



This is my zone 8b Louisiana garden journal.
Sure, I have had to cover them more than once but it has been worth it.
I enjoyed this log lasting mix of tulips but did not anticipate such early blooms during January! I also had some more broccoli shoots and cauliflower to harvest.
These lovely amaryllises bloomed in early January. The Ballerina was very bright tangerine, double and frilly. It seemed like a smaller flower but it more than made up for that with quite a statement of color. Blushing Bride reminds me of Apple Blossom’s color but it has some different patterns and is lighter in color. The Hollywood Amaryllis is definitely showy with the decorative speckles showing behind the bloom as well.
I will update as we get more blooms. I am happy with veridiflora green petals in this mix.
I found an Asian lady beetle on my turnip leaves today. I notice good growth on the cabbage and onions in spite of the crazy weather. My tulips are beginning to bloom in January!
The flowers are not in full bloom but it is fun to capture the happy faces every morning.
The ornamental kale plants I started from seeds are starting to show some color.
We were relieved that we didn’t lose our broccoli to the big freeze! The broccoli and cheese was delicious!
More Amaryllis coming soon.
Ballerina is a pretty double amaryllis. I hope to grow this one larger for more blooms.
I am growing Red French Quarter Okra, Baby Bubba Okra, Dwarf Beefsteak Tomato F2, Golden Berry Peruvian ground cherry, ginger, and turmeric among an assortment of other garden and house plants. I also planted a single satsuma seed I found in what was a mostly seedless harvest of satsumas from a friend’s tree. I peeled the skin off the fresh seed and planted it hoping for the best.
This purple cabbage and celery are recovering from the frost. These little ornamental kale plants are some of the ones I started from seeds.
I recommend this Christmas Cactus as a very easy to care for plant. I grow this under the shade of the porch all summer and feed it liquid plant food at least monthly. It needs regular watering and moist well drained soil in order to thrive.
The house plants are loving their life in the cozy grow room. I have started some tomato, pepper, okra, and flower seeds recently. The golden berry plants were started from a grocery store golden berry a few months ago. I simply squished the ripe berry and planted the seeds in the soil. I watered them in and forgot about them. They spouted in 7 days. The orchids have actually started to bloom and I feel better about neglecting them last year. I am learning that if they are potted up correctly, fertilized occasionally, and most importantly in the right place they will thrive with very little care. I actually had these orchids placed on a ledge in the partial shade close to the house where they get mist from the rain but are not constantly drenched and they have done well. I will update and share the blooms later on.
This is a review of growing Giganteous from Park seed. It actually is an F2 selection where I grew some out and picked the seeds from the largest flower to plant the following year. This thing got huge from growing in the compost pile. Next year, I will do the same thing by growing an assortment of seeds from this one and a few others to encourage genetic diversity and hardiness. The parent to this giant sunflower was not this big so I believe each seed is a little different from the parent and we will see various different results meaning I will grow enough to increase the chances of getting what I am looking for in a giant sunflower.
I found this “ice bucket” to be amusing while checking on my vegetables. It resembles a shot glass but is actually was dumped out of a 5-gallon bucket covered in ice. Thank goodness the cabbage has survived high teens low twenties for days with a blanket covering them. I will not know the full outcome until next week after everything begins to grow again.
No need for a recipe or slicing, dicing or chopping. Just cook them up and enjoy for every day.
To make simple collard greens collect a bunch of collards from your garden or buy them from the store. There is no chopping, slicing, or dicing in this recipe. Wash the collards well rinsing each leaf. You will see the sand collecting at the bottom of the sink. Let the water out and keep going until they are clean and then begin tearing the tender parts of the leaves away from the tough center stem. You can toss the tough stems into the compost pile. Take a pan and heat some bacon grease, light olive oil, or anything that will sautee well then start adding the collards a little at a time sauteeing them down until they are dramatically wilted down. I like to add salt and pepper, garlic, and onion powder. You can experiment with your favorite soup seasonings including onion soup mix, hot sauce, pepper flakes, and try a bouillon cube if you like. You can add bits of ham. Cover this with chicken stock or vegetable broth and simmer for about 15 minutes until tender and you have a wonderful side dish. If your greens have experienced cold weather like mine they will be super sweet and tasty!
This week the weather went from bad to worse. It rained and flooded the back yard then got cold and the big freeze arrived and stayed around for days. Broccoli and cabbage need to be covered when the temperatures go below freezing.
Let’s see what the dwarf tomato does after I cut it back. I have spare seedlings if this doesn’t grow well. I was pleased to see my Christmas Cactus starting to bloom.
I will wait for seeds so I can grow more of these ruffly rosy blush toned sunflowers. They seem too pretty to cut but if I had plenty more I would make a lovely bouquet for the table!
Lately, I have been enjoying these F2 selections of cutting sunflowers. I selected these for the ruffles and rosy colors.
This week the Dwarf Japanese morning glories are blooming and the ornamental cabbage is beginning to show more color.
I think these cold hardy plants are charming.
We enjoyed some pansy blooms this week along with white alyssum. I will cover as many things as I can when the cold weather arrives.