Week of June 26, 2022

The monotonous Florida SUMMER of scorching heat and high humidity has settled on the Florida Home, prompting our relocation to TAProots Farm in Upstate New York. This is not to say that the gardens here lack for color. The three crepe myrtle trees are full of blooms, and the four beds of lantanas have filled their allotted spaces. The coleus provide lots of color in three other beds. The six types of elephant ears each make a bank of unique color along Palm Row and the lanai. The flowers for our pollinators (hummingbirds, bees, butterflies) are now returned to full size, especially the red Pentas and the huge Firebushes. Preparations for the summer include removal of bird netting from the rows of blueberries and pruning them back to stimulate branching. The stove pipes and baffles were removed from the peach and plum trees, and relocated to the persimmon trees, now loaded with green fruit. The new citrus trees were well watered and pruned of suckers sprouting from their bases. The new oak swing is stored in the garage. We had a tree service prune dead branches and vines from our great oak trees. The next two months will be a test, but good rainfall could make for a good crop of citrus, now with fruit set on almost all of the trees. We will wait out the heat in a cooler place.