Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very prosperous, healthy and happy new year!

Cheers my friends and wishing you many good times in 2014!

Happy Gardening and Best Wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

2013 Christmas in South Florida

Hello my friends, hope you are all enjoying the last week of this 2013 holiday season!  We are having a great time with my sister, brother-in-law and their kids in town.  My Dad is just thrilled to be able to host Christmas at his house every year and my niece and nephew love being at Pop Pop's.  So today they get a chance to hang out at our house...yippee for Auntie Sheri!  

Here are a few pictures of this year's decor...

My sister & I both made these incredibly super easy awesome
outdoor decorations called sparkle balls.  The hardest was
finding 9oz clear plastic tumbler cups especially for a decent price.

A collage of a few Christmas vignettes throughout our house

Wishing you all an incredible 2014 new year bringing good fortune, great health and good times!

Happy Gardening and Best Wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

Me in Maintenance Mode

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas week as much as I did.  

Though I feel a little under the weather we are back to work here in South Florida.  

Working at one of our residential client's home.

Working at one of our commercial properties 
fertilizing a few lack luster performers.

Looking forward to sharing some really cool posts with you.  So cheers to an incredible 2014 new year and wishing you all the same!

Happy Gardening and Best Wishes My Friends,

Sheri

xoxo

Another day in South Florida

South Florida has been nothing but predictable lately...

humid, overcast, drizzling but dry, windy and just plain yucky.

Here's what is going on in our neck of the woods.

Some new additions to the veggie garden- lemon grass,
red oak lettuce, jalapeno pepper, serrano pepper, ancho pepper,
parsley, dill and sweet mint.

The Oregon snap peas are finally starting to take off &
they already have little pea pods on them.

Bc. Maikai 'mayumi' HCC-AOS (2002) in my guava tree

Epc. Plicaboa (c. bowringiana x c. plicatum)

Epc. Plicaboa (c. bowringiana x c. plicatum) in my Biscayne Prickly Ash tree

A little flower arrangement I made of some of our plants:
Panama rose, orchid bloom & lady palm fronds.

What is your neck of the woods like right now?  Cold, icy, Autumny, hot...let's chat about it!

Happy Gardening and Best Wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

Outdoor Living in South Florida - Patio's and Porches

South Florida has such a unique sense of itself with its' history, wildlife, diverse ecosystems and of course its' people...ooohhhh its' people, such an odd bunch we are!  But what really makes Florida a destination point is its' weather which my North Dakota friends always have such unique adjectives that make me LMAO when describing Florida during their visits.  Though with that said Florida is not for the faint of heart.

South Florida is, what my friend Jimbo calls, "boogie hot" most of the year (we have three seasons sometimes two, thank you global warming yeeaaahh), we are so humid that the awesome flat iron of yours would be a waste of money (which is why hair salons do so well here, we all need as much professional help as we can get), the extra moisture in the air is great for our skin (even though I own like 5 bottles of lotion and facial moisturizer), we coexist with lizards and cockroaches on a daily basis almost to the point of ridiculousness (I think I have named a few in my lifetime), alligators are known to show up in South Florida pools (then they become someone's pair of shoes and matching belt), we have so many invasive species here that they are starting to become thought of as native (including people lol), we get so much rain here that I am surprised we aren't underwater by now, the biodiversity here is so incredibly diverse that you could walk across the street and feel like you are in another part of the world and we have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world but most locals never go.

With all the kidding aside, there are so many wonderful reasons why people choose to live here.  Like I mentioned before the beautiful weather is definitely one of them.  It allows us to enjoy outdoor activities all year round.  One of my favorite outdoor activities is "lounging on the patio."  Growing up in Miami you could either find me in our backyard hammock or lounging on the patio somewhere.  Patio's have certainly changed their look and function in the past 50 years.  Our modern day patio was originally designed after the European style courtyards, verandas and loggias.  In the design world we now call them "outdoor living spaces" or "outdoor rooms" because they are so much more than a traditional patio.  Since we live most of our time outdoors why not enjoy it right?  Here are a few snippets of what our patio looked like in the 1960's and 70's when screened-in patios were a new design thing.

My Dad & our dog  Bozo when my parents
first bought the house in the 60's.

Our patio was used all the time for just
about any event, my brother, me & friends.

So many birthdays, holiday's, parties, lunches,
diners, breakfast's, etc that we enjoyed on our patio.

With all those get together's you can imagine
how many pictures we've taken on our patio.

Then the old school patio got a makeover, we all grew up & our children enjoyed the patio.
You can imagine how hard it was for all of us when my Dad decided to sell the house a
few years ago....ahhhh good times indeed!

