homestead" (Not doing them a favor by linking to them) has been sending out letters to Facebook groups, authors and even the Santa Monica Public Library, insisting that they replace "Urban Homesteading" with more "generic terms". They've even sent a copyright infringement notice on the 13th to the authors Kelly Coyne and Eric Knutzen who authored the book "The Urban Homestead" two years ago.

"Proven Winners" Are More Than Pretty Flowers

Photos Courtesy of Proven Winners

As many of you know, I'm all about foliage plants and I've never been one to gush over a petunia or a hydrangea, no matter how gosh-darned pretty the blooms are. I've always seen "Proven Winners" ads during my favorite PBS gardening shows, and their selection fills the annuals display at my local Home Depot. Yet I've never seen any offerings that knocked my socks off... until today. (Photos courtesy of Proven Winners)

Super Mario Theme Garden

I'm working on a project. I'm designing 100 theme gardens, ranging from a "Mediterranean Coast Garden", to a "Florist's Garden", "Volcano Garden", and even a "Jurassic Garden"! Kicking off my insane undertaking, I present the Mario Garden. Inspired by the simple forms and pixels of a video game's graphics, this garden would have everything from carnivorous plants, to plumbing, mushrooms, coins, and stars.

Gasp! My Bromeliads Made it Through Winter

I know that winter isn't technically over yet, but here in Florida during a La Nina winter, I'm 99.99 percent sure that at least I won't be dealing with any hard freezes. Besides, most of my bromeliads are pretty tough in the face of cold weather and have even endured last year's even colder winter.
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January Epiphyte Club Winner!

Congratulations to Kylee Baumle of Our Little Acre, who will be receiving a mailer of epiphytic cactus cuttings as soon as it warms up enough in Ohio! She blogged about her Ric Rac cactus for last month's epiphyte club, but since she was a little late I decided to add it to this month's instead... and luckily for her, she won! Here's a little info about Kylee and her blog.
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Washington Oaks Garden State Park Closing?

Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is on the government's chopping block. Blessed with one of Florida's only rocky beaches, a natural maritime forest, as well as a lush historic garden that's been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this park is much too valuable to close. The tourist dollars alone are reason enough to save it, but there are many more reasons.
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My Plans for the Front Garden

I am sick and tired of waiting for winter to be over, how about you guys? Luckily its shaping up to be fairly mild for the remainder of winter here in Jacksonville, so at least I'll be able to plant some bulbs pretty soon. The rest of my front garden is well planned thanks to my impatient imagination, and I know exactly what I'll be doing to make a more inviting entryway.
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Epiphyte Club, Round 2

Thank you all for participating in round two of Epiphyte Club! For the uninitiated, here are the rules.
Rule #1. Epiphytes are plants that grow on trees, such as orchids, bromeliads and many ferns.
Rule #2. There is no epiphyte club. Okay, so I made that up. See this post for the contest and blog carnival rules.
Rule #3. If you're sharing an older post, please include a link to this site. 
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Second Epiphyte Day and Contest!

Welcome to round two of the Epiphyte Club! The First Epiphyte Day was such a rousing success that I've decided to go all out and do another giveaway! The rules are simpler this time, and you can enter in three ways, as many times as you want. Just be sure to leave a comment telling me about each entry. Read on to learn more!

Wordless Wednesday: Florida Snowflake

I could be depressed by the dead foliage of winter in this zone denier's garden. One of my firecracker plants got burnt by the freezes, but I prefer to see the beauty in the exposed and frail form left over by the bitter cold. Besides, its already pushing out new growth anyway. For more shots of winter in my garden, go here!

A 9a Garden in Winter: Front Yard

I finally made it out to the garden at my parent's place yesterday, and overcompensated by taking a ton of pictures. So many plants were still thriving and green, and even the dead looking plants were only sleeping. Hey, you know what? Why don't I give you a tour of the front yard?
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LOTS of South African Garden Plants

There are more plants from South Africa growing in your neighborhood than you realize. Sure, the namesakes of cape honeysuckle and natal plum might make their origins obvious, but what about the elegant calla lily, the graceful gladiolus or the cosmopolitan geranium? Even these seemingly commonplace plants hail from the warm temperate and subtropical climes of South Africa. Your garden plants are more exotic than you realized!
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Why Do You Love to Garden?

Last week I wanted to do a post explaining what I love about gardening so much, and decided to ask my facebook friends what they thought. Well, they gave a ton of great reasons to love gardening, I got sick with a cold, and the rest is history. Looking over the responses I realized that everyone already seems to know exactly how I feel, so to elaborate would only detract from what they have to say.
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Finding Beauty in a Dead Garden

While gardeners in every state but my own have beautiful photos of rime covered trees and fluffy snow drifts, mine is decidedly less dramatic.  Nobody rants and raves about winter's beautiful scenery in the Coastal South, but I would beg to differ.  Lets take a break from covering our plants for a moment and look at the beauty that we so often take for granted.
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Letters to a Young Gardener

What advice would you give a new gardener if you had the chance?  I've been mulling this question around in my head and ultimately decided to call upon the experience of  my friends on Twitter and Facebook for their ideas.  First I'll share some of the lesson's I've learned, and then I'll provide the sage advice my friends have to offer.
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Sexy Brazilians

Feast your eyes on these exotic beauties!  Straight from the hot and steamy climes of the tropics, these delicate flowers tempt you flirtatiously and won't disappoint.  There are many plants from Brazil that deserve a place in your home or landscape, but I'll keep it short and only show you the sexiest.  (By the way, flipping through an old romance novel yesterday was a bad idea.)

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The Envelope Please...

I won't keep you in suspense any longer... The winners of the epiphyte bundles of joy are Derek Powazek of Plantgasm, and Kat White of The Kat's Garden!  (I love both of your blogs, by the way.) Both of you will receive 'care packages' full of bromeliads, cactus cuttings, and even orchids in the next week or so... Anything in particular you've had your eyes on, like a cold hardy bromeliad?

The Legend of the Rainforest Gardener

Since I just updated the bio on my 'about' page, I thought I'd share how I got into gardening in the first place... in third person narrative.  Another garden writer mentioned that writing in the third person was a great way to get around the terrifying chore of talking about yourself, and it was a bit more fun to boot. Oh, and I added some 'critic' reviews at the end too, just so you can fully appreciate my awesomeness. (That should really be a word.)
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I Pitaya Fool Who Doesn't Grow Dragonfruit From Seed!

Whenever someone tells me that they're a black thumb, I often tell them to try dragonfruit.  Also known as pitaya, dragonfruit is a hemi-epiphytic cactus that produces large and tasty fruits with neon pink skin and a surprising white flesh that's peppered with tiny black seeds. These seeds are really easy to germinate, and the patient gardener will one day be rewarded with a fruit bearing plant of her own!
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