On Saturday morning, March 23, tune in to #rosechat radio and learn about the healing power of roses. As a horticulture therapist, roses play an important role in my healing engaging activities.
Currently I work with seniors and roses play an important role in their memories. What did the flower girl drop on the floor on their wedding day? Rose petals. What flowers did they get from their husbands for special occasions? Roses. What parade did they watch every New Years Day? The rose parade. What was one of their favorite flowers to grow in their gardens? Roses.
My residents love to hold a rose and the first thing they do is hold the flower to their nose. I only grow the most fragrant roses. As we age our senses diminish. Some seniors I work with have lost their sense of smell totally.
Over the years I have installed several rose gardens at nursing homes, independent senior living facilities and assisted living apartments, senior activity centers, day programs, and Alzheimer units.
The thorns can become a health hazard to those on blood thinners, diabetics, and the frail elderly. Be careful where you plant them. I like them to be close enough to have access but not in the way so they get scratched as they walk or wheel themselves by the bushes.
All the above roses are photos from my backyard garden. I love growing roses and always have bud vases in the kitchen and bathrooms with roses in them. The link below is for the rose radio broadcast. You can catch it live or listen at your leisure at any time after the broadcast. Click on the link below to listen.
One of my favorite aspects of gardening is observing blooms opening day by day. I like to take a few minutes before work to tour the garden. This week the ginger is starting to bloom.
It is beautiful to see sunlight shining through the tropical foliage and highlighting the bloom as it begins to open.
As the sheath separates, the smooth white flowers with pink tips reveal themselves like pearls.
As the cluster matures, each flower opens up and within the heart of the white flower, revealing a yellow/orange center. It is reminiscent of a snap dragon. Each day more yellow flowers emerge from the top of the cluster downward. The joys of gardening are plentiful.
Thank you for following my blog and see you again soon!
Every year the Florida Nursery, Landscape and Growers Association has a gigantic plant show, the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition show at the Broward County Convention Center. Since I started writing for Examiner.com I cover the event for them. However, I have been attending the event for many years.
I know many of the nurserymen from when I was a state of Florida state agriculture inspector for the Division of Plant Industry. It was my first job out of college. I had to inspect nurseries who wanted to become certified to ship plants out of state to California, Texas and Arizona. Those states had strict laws restricting plants grown in soil from Florida due to our destructive nematode problems in our soils.
Back to the plant show. There are so many vendors the show takes up the entire hall. It is fun seeing the latest plant introductions. It is nice to see the growers I used to visit. I like to learn about the new products all the other vendors offer. Growers from Canada, China, and Europe are also there. There is so much to see I often go back more than once to see everything.
Here is a link to the Examiner article and slide show I wrote. Enjoy and thank you for stopping by my blog. Click on the link below.
A tree grows more stately and elegant as the years go by. The tree canopy reaches up to the heavens Their trunks show strength and stability. Here are the best places to view majestic oaks in South Florida. How well are we aging? Where to view majestic oaks in South Florida
I work with seniors as their candles are burning out. A slight faint glimmer of a flame remains. Sometimes as I glide the wheelchairs back to their rooms after class and see ancient photos of their past vibrant selves, it really makes me sad. I try not to think about it too much. As I pass by a mirror and view myself in the reflection, I am cognizant of the reality. It is happening to me as well.
Father and son back in the day.
What I see in the mirror is an image of my father. Do not get me wrong, I am happy to look like my father. Here we are together.
Now my father works with me at the nursing homes. We both enjoy each other's company while at work, but sometimes he gets melancholy and asks me forlornly, is this my fate? I smile and tell him I will take care of him and my mother, they can move into my house. But what will happen when they need much more care? We both know the answer.
This takes us back to the beauty of the majestic oaks, who get stronger and more powerful with age. My father is a like an oak, his wisdom makes him stronger with age. With wisdom comes a sense of inner peace, of knowing more and worrying less about the small stuff. Of having the self confidence of being comfortable in your shoes, with who you are. I see this with my seniors, they have a sense of dignity.
