January 6 - Got busy planting this weekend.  I planted 4 Parajubaea palms, 4 Thuja Green Giants, 2 Sweet Olives, and a Needle Palm.  

I also root pruned a rose, a Sweet Olive, and a Mimosa that want to move at the end of the month.  I also treated my Foxtail Palm, and a Bizzie that was transplanted at a bad time, with a little fungicide/miticide/insecticide to counteract the bad effects of the recent freeze

 The Great Parajubaea Experiment - OK, maybe not great, but an experiment

So, a short while back I got a Parajubaea torallyi, which a lot folks said would not make it in Louisiana, but a recommended try was a Parajubaea sunkha. So, along came a buy on the triple combo, Parajubaea torallyi, Parajubaea sunkha, and Parajubaea microcarpa.  You guessed it, I bit like a fish chasing a minnow. So, here is the great experiment, OK, experiment.  I have planted 2 Parajubaea torallyi, 1 Parajubaea sunkha, and 1 Parajubaea microcarpa.   Yeah, they probably won't make it, but they are in the ground in the best microclimate I have for their liking here.  Let the experiment begin.

January 13 - Where did a week go?  Not much happened.  Nasty old winter weekend, cold and damp.  Not conducive to working outside for sure.  Last weekend Saturday was nice so we got out and mowed the winter weeds and did a little weed whacking too.   Got about half of the mowing done and a third of the whacking planning to finish on Sunday.  And then Sunday came cold and windy.   We just made short trips out cleaning up.  At the least we are getting a jump on spring cleaning.

January 15 - I brought in a yard of soil builder from Domangue's sand and gravel for the new Crepe Myrtles/Azalea planting in the new front beds.  That took care of the 2 corners closest to the the house.  It will take another yard to handle the corners closest to the barn.   Got rain coming tonight, so that will have to come later.  Maybe Friday, but more likely next week.   Still got to get 8 more Natchez Crepe Myrtles, but then this is the last major plantings to be done in these beds.  After that I need 20 more Gardenia 'Frost proof' and we will finally have a few beds here starting to look like something, and note I said "starting."

January 19 - Over 4 inches of rain have fallen in the last 3 days.  All work has come to a stop as it is too SOGGY to do anything.  This is just a yucky month of the year.  Freezes have turned all of the tropical stuff like bananas, crinums, etc. to mush.  It is rainy, muddy, damp and cold out.  At least we only have a few weeks of this stuff in what we call winter.  I honestly don't know how northerners get through the winter.  I would need Prozac in double doses.  At least here by February things start to pop for spring again.

On the positive side, the Narcissus should begin flowering very soon as the foliage already looks great.  The Abyssinian Gladiolus are already a few inches tall.  The Parrot Lily foliage is looking really awesome.  Camellias are kicking out the blooms in spite of being dug up and put in a pot.  

January 20 - As predicted the lows dropped to 29 last night, but at least there was no frost due to light wind and super soggy soil.  There were some light ice crystals on the ground here and there where there was some thin sheets of standing water, but even that was not much.  All in all, we got off light I guess.  This has been a relatively cold winter as compared to the last few years. 

I did get out to do a couple of light things.  For one I put another found Eastern Red Cedar in the ground.  I had to straighten up 3 of the 4 Thuja Green Giants which took a beating in the winds that came in with the cold front.  I got a rain tree from my father-in-law to replace the one lost last year in that grouping of four raintrees around the Mayhaw.  This one was the one closest on the house side of that bed.  While out there I put in those 5 Pine or Cypress seedlings.  I am not quite sure what they are, or even if they are all 5 the same thing.   It is of no consequence for the bed where I put them way up in the front.  With the wet soils it is horrible conditions to plan anything, but rain is predicted all next week so I am bumping up to either planting in wet soils or planting too late.

January 27 - Actually had a little sunshine today.  Unfortunately the ground is a complete soggy mess so not much was accomplished.  I can't wait to get out and really clean up.  This spring I hope get rid of the remaining messes around here.  Well, more rain next week too, but it will end soon enough.  Till then, I'll keep taking mini-steps. 

Seed experimentation continues as we ease into spring, and not nearly fast enough for me.  I have acquired the 8 Natchez Crepe Myrtles to finish up the front beds.  But the soil is so wet, and with rain predicted again several days in the next week, so I doubt that I will be able to work the soil enough to plant them.

January 28 - Made a business trip to State Capital today.  I had to take out a few minutes to photograph the palms on the capital ground.

January 31 - Well, so comes to an end the month of January, which is always a bad month for a gardener who like to push the limits in Louisiana.   Don't get me wrong, winter is not over, but at least we are over the hump.  It starts getting better from here, but we don't get to really start to let our guard down till mid March.  At that point the odds are greatly in our favor.

The last couple of weeks have been rain, cold, warm up slightly, rain, cold, warm up slightly and mixed in between an odd nice day where the sun actually came out.  I can sum it up in a word, depressing.   I have a deep yearning to get outside, cleanup, weedeat, dig, plant, and enjoy the sunshine.  Just a few weeks to go.  It is coming. 

