Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

In after Baud. Damn.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Come on, man.

I really should read my own blog.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

We still have time to mess this up!

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Second rate reporter says what?

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Zone 10 Luxury

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Zone 10 Luxury

by | 102 Comments

This post is in: 

shar Epidendrum orchids

Epidendrum orchids
.

A little subtropical richness to celebrate the summer warmth, from “loyal lurker” Shar in NE Miami-Dade, Florida.

shar Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea

shar Ixora, Jatropha, Ficus, Liriope native ferns

Ixora, Jatropha, Ficus, Liriope, native ferns

shar View of a native snail on pool coping from inside the pool.

View of a native snail on pool coping from inside the pool
.

***********
This week we picked our first ripe tomatoes — an undersized Vintage Wine and a few SunGolds. It’s a start!

What’s going on in your garden(s) this week?

shar Ixora

Ixora

shar Crab spider

Crab spider

shar Stunted early mangos from the

Stunted early mangos from the neighbors’ tree on the property line

Reader Interactions

102Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I’ll probably pick my first tomatoes as well. Also have a couple Oda peppers ready for the picking. My first year growing them but it looks like it might not be the last. Other wise, all else continues apace.

    We got over 4 inches of rain last week, so now my grass, oops I meant weeds, are in great need of mowing, so that’s what I will be doing today.

  4. 4.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    Is that what Bougainvillea is! I’ve seen that in southern Mexico, took pictures of it and never knew what it was. Some of the flowers are so purple they’re practically ultraviolet. Lovely.

  5. 5.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: We got our first mater yesterday as well. The pictures are great, my buddy just moved to Ft Meyers and he said the mangos are going wild!

  8. 8.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I miss the landscape gardening generally. Not to perpetuate a stereotype, but Mexican urban landscaping makes our cities look shabby. Flowering plants year round and beautiful shrubbery plantings. I never knew you could prune a ficus into so many shapes.

  9. 9.

    JPL

    Shar, The pictures are wonderful! There’s nothing like Sunday morning posts.
    Bah humbug! The bunnies ate half my garden and the high temps have slowed the growth of my tomatoes. I’m going to replant some pole beans, but this time I’ll put screening around it. The bunny is just brazen, he’ll wait until the dog is a few feet away, before slithering to the other side of the chain link fence.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: I went to the feed store and picked up the last of what I need for the chickens, got home and decided, “Nahhhhh, tomorrow’s another day” and finished watching a movie instead. Then I got motivated and sorted out a pile of paper, mail, magazines, and catalogs into a “Burn after reading” pile and a “Not yet” pile, then decided “Nahhh, tomorrow’s another day” for the actual burning. Then I went into the storage room and finally took down the grow lights etc and decided “Nahhhh, tomorrow’s another day” for actually clearing a spot in the shed to put all that stuff in. It was in the mid 80’s. I think my annual Summer doldrums have arrived.

  14. 14.

    satby

    Good morning rikyrah and everyone,and Bleeeecchhhhhh to you too Ozark ?

    Nice pictures Shar, thanks for stopping lurking to share! I’ve got green tiny tomatoes only, and we’re in a dry spell here. A lot of big storms have passed by south of us, and fields that were planted late have pitifully small plants. If we don’t get a drencher soon they’ll probably be a total loss to the farmers.

    The blueberries are in though, and I made a blueberry-peach jam that was outstanding last week. Enough for me, the neighbors, friends, and the leftovers went into the oriole jar.

  15. 15.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I think my annual Summer doldrums have arrived.

    I get those every year when the temps and humidity go sky high, but this year they started in May. The only real gardening I’ll be doing this year is digging plants up to take with me when I leave.

  18. 18.

    raven

    @satby: I don’t know how I feel. I’ve done quite a bit of research and the conventional wisdom, even here on BJ, it to get them fixed even if they have never bothered me in the least. We’ll see I guess,

  20. 20.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    Among the unexpected challenges of a digital world: telling someone your email address on the phone and getting them to not screw it up. Right now I would pay money to be “[email protected]” just so I could get docs emailed to me by hotels. I’m gonna just keep calling until I get my receipt for $738.52.

    This hot, dry year has been great for our prickly pear cactus. Every two weeks I drown the thing with a hose and it loves it. This may be the only unique thing about our Detroit area yard, though I give cuttings to friends in other towns. I cut off 4 pads this spring and a colleague planted them. They rooted and bloomed in about a month.

  21. 21.