Maturity has its advantages. My garden gets more beautiful with age.
Thank you for stopping by my garden blog, hope to see you again soon! For more inspiration, links are provided below. See you in the social net universe.
I want to thank you for all the nice comments and feedback from my blog this year. Thank you Shawna Coronado for the tool you designed for DeWit Tools for the contest give a way. Congratulations to Jeavonna Chapman, who won the tool.
There were some amazing moments in the garden this year. My orchids bloomed like never before, since I fertilized them more often and moved them to get the proper light in the garden.
I started a garden/landscape/food channel on YouTube and it has been a great success. Thank you so much for all your views and comments. I still cant believe there have been thirty four thousand views already. While working 14 hours days, blogging and social networking weekdays, and filming the videos and writing for Examiner.com, it has been a super busy year. Here is one of the videos. Please subscribe for free.
I tried to make them fun, informative, fast and unique. Living in the sub tropics has its advantages. I grew up in New Jersey and moved to Florida while in school. I consider myself a student of horticulture. There is always something new to learn.
My book I have been writing for three years took a back seat. Goals for the new year include finishing the book. I wish you all the best for the upcoming year and I hope you too will reach your goals.
One of the best gifts you can give someone is something they
can actually use and enjoy. What could
be more practical than providing the necessary items to grow your own food, or
grow a beautiful garden? Who needs
another tie, pair of slippers or bubble bath?
Here are some top picks for this season.
The Living Ledge is a wonderful addition to your kitchen
garden. You can grow herbs or flowers
right on the window. This clears clutter
from the kitchen counter or window sill, the usual place for growing plants in
the kitchen. Suction cups adhere to a
glass window, holding the acrylic planter and shelf in place. This versatile gadget can also be utilized as
a terrarium.
DeWit Garden Tools are handmade in Holland and I found out
about them through Shawna Coronado. They
are available in the USA by Garden Tool Company There is a nice selection of various
tools. These tools are made to last a very
long time. Shawna actually designed a tool
herself! It is specifically for removing
soil from containers and planting in containers. There is a sharp side for opening bags of
potting soil as well. Brilliant idea Shawna! Write a comment on why you would like a Dewit tool and you could be the lucky winner! Winner announced 12/24/12
Global Garden Friends have some very useful products to make
your gardening easier. The Ultimate Plant
Cage and Ultimate Plant Clips help keep your veggies off the ground so you will
be able to eat the produce before the critters do. are Very sturdy green plastic planting stakes are available that are useful around the garden.
Disclosure: The above
were gifts that were sent to me to review.
I have tried them and the comments are my own experiences.
Gardeners in the temperate climates have a hard time over
the winter. How can you garden when
there is a foot of snow on the ground?
How can you dig a whole when the soil is frozen solid? Garden addicts get their fix in the winter by
living vicariously through books.
Gardeners leaf through page after page of lush
landscapes, fantasizing what plants they will plant in the spring. They get new
ideas and inspiration in the winter. Three great books are reviewed in the following YouTube
videos. Enjoy the reviews and let your imagination grow wild.
Building Soils Naturally by Phil Nauta
Any Size, Anywhere Edible Gardening by William Moss
Florida Gardener's Handbook by Tom MacCubbin and Georgia Tasker
Luckily I live in the subtropics of South Florida now, so I get to garden all year long. The winter days are too short to garden after work though, it is dark. I miss gardening after work. It is a great way to decompress before heading into the house to prepare dinner, go through the mail and do all the many household chores. Sometimes it is easier to be at work than to be at home in the house. Thank you for stopping by my blog and see you again soon and at the other social media sites. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel for free! Like my Robert's Tropical Paradise Garden Subscribe to Miami Garden Reporter articles Follow me on Pinterest, Google+ and Twitter.