So, just a thought for the day.  If you have purchased a new car, you know that just after you get it all of a sudden you start to notice cars like yours everywhere, that you never notice before.  Right now, I am getting into palms, and all of a sudden I am noticing palms all over the place.  Now, they have always been there, but I have never noticed them before because my mind was not tuned into palms.  So, think for a minute and wonder, what are all of the other things that you pass every day, that you do not notice?  What other parts of life are all around you, that you do not see?  Just a thought.

February 2 - Blue skies for the last 2 days, but the ground is still soggy and muddy.  Not sure if that was it, but I had no interest in even going outside.  I have the winter blahs I suppose.  If the rains stay away maybe I'll get out on Mardi Gras day, which is a holiday here, and "hit a lick at a snake" or not.

February 4 - Another great day outside, but I was still under the weather.   Rains are coming PM tomorrow, but I am hoping to get some stuff accomplished outside before then.

February 5 - I did get out today, in the afternoon to plant a few things.  First I put in the Triangle Palm under the edge of the Live Oaks on the east side.  Then I put in the 2 Majesty Palms further under the canopy.  Then I  yanked out the old Climbing Clotilde Soupert and put in the new one.  Last I put in the Raja Puri banana further out from the Live Oaks on the east side of the house.    Then I fertilized all with MiracleGro liquid fertilizer.    While out I noticed the Avocados were beginning to flower.

On the palm front, signs of spring are here.  Here are a few.  First is my Foxtail palm showing winter damage but opening a new frond.  Following is my Cocothrinax Palm showing even worse winter damage, but opening 3 new fronds at once.  After that is my Little Bizzie (Bismarckia Palm) which was transplanted in fall and is not missing a beat opening 2 new fronds.  Last is my Washingtonia robusta and Livistonia Chinensis about to be blown away by the relentless winds of the last couple of days.   All in all, each having been planted way to late in the year, they are looking fine.  If we do not have a late freeze they will enter spring looking just fine and finish the year looking fabulous.  We shall see.

And forth we shall go. 

February 10 - What a fine spring day out in the garden.  And spring is everywhere.  The Lantana is sprouting out as is the Paraguay Nightshade.  I expected more damage to each after 26 but they have died back very little.  

This weekend, I planted 4 Majesty Palms, 1 Cat Palm, 4 Lady Palms, 1 King Palm, and 1 Triangle Palm.  I also planted 4 Azalea and 4 of my 8 new Natchez Crepe Myrtles.   This picture shows the 3 new Majesty Palms.

I guess on more picture of Spring 2008 is due before I close this evenings log.  Several Citrus trees have flower buds swelling, but this little Grapefruit just could not wait for the rest.

February 12 - Winter came back today with winds and rain.  Low tonight projected for 41 and then 38 tomorrow night.  Gonna be cool for a few days.  I was able to get out this morning to spread a little fertilizer around.  I concentrated on those things that were starting spring growth as there was not time to do the main spring fertilization.  Maybe in front of the next rain.  I am actually running behind on this one, but not enough to make a big difference.  Signs of spring are still coming.  The narcissus are starting to bloom nicely.  A few early blooms have broken on the Yellow Lady Banks, but we are still a ways away from the main bloom.  Same on the citrus above.   I noticed as well that the Lantana (pictured below) and Paraguay Nightshade were starting to sprout new leaves, as are a few of the bananas. 

February 13 - Tomatoes, cold frames, and chicken tractors.  But first, it got cold and wet again.  Yuck.  Well at least I got most of the planting done.  Still got 4 Crepe Myrtles to plant but there is still plenty of time for that, and a few palms and bananas, but it is too early to plant those as well.  So, relax, right?   OK, back to tomatoes, cold frames, and chicken tractors.   Well, I got my first 2 tomato plants and planted them.  Now it is way to early to do, but I used my portable cold frame.  It is not really a cold frame, but when a wind event destroyed my little greenhouse, the only thing left intact was the roof.  I can drag it around making it an instant cold frame.  I guess that is making lemonade from lemons.  And about the chicken tractor, well this one is a turkey tractor.   A chicken tractor is basically a bottomless cage .  This is so the chickens can scratch (a chicken's raison de etre) and eat off of the ground such things as grass, weeds, bugs, etc.  They leave a nice clean and fertilized (bird poop) area for planting.  Then the cage is dragged to the next spot.  All of the above are clearly visible in the photo of the day including the new cleaned area as I dragged my turkey tractor over half a cage worth.

February 14 - Spring is in the air.  Woke up to 37 and a light frost and muttered a bit under my breath, but still, spring will not be stopped.  Here is a picture of the naturalized Tazetta Narcissus.  They are just about at peak bloom.   I love to stand in the yard and catch the scent of these flowers.   

February 15 - Kind of rainy and yucky, but I walked into the local big box store and this site brought a smile to my face big time.  Come on lottery.  Pick my number.

February 16 - Beautiful day today.  Too wet out to do much other than just look around, but as you will see spring is all about us, so it was indeed a fine day to look around.  And of course, to take a picture or two as well.  As I walked up to take picture of this Camellia bloom, I saw inside of it another harbinger of spring. 

And here is another springtime event unfolding.  One of the new palms I put in this fall has decided it is time to made a few seeds.