    Another Holocene Human

    It’s hot and too dry here in North Central Florida. I planted some bulbs but they haven’t flowered yet. My butterfly garden has not attracted butterflies lately but my cat will watch lizards too. My cycad that looked like the cold killed it dramatically sprang back to life with new leaves. Every time I go outside besides battling heat exhaustion I get divebombed by weird bugs (not mosquitoes). The dragonflies are exceeding 3 inches, Devonian here we come.

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: I used to stay at the Hotel Taninul just outside of Ciudad Valles, kind of a 5 star hotel with bad wiring. It is situated on a hot spring so it has “stinky pools” (which are great to swim in on a cold December night) and the gardens are just eye poppingly beautiful (just googled it, the pics do not do it justice) verdant green with explosions of color around every corner.

    The thing I liked most about the bougainvillea is that no matter how mean a thatched hut might be, if there was a bougainvillea in front of it, it was the most beautiful home in the world.

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: And S Texas, and Florida. I haven’t left anything in either of those places, but maybe someday I’ll get to SoCal.

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: Here’s hoping that because they have never bothered you, any sidelining is brief and minimal.

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    Well , I am sitting here waiting for the police. Somebody came by and hit my parked car.???It was too messed up -his car, so he could not drive away. I do not know if my car even starts. Won’t attempt that until the police get here.

  27. 27.

    Central Planning

    @rikyrah: that sucks. At least the police will be able to file the report and you know who did it.

    We have two hummingbird feeders up. The birds were few and far between early last week, but we have at least six swarming around them now. My kids have a little hand feeder, about the size of a 1″ stack of quarters, that they keep taking outside. None of the hummingbirds have tried it yet.

  31. 31.

    JPL

    ABC This Week will have Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn on to discuss the political response to the racial divide in our country. He’ll be asked whether or not he received pay to appear on Russia Today. (not really, we know George doesn’t like to ask tough questions.)
    Giuliani will be on Face the Nation, in order to defend his racist rant on MSNBC. (not really, he’ll be allowed to rant vile again).

    @rikyrah: I’m sorry and that really sucks. Hopefully, insurance pays for repairs, and a nice rental, in the meantime.

  32. 32.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Oh rikyrah, that’s awful. Like Baud said, at least you weren’t in it but that’s small comfort right now. Hope insurance (his) covers it all plus a rental for you until yours is fixed.

  35. 35.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @raven:
    I had one done years ago, the surgery is really eays, a couple of days laying around the house after. I hope you don’t need it but if you do don’t sweat it.

  36. 36.

    Botsplainer, Neoliberal Corporatist Shill

    Watched “Look Who’s Back” last night. Hysterically funny satire about Hitler just popping up in modern Berlin. It is subtitled, and there some classic moments – particularly a “Downfall” parody.

    Here’s a trailer.

  37. 37.

    Sphex

    @rikyrah: delurking to say how sorry I am for this. I hope insurance will make it bearable.
    I really appreciate your “good morning”s

  40. 40.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @rikyrah: Bummer.

    My MIL finally was forced to stop driving after she hit a parked car, totaled hers, and couldn’t convince her kids to help her buy another one. It’s not a good sign.

  41. 41.

    Schlemazel Khan

    I started scraping the house for painting yesterday. The weather was as good as I could have asked for. Its the first time I have been up a ladder since the fall & I find I can’t do it. I got whole whole back of the house done except the two dormers by using a steel brush on a 16′ poll. I’ll get the front and the garage side the same way the 4th side I’ll only get about half done. I will rent scaffolding then to finish the scrape and apint. I think I can deal with that.

    Good news is we are having a thunderstorm today so no work on tht stuff!

  43. 43.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    My MIL (now 82) swapped paint with stationary objects for several years until we talked her out of her Camaro and into a Beetle. She’s short and just couldn’t see out of the Chevy.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel Khan: My old man would take a week off every year specifically to paint one side of the house (and other stuff too). The next year he would paint another side of the house.

  45. 45.

    satby

    @Iowa Old Lady: @Ultraviolet Thunder: it wasn’t until after she was gone that we found out my mother had backed into and really damaged her neighbor’s van twice. Thank god she decided to stop driving, but only because she couldn’t remember which repair shop had her car.

  46. 46.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Are you familiar with Firesign Theater, “We’re all bozos on this bus”

    Well, I think we’re all assholes on this blog. Just ask our host, I know he believes that as well.

