Happy first day of spring, fellow Floridians!

Looking forward to blooms soon!

Yah Spring ! Although I think it arrived two weeks ago. We went from down right chilly with a freeze to warm/hot. I refuse to turn the Air conditioning on in March. I barely turn it on in April.
That darn freeze knocked back the buds and flowers on alot of stuff, and we didn't get a lick of that rain we were supposed to get last night.

Ron I'll be making the rounds today with the amdro and scouting the beds before stepping inside to weed. Both feet and ankles are itching like crazy but on a few pus bumps so far.

By my front door this morning; all rebloomers from previous years.

MJ, I too believe you got into a bed of fire ants. Few ants produce the pain, blisters, pustules that fire ants do. I prefer Orthene to control my fire ants but Amdro is a good product and I have used it as well. When I get a bite/sting, I immediately scrub the area with ammonia. That seems to help take away some of the pain and resultant inflammation.

I like those "Moth" orchids, Hetty.

Hetty, remember my asking you last fall what to do with the dozen or so cuttings that had seed pods? You told me to graft them and that's what I did. I think I used Celadine as the root stock. Anyway, not a single one appears to have joined that root stock. Not a single leaf is present and none of those tiny, terminal leaves have begun to grow. I told you about one that had rotted. I guess I am going to have to unwrap them all and make a fresh start at grafting them. The seed pods from that rotted one are sitting on my greenhouse work bench and it is still green/purple, as are all the other seed pods.

Do you have pictures of any seed pods just before they are about ready to release their seeds? Do the seed pods begin to dry out and turn brownish when they have matured?

Ken I believe it's too soon to expect growth on your plants, grafted or otherwise. Many plumeria here are still fast asleep, others however are just about to bloom. So I would give it another month before declaring them failed.

The seedpods start to turn dull and develop a distinct crack along the top when they get ready to release the seeds. Some pods here have opened, and others will do so a little later, depending on when they were formed.

OK, thanks for the information, Hetty. Those grafted plumeria were all in a greenhouse, along with my 1 1/2 dozen seedlings. I will give them more time since I see no rot on any of them (so far).

Spring it is, altho a bit gloomy today, thats ok, its leftover from a badly needed rain. The garden festival at kannappaha gardens is tomorrow. Im not taking my wagon in hopes I will just look, not buy. Good things they have wagon there, just in case. All I want is a funnel cake and maybe a cute little bit of garden art. Altho, I got the best windmill at HD yesterday ( i told you I need to stay away from that place right now), I just love it. Its big, its tall, its 3-D. It was displayed down in lumber , but its here now.

Interesting, plumeria seeds huh? Mine are not leafed out yet either, Ken, so as Hetty says I'd wait a bit and see if spring's energy makes them 'take'.

On the fire ant front, my 'remedy' if I can do it is to run - Run! - into the house and put ice straight on the bites as quick as I can. It seems to neutralize the venom if you can get to it quickly enough. Often there's not even a bump if I'm quick. Another 'remedy' I have is an herbal insect repellent called "Herbal Armor" that is available at health food stores and online at rei.com which not only is a nice lotion repellent that works well against mosquitoes, but if you put it on bites after, it takes away the itch. Must admit the last time I got a fire ant bite was at the school garden with no remedy at hand, but I put the repellent on the bite as soon as I got home, and it only itched for a day or two. Usually with me those evil bites last a week.

My seedlings are fully leafed-out and huge, being only 15 month old plants. Well, I say "huge", but in fact these are the first two I have ever grown from seed, so what do I know? The first picture shows all the seedling in September, 2014 (those two oldest seedlings are in the forefront and are 28" and 32" tall). The last pictures were taken early this week of those same two. One is over 4' tall and the other just under 4' tall.

@dyzzypyxxy -- I always carry with me or have close at hand a small spritz bottle, filled with white vinegar. I've been using it for years on ant bites and the postules never develop; the painful itch stops almost immediately. Try it; cheap and beats the chemical stuff which I don't want soaking into my skin.

In an article on here, there was something about building your own arbor. I think it was using stuff from Tractor Supply. Does this ring any bells. I thought for sure it was a FL person, but Ive gone blank.

Pam,
Was it this one ? You can do a search the Idea's and articles section.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/b...

I did a post about building one.
The thread "$50.00 Arbor" in Garden Structures forum

Hey, Hetty!

I was in a brief discussion with you last May about a Plumeria I have had for 15-20 years that has never bloomed for me. It has grown well, looks beautiful during summer, and I have installed it in a few places on my property, but no blooms.

In the discussion, I came to the conclusion that too much shade was likely the biggest problem, so I took "chunks" and planted them in other, sunnier locations. Late this winter, I was stoked! One of the new plantings, about 4½' tall after planting, had two bloom stalks developing!

We had gone all winter without any temps much below 40°F for any length of time. Then, in mid Feb, we had a light frost. I covered a lot of things, including this particular Plumeria, frost damage for me was practically non-existant, even on unprotected plants. Friends a couple miles away had frosted windshields on their cars, etc., so the potential had been there.

One of the bloom stalks looked damaged, but a couple of the buds on the second stalk were still green (the stalks were small enough that only four buds were obvious on each). Unfortunately, after another week or so, those last couple buds turned brown as well. The stalks have grown a bit, and are still quite green, but it appears no viable buds exist there any more. Such a disappointment!

My question: If these two bloom stalks were totally ruined, is there still a good chance I will get blooms this year from this plant, or is it over until next year?

My experience with Plumeria is primarily limited to this one cultivar. I did get a large chunk of a tree growing in my daughter's yard that is developing a couple bloom stalks, even though I did not protect that one at all.

Ron

The advantage of having had inflorescences is that the tree will likely branch where they aborted. However, the chances of getting buds on those new tips are small. Give it a good well-balanced fertilizer and it will likely reward you with blooms next year!

Spring is in the air (and so are massive amounts of pollen). And I have some pictures I wanted to share from today at MOSI and my house.

Mating Zebra Longwings. This is not a threesome. I think the females give off such strong pheromones that other males literally come sniffing around.



Mating Monarchs.



Anole looking for love.



And at home, my Fringe Tree is fringing!

Melanie I love the Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus I assume?). Please go ahead and add your picture to the database if the identification is correct.

Hetty, already did it! Added some other plants, too. I got lots blooming in my world. I just posted the first picture of Pitcairnia xanthocalyx (that's a bromeliad). I saw @mjsponies had it on her want list and if I can figure out how to divide the thing, I'll send one. It doesn't really pup like normal bromeliads. But in the meantime, enjoy my pictures. It's about to bloom for the second year in a row! Here's the whole plant and the stalk it's sending up. Took this one years to bloom for me.

Melanie, the Spring Festival at Tropiflora is next weekend, if you're feeling up to an hour's drive?

I truly think you'd be blown away by their huge shade houses full of bromeliads, not to mention the orchids and other goodies for sale. They have live music and food available, too.

Yeah it's a fun day's out for sure (but can get expensive )