A Gardening Brag

I'm an avid gardener with a 3/4 acre yard to enhance. Living in NE Florida has its challenges, because it's Zone 8. Some things grow well here, but others don't because I don't have enough of a cold season. Oh, bother.

Anyway, I'm happy to report my poor abused Black Magic Elephant Ears (http://michiganbulb.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_66562_A_Black+Magic+Elephant+Ears_E_ )loves its new home just outside my screen porch out back. The poor thing did *okay* in a large pot for a year at my old place, but didn't thrive. Apparently, this new location in soil suits it much better. Already it has put out twice as many leaves, though I'll assume it's going to take a couple of years to reach its full height of 5'-6' and a spread nearly as wide.

I also just made two purchases today from Michigan Bulb (http://www.michiganbulb.com) that please me very much. I've wanted these plants for years, and knew better than to buy them until I had just the right spot. Despite Michigan Bulb's lifetime guarantee on all plants, it's just not fair to plant something where it doesn't belong. Now, I finally can indulge myself.

My first purchase was the Blue Moon Hydrangea. (http://michiganbulb.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_65731_A_Blue+Moon+Hydrangea+_E_ )
I've lusted for those cobalt blue blooms, and now I have a soft gray house to show them off. Three will do nicely for a reasonable hedge between my neighbor's front lawn and mine. She's a very nice lady, but that area is a bit bare and shady due to a huge scrub oak in the middle of my front lawn.

The second purchase is a mix of Hostas. (http://michiganbulb.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_14159_A_Mixed+Hosta_E_ ) I'm not so picky about what variety of hosta to put in the bed under my office and bathroom windows out back, where another huge scrub oak completely shades that corner of my yard. It's so bare in there, with just one thin fig and a few Blazing Star Liatris to provide any color, so the hostas will provide a very nice medium height (2'-3' at maturity) of green without totally obscuring the windows or air conditioner unit.

We're still working on the huge mound of FREE wood chips, provided by a local tree service as mulch. This was an entire dump truck load (!!) so you can image I'm putting mulch just about everywhere. LOL! I understand many tree services offer to give away their wood chips, so it's a bargain few gardeners can pass up.

One of the main areas I'm filling with mulch is my altar garden for outdoor rituals. My altar is an old cement bird bath left by the previous owner. When I'm not using the area for rituals, it provides a nice place for the birds to grab a drink or take a bath. When I need it, I just cover it with a round tabletop made from an old drum canister and set up my altar. A few stone pavers provide firm footing and a safe place for candles. My "cauldron," a mini-fireplace I found similar to this one (http://www.collectionsetc.com/Item60162.aspx) does nicely enough to provide needed fire. I'll take a picture when I'm done with the mulch. (Whew! Sweat Equity for real.)

Okay, enough bragging. Back to work.