It is so GREAT to see all the sunshine!!!!! Although just in the lower 50s, in the sun it feels wonderful. Need to go uncover plants so they can enjoy it also.

I have posted a question in the Landscape design forum but please feel free to chime in!

The thread "Yard makeover Florida" in Landscape Design forum

I'll bet we're all planning a makeover in some areas of our gardens this year. It'll be fun seeing what we develop.

A tad of organization with a beautiful natural effect is always my goal. Weeds suck, yet every now and then a surprise one in the right place that has attractive qualities can survive for a while in my gardens. Those little purple, yellow, and orange flowering Petunia things that always come up in Spring for instance.

Heck! Gaillardia can almost be a weed once established. I frequently leave them where they come up in unexpected places here and there after almost completely disappearing for me in the Winter.......;always seeing where they surprise me in spring!

and Dollar Weed makes a very tasty salad!!!!

Rain, rain & more rain in the forecast here thru Thur so i"m sure I'll have more Dollar Weed than I can eat alone. I'll gladly share!!!! Sure am glad I took care of the 2 BIG out door tasks last week - painting exterior of Studio & getting walls on the GH.

We are updating our kitchen. This is the last LARGE project remaining. The almost 40 y/o Formica counter-tops, stove that doesn't heat well, non energy efficient fridge, & garbage disposal, on it's last leg, are all going away. I've already painted the cabinets so now need to get the walls painted. And cleaning out a fridge is always so much "fun""!!!!! Still need to shop for a new sink & faucet & make final decision on the counter-tops. Hopefully, after this, I'll have time to concentrate on gardening!!!!

Your new kitchen will make you so happy Jean. By the time Spring rolls up to us it will be old news. Your gardens for 2015 will be wonderful and grab your attention.....

.....Then next year and after the new kitchen is old news and you redo another area again to create a happier home for 2016,...the cycle will repeat itself. The circle of life in America................................gotta love it!!!!!!!!! We really are blessed here we know.

Looks like a really great day to be working on an indoor project, too. We've had showers of rain all morning, but the map looks like you folks further north are really getting whupped.

We are getting a really good rain as I write. Its been raining a couple of hours...

No kitchen re-do here (luckily, we have a new home and a pretty nice kitchen). I am strongly considering turning my 32'x8' screened-in porch (now enclosed for winter) into a sun-room, what you Florida folks perhaps call a Florida-room. My thoughts are to increase it to 32'x16' and have all glass on the (new) east-facing wall, including French doors. The glass would be gas-filled, double pane, with UV block. "Florian" has some good ideas for the glass-work. I would like to have skylights. The porch only has three ceiling fans now but I would tie in my central AC/heating to service the new room. I have porcelain tile on that porch and would just extend that same tile out into the enlarged space. I really need a larger, more efficient (heated and cooled) room.

It is nice to dream. All I need to do is get plans drawn up and a (solid) cost estimate. This is on my "things to do" list. If I can afford the addition, I would like to do it this spring. I have to get all those plants outside before starting the project.

This is why I NEED new room.

Ken, That sounds just wonderful, but wouldn't UV block glass be a problem if you were growing plants in there in the winter? I thought plants need the full spectrum and especially all the light you can give them in the wintertime.

UV is absolutely unnecessary for plants to photosynthesize, Elaine. All UV does is cause skin cancer. Plants use the visible spectrum of light, but actually, only a narrow range of the spectrum, both for vegetative growth and for blooming.

No kidding! Well thanks, ya learn something new every day.

And I'm saving your skin!

Hey, thanks but I am a redhead, living in Florida! My hobbies are mostly outdoors, sailing and gardening. Endangered species here. No worries about my skin.

I own a wardrobe of hats, sunglasses and 'sunscreen clothing' because it's cheaper to cover up your skin than buy lotion. Just got an order today from a company I haven't tried before, Coolibar. Nice soft knit fabrics, SPF 50 guaranteed for the life of the clothing.

My wife is a redhead too. Stays out of the sun, uses gobs of lotions everyday, and has the skin of a 25 year old. She stays on me during the spring, summer, and fall to "wear-your-hat". I have 12-15 actinic areas frozen every six months! I will have another batch frozen next week. I have the skin of a 75 year old, in good part due to spending thousands of hours out on the Gulf of Mexico without hat, shirt, or shoes. Ah, the cost of youth!

I have posted an updated picture and welcome suggestions.
The thread "Yard makeover Florida" in Landscape Design forum

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, the days of putting iodine in baby oil to tan quicker!!!!

No problem with sun here today. The fog is as thick as it was at 7AM. But the plants are all loving this weather. The African Iris that are out of reach of any sprinkler & never get supplemental water are full of buds & blooms. A few months back I was thinking they were too dead to ever make a recovery.

The Turks Cap hibiscus is as colorful as the Camellias. Red is definitely the predominant color right now. Sure would be nice if it would stay warm the rest of the Winter!!!!

Isn't that the truth Jean. They are the reddest red, and yes I agree. Let that early freezey snap be the last.
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That sun room expansion sounds great Ken.

Update on my yard makeover.
The thread "Yard makeover Florida" in Landscape Design forum

The way to let a thread die is to not post any pictures, folks! C'mon and get out your cameras, let's see what your winter bloomers look like! Got to be some interesting things in our gardens these days?

Coleus makes bizarre colors in winter.



Creamy lantana, fragrant Begonia odorata 'Alba'

Anyone here growing Ice Plant, Delosperma? Wondering how it does in the humidity here. I need a good edging for hte back garden & was thinking this might work. Something that would stay green all winter.

OK David, after I get the kitchen painted, I'll go out & snap some pics!!!!

I couldn't resist & picked up 3 bags of Caladium bulbs at the big box store the other day. My plan is to put them in my larger towel planters this year.