In Jo's Yard - 50 Blanket Flowers

As I write this (Feb 2020) a cold snap is expected later this week, including lows in the mid-30s.  I prefer the hot weather, but really, as long as there is some Florida sunshine, I can be happy.  But this post is about May 2019.

I think I will take a break from weeding the yard – wait till tomorrow when I take photos, and the irrigation has watered.  There is a heat wave – already several days over 90, now the mercury is moving up and Tuesday it might be over 100.  It’s never been over 100 in the 3 years I’ve been in Central Florida.  I go to pick up the paper from the driveway.  Of course, I have to check on the little milkweeds that were planted yesterday & water them.  I have to check on the birdbath.  While I walk around my garden path, I see the Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) need some dead-heading.  So for 30 minutes I dead-head Blanket Flowers.  [Blanket Flowers - FL Wildflower website]   
Blanket Flowers are native to Florida, but grow all the way up to Canada.  In Florida, their peak blooming season is mid-spring to late summer, but I have flowers all year round.  The spread quite easily, and in fact, I’ve decided just this year