February 17 - Heavy rains and hail last night in front of what I hope will be the last cold front for the year that will make it into the 30s.  The grounds have become even more saturated, but we have 4 nice sunny days projected with highs making it back into the lower 70s for the last 3.  Hopefully that will start things drying up a bit so I can finish my spring planting.

Well, Big Bizzie's spear pulled a couple weeks back and it no longer has any living leave. I will leave the lifeless trunk through mid summer, but I think it is safe to pronounce him dead. Ce la vie! But the good news is, Lowes got in a fine shipment on Friday and today, I bought Big Bizzie's replacement. May I introduce Big Bizzie 2.

February 24 - Soils still soaked, but it was a beautiful weekend.  Kind of laid back.  We had a very small crawfish boil with my in-laws.  More cool weather headed this way next week, so with that and the wet soils I put off planting for another week.  I did take this cool picture in the front yard.

February 28 - Winter made a little encore appearance.  Lows hit 35 on Tuesday night.  Prediction were for 37 on Wednesday night and a good frost on Thursday morning, but it never materialized.  Low was 39.9 and the only frost was on a clover leaf here and there.  All in all, a non-event.   The most damaging thing this spring has been some pretty tough and relentless winds.  Today, I went ahead and planted my large replace Bismarckia Palm because I was mostly tired of it getting blown over.    While I was at it, I move the small Phoenix over on the side of the house that was too close to the walkway to the Gonazales property.  I also moved the Crepe Myrtle that was in the pond section next to the driveway extension to make a circular driveway.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, but after studying the design a bit, it would have been a big mistake.  So, mostly still waiting for spring right now.  Here is a picture of the newly planted Bismarckia next to the stump of the old one.   

March 1 - Time to call it spring and get out to do some planting.  This morning I planted the Elaeis guineensis (African Oil Palm) down by the bayou on the Gonzales side, just down from the (Washingtonia robusta) Washingtonia Palm.  It should be able to weather any occasional flooding since that would occur in its native habitat anyway.   Next I planted the 3 Persea americana 'Haas' (Avocado) down near the bayou on the Anderson side across from the Washingtonia Palm.   The last Rhapis excelsa (Lady Palm) went in with the rest making the walkway from the side of the house to the Gonzales property.   I also planted the Averrhoa carambola (Starfruit) into the spot just on the front side of the A/C compressor.  

Round 2 saw me planting a Roystonea elata (Royal Palm_, a Dypsis leptocheilos (Teddy Bear Palm) in the bed in front of the guestroom, a Dypsis decipiens (Manambe Palm) over in the side bed almost straight out from the power transformer.  Over towards the greenhouse slab I planted 3 Ricinus communis 'Carmencita' (Castor Bean) seedlings, 2 Clerodendrum ugandense (Blue Glorybower), and the Carica papaya (Papaya) volunteer that I dug up and over wintered on the front porch.   I finished up the day by transplanting the 2 Camellia that we have gotten from Eden Gardens near Ft. Walton Beach, Fl.

March 3 - Winter is trying to sneak back in through the bathroom window.   Nasty winds today bring in one more cold front.

Then, after a few cool days, it is back to spring again.

March 5 - Last year these two plants came up in one of my beds as volunteers. The leaves were big and pretty cool tropical looking looking till some caterpillar eventually defoliated them in August. It did not flower.

I just wrote them off and the other day I looked them over. The stem looks great and healthy. Now I am curious as to what it is. Anyone have a clue? [later identified as Purple Empress Tree]

March 16 - On Saturday Cel and I went out to the Louisiana Plant Festival at Forest Hill, La.  This little town has a population of 500 or so folks and over 100 nurseries, many very large.  Not much in the way of unique things there, but killer pricing.  

On the way home, we passed this little hole in the wall nursery.  I wasn't even going to stop, but then Cel saw that the ower also sold jewelry, so that was that.  I started walking about the 3 rows of plants and low and behold there was a phoenix palm that looks a bit different.  I asked the attendant "what you got there?" to which he answered "that's one of them sylvester palms."   Score.  Phoenix sylvestris was on my wanted list.

Now of course the big score happened a couple of days earlier.  This weekend I planted my 2 new MULE palms obtained courtesy of a friend in Houston.   When back troubles sidelined my 14 hour drive (each way) to Moultrie, Michael came through and sold me 2 super healthy 5g Mules.  They went in the ground today.

Other than that I planted 4 Natchez White Crepe Myrtles, moved my Belle banana, and did lots of garden cleanup stuff including cleaning up quite a few freeze killed fronds on my Cocothinax, D. Lutescens, Foxtail, and others, all of which will recover quickly and nicely.   Got a sunburn and loving it. Keith.

March 20 - Looks like my new Phoenix reclinata made it through winter just fine.

March 19 - Crazy winds this spring take down my Triangle Palm planted last month.

March 22 - It was fine spring day

as we walked though the old front gate.

and the old family homestead 'Capete' came alive one more time as family arrived

bearing that old Cajun spring food

and the old place felt alive with youth and love one more time.

and at the end of the day, we left the old place to go back to its peaceful slumber

March 25 - Last weekend was Easter Weekend.  Much family activity, but very little gardening activities.  Today, I got in late, but with DST now in effect, I was still able to plant two of the Camellia that were formerly under the pines in front of the house.  I dug them up and temporarily potted them when we have the pines removed as it would have been far to sunny for them after that, and the bed was re-tasked to Palms anyway.  I also got the last 4 Natches Crepe Myrtles planted.  The P. sylvestris was planted also.    I know I am missing a few small items too.

