My Florida Tropical Garden

In November, I planted some Radish Cherriette Hybrid seed in a container, but some heavy rains drowned the soil too much causing stress and very slow growth. Then the recent freezing weather was the final knockout punch that killed them all.

So today I planted radish seed again in the same container, this time taking caution when it's suppose to rain. Basically I'll have to move the container away from heavy rains to control the moisture level. Too little or too much water are common mistakes you want to avoid for any container plant.

Lately we've had a couple artic blasts coming through causing a long stretch of freezing weather here in Central Florida, which is unusual for our zone. I took some pictures below of some ice hanging from a Sago palm tree in our backyard and a plate of frozen water I removed from our bird bath. In fact, today some parts of Florida had actually seen snow flurries! Some Florida residents were making mini-snowman's with the winter surprise from the sky. I wasn't lucky enough to get any snow at my house though. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. LOL

The low temperature tonight is suppose to be 26°F in my area, the coldest so far. We are covering our tropical plants to prevent freeze damage which can kill palm trees and delicate perennials. Hopefully most of the plants will survive this cold snap but it's not likely everything will make it. Here's some photo's...

Just a quick update on the birds. The male/female pair of Cardinals, about 3 Tufted Titmice and at least 2 Doves still remain in the area. They stop by to feed just about everyday. Since it's been cold outside, I've been keeping a close-eye on the feeders, refilling with more seed if needed so the wildlife can survive the cold nights. Also I wanted to show you all a great video I recorded today of a Tufted Titmouse picking at a sunflower seed.

Happy New Year's Eve! Exactly 7 weeks have passed since the cocoon was made, and finially emerged a Polyphemus Moth. Beautiful design on the wings, with streaks of pink and very distinct eyes. Truely a sight to admire. Though I'm glad I eventually only raised one caterpillar since the moth is rather big, but it was a very interesting experience. All together it took just under 3 months from egg to moth! I released it the following day on January 1st so it can continue it's life cycle.

It's been about 6-7 weeks since those Polyphemus moth caterpillars hatched from their eggs. They've been eating alot and growing fast everyday. I started with over 20 larvae, but since I couldn't keep up with the amount of leaves they were all eating, I decided to release several outside. Now I'm raising just 1 single caterpillar and it has finially formed a cocoon!

A couple weeks ago I pictured a young male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak that was using our feeder daily for awhile. Unfortunately I haven't seen it in the last couple of weeks so I think it has moved farther south to warmer night climates. Here's whats feeding on our bird seed mix now (black oil sunflower, safflower, milo, white millet, cracked corn):

Small group of Tufted Titmice
Male and Female pair of Cardinals
3 Mourning Doves feeding on the ground

Yesterday I spotted a new bird using the feeder that I believe was a female Painted Bunting. It only stayed for about 10 minutes and I wasn't able to get a clear photo. I've also spotted a single Carolina Wren hanging around every now and then.

Tufted Titmouse on a windy day, so cute!

Caroline Wren sitting on our grill


Today I placed an order for some more bird seed at Lowes and found a great mix in Scotts Colorful Bird Blend Seed. It has it ALL! nyjer seed, safflower, black oil sunflower seed, peanuts, white millet, sunflower chips, canary seed, raisins, red millet, juniper berries. Also grabbed a seperate 10 lb. bag of black oil sunflower seed since I normally mix more sunflower into the feeder mix. Lately squirrels have been eating more seed than the birds, so i'm trying something new with a Squirrel Bungee feeder, hoping to distract them away from the bird feeders with this. If that doesn't work, I bought a Squirrel Guard for the feeder pole. =)

Scotts 8-lbs. Colorful Bird Blend Seed
Garden Treasures 10-lbs. Black Oil Sunflower Bird Seed
Garden Treasures 16" Squirrel Guard
Birdola Squirrel Bungee Feeder and Cake Combo

Ordered some spring time flower seeds from Park Seed Co. This year I selected heat and drought resistant varieties. Also interested in growing the Ornamental Pepper for the first time. I went with the Marigold Golden Guardian because it's advertised to be the best for nematode control when interplanted with vegetables, plus I get 600 seeds in one packet. :)

Zinnia Zahara Starlight Rose
Nasturtium Hawaiian Mix™
Vinca Pacifica Burgundy Halo
Marigold Golden Guardian
Ornamental Pepper 'Sangria Hybrid'

The photos below are not actual pictures I took, just examples.

I planted some Radish Cherriette Hybrid seed in a long container today, using the Jungle Growth Flower & Vegetable soil mix purchased from Lowe's. Would've started the radish seed sooner but I've been waiting for the cooler weather. The average temperatures have been unusually hot in November this year, but now the night temps are finially in the 60's.

The photo below is not an actual picture I took, just an example.

I setup my Burpee Ultimate Growing System again today, and sowed some flower seeds for the cooler weather. This system has a self-watering mat and makes germinating seed very easy. Just fill with water once and watch your seeds grow! I used 30 Burpee super growing cubes with the following seed in 30 tray cells. The Burpee growing system I have has up to 72-cells! =)

6 cells of Alyssum, Mountain Gold
9 cells of Pansy, Swiss Giant mixed colors
9 cells of Petunia Celebrity Red Morn
6 cells of Sweet Alyssum, Snow Crystals

For very small flower seed, just sprinkle the seed on top of the growing medium and lightly push down just enough so the seed gets good contact with the moist soil. I did not cover the seed with soil since they need LIGHT to germinate. (Update on 11-22-09: within 5-7 days, all varieties have germinated, GREAT STARTER SYSTEM BY BURPEE!)

While watching our bird feeders today, there was a different bird hanging around that we haven't seen before. It took some research, but I learned it's an immature male rose-breasted grosbeak. The immature male is difficult to identify because it resembles the colors of the female. However, you can see the rosey tint on it's chest and black on the wings, which the female doesn't have.

The adult male is absolutely stunning though, a very attractive bird. The link below shows an adult male rose-breasted grosbeak

adult male rose-breasted grosbeak picture

Information on the Rose-breasted Grosbeak