There comes a time in every garden when you have to have an election, and vote in new plants and remove incumbents that have worn out their welcome. Some plants in the garden have outgrown their usefulness and have to go. New plants get voted in to enliven and invigorate the garden.
Shrubs I started from cuttings from other areas of the garden were planted in my side yard by the street, voted in due to their beautiful foliage and ability to fill in blank spaces between two Tabubia street trees. Within several years, their original promises were indeed fulfilled and they looked marvelous. However the maintenance to keep them properly pruned became overwhelming. They were up for reelection and they were voted out of office. The short video below is how they were forced out.
Certain plants looked great in three gallon pots at the nursery and got voted in. I have a lovely fishtail palm that I used as a screen to block the view of the street and home across the street. Over time as other plants grew up and matured, the sprinkler became partially blocked and the fishtail was not getting enough water. The tips of the leaves always were browning and affected the aesthetics of the palm. Over the years it became too tall and was inching its way up to the power lines. It was voted out of office via chainsaw. Video below demonstrates the process.
Beautiful new plants were needed to fill in all the empty spaces of the plants removed. Voted in were bromeliads. I planted a single bromeliad in a pot and itmultiplied and needed to be divided anyway. They would unify the area and add a bit of formality to the jungle. Another plant got voted in, a wonderful phildondron native to Brazil. This plant is wonderful and I also use it for hydroponics class in nursing homes. This is how it was done.
Whatever you feel about the election and who wins and who loses, mother nature takes care of us all and we need to all get along in the garden of Eden. Thank you for visiting my blog and see you again soon.
Could there really be a Japanese garden in South Florida
that actually looks like you are in Japan?
Is it possible? Mr Morikami
thought so, and the successful farmer decided he loved his new country so much
he donated land for a state park upon his death.
The Morikami Gardens and Museum are a legacy of his wishes
for Americans to learn and appreciate Japanese culture. Located in Delray Beach, Florida where his
farmland used to be, the museum and gardens are like a mini vacation to Japan.
Japan had lots of native undeveloped pineland s back in the
day, as did Delray Beach.
There are meditation gardens, lakes, streams, bridges, and bonsai. Here is a video with a mini tour of the
gardens. The botanical garden was
designed by Mr. Kurisu, who also designed the wonderful Portland
Oregon. He is also a part time resident
of Delray Beach.
The bonsai collection at Morikami is amazing. They have a wonderful collection that is maintained by both staff and devoted volunteers. This is an article I wrote a while ago about tropical bonsai of Florida. Bonsai of Florida
I know this is just a taste of the wonderful Japanese garden and bonsai. The best way to see the garden is to visit. When you come to visit South Florida, this is a great attraction to visit while you are here. Thank you for visiting my blog and enjoy the following links. I will follow, subscribe, and add you back.
Of the many advantages of living in South Florida, growing
rare and exotic tropical fruits ranks up in the top ten. I love being able to go outside in the
morning and pick fruit for my morning oatmeal fresh from the trees. There is usually something ripe all year
round.
In the winter we have citrus, and by mid spring the mangoes
are ripe. As soon as I harvest the last
mango, the star fruit are bearing. The
figs ripen as well at this time of year. You must harvest them quickly before the birds eat them. Papayas ripen throughout the year as well.
My newest harvest is from the dragon fruit. I am looking forward to many more fruits from this cactus. The first flower was pollinated and the fruit ripened and rotted before I could harvest it. Now I will have to wait for more flowers and more fruit.
My garden is all planted out now and there is no more room. The next step is to decide what I want to remove. I need to decide what fruits I can replant. They need full sun. Time will tell what future plants I will purchase.
Several years ago at our Broward County Herb society meeting, we had a guest speaker who was a soap maker. We learned that our largest organ of our body was our skin. According to the speakers, what we wash ourselves with can have health benefits or health hazards.
Latest research confirms there are several toxic ingredients in our soaps and shampoos, according to Dr. Marcola. Some people are more allergic to the ingredients than others. He recommends avoiding all of them and buying organic products.
