Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The View From The Bedroom Window

Ever since I was a wee brat, I have had houseplants.  Here, having plants indoors is problematic.  Offices that have plants are constantly besieged by troops of ants, the pots become their own ecosystem with odd creatures, and there is also the clean up factor.

In a house, you have that problem along with the lack of "professional care".

When I was a kid, I had shelves that lined the windows in the corner room above the garage.  They were crammed with pot after pot.  No matter what time of year, there were always flowers growing.  

Seems a bit obsessive but it was pretty.

I may have carried that habit on down here to Florida.   At least they're outdoors.   The nice thing about it is that all those plants that I struggled to grow on those shelves can be practically ignored here and become a nuisance when they overgrow. 

While at work, I have always had some Coleus, like the type that is growing under the Bougainvillea in the foreground.   If it isn't kept trimmed back, the Coleus will actually kill the grass that grows next to it.  With the "beards" of Spanish Moss growing under the Bougainvillea, these are often the first things that I see every day, and practically the last thing at night.

With the fruit trees in a pot and the "junk pots" that are a collection of green at the back of the yard, I have my little garden.  It is much easier to care for them that way, simply put them on the drip feed line and enjoy.

Most of these "weeds" are from cuttings I have gathered, although some were purchased like the Mango, Lemon, and Banana trees.   They'd all do better in the ground, but as you can see I am limited on space.

At one point, I walked out back, grabbed an orange, squeezed it into juice, picked some tea leaves and a lemon to help sweeten the tea, and headed in with a banana from the tree.   The produce from a tree in a pot usually isn't very good, the menu was done "for effect".  I was having one of those moments where you did it because you said you could.  On the other hand, Lemons from the Meyer Lemon tree are quite good and I have seedlings that I have to find a home for.

Now they're all threatened by the exotic whitefly that was introduced.  My lemon trees are limping along and unhappy, the Orange got moved to the front yard and really needs a better place, and the banana is threatening to burst the plastic pot that it is in.

When I look at the line of exotic trees it brings a smile to my face.  Not having them bare fruit is a bit of a nuisance, but "it is what it is".

Beautiful to my eyes and isn't that what counts?

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