A Wanna Be Master Gardener

Fairchild Garden - Florida

>> Sunday, September 26, 2010

I am off island for a while and my postings will be limted. However, I did recently go to the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Florida. At he information desk I told them I was from Hawaii. They thought I might not see much that is different from where I live. Well, to me that does not matter. I enjoy garden design as much as the plants themselves and this garden is a great example of a well designed garden and landscape. The mature trees along with the colorful plantings and well maintained grounds makes this garden a must see! And although this was not a great "blooming" time of the year and it was an overcast day, I am glad we did not miss this attraction!

Wordless Wednesday - Where Raindrops and Color Mix

>> Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Vertical Gardening

>> Saturday, August 28, 2010

Found this video on YouTube. We have some areas for which we need a privacy screen, but have little of no soil space. So, I think a system like this will work! Or at least I hope to give it a try this winter!!!

Wordless Wednesday - The Kukui - Our state Tree

>> Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Aleurites moluccana

The Experiment Failed! Or did it?

>> Saturday, August 14, 2010

My experiment in ground covers failed to suppress our prolific Hawaiian weeds. I planted a cutting of ornamental sweet potato. It grew extremely well almost too well. Much pruning would be required if I kept it in the landscape. The plant is beautiful and looked great next to the black lava rock. But, Friday, I yanked it out of ground as a failed attempt at weed suppression. To my surprise, I found small and large tubers! Yes, sweet potatoes! I Googled it and apparently these tubers are editable, not sure what they will taste like...

Surprise!

Back to weed suppressing ground covers. I am also experimenting with an herb cutting a friend gave me. I saw it growing as a ground cover in their yard. Looks like it can be pruned to create a thick mat. It is currently growing quite well. Only time will tell...

Citrus from Seed???

>> Thursday, August 12, 2010

I have been waiting for local citrus trees to bud (timing that activity is not easy without help from the tree owners!) so that I can acquire some scions to graft a citrus tree that I thought was already grafted! It has never flowered and has been in the ground or a pot for at least 2 1/2 years. Anyhow, I ran across this post talking about getting citrus fruit trees from seed. Hmmmmm, I thought it could not be done. And perhaps my tree proves that right.

So what do I do with my tree?