It has been a really long time since I sat down and posted a Sweet Southern Days blogpost. As you know, life gets busy and before you know it lots and lots of time goes by. I hope all of you are doing well these unusual days as we all try to dodge "the virus."
Most of us here in North Florida, USA are safe and so far healthy. The virus numbers in our town are low (332) as of today and most folks are trying to keep their distance and be safe. That is pretty good for a population close to 300,000 in our county.
Some of us turned to garden chores to keep busy and stay away from the virus. Spring here in North Florida is very pretty this year and makes a person want to be outside. Some of my favorite outside plants are the Old Garden Roses. The Old Garden Rose seen below is called a Katrina Rose or a Peggy Martin Rose. This hardy plant survived hurricane Katrina, which came through New Orleans a few years ago. If you would like to know more about this rose you can click on the Southern Living link below, which tells all about this charming plant.
Many years ago we planted a Pink Perfection Camellia in memory of my dear sweet Mother. This lovely flower was her favorite. I picked some of these beautiful flowers growing in our side yard and added some Bridal Wreath Spirea, which is also blooming down the hill. Love Springtime and Mom's favorite flowers.
From the photo below you can see how lovely and green everything is here this time of year.
We don't plant a garden every year, but this year seemed like a good time to plant the vegetable garden.
My husband brought out the tractor and got busy plowing and tilling the garden in preparation.
I planted some tomato and green pepper plants from our local garden center and planted seeds for everything else, which included watermelon, sweet corn, okra, radishes, squash, bush beans, cucumbers, sunflowers, zinnia flowers and morning glory flowers. Everything was planted about the first of April. You can see in the below photo the corn rows just beginning to come up.
Just a couple of days ago I snapped the below photo showing how big the corn is getting. I was able to see the corn tassels just beginning to peek out. So far no critters have gotten into the garden.
And below we see the sunflower plants.
Below we see tomato plants and green pepper plants on the right.
I never have much luck growing tomatoes. Crossing my fingers for this year. So far, so good!!
A better picture of the corn.
They say that when the corn tassels appear it will be about 30 days until the corn is ready and ripe.
Able to pick a couple of squash for dinner last night.
And some radishes for last night's salad.
In the below photo you can see a morning glory vine climbing up the fence.
I love morning glories.
Years ago when we first started a garden I planted gladiola bulbs in the corners of the garden. I think they are such a beautiful flower and are a joy to see when working down in the garden. This pretty gladiolus flower looked like it was just waiting to have its picture taken a few evenings ago when I happened to have my camera with me down in the garden.
So, hopefully, the garden will continue to do well. I am especially looking forward to getting corn and fresh tomatoes. We have had bad luck in the past with raccoons knowing just the right time to climb the fence and pick all of the corn cobs. This year we will be discouraging them by spraying deer repellent all around the fence. If you have ever used that product you know how awful it smells being a combination of rotten eggs and garlic. We know it keeps the deer away, but not sure about the raccoons. So, we will see.
This entire weekend most everyone in the good ole USA is setting time aside to honor all of our fallen heroes who have given their lives in support of our country. This is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died in service to the U.S. Military. It originated in the years following the Civil War, but did not become official until 1971.
To all of you out there I wish you a wonderful weekend, much peace, happiness, and safety as we all work together in support of ending this virus. Blessings and safety to you wherever you may be.
