My new home page

My home page is back!  Now you can keep up with all of my blogs, websites and places on the web in one place.  Click here to go to the blog, where you can follow via Blogger, Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, my new Facebook Fan Page or through RSS feed via your favorite reader...

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Our Paradise . . . past photos and some inspiration

The gardening season has arrived in Florida and The Captain and I are still cleaning up, making plans and repotting plants for the new garden.   We plan on making our own pavers out of concrete and painting them as I have done in the past . . . although the paths are still there from...

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Tips for awesome garden photos

One of my favorite photos!   My beautiful azaleas that are dead and gone . . . a casualty of way too cold winters in Tampa.  As I was going through my photos with thoughts of rebuilding the garden and getting ideas of what to plant, I realized how important it is to capture those...

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Awesome idea for the garden :)

What are these thingies and how can they cause an explosion in your garden? How about an awesome gift for the gardener who has everything? I don't want to give it away . . . you have to visit Alicia at McCrenshaw! ...

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Creative seed starting containers

Looks like Spring has arrived in Central Florida and I couldn't be happier!  Time to start planting seeds in my part of the world! In my travels around Bloggerville, I found this creative self-watering seed starting container idea from Brandy at Savin' Some using recycled soda bottles!...

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Garden Inspiration

Although I like a property that has a natural park look to it with unmanicured mass plantings, I like the garden decor concept of "rooms" . . . definite themed sections of the garden . . . I love the garden in this photo for some inspiration.  There is something so soothing about white against...

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Outdoor spaces

The seating area surrounded by lattice really caught my eye and gave me some ideas for our carport that is not so private.  The nice shady spot calls out for chill out time. Even though we have had a very cold winter that has killed much of the greenery, most of the days have been pleasant...

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Waiting for spring!

Hurry Spring!!! We are in Zone 9 . . . it is really rare for us to get freezing temps that burn the plants. Well, this year it started early in November and just about killed everything that last year's unusually cold winter didn't kill. Big time bummer!!!  I always rely on taking...

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What's blooming in paradise

Their beauty makes them look fake, like brightly crinkled paper perfectly formed. My cranberry hibiscus plants are loaded with buds and I just noticed the first blooms the other day.  They are a different species than the tropicals, these are more like a native plant, requiring less care, drought...

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Organic pest control

Someone left a comment on one of my posts asking the question . . ."how do I keep bugs from eating my basil?" I'm an organic gardener and don't use chemicals in my garden, especially on herbs and vegetables.  There are several recipes that I've used to control pests, but the one that is...

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