April 7 - Shots of spring

April 14 - Surgery.  A last resort for an all but dead palm.

Here we are with all of the tools at the read.  One palm showing no life, one recip saw, and one Budlight

Dead bits removed.

One ray of hope, the tiniest bit of green tissue buried deep within.

The finished job.

April 18 - Time flies in the spring.   All is looking good.  The plants continue to grow, fill-in plantings continue.   One can almost see things starting to take their final appearance here, almost that is.  It is the typical dry spring, but we getting a few rains, again, for the second time just as I was starting to drag the sprinkler around, the rains came.   We could have used more, but this will hold off the watering for a week.  The picture I will leave you with for this entry is the Gladiolus Byzantinus.  This one was just starting to bloom.

April 29 (Trip to Avery Island) - Cel and I headed over to Jungle Gardens at Avory Island today.  This is the home of Tabasco, and conveniently just a few miles away.   It is an old and very interesting garden, and also in a very unique microclimate.  Here are some pictures of our excellent adventure.

The back porch of the welcome center.  Just a teaser of what is to come.

As you walk around here are the vistas, and trust me, a picture does not do them justice.

Sabal palms at the base of Live Oaks is a common theme.

In this case, they are nearly one in the same.

And here too.

It would not be a Louisiana garden without a little Spanish Moss.

And of course some Louisiana Iris

And both

And some Spider Lilies

And not a great variety of palms, but some nice ones

And this Tongue Oil Tree caught my attention first by a couple hundred square feet covered in flowers on the ground.

I looked up to find the source.

A close up of the flower

Here you feel like eyes are always upon you.  And they are.

There is a lot of history here.  Not sure what this piece of machinery was part of, but I am certain it is well over a hundred years old, at least.

These Azalea flowers that had fallen into the Duckweed made for an interesting photo

So, we'll close it up with another one of those classic southern vistas.  Fallen flowers of white Azaleas under the Live Oaks.  Can you find the hidden palm?

Well, there were lots more pictures, but that is enough for now.

April 30 - The surgery patient is showing hopeful signs of a possible recovery.  Notice the fresh green tissue becoming visible.

April 30 - My Aloe vera just sent up a flower stalk.  It has never done that before in its 5 year history since my Dad gave it to me.

May 6 - I am in Miami this week.  Decided to take a day on the way back to pick up a few palms that are hard to impossible to find around here, and to get a few others that are gifts from a fellow palm lover in Tarpon Springs, FL.

So, I am in a downtown Miami hotel right now. A look out of the window at the many high rises under construction revealed a surprise. Take a close look at the top of each one. Good luck charm or what? Gave me a chuckle.

May 10 - We thoroughly enjoyed the Tamiami Trail on the way home. Tons of interested things. The epiphytes in the trees blew me away. Clyde Butcher's gallery was totally awesome. And the hammocks were spectacular.   I wished for more places to stop to observe and explore.

The highlight of the trip was meeting fellow PalmTalkers Creekside (Catherine) in Sarasota and SpockVR6 (Larry) in Tarpon Springs, not only for the truck load of palms that came home with me, but also that these folks are just awesome people. Meeting them was the highlight of the trip. Altogether we drove 2200 miles over 8 days and stayed in 3 different cities.

My only regret was not being able to see the Kampong and Fairchild again, especially the Kampong. I read all of David Fairchild's books, so the Kampong is a very special place for me. But the point of being in Miami was business, so business ruled those 4 days. The Sheraton on Sand Key was especially enjoyable. We will return there for sure. More tomorrow, after today's 12 hour drive I am whooped.

Here I am in the Glades at Clyde Butcher's Gallery helping myself to a few seeds from this Heliconia looking plant. It looked cool and the seeds were just looking at me right along with the gator you can see a little further out. So, I just planted them in a pot a little while ago,,, Anyone got any idea what exactly it is I just planted?

I can't say enough about Clyde Butcher's Gallery.  No picture on the web will ever do his large format prints justice.  If you ever get the chance, make it a must see.   Here is the wonderful Mrs. Thibodeaux posing with the sign.

Here a few more pictures from the Tamiami Trail.  Seeing these epis growing in the Pine tree was a truly unusual sight.

On the way back we stopped at Sand Key just outside of Tampa.  Now this, as you will see, was a palmy place.

It was even palmy inside my hotel room.  This was the bounty from the trip, haha.

May 12 - The first Florida palm goes in the ground.  This one was in bad shape.  It was a transplant that was dug up a few days earlier.  The long windy hot ride home along with the above left it in rough shape, so I wasted no time getting it in the ground.  Here it is in its new home.

May 13 - Update on the Great Parajubaea Experiment.  All are struggling with a particularly brutal (heavy winds and no rain) spring. The biggest issue with the other 3 is keeping them hydrated as they are all late stage seedlings. Come on summer rains.

