Daisies

I have always loved Daisies .

The common daisy , also known as the English, European or lawn daisy, is a popular rock garden or edging plant, but it is also considered to be a weed in some areas.

Daisies are typically ray-shaped with red, white or pink petals and yellow centers. Some white flowers are pink on the petal tips. Double-bloom variations also exist.

Daisies are very prolific, and where conditions are favorable, they can escape into gardens and lawns.


In my garden we have Yellow .

Plants taken inside for the winter ...

Just a reminder to water those plants that were taken inside for the winter .

Got to give them some love , you don`t want to forget about them .  And Yes I believe that talking to your plants will make them healthier .

I still have some parsley, rosemary, and sage growing nicely outdoors . End of December in New York , I think i am doing good ! I took the pots and placed them under my deck out of the direct cold and wind but they are still able to get some sunlight .

I hope you have all planted your bulbs for next year . I can`t wait to see what pops up in the spring :)

S.O.S. for those plants that don`t like the cold

If you have plants that need to be brought indoors for the winter and haven`t done it yet .... GET TO IT !! ... Transplant all the plants that have over grown their containers, fertilize all your container plants , give them a nice watering and bring them in your garage ...( I water them only once a month once I have taken them inside )to make mine really thrive in the winter I set mine on wheels so that on the warmer days I will open the garage door and just roll them out for the day and wheel them right back in as  soon as the sun goes down . AAAAH the luxury of being a SAHM ! :)


I am already counting the days till I can get back out there and stick my hands into some dirt and get it ready for planting .

Tomato

Our tomato  plants

I can not believe that these tomatoes just do not want to get
ripe this year... Its almost fall and I have only picked a handful
of tomatoes so far. Its just so nice & tasty when they are hand
picked from your own garden , the store bought ones cannot
compare in flavor.

I can`t wait till next years planting season ! More veggies and
more fruits to experiment with. :)

Fig Tree

Our Fig Tree


This is the white variety and it bares fruit twice a year .
This variety grows quite large figs compared to other varieties
being grown here in New york .

When we lived in Italy we would  eat these as a meal .
I remember some red varieties that had figs the size of an orange.

Mint

My Mint


I always enjoy an ice tea w/ a sprig of mint in the hot summer days . I like it so much that I have been making marinades for my steak and chicken  with it .

My husband is from India and he likes to make mint chutney . I have started planting it around the house hoping it will spread around fast because making chutney requires a big load of mint..

Basile

My Basil


You can`t make a good sauce without the basile :) I love the fragrance it gives the sauce , Its a must have in any garden.

Lychee fruit tree

My Lychee plant

I love this fruit , it is sooo soo juicy .

This is how it looked when we got it from the nursery but the following year it grew to twice the size and started producing more fruit, The leaves got greener and happier .

I learned that a lychee requires lots and lots and lots  of water maybe thats why they are so juicy.

Grape

My grape @ the Florida house

I never really learned how to prune it but since then I have been doing alot of reading and I think  that I now know what to do :)   

Now all I have to do is buy some grape vines for our new house .

I prefer the white grapes over any other varieties.

Pidgeon peas

PIGEON PEAS

Can you believe I picked those just off of only 1 plant !! ???

I love them , they are not as sweet as regular peas and you also have to cook them for a long time . they are great in stews .

Okra

If you look closely near the stem you will see the okra...okra only growns along the stem as the plant grows taller.

  

This is an okra flower...this is one of the pretties flowers from any vegetable I have ever grown
I like to keep this in the garden just to enjoy the beauty of the flower. My husband  is a fan of okra so the vegetable doesn`t go to waste.

Pineapple

I haven`t figured out yet how to make them grow as big as the ones you get in a supermarket but the pineapples I grow are 1/4 of the size but they are the sweatest I have ever tasted . I think i`ll take the sweetnes over size any day ! :)
It is so nice to watch it start to bloom , they have a purpleish flower which is so pretty . If you click the photo you can see it in greater details . The hardest part is watching it grow for months and when you are ready to go pick it you find that a squirel beat you to it !

Now that I have moved from Florida to NY I will have to try growing them in a pot and see how well they do . 

Hydrangea

My Hydrangea

They make such a statement in a garden , I love them because of the big flower . They are great to cut and place in any room in your house.

You can easily make more plants from clippings .

You can change their color just by placing a nail( from your tool box  not your finger nail ! LOL) near the base of the plant .  The color you get depends on your soils PH .

This is a picture of our lemon tree in Florida .


This variety blooms all year round . Some of the lemons grow to a size of a grapefruit ! In order to get a good yield its important to fertilize every 3 to 4 months and to water generously and make sure the water doesn`t puddle around the plant for long  ...good drainage is the key to a good citrus plant .

When transplanting from the container to the ground its important that you never plant them lower than their original container and when watering it should be right to the roots and not use a sprinkler

Wisteria

My wisteria in full bloom




 I love Wisteria , so vibrant & fragrant  . Today I was surprised to read that it comes from the pea family . They love to climb on wires best but on a trellis will work nicely to . I prefer cutting them down and growing them in a tree form , It requires a bit more work to trim them more often, but the reward is worth it . 

Wisteria`s  do not transplant well at all , The few times I have transplanted them it took 3 years to look healthy again , I kept thinking they were going to die on me,  but frequent watering  and constantly  talking to them finally perked them up again. its ashame that they do not bloom for very long .