Last week I discovered a twitter peep who was a soap maker. Her name is Jenny Anthony. I tweeted t o her that I loved natural soaps. She was kind enough to offer to send me a bar to try. A package arrived and I was delighted to find three beautifully wrapped soaps that perfumed the room with a potpourri of fragrances.
One was called Summer‘s Night. The ingredients are olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, turmeric powder and fragrance. I have to find out what the fragrance is; it is so aromatic and pleasant.
A Calendula petals soap has shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, and silk.
The third hand crafted soap was a Sweet Almond. Jenny explained, “The oils are olive, sweet almond, coconut, organic palm and cocoa butter. It has pure chamomile tea added and is colored with comfrey powder. All my recipes are my own, which is true of most soapers.”
On Jenny’s Facebook page, I learned she is passionate about soap making and gardening. I admire people who follow their passions. She aspires to grow most of her herbs organically to utilize in her soaps. I love her slogan, “Created from the ground up.” Her business is called Jenny B’s Handcrafted Soap. Jenny follows her passions and says, “There is something magical to me to take a substance as
caustic as lye and chemically combine it to oils and butters from the earth.
That is where my passion for gardens (and gardeners) connects. I want to
appeal to people of like mind and go wherever it leads.”
The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina has been on my bucket list for quite some time. When friends extended an invitation to visit them in the mountains of North Carolina, I had no idea they were close to Asheville and had no intention of visiting the Biltmore during my mini vacation.
When I casually mentioned some day I would love to visit there, they said it was only a forty five minute drive away and we could easily fit it into our schedule. We bought tickets online and went the next day.
The water garden was spectacular, with many pools of water lilies, cannas, papyrus and more.
The Biltmore was everything I had seen on the internet, TV, magazines and much more. Being passionate about gardening, history, art, architecture and old homes I was overwhelmed at the super size of everything. We spent a half a day visiting and could have stayed at least two days to see it all.
There are great opportunities to photograph butterflies and other insects at the informal English countryside garden area.
The Biltmore was everything I had seen on the internet, TV, magazines and much more. Being passionate about gardening, history, art, architecture and old homes I was overwhelmed at the super size of everything. We spent a half a day visiting and could have stayed at least two days to see it all.
The botanical garden has some wonderful mature specimens dating back over one hundred years when Fredrick Law Olmsted designed the garden. There are vast vistas that Olmsted is famous for. Each garden is a delight, and there are many to see, including a rose garden, greenhouses, flower gardens, and more.
There is a winery, farm and more to visit. Enjoy this brief video!
Although I do live in a paradise, sometimes it is nice to get way. When I like to go on a vacation, I like it to be very different than where I live. An old friend suggested I visit their cabin in the cool North Carolina mountains last month. Magic to my ears! We would go hiking through the mountains, walk on rocks to cross gurgling streams, and view waterfalls.
The forest floor was teaming with life. Mosses, mushrooms, wild flowers, small ferns and tiny plants carpeted the ground.
There were wildflowers everywhere. I saw native rhododendrons. There were wonderful ferns and lichens. The trees were tall and thin in the forests reaching up to the sun. I loved seeing all the maples and oaks.
The soothing peaceful sounds of the forest was very therapeutic. It was so nice walking through the woods and hearing the water in the streams. Birds were plentiful, and their sweet chirps added to the forest melody.
Going away for a few days sometimes is not enough of a vacation. This particular trip was very soothing and relaxing. It was the antithesis of everything South Florida, which was a welcome change. Thank you for stopping by my blog and see you soon.
My Mahogany tree ripped to shreds and defoliated after Wilma.
Anytime there is a hurricane brewing in the ocean the weather forecasters predict doom and demise. The television reporters show terrible damage of previous storms, days before the storm is anywhere near Florida. Reporters stand with a wet slicker near a swaying palm tree (they always sway) and dramatically scream into the microphone while someone off camera throws a bucket of water in their face. By the time the storm is near, the local grocery stores are stripped bare of bread, water, peanut butter and every sort of canned food available. You are popping Xanax like jellybeans.