A couple might make it, one looks bad, and one looks dead. First up is a P. torallyi pushing new spear, followed by P. torallyi var microcarpa pushing new spear , then P. sunkha sulking, maybe dying, and finally the dead P. torallyi, that died was probably just whipped to death by the wind as it was the tallest. . And so The Great Parajubaea Experiment continues. \

May 14 - I am slowly getting the Florida bounty in the ground. Here is a great Ravenea rivularis that came from Larry along with the engleri. Let's just say the truck was overflowing, quite literally. I think it will enjoy its new home under the oaks for many years in a nice microclimate.

Winter is over, spring is easing into summer, and Louisiana is starting to look tropical again. These are just misc shots taken yesterday.

May 15 - A spring frog-strangler falls on the new palm beds

May 17 - Well, Crawfish season is all but over for the year, but there is time for one more boil, this time at our place.

May 18 - We seem to be having a cool spring as well so far. Looks like temps are going to warm up to the mid 80s this week, but up until now it has been a real nice springs. We finally got good rains last week, so that with a little heat should kick some growth in gear. The heat lovers in my garden have been lolligaggin along so far.

On the palm side, I planted two more P. sylvestris to make a trio of sylvestris in one of my front beds. It should be a dramatic effect in a few years. I started on the holes for my 5 new Livistona, but it was still a bit wet where they are going to go. I expect to finish them up later in the week. On the non-palm side, I planted 3 Arizona Cypress. a "found" Althea, a weeping Mulberry, and a Silk Floss Tree. Oh, and a few bananas went in the ground, one named "Bordelon" and other one unidentified that makes small edible bananas here in mild winter years.

Got to be honest, I expect the Silk Floss to die in Zone 9a. But who knows. 10 year low is 24. That was back in 2002. Last year was 26 only for an hour or two. All other years were warmer. I planted it on the south side of the house in a great microclimate. Worth a try at least. Got it at 6 feet tall for less than 20 bucks.

May 19 - I can't believe it, but the Artichokes actually made it and they produced.

May 20  - My five 15g Livistona from the Florida trip are in. Here they are in order. Some are pictured in pots, but tonight they all sleep with earth around their little Livistona toes. In order 1) L. species, 2) L. saribus, 3) L. saribus, 4) L. decora, and 5) L. saribus. Various things in pictures for scale.

As I was doing the planting work today and noticed my Vitex agnus-castus looking at me winking with it georgeous flowers.

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

It was a good one indeed. Mostly, I arranged stuff, did a little planting, poured some compost tea here and there. First up are my P. robelllini under the Live Oak canopy that protects them from frost. Next is my seedlings and seeds relocated to their summer home on the deck under the twin Live Oaks. Third pictures is the other side of the deck. Looking back at the house. And my little friend always watching.

Saying good evening to another day in my own little paradise as I watch the sun set across several front yards.

May 29 - I had an idea for a couple of beds up front where the nursery will go. That is my retirement career many years from now. First picture is these neat 2-trunk Washingtonia's to go there that I picked up a couple of days ago. When I planted out the 5 Livistona last week, 3 saibus, 1 decora, and 1 species, I saw a 6th spot that was perfect for another Livistona. I picked up a chinensis to go there. I had also thought it a shame that with Sabal's bieng native here, that I didn't have one in the garden. The second picture is those two palms which I got today, L. chinensis and Sabal.

June 2 - Rough start to summer, at least right now in my part of Louisiana. I say my part, because while we have had some big rains nearby, even flash flooding 30 miles away, we have missed the last few rains in the area. Temps are running steadily between 90F/32C and 95F/35C with mostly clear skies. That is warmer than normal for this time of year. Non-established plantings are starting to suffer. The cracks in our clay/loam soil are opening up to 1/4 inch/.6 cm in many places. Established plants are still fine, but things planted last year are suffering and I am dragging garden hoses around over 3 acres. Yuck. Come on rains and then all will be fine.

June 9 - Anyone know how to do a rain dance?

June 13 - There is always something a little magical about a cactus bloom. Let me share one that bloomed for me, just a couple of days ago.

June 16 - I am sitting in a condo in Ft. Walton Beach, FL right now. I was sitting on the balcony with a glass of wine when some folks starting shooting fireworks on the beach. I ran in to grab the camera. This was shot hand held leaning the camera on the balcony and using image stabilization. Kinda cool, I think.

June 19 - I picked up a few palms on vacation including this neat little Trachy. Definitely doesn't look like my fortunei. Leaves are smaller and more round, with ribbing extending further out. Can anyone shed any clues on what I might have here?   [later identified at Trachycarpus wagnerianus]

June 22 - Caught this random shot out in the garden this morning. I love the garden in the morning.  Note the hummingbird in flight

June 22 - Here is the bounty from the Pensacola trip.

June 22 - I got out this afternoon and put the new waggie, L. chinensis, and Sabal minor in the ground.

While planting I notice Rangoon Creeper just approaching its bloom. Althea, these bloom several flushes each year.

June 23 - Here are just a few tropical looking shots around the garden.

June 24 - Wow, just looked at my last post.  Hard to believe I have gone so long without a post.  I am back.  [previous comment no longer applies. I just spent several hours updating the missing entries from the spring.]