    The bottom of the house is brisk so there really isn’t that much to paint. I wish they had put cedar shakes on the bottom & brisk up to, it would have been a lot faster & easier to paint! I’m hoping with some help to get the whole paint job done in a week. I was well on my way to that 18 years ago when the ladder fell & I fractured my pelvis.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Police in Branford said they arrested a man for pointing a handgun at an off-duty New Haven police officer. The suspect, 29, pulled the weapon at the intersection of East Main Street and Windmill Hill Road on Thursday around 9 p.m., according to police. The victim dialed 911 to report the incident.

    The officer told police that the suspect had been tailgating him and blowing his horn beginning at the intersection of North Main Street and Chestnut Street. He believed it was because the suspect wanted to travel at a faster speed. At the Windmill Hill intersection, police said the suspect pulled his small black semi-automatic handgun out, pointed it at the victim and then drove away.

    Police located the suspect and the weapon at his home. He was taken into custody. The suspect has a valid pistol permit, according to police. However, officers seized both the gun and the permit. The suspect was charged with following too close with intent to harass, second-degree threatening, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree breach of peace.

    He was released on a written promise to appear in New Haven court on July 19.

    I removed his name and replaced it with the italicized “the suspect” because I want to conduct an experiment: How many people can correctly guess the color of the suspects skin just from the information provided in the verbatim quote above?

    Yeah, that’s what I thought.

  48. 48.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: About 8 years ago our son was entertaining his gf when someone ran into her car hard enough that it was flipped upside down in the street! Cops said she ws not impaired. I assume texting but that was new at the time I think.

    Earlier this summer the neighbor was having some landscaping done & the workers had a trailer with 2 tons of rocks sitting in the street (IN the parking lane very clearly marked with while lines) when an older woman ~70-ish. hit the side of it. The impact spun her Caddy around & tore most of the front end off. Bent the trailer too.

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel Khan: Firesign Theatre… Listened to it all the time in High School. Haven’t in decades so I don’t remember any specific skits but they made me laugh my ass off more than a few times.

  52. 52.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Iowa Old Lady: My great grandmother (and namesake) kept her license when she had cataracts (!!) because the Illinois instructor was so impressed at her mad standard transmission driving skillz. (ETA she was 90 years old and died not long thereafter.) Also because the state didn’t mandate a vision test for older drivers.

    My great uncle used to drive an SUV around Bartlesville, OK, pretty much blind. We couldn’t figure out how he got around, by touch? Scary.

    Another great aunt used to go 15mph in the right lane, viewing the road through the steering wheel. Sigh.

  53. 53.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    How many people can correctly guess the color of the suspects skin just from the information provided in the verbatim quote above?

    Thats a trick question, right?

  57. 57.

    MattF

    @Another Holocene Human: Driving while having eye problems is a real issue for older drivers. I speak from experience here– I had corneal surgery and cataract surgery over a period of two years and kept driving through it. I only drove back and forth to work, so it was over a route I’ve been using for nearly twenty years and during the day– but I think now it wasn’t a totally smart thing to do.

  58. 58.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh, not at their expense, it’s a young former co-worker. But it was nice to be asked.
    Even though it’s probably not the most fiscally conservative thing to consider, after I take care of necessities, if I have a little pool of cash, I may take a little vacation ? YOLO

  59. 59.

    satby

    @Schlemazel Khan: I went to India to meet my team when I still worked for my old company (no names, but the initials included a c, an s, and a c). It was fantastic, huge contrasts, and I really liked it. Not likely that I can go again, but I’ll see.
    My sister seems to be backing off her weird stance about the condo, so the fates must be working with me for a change.

  61. 61.

    Schlemazel Khan

    I think I neglected to say how beautiful todays garden looks. I have said many bad things about my time living in Florida but they really do have the most beautiful flowers and it seems like something is blooming every day there and thre are splashes of color that brighten every corner. The Spanish named it El Florida for good reason.

  65. 65.

    Another Holocene Human

    @MattF: This is what self driving cars would be perfect for.

    Or better public transportation.

    Nah, can’t have that. Blah people thugs would show up in the suburbs, start jacking big screen TVs.

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    Update on the car situation: The Police came and took the report. My car won’t start. Just got off the phone with my insurance company. I gotta wait for the adjuster to call, maybe tomorrow or Tuesday. So not wanting this. Oh well. :(

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree sees ‘blessing’ despite Alzheimer’s
    July 7, 2016

    (RNS) A Harvard law professor who taught both President Obama and his wife, Michelle, told fellow members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church that his faith is helping him cope with a personal diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

    “I’ve made up my mind to be thankful for what I have rather than focus on what I may lose,” an emotional Charles Ogletree said Tuesday (July 6) in his bicentennial message at a banquet where 3,000 people kicked off the 50th quadrennial General Conference of the denomination in Philadelphia.