Meanwhile all the patio chairs, tables, end tables, garden whimsy, has been moved to the living room. The house looks like an outdoor furniture store. All the valuable orchids, rare potted plants are also in the living room, so it looks like a nursery.
My Tabebuia tree killed by the viscous hurricane Wilma.
View from my Florida room of the back garden.
The hurricane shutters are up so the inside of the house is dark, even in the daytime. You sit and wait, sit and wait. Hopefully the power will remain on for a while. Thomas Edison invented electricity over one hundred years ago and the wood pole and wire system he invented has not changed. A new 25 year old community called Weston has electric underground and never loses power. Here in Fort Lauderdale the lights flicker on and off all day long and with the slightest gust of wind, the lights go out. We were without power 16 days with Wilma. Grocery stores closed. No gas at the pumps. There were nightly curfews. No traffic lights. If a policeman saw you driving, he would stop you and ask where you were going.
My backyard after the hurricane, with piles six feet high of plant debris.
These photos remained in an envelope for 7 years since Wilma, I could not bear to look at the devastated garden. It was like losing a close friend. Everything was destroyed. The huge eighty year old mahogany tree was mangled beyond recognition. The branches fell on my roof and the neighbors as well. Branches fell to the ground like a can of pickup sticks. It took a crew of five men all day to chain saw through the mess and carry all the branches away. All the delicate tropical plants were sun burned to death without the tree canopy, smashed to death, or dried out since we had no rain and the sprinkler system could not run without electricity. Trees in the front yard were fallen down every which way.
A large percentage of the neighborhood tree canopy was destroyed.
A neighbor’s Ficus fell down into the roadway, blocking traffic in both directions. The road remained closed for days.
Tree blocked the entire street for days. No cars were able to pass.
Mad, sad, grumpy gardener.
My parents are evacuated from their condominium every storm as well and they stay with me.
No comment. They read my blog. Just kidding Mom and Dad!
I
invited the president of the Wilton Manors garden club to come over to see
my garden after he was nice enough to host the members of the club to his house.Problem was, I blurted it out spur of the
moment, not thinking of the overgrown shrubs, foot high weeds, and dead potted
annuals that succumbed to the summer sweltering heat.
Since I work full time as a horticulture therapist during the day in the field (pun intended) and do administrative duties in the evening and social networking, it gave me little time to prepare. Early in the morning before work, and early evening after work, I weeded, raked up leaves and purchased some summer annuals to spruce up the yard. Here is the orchid before it vanished.
My pride and joy was a wonderful Vanda orchid that was blooming
a second time this year. Low and behold
when I looked at the orchid, the flower had vanished. I was shocked and very disappointed. It looked as if the stem was cut off at the
base of the plant. What could have
happened to it? Several scenarios ran
through my head. The president was
coming over the next day and this was the best flower of the orchid collection.
Over the weekend I was shooting a video near the orchid the
day before my visitor was scheduled to arrive.
My cameraman spotted the flower nestled among the branches of a shrub
under the hanging orchid on the tree. I
decided to re cut the stem and take some wonderful photos. Just make the best of a tough situation. My guess is that when we were removing large
palm fronds from the garden, they brushed into the hanging orchid and it
severed the stem. Mystery solved.
The tour went well and the president got to take home a care
package of cuttings from my garden for his garden. Have a wonderful week and thank you for
coming by! See you again soon.
Enjoy my garden page on Facebook, please "like" it. Loads of photos there of the garden and horticulture therapy in the albums. You may subscribe to my Miami Garden Reporter articles for free, just hit the subscribe button in the link.
Welcome to my blog! All gardeners, landscapers, plant designers, nature photographers, herbalsits, horticulture therapists, landscape architects, nutritionists, health professionals, artists are encouraged to discuss topics in this blog. All will benefit!
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