Garden-Florida

When we moved to this house back in 1998 there was a mostly-dead maple near the front of our yard. My neighbor had a similarly-placed maple in the same sad condition. A few years later we removed both trees. She had hers cut to the ground and the roots ground up. Mine was cut to about a two-foot stump.

My skeptical neighbor asked if I planned to leave it like that. I explained that I would find a small bougainvillea to plant next to the stump. In no time the stump would be covered over.

Being an avid gardener like myself she vanished into the back and quickly returned with a clay pot containing a small bougainvillea. She didn’t have the space and was happy to be rid of it.

Bye-Bye Bougainvillea

I planted the little thing close to the stump and pruned back the stems to encourage thicker growth. That was about the extent of my effort.

Within a couple of years the bougainvillea had grown into a large specimen, visible from about a block away. I pruned often to encourage new growth and the plant thrived.

Then in September 2004 the relentless winds of Hurricane Frances left the bougainvillea completely defoliated and pushed over on its side. I could not think of a good way to force the thorny monster upright, and so pruned back severely and filled in around the roots with a wheelbarrow full of dirt.

About the time new growth covered the thorns, Hurricane Jeanne arrived to smack it around some more. I know that bougainvilleas are tough plants but this seemed a bit much. Not to worry. By spring the plant was thriving, bigger and bolder than ever.

Then a couple of years ago the balsam pear vine arrived. My cousin calls it stink vine. Call it whatever you like, this plant is even more relentless than the bougainvillea. By this time the bougainvillea was so dense that it was impossible to root out the unwanted vine.

I pruned and trimmed but this only seemed to energize both bougainvillea and stink vine. And by this time I was working to replace the ornamentals in my landscape with edibles. Time for the bougainvillea to go.

The only reason I could think to keep it was that the thorny monster had become a favorite nesting place for the mockingbirds. But even if the birds refuse to serenade me this spring I could not justify the amount of time it now takes to prone the mess. I can’t tell you how often I found an hour or two to work in my yard, only to eat up the time yanking out stink weed and pruning thorny branches. I understand why the mockers love the plant for nesting. There’s no way a cat could negotiate the thorns. I don’t really understand how the birds manage it. With good views of the whole neighborhood, it did make for an ideal mocker fortress.

Well, I finally oiled up the chain saw, put on some heavy-duty gloves and set to work cutting the whole thing down. Even with the gloves my arms look like I just lost a fight with my cats. But it is done. The whole mess is cut back to a thick tangled stump of bougainvillea. And by the way, absolutely no sign remains of that old maple stump. Guess it all became bougainvillea food.

Anyway, I am still not sure if I will completely remove the bougainvillea or try to force it into a more manageable shape. For now I will watch and see how the stump recovers.

When Overwhelmed

With one thing after another unexpectedly occupying my attention these past few weeks, I have fallen hopelessly behind with garden chores. And late summer is unforgiving in Florida. Rain and sunshine energize weeds to overtake the garden at an astonishing speed. As do vines and pretty much everything else.

I look at my overgrown gardens and I am overwhelmed. Looking at this work is enough to sap my energy. Why does thinking about work feel more exhausting than the actual work? Where to begin? I need a plan of attack. There’s too much that needs doing. The situation is overwhelming and impossible. Perhaps I’ll tackle it tomorrow when I’m a little more rested.

But tomorrow arrives with a dozen unexpected demands on my time, coming from every direction at once. Oh well, the yard work can wait.

Sure. Yard work can wait. The weeds don’t mind. They are thriving and cheerfully scattering their seed in a gusting wind. The vines stretch out ever farther, threatening to smother a small tree. Work that appeared overwhelming yesterday is even more so today.

Time to take action.

Where to begin?

I have discovered that the worst thing to do is spend time assessing all the work needing attention. This will overwhelm, and make it too tempting to put off for another day.

With any overwhelming task, I find the best approach is to not think about the totality. Start wherever you’re at. Pull up one weed. Then another. It doesn’t matter where you begin, just begin. One simple task. Then another simple task. Trim back that vine. Prune those limbs. One task at a time, and after a bit – Progress!

This seems to be true no matter the task. No reason to dwell on everything that needs doing. Put that same energy into pulling up that first weed.

What did I learn for this experience?

I should have trusted my sense of smell and touch. I finally cut the mango this evening because even though there was still quite a lot of green on the skin, the aroma was becoming overpowering. The fruit was very soft. There was no green inside and some of the fruit was almost overripe. Next time I’ll slice when aroma and softness tell me it’s time, regardless of the color of the peel.

As you can probably tell from the photo the fruit was very juicy. The texture and flavor were excellent.

According to the description at Pine Island Nursery.

‘Mallika’ is a “condo mango” native to India. It has become a favorite here at PIN due to its superb flavor, unparalleled disease resistance, and small but extremely productive habit. There is a catch however. The fruit must be picked mature green for optimum flavor, and they are traditionally ripened in camel dung while on the way to market in India. They can also be packed in a cardboard box and kept at room temperature if camel dung is difficult to come by in your part of the world. Ripening typically takes ten to fourteen days. The season is from June to July.

This is my first year growing Mallika, and the plant is still fairly small. As is my habit, I prefer to encourage newly-planted fruit tress to put their energy into growth for the first couple of years. So, I only allowed one fruit to grow to maturity.

More than likely I could have picked the fruit a couple of weeks sooner, but wanted to make sure it had filled out as much as possible. The fruit was still green when picked; mostly green, swollen and heavy. Since I don’t have access to camel dung, I stored in a paper bag on my kitchen counter. Nine days later the fruit has developed a fragrant, mango aroma, has grown soft, but still a little green. I monitor progress every day. I think it should be ready to slice in a couple of days.

The main reason I wanted Mallika was the due to the need to pick mature-green. Seemed like an excellent choice for a mango to send to my sisters.

Speaking of mangoes, last week I overheard a guy at Publix telling how a thief stole all the mangoes from his tree. I didn’t hear all the details, or how he knew who took the fruit. He went to see the guy and the thief said, “Want to buy some mangoes?”

The man responded, “Why would I buy mangoes that came off my own tree?”

I didn’t hear how the story ended because you can only spend so much time eavesdropping in a crowded produce section.

But it occurs to me that if Mallika tastes as good as it already smells, the picking-mature-green requirement could act as a potential deterrent to thieves. And it is a variety that can be maintained at only ten feet.

Watch for an update in a few days. Mmmm! Can’t wait!

This is the first year I’ve grown longan.

This is a highly-prized fruit in Asia, and appears to grow quite well in my Florida garden. So far.

When ripe the small fruit are slightly larger than my white Muscadine grapes. They have a thin, hard husk that peels easily revealing a whitish, translucent flesh around a large pit.

longan peeled, fruit and pit

How to describe the taste?

The fruit is sweet and jucy. I can’t think of another fruit to compare the flavor. It is pleasant and mild, but not really like anything else. My first thought was a little bland, but I think what I meant was not at all tangy.

I’m not sure how large the tree will grow, but have given it plenty of room with plenty of sun.

Like most of my fruit trees, I fertilize with citrus fertilizer.

Will try to get some better pics of the ripe fruit today.