    “Nothing but the grace of God and faith enables me to respond this way

  70. 70.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @Another Holocene Human:
    I admit I have no idea which is right, it was just the story I was told while there & I do know that ‘flora’ is flower so I believed it. Gender always perplexed me in Latin too.

  71. 71.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Another Holocene Human:

    My great uncle used to drive an SUV around Bartlesville, OK, pretty much blind. We couldn’t figure out how he got around, by touch? Scary.

    My great grandfather (born in 1885) told me he couldn’t see signs and traffic lights so he would watch the other cars and do what they did. This was around 1975. He died in ’78, not of a traffic accident.

  75. 75.

    rikyrah

    In the Turmoil Over Race and Policing, Children Pay a Steep Emotional Price
    JULY 9, 2016

    In the past week alone, there was the 4-year-old girl in Falcon Heights, Minn., who was captured on video consoling her mother after they watched a police officer shoot the mother’s boyfriend through the window of a car. And there was the 15-year-old boy in Baton Rouge, La., who sobbed uncontrollably in front of television cameras after the similar shooting death of his father.

    Then there were the four brothers, ages 12 to 17, whose mother was shot by the sniper who opened fire on officers in Dallas on Thursday night while the family was protesting police violence against blacks. The mother, who survived, threw herself atop one boy, as the others ran for their lives.

    Again and again, children are finding themselves enmeshed in the country’s roiling debate over police treatment of African-Americans. The close-up views of violence, obviously traumatizing, are giving rise to a generation of young people who distrust authority, grow up well before their time and suffer nightmares that seem too real.

    “As a mother, I have now been forced to raise a son who is going to remember what happened to his father,” said Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of the boy in Louisiana who sobbed over the death of his father, Alton Sterling. “That I can’t take away from him.”

    While adults around them protest and demand criminal justice reform, young witnesses of the carnage are reeling from their losses and harboring pent-up depression that often comes pouring out in panic attacks and breakdowns, relatives say.

    The list of young people burdened by these tumultuous times includes Tamir Rice’s teenage sister, who lost 50 pounds after watching the police shoot him in 2014; the daughter of Oscar Grant III, killed by a transit officer while lying down on a California train platform in 2009, who as a 5-year-old would ask playmates to duck when she saw the police; and the 9-year-old nephew of Sandra Bland, who began sleeping in his mother’s room after Ms. Bland’s death last year in a jail cell.

  76. 76.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    Sorry about the car, but glad the guy couldn’t get away. Hope your adjustor is both reasonable and speedy!

  78. 78.

    WarMunchkin

    @Another Holocene Human: Pokemon Go? Yes. But if you are a parent, I recommend suggesting clear ground rules for your kids in terms of paying attention and using a cell phone responsibly when out and about. The game has already caused a highway pile-up (nobody was hurt) when a driver stopped in the middle of the road to catch a pikachu. The game will require you to walk long distances to catch hundreds of pokemon.

    I imagine Michelle Obama must be somewhat bemused that this one game is responsible for a huge uptick in physical activity.

  80. 80.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    Helped a good friend move from a classy boarding house (sincerely) to her new house yesterday, repaying a debt when she helped us two autumn ago.

    Best part is she’s an animal lover and I get to be a reference to shelters, and live vicariously in the excitement of her getting a cat and/or dog in the not distant future.

  83. 83.

    MomSense

    Shar, your flowers are beautiful. I try to keep orchids in my house with mixed success but they don’t compare to seeing them outside.

    Glad I didn’t say I would be on the garden tour because my cold has prevented me from working in the garden all week. The weekend has been nothing but rain so everything looks messier than usual.

  84. 84.

    Gelfling545

    Just finished some “stealth gardening” in the yard next door resulting in 2 contractor’s bags full of weeds from just the fence line. Next I’m putting some divisions from my catmint & daylilies over there along with a bunch of creeping myrtle I’ve thinned out. In spite of the fact that we’ve had almost no rain – we finally got a good, soaking rain last night – I’m pretty pleased with my garden this year. The pond has recovered from its renovation 2 years ago & looks pretty decent. I’ve got a ton of cherry tomatoes & my cayenne peppers are doing well but the regular size tomato is sulking. Maybe last night’s rain will give it a boost. Right now I’m looking for pond plants that aren’t aiming for world domination, probably types that aren’t hardy here in zone 6. We had an unfortunate incident with an aggressive water lily that necessitated the pond renovations and I’m still digging horsetail out of my garden beds from an ill judged planting 15 years ago.

