Spring has sprung!

After the coldest March, I believe, in Central Florida records, the plants around the Barrett house are celebrating the arrival of warm weather with wonderful growth.

First are the tomato plants which have doubled and tripled in size.  Flowers starting forming two to three  weeks ago and now we have tomatoes of various sizes.

One of the plants had holes in the leaves last week but a thorough spray for chewing insects seems to have curbed that.  The only other problem I'm having now are the weeds.  A new variety has joined the other typical weeds and they are much harder to dig up.  Mulch doesn't seem to prevent them and I suspect may be the origin of some, especially the new weed. I spent an hour this morning digging and pulling the weeds until the heat and sun chased me inside.  I may have to start doing my gardening before breakfast to avoid the problems I encounter with too much sun and heat.

Another successful plant in that garden is the Italian parsley I planted last summer.  It not only weathered the cold winter but has continued growing to an unbelievable size, about 2 feet high and 3 feet wide..

Beyond the vegetable garden, you may remember that I added new snow on the mountain plants last month.  They are doing well, but the previous plants are even better.  At left is an image of the plants I pruned last month -- they already have the beautiful new growth.

newly pruned snow bush

unpruned snow bushes

 Nearby (right) are the plants I haven't pruned.  I love the many shades of red, pink and white on the leaves. Even better, they can be seen from our breakfast room, which is delightful.

 Above, I couldn't resist snapping a shot of my second favorite rose, the Don Juan, that is on our trellis.

Finally, my husband, Jim, decided he wanted to try to grow some pepper plants from seed.  He harvested the peppers a few months ago and planted them in an egg carton.  So far there are 6 plants poking their first leaves above the dirt, as you can see in the photo.  The other photo is the originating rejuvenated pepper plant -- the original leaves and stems died back over the winter but new growth appeared and is doing well so far.

That's how my gardens are faring this spring.  How about yours?

Ciao,  Anita