Good news is I have kept logs, just haven't posted them.  It will take me quite a while to get things back up to date.  I will start here going forward, but also start filling in the older stuff too, so scroll back up every now and then.

So, let me leave you with a picture from the garden today.  Click it for a higher res version.

June 26 - Wow, Artichokes have some really cool electric blue flowers.  The picture just doesn't do them justice.  They are truly 'electric' blue.

June 26 - Finally, the rainy season has come. Got a good inch today. Third day of rain in a row, and not a minute too soon my pour drying-up palms.

June 29 - OK, now it is really official, the rainy season has arrived. We are on our 6th day in a row, but in addition to our normal summer pattern of thunderheads building and rain in the afternoons, it is also raining in the early mornings. This is the third time this week I have been awakened at 5-6am by thunder and then rains. And it is not a minute too soon either. My new plantings and a couple of transplants have been struggling, but in just a few days the results are already notable with new leaves opening and transplants finally showing signs of recovery. About the only thing I continue to worry about is the big A. engleri given to me by Spockvr6. It is certainly alive, but hurting, and it needs to put on some serious growth before winter arrives. Good news is we still got 3 more good HOT months aheads. Once I see some active growth, I'll hit it with some ferts to spur it on. Guess I'll go start the July weather thread now.

June 30 - Made some scores today.

First up is a Siam Ruby Banana. Typical gardeners purchase. I was on the way to a meeting when I noticed it in front of a nursery. As you will see, it was hard to miss. Whipped around, bought it, and still made the meeting on time.

Next is a White Bird of Paradise. Grabbed this for $16 at Sam's. One more typical gardeners impulse purchase. Ain't gardening great. Actually there are three in that pot.

So, with the recent rains, things are finally happening in the garden.  Let's close this month with a few more pictures.

July

Although I am not the bike nut, or rider that I once was, I still love my bikes.

OK, back on topic.  This year is full of surprises. First, rains get here two months behind schedule and today i wake up to 68 degrees. That is 1 degree off the all time record low for July 1. Now, it will still warm up to 90 today, but tonight will go down to 72 degrees again. Sure was nice to walk out the door this morning to find the upper 60s instead of our usual sauna. I walked around the garden for 30 minutes with my morning cup of coffee just soaking it in.

Here is my new palm bed, with F-150 for scale. 

And here is my new palm bed an hour and a half later.  Wait, where is it?  Pictures of finished product coming later.

Just checked weather.com. For the next week projected lows are upper sixites with highs in the upper 80. NICE. Rains projected to return after 3 or 4 days as well, which makes this premo growing season for palms. After being pent up with the dry spring, and the rains of the last week, the palms are exploding. Almost every palm has at least one newly opened leaf and is pushing at least two new fronds as well. Yeehaw. They have some ground to make up fast.

July 2 - Here are some shots from the garden this morning.

July 6 - Here are more pictures.

And here are a couple of unusual shots for a Louisiana bayou. First are the Grapes. The humidity here, especially near the coast, makes it tough on grapes. This is Champanelle, the only variety of table grape I know of that can hack it. I'll be eating grapes fresh off of the vine for the next month or so. By fall, the leaf diseases will have nearly defoliated the poor thing, but by next spring it will be back strong. I could do a little better by spraying it, but I enjoy the organic fruit. Second is the Sea Grape. Nothing to eat there, but cool to try. It went in this year, so we will see if it is still with us come next spring. I hope so.

It is the challenge folks, it is the challenge. Here is a new pic of the Bismarckia Palm that underwent surgery. It grew over an inch this week alone. Now that we are finally getting some rains, she is getting her groove back. I think I will name this palm Stella.

July 7 - We are in the Isolated/Scattered pattern. Somedays, it rains all around us, yet leaves us dry. Other days, we get rain and nobody else does. Locally, we call them popcorn showers. They pop up in a very localized spot, dump and inch or so of rain, and vanish just as fast. Back when I was a fisherman, I remember running out into the gulf between two of them. Somedays they vanished, other days they closed in to make one really big whopper. We called them sucker holes. Getting caught out in the open gulf in one was quite an adventure. One of which I don't care to relive. At least on land, you can run inside. 

 Here are the storms rolling over the country side.  Forgive that little piece of lint on the lense.

And here are more flowers a bloomin'

And here is that new palm bed up front.  These beds don't look like much, but the nursery they are meant to help anchor won't be here for another 10 years or so. By then, they should be looking just fine.

July 8 - Here are a few more shots from the gardens today. This is really helping me to notice more details than normal. Kinda fun looking for something new everyday. Here is my Chamaedorea microspadix with its new friend.

This Tabernaemontana divaricata, which freezes to the ground every winter has just returned to blooming size, about 2 feet x 1.5 feet. Oh, that frond is from a small Phoenix sylvestris sitting in a pot nearby.

Good old fashion Shrimp Plant. Grows like a weed here.

Good old Christmas Berry. I dug a start of these from an old homestead in the woods that had been abandoned for at least 30 years. They were thriving as they are doing at my place. I have no idea which Cordyline that is. At least I think it is a Cordyline. It was an old house plant that got accidentally planted there 4 years ago. It too is thriving and have no problem with our winters.