So now you know what they used to look like let me show you some of my favorites....

This is a traditional Florida screened patio gone wild

Another screened patio in Florida

Here is a twist on the traditional screened patio but it's all open.

A beautiful Mediterranean style which I like
to call Floriterranean style.

Another Floriterranean style patio and loggia

This open air outdoor patio is more my style.

The tropical colors, wrap around porch & wood beam
ceiling signify a modern uptake on a traditional Florida home.

I believe this is Palm Beach though it explemplifies a
classic "Florida room".

This is a veranda designed for a completely custom
built multi-million dollar house.

Here is another custom built multi-million
dollar Florida McMansion.

This tropical lagoon is much more my style.

There you have it friends a little peak into South Florida patio's. 

Happy Gardening and Best Wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Today is a great day to be indoors here in South Florida.  It is rainy, overcast and super windy with gusts up to 30 mph.  Definitely not a good hair day or skirt wearing day here and definitely hold on tight to your umbrellas!  So I thought a little poem epitomizing how I feel about wind  (uck!) might be an apropos post on a day like today.

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I:

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

By Christine Rossetti

Happy Gardening and Best Wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

Farmers' Almanac for South Florida Gardening

For all you Farmers' Almanac followers, here are your last few months for 2013.  For those of you who are not familiar with the Farmers' Almanac, it is an age-old way of farming by using astronomic calculations of the moon cycles and tides, basically used as a general guideline.  This is for the Southeast region of the United States.

NOVEMBER 2013

5th-6th Poor Planting Days.
7th-8th Good Days For Planting Peas, Squash, Corn, Tomatoes, And Other Above ground Crops In Southern Florida, Texas, And California.
9th-11th Kill Plant Pests On These Barren Days.
12th-13th Favorable Days For Planting Above ground Crops. Extra Good For Vine Crops, Where Climate Allows.
14th-16th Neither Plant Nor Sow On These Barren Days.
17th-18th Plant Root Crops Where Climate Permits. Good Days For Transplanting.
19th-20th Any Seed Planted Now Will Tend To Rot.
21st-22nd Best Planting Days For Fall Potatoes, Turnips, Onions, Carrots, Beets, And Other Root Crops Where Climate Is Suitable. Also Plant Seedbeds And Flower Gardens. Good Days For Transplanting.
23rd-27th Poor Period For Planting. Kill Plant Pests, Clear Fence/rows/land.
28th-29th Favorable Days For Planting Root Crops. Fine For Sowing Grains, Hay, And Forage Crops. Plant Flowers.
30th Plant Carrots, Beets, Onions, Turnips, Irish Potatoes, And Other Root Crops In The South. Lettuce, Cabbage, Collards And Other Leafy Vegetables Will Do Well. Start Seedbeds. Good Day For Transplanting.

DECEMBER 2013

1st Plant Carrots, Beets, Onions, Turnips, Irish Potatoes, And Other Root Crops In The South. Lettuce, Cabbage, Collards And Other Leafy Vegetables Will Do Well. Start Seedbeds. Good Day For Transplanting.
2nd-3rd Do No Planting.
4th-5th Plant Sweet Corn, Beans, Peppers, And Other Above ground Crops Where Climate Is Suitable.
6th-8th Good Days For Killing Weeds, Briars And Other Plant Pests, Poor For Planting.
9th-10th Plant Peppers, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, And Other Above ground Crops In Southern Florida, California, And Texas. Extra Good For Cucumbers, Peas, Cantaloupes, And Other Vine Crops.
11th-13th A Poor Time To Plant.
14th-15th Fine For Planting Beans, Peppers, Cucumbers, Melons, And Other Above ground Crops Where Climate Is Suitable.
16th-18th Seeds Planted Now Tend To Rot In The Ground.
19th-20th Most Favorable Days For Planting Beets, Onions, Turnips, And Other Root Crops Where Climate Allows. Plant Seedbeds And Flower Gardens. Good Days For Transplanting.
21st-24th A Most Barren Period. Kill Plant Pests And Do General Farm Work.
25th-26th Favorable Days For Planting Root Crops, Fine For Sowing Grains, Hay, And Forage Crops. Plant Flowers.
27th-28th Plant Carrots, Beets, Onions, Turnips, Irish Potatoes, And Other Root Crops In The South. Lettuce, Cabbage, Collards And Other Leafy Vegetables Will Do Well. Start Seedbeds. Good Days For Transplanting.
29th-31st Do No Planting.

JANUARY 2014

1st-2nd Good Days For Planting Above ground Crops Such As Corn, Beans, Peppers In Southern Florida, Texas, And California.

Happy Gardening and many best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo