This is the transition season for our Florida Garden. The weather has remained summer-like, with the persimmon crop winding down and the beginning of citrus picking. The only bright color comes from our cassis tree, with fronds of yellow blossoms. One highlight of this time of year are the plant sales put on by a variety of groups and gardens in this great gardeners community. The Wilmot Garden on the UF Medical Campus and the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens west of Gsinesville are only two highlights of many. The problem lies in where to plant any newly purchased specimens. Nonetheless, some purchases were made. A last year’s purchase has finally started to grow. It is a section of vine from a vanilla orchid. I planted one end in potting soil at this time last year and it took 6 months to put out a bud. Now it has a nice vine started, with a long way to go before any vanilla beans will be forthcoming. We had to purchase a stag horn fern to replace our dismantled elkhorn fern, which lived on a round cross-section of oak. It was doing well last summer due to frequent rain, so much as to rot the oak cross-section and cause it to breakup. The stag horn fern should do well hanging in a basket from an oak tree in partial shade. Other plant show purchases include Florida pineapples, now flourishing in rabbit-proof cages. Thankfully, the citrus crops will soon be ready.
TAProots
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