Hibiscus Radiatus

Yellow Tropical Milkweed









Xanthasoma (Giant Elephant Ear) Bloom

Happy Gardening!

Well, fall is coming in fast, and whereas parts of the gardens are going to sleep, others are just waking up. The perennial hibiscus are starting to bloom. the H. radiatus (picture above) is blooming like mad and the Confederate Rose is showing signs of putting out buds.The angel trumpets have new buds coming up on the newly 'Y'd' root shoots. The hot pink regular four-o'clocks, which I can never catch in time to get a picture of, are blooming like mad, and the giant native four-o'clock that I cut down is coming back out and blooming.The yellow milkweed in the courtyard is blooming up a storm, but no sign of butterfly larvae yet. Last year, they laid so late on it that the larvae almost froze. I hope that doesn't happen this year. The milkweed I planted outside the courtyard isn't blooming at all, strangely enough.I tried to plant some zinnia seeds in the courtyard, and they came up, but quickly died. Sad. I was hoping for something to attract pollinators, but I guess that will have to wait until Spring. As far as the veggies go, nothing is growing very well except the sweet potatoes and pigeon peas. The taro that died back is sending out about 20 new shoots, so I'm happy about that.Of course, the Xanthasoma is still spreading and growing like mad, and I think it has put out its last bloom. I'm going to move the mother plant this winter sometime after it dies back, because it just isn't happy there anymore. I'll give it a home outside the wall somewhere. I have permission to plant a row of plants along the neighbor's wall, so maybe there.I did transplant the tomato seedlings into their own pots; two into 5-gallon pots and two into 1/2 gallon pots. I actually have a volunteer pepper plant that I believe is a red pepper, so I'm trying to get that to grow. All the cayennes in pots died, but the one in the ground is still going strong, if not producing peppers.I couldn't afford new potting soil, but I did add some perlite to the soil I have, because drainage is always a problem. I also added more holes around the bottom sides of the pot for more drainage. I hope it helps.Some voracious beetle ate my lettuce, and I won't replant that. I have a nice pot of Talinum fruticosum that came up voluntarily, so I'll use that for greens for now. That plant has been my best source of summer greens, and while it can be invasive, it's so tasty and pretty, I'm going to keep it.The bananas are growing every day, and I'm praying they ripen before the first big freeze.Well, enough for now. Lots more going on, but I'm going to have to put that in another post so this one won't be too long.