July 14 - More rains, more blooms. Here is a Morning Glory Tree. Great blooms

The White Natchez Crepe Myrtles planted this year.

And the old fountain.

And this enchanting Morning Glory.

July 20 - Believe it or not, it is getting dry, really dry.  Doesn't take long this time of year due to the heat.  I spent the entire day moving soaker hoses around just to keeping new planting alive.  They recovered a bit during that week or so of rains, but they are back to suffering again, particularly the Livistonas.

So, here is a cool little picture for the day.  Kind of reminds me of a young couple in love.

July 23 - Hurricane Dolly's outer bands finally brought us a little relief on the rain front, but unfortunately it was very little.  Probably less than a half inch of rain, and that is a generous guess.

It did provide for a beautiful sunset as it kicked up the dust in the western skies.

July 24 - Rains all around, but still not here.  This is getting a bit ridiculous.    We are over 12" below normal for this year, and over 4" below normal for this month alone.

Well, at least this new Butia capitata, added to the gardens this year is quite happy, almost as much as I was looking at it and taking this picture.  Remember, most all pictures can be clicked for a higher res version.

July 25 - With Hurricane Dolly out there, it was not a time for great memories of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina that devastated Louisiana just a few years ago.  But there is one happy memory.  Of the 5 kittens born here during Katrina, one still lives, and is aptly named 'Katrina.'   Here he is.

July 26 - Here are a couple of shots, first of brown grass, second of dying tips on Crinums to demonstrate the drought is setting in and now affecting more established plantings.  It is not catastrophic yet, but it is getting hard to manage.

On the other hand, some of my plants that don't mind things on the dry side are doing just fine.

Hope you had a great day like I did.

July 27 - There is something a little special, to me at least, about evening and night photos.  So, here are a few from the garden today.  First the early evening transition.

And now to night.

So, grab your camera and your flash, and head out into your garden at night. 

July 28 - I tell you the world is going to the frogs.  Here is one enjoying one of the Bismarkia fronds.

And this little fellow decided to show me his undersides, stuck to the glass on the front door.  He is enjoying the bugs attracted to the light in the house.  Let's name him 'Oppo' which can be short for opportunistic.

July 29 - The month is almost over.  It has been a tough one with next to no rain thus far.  I have featured this plant here before, but I just can't enough of the Rangoon Creeper.

On to the end of July.

July 31 - Some folks are just photogenic. 

We did finally get a little bit of rain today on this last day of July.  With a little luck we might get a little more in the coming days.  We are over 12.4" inches below normal for this time of year and were 4.4" below normal for the month of July.  Most established shrubs and trees are OK.  Not growing, but just sitting around.  New plantings on the other hand have really been struggling to make.  I am praying.

August 3 - Well, be careful what you pray for, you might get it.  It hasn't rained yet, but today a tropical depression formed just off of the coast, and it is projected to reach tropical storm strength as it heads straight parallel to our coast heading to Texas.  It will no doubt bring the rains, but possibility some damaging winds along with it.  The pink dot below is my location.

So, back to the present.  Last two days were hot, upper 90s.  And to make matters even worse, today was that day a month known as weedeating day.  After over 4 hours going at it hard, I had to give in, with about 80% being done.  It is not normally that bad, but a combination of factors led to this one being extra tough. 

After a recuperative nap, and a couple of glasses of wine, I got into more of visionary mindset.  I headed out with the 40' measuring tape, landscape marking paint, and some construction flags.   After laying out the new storage building and back deck, the desired outcome was acheived, that being where to plant my two Butiagrus Palms and my ButiaxJubeae Palm.   These palms are as unique as the climate I garden in.  I can't wait to see them in 10 years. 

August 4 - Tropical Storm Eduardo is just off the coast but passing us by on a westerly path.  It did provide for some pretty sunsets tonight.  Here are 3 views taken at the same time.

To the north

To the east

And to the west

August 6 - Finally, a decent rain today.  We got about a half inch over 30 minutes or so.  I think I could hear the plants sighing in relief, I know I was.  The ground is still hard, and not spongy like it gets when things are really saturated, but this is way better than where we were. 

August 9 - The last two days brought more rains, mostly light, but over the 3 day period I guess we got around 1" which sure relieved the pressure.   So, this morning it was weed control duty, which later less than an hour because the temp+humidity out there is plain brutual.  I went ahead and start cooking up a brew of Spray-n-Gro/Compost Tea.  I am overdue for spraying this but with the dry, hot conditions there was too much risk of damaging things, so better to wait.

August 10 - They got the sizzle we got the drizzle.  Good thunderstorms built less than 5 miles north, but headed off that way, leaving us with just a few minutes of drizzle instead.  Not even enough to fully wet the leaves. 

This may finally be the end for my struggling Bismarckia.  The little spear pulled today.  There is still green, but I have not idea how it could still make it.   Had it not been for the summer drought, maybe, but this was indeed a brutal summer for the newly planted, and for the recovering. 

