Not a master gardener

Despite the years I've spent gardening, I am not an expert.  Much of my gardening is based on experiments because I like a particular plant and want to see if I can grow it (like the pin oak tree at right).  Thus, my gardens are always changing as some experiments fail.  But that's okay with me.  Sometimes, Nature affords me the opportunity to change plants.  Case in point is the hard freeze we had in Florida over the winter, not once, but twice.  A few of my plants had weathered such cold in previous winters but not the extremes and duration this year.  I lost several dwarf ixoras and crotons.  The loss of the crotons, however, enabled me to change the look of the garden by adding camellias, another spreading rose bush, a dwarf powder puff and several "snow on the mountain" bushes.  So far they are looking good, even blooming, so I have high hopes. 

I've documented many of the plants around the house in photos I am putting in a set named April 2010 on Flickr .  Take a look if you want.

Anita's Garden Corner

"The Amen! of Nature is always a flower." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

I come to the gardening life via both parents. My father loved trees and my mother flowers, especially roses. She had a garden of about 100 rose bushes. And my father surrounded our home in New Jersey with about 50 trees. Yet I didn't know I was similarly infected until my husband and I moved into our first home, in Virginia. Since that time, I have been driven to surround myself with colorful flowers and favorite vegetables to larger bushes and trees. Moving to Florida in 1980,however, brought quite a shock as the tropical weather posed new challenges for growing. This blog is the story of my garden life, with its challenges and results.  Let me know yours.  E-mail anitabrt@mindspring.com.