  85. 85.

    MomSense

    @WarMunchkin:

    Oh I know. I played Pokemon Go with my son Friday night and we both agreed that people are going to have trouble playing it responsibly.

  88. 88.

    WarMunchkin

    @MomSense: A friend of mine mentioned an unintended racial side effect – that black people wandering into “white neighborhoods” playing Pokemon Go, chasing after a Cubone or something are at risk because of the increased likelihood that someone will call the cops on them. As it turns out, augmented reality is still reality.

    But there are great parts to the game. A lot more people talking to one another in public, meeting cool people at parks, all playing the game.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    Such beautiful flowers!

    If I lived in zone 10 my house wouldn’t be so filled with all the tropical plants I winter over for 8 months of the year. By about March I start getting spring fever – it’s too crowded, I want all these plants out of my house! But then in May I put them out and pretty soon I have all these gorgeous pots of beautiful flowers, and I know it was worth it.

    Like the movie Memento, I might have to start leaving myself notes in June for my “it’s too crowded!” self to remind me that it’s worth it.

  90. 90.

    MomSense

    @WarMunchkin:

    Oh damn. Of course I didn’t even consider that possibility. My privilege is insidious. The optimist in me would like to see Pokemon Go build connections. Another example of my privilege is that I didn’t have to instruct my son to keep track of which neighborhoods he wandered into in addition to looking out for cars and being careful crossing streets. And I don’t have to worry about as many potential dangers for him.
    I have a lot of work to do in developing my empathy.

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    I have SunGolds already, which is fun, but I am still buying a couple of Better Boy tomatoes at the farmer’s market since my big tomatoes are still completely green. The first perfectly ripe grape tomato went to my friend’s dog – I looked over, saw this perfect red ripe tomato and a second later her dog nudged it with his nose and he caught it on the way down.

    I’m a good share-er, but a dog stealing the first ripe tomato right in front of you should be out of bounds!

  92. 92.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:

    Dogs like to steal the best things.

    My tomato plants are doing well but they don’t seem to be growing any fruit. Don’t know if I should put more pollinator attracting plants near them or if I have too many.

  95. 95.

    laura

    Dave just brought the first zucchini in from the garden. So by tonight, they’ll probably be an avalanche of squash.
    There’s lots of mato volunteers popping up between the sunflowers.
    Thai basil and sweet basil means we’ll be having curry and pesto this week.

  97. 97.

    Denali

    @Satby,
    Of course, you have seen The Marigold Hold with Judi Dench. Then there would be no question of whether you would go. Flights go to Frankfort to Delhi. Don’t forget the side trip to the Taj.
    @Bill in Glendale,
    Oh how I wish the Getty was on the east coast. It is amazing.

  98. 98.

    Humdog

    @WaterGirl: I gave up keeping my boxer out of em strawberry plants. She loves to walk among them, sniffing out only ripe ones and picking them off the plant. She looks so silly with the strawberry vine coming out of her mouth as she tugs at it, somehow leaving the white center on the plant and making off with all the juicy red parts. She often has white strawberry petals stuck to her ears as she hunts. It is adorable and worth more than berries for myself.
    However, I defend the blueberries. They are mine, at least the ones the birds leave for me!

  99. 99.

    satby

    @schrodinger’s cat: @schrodinger’s cat: They’re outside of Delhi in Noida, or at least that’s where the office is. I’ve been wanting to go at least once for Diwali, and if I do go I intend to stay a few weeks. I have lots of homestay invitations, so my expenses would be less than having to stay at hotels.

  100. 100.

    satby

    @Denali: I have, and have been to the Taj. But I would be delighted to go back. I told my friend I expect it to be like Monsoon Wedding (without the creepy uncle subplot).

  101. 101.

    PurpleGirl

    @ThresherK (GPad): How close are you to Putnam, CT? There’s a shelter/rescue there operated by a friend of mine — Cassie Packard, Cassie’s Kitten Kastle. It’s sort of small but Cassie is wonderful with the cats/kittens she takes care of. In 2015 she rehomed/homed some 350 critters. She also has a bunch of volunteers who help her.

  102. 102.

    PurpleGirl

    Great pictures. I initially woke up about 7 am but then fell asleep again and am finally awake enough to read or do other things.

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