August 13 - Well it finally happened, a real Louisiana rain.  About 3:30am the skies opened with fire and rain.  The first two hours, in addition to the rain was a nearly non-stop lightening storm.   Magnificent would be a good word.  And the rains continued to fall, and were still falling at 8:30am when I left for work.  So, after work today was a little more weed control.  Btw - that is a code word for RoundUp.  I don't like using it, but as of yet, no of no other way.  By the end of next year, with that one exception, New Dawn will have moved to a complete organic program.   I planted a couple of bananas today, that I had forgotten about under the oaks.  Grand Nain went in the outer bed outside the MBR window towards the oaks, and Musa zebrina went in the middle, with the existing Musa Belle banana on the end, or at least I think that is what it is.  I lost track.

August 15 - Finally the weekend.  Hmmm, what do I want to do tomorrow?.

August 17 - Well, the answer to the above question is not much.  I had planned to do some planting, but both days brought rains. 

I did have a new crop pop up.

They are kind of cool looking aren't they.

And here is my little Snail Vine.   Kind of cool.

Well, I guess I'll plant later this week, or next weekend.

August 20 - Well, it is still raining nearly every day.  Time to do the last fertilization of the year and these rains would have facilitated that, but it has coincided with a very busy time at work, so it has yet to be.  Hopefully, I can get in sync with a rain over the weekend.  

So, with the rains, I am watching the mushrooms with great curiosity.  So, why do fungi like to grow in almost circles? And how do they do that, anyway?   I don't know, do you?

August 23 - Evening at "The Point."   Cel and I met the In-laws over at The Bayview on Cypremort Point for an evening of drinks and watching the boats come in.  It was an overcast day and really quite there for a Saturday evening.  I took a few shots capture the mood of the "The Point" that we enjoyed.

August 28 - So much for serenity.  Looks like we have an unwelcome guest on the way named Gustav. 

August 29 - Hurricane Gustav is working over the Cayman tonight.  Hope it is not representative of what is to come.

August 31 - All the prep work is done.  Projection are about 10 hours of 65+ mph winds and gust just over 100. All of my palms are still fairly small. I suspect nearly total frond loss or severe damage. No doubt with nearly all being planted in the last 2 years I expect most palms to be leaning in their planting holes. Assuming everything in the shade house will be lost, let me go cherry pick a few seedlings.

So, I have the little old giant frickin hurricane bearing down on me right now. But I have two new Mule palms (one green trunk, one brown trunck), and a JuButia as well tucked in the house. Assuming the house is still standing and I will still have the will after this is all over, is it too late to plant them. We should still have 3 months left on our growing season as Sept and October are quite warm here. November will likely still reach the 80s most days with some in the 70s, but probably not a frost. So, should I plant them now to get them established or wait till late spring 09? I have to have something pleasant to think about.

Sept 1 - I am safe in the Data Center, Mom and Cel are safe in Baton Rouge, but I can't sleep worrying about the house.

Update - We are still a few hours away from the eye, so not much here other than rain and some wind gust. The only thing I have seen so far to give some concern is light overtopping of the Industrial Canal levee in New Orleans. Not a problem yet, and probably won't be unless it leads to structural failure, which is not indicated at this time. Houma is probably really getting it right now. I am IM'ing with friends in New Iberia right now who are indicating nothing of significance yet over in that area. Friends online in Baton Rouge saying just a few gust and light rains. 

Sept 2 - Damage in Lafayette was manageable.  I made it home this morning.  House is without a scratch except for lack of power.  I am still on generator power and a Verizon Air Card showing no bars, but it is working.

Gardens and palms are another matter.

And these are camera phone pictures too, so pardon the quality. This is my Washingtonia filibusta, which I never thought would get water up at this level. As I said, even in the past 3 hurricanes the bayou never got near this high. The bank is actually a couple of feet out past those big tree trunks. About 20 feet further out into the water from the filibusta is my Elaeis guineensis. Of course I did plant that one out there knowing it might happen to it, as it is subject to this in some of its native locations.

 This is looking back the other way. You can see the water is almost to my reflecting bench and my Chamaedorea radicalis.

Here is my Phoenix reclinata doing some real reclining, pun intended.

And what remains of one of the 3 Livistona saribus I brought home from Florida this spring. It is dong a little reclining itself.

Remember that Sabal palmetto I posted a few weeks back. Well Gustav made it tired to.

This queen was one of the largest palms in the garden. It went down in Lili and again in Rita, so true to form Gustav did a number on it. After Rita I had planed it on the north side of the barn as our strongest hurricane winds usually come from the south, but Gustav's winds came from the north. If it weren't for the bananas I am sure it would be on the ground.

Even this sturdy Butia capitata, 2 years in the ground took on a hefty lean. Under the debris beside it is actually a second smaller Butia capitata.

The Foxtail stood tall in its little cubby hole, but the Ensete ventricosum Maurelli went down.

In the shade house the bigger stuff (first picture) took a bigger hit than the little stuff (second picture).  Btw - The Shade House is just a deck under some Live Oaks.

Incredibly, my Parkinsonia, which went down in Hurricane Lili and in Hurricane Rita, did not go down, although it shed two large limbs with about 30% of its canopy. This plant likes an arid environment and it was actually enjoying the summer drought. No doubt that is what helped to save it.

This Washingtonia robusta took the big lean too.

Remember my pretty litte waggie. It is still pretty, but flooded and leaning.