My Florida Tropical Garden

Happy Halloween to everyone! =)

Not much going on in the garden for me so I haven't been posting much. The weather has been extremely dry though, been several weeks since our last good rain. On the positive side, it's been a nice 60 degrees in the evenings so being outdoors at night has been pleasant.

I am starting to notice ALOT of seed pods on flowering plants. I'm collecting seeds from my zinnia's, Asclepias curassavica (tropical milkweed), and Datura metel (double purple devil's trumpet). Interested to check the seed viability next spring when I get ready to plant these varieties again.

This will probably my final post this year on Monarchs as well. I've successfully released 60 Monarch butterflies this year, 35 females and 25 males. I'm most likely done with Monarch raising for the year since it's getting cooler outside, so I'll just start again next spring.

Quick update on some flowers/veggies I'm growing from seed.
Dates are when I sowed seeds for germinating. Used my Burpee Ultimate Seed Starting system for the Marigold, Vinca, Zinnia, Coleus, and Aster Hulk. Everything has germinated so far except for the sunflowers, but they were planted only 3 days ago.

3/08/10 Ornamental Pepper 'Sangria Hybrid'
4/02/10 Squash Contender Hybrid (zucchini) in a large container
4/05/10 Marigold 'Snowball Hybrid'
4/05/10 Vinca 'Pacifica Burgundy Halo'
4/05/10 Zinnia 'Zahara Starlight Rose'
4/05/10 Coleus Wizard Mix
4/05/10 Aster Hulk
4/15/10 Sunflower Large Flowered Mix from ParkSeed Co.

Received a new email from Park Seed today with a limited time promotion. They are offering Free Standard Shipping on all seed orders this weekend (3 days only). Promotion code is: SAVEGREEN

I couldn't resist so I purchased the following seed for this year. The pinstriped fruit on the Gourd Zebra grow only 4" wide, which should make a nice compact ornamental gourd. Impressive color varieties shown on the Large Sunflower mix which grow from 6-10 feet tall. And I'm a huge fan of fried zucchini, so I purchased the Squash Contender which is high yielding and has rich flavor. These spineless zukes grow 8-9 inches long too!

Gourd Zebra
Aster Hulk
Sunflower Large Flowered Mix
Squash Contender Hybrid

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

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 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!)

Ordered some vegetable seeds, radish and lettuce, from Park Seed Co.

Radish Cherriette Hybrid
Lettuce Green Ice