Orchid Regrowth!

Unexciting though this may look, this is a major achievement for me!  I've had this orchid for about 2 years.  It bloomed beautifully for awhile, and then the flowers were spent, as happens with orchids.  Instead of throwing the plant away (yes, I've done that before), I saved it and sat it in the bedroom (no non-flowering orchids in the public rooms, thank you very much) and later on our new lanai.  A little water once a week and lots of just leaving it alone, and now look!  A stem is coming up which will soon display more beautiful blooms for the house.  :-)  So, so happy!

 

Is it spring already?

Parts of my garden are flourishing.  I think they are confused and think it is March.  You can't blame then since it's 80 degrees outside.

Here, one of my kitties chills by some roses, which seem to never stop blooming (oh poor me).

Tomatoes continue to appear and ripen.

Carrots awaiting harvest and green onions that have been there for over a year.  I just snip as needed for cooking.

Even my butterfly garden still looks pretty nice.

 

 

Reblooming Begonias

You may wonder why this photo represents an achievement.  Well, let me tell you...

I love begonias.  I buy the little pots of them at grocery stores and garden centers on impulse.  They bring my joy and happinesson my kitchen counter for a couple of weeks, and then the blooms fade and previously, I'd throw them out.  Not now!  With some water, love, and patience, I coaxed this one back into bloom.  It's not as vivacious and full as the first time around, but it's coming back around.  I think I need to look into fertilizer options to boost the blooming.  Any ideas? 

I love having plants indoors.  So glad my cats stopped chewing on them and throwing them up so that I can have them. 

Cocoons

I am seeing the success of my butterfly-attracting gardening this fall.  Often, I look out my window and see a pretty orange or white blur fluttering by.  I can see how the caterpillars are loving my milkweed and passion vines (although not the vine that bears fruit for some reason).  I don't know if you can see the little orange lines allover this passion vine:

Another effect of all the caterpillars is the smattering of cocoons around my yard.  Here is one that took up residence on a fence rail.

The oddest place I find them, though, i son my new lanai screen!  Does anyone know if this will damage my screen?  I have three right now.

One:  



Two: 

And with number three, my boys and I got to watch the caterpillar form its cocoon.  There was a lot of wiggling...

and flailing...

like trying to put on a too-small turtleneck...

which is a lot like what this cocoon-creation looks like.

 

 

*** Ok, I just have to update a few hours later.  I juar did a google search about this to see if it will hurt the screen, and the first search result was...  my blog post!!  Am I seriously the only person who has had butterfly cocoons on her screen room?  I'll definitely update after they open up and let everyone know if there are giant holes in my screen or anything. :-)



Veggies growing

Hello hello!  I'm back.  Sorry for the unintended break there.  So much excitement with
summer and the beginning of school.  Let's get right back into it:

This is the first growing season I've filled up all three 4x8 edibles beds.

I think I got started with them a bit late, but it just seemed way to hot to plant earlier.

First, we have carrots on the left (barely sprouted), peas climbing their fences, and soon-to-be planted more green onions.

Next we have the herb garden in front, and towards the back, two tomato plants (one big tomatoes, one cherry tomatoes), blueberry bushes, and some cantaloupe vines starting up.

Last, we have potatoes in the front have and lettuce in the back (with a bit I still need to de-grass to plant some more lettuce).  Not too shabby for only year two.

This isn't a veggie but I'm happy to see this little passionfruit growing steadily on the vine that was nearly dead 6 months ago.

 

I'm still here.

I have this habit of going on vacations and, with all the craziness of packing and preparing, forgetting to mention it.  I did it again, but I'm back after 3 1/2 glorious weeks with my parents and sisters and their families.  This is when being a stay-at-home-mom is so fantastic!

I came back to an overgrown jungle out back, thanks to a tropical storm and regular summer rains.  It's been exciting to dig out the weeds and overgrown grass and get to the good stuff.

Here are the fruits of my labor yesterday, some lovelies for my dining room table.  My boys (5 and 3 - hubs is away) and I totally lit those candles for a candlelit dinner last night.  :-)

Perked up porch

This pink beauty caught my eye at WalMart.  It came in a hanging basket, but I just popped it inside this big pot and removed the hanger part.  Easy peasy, and it makes my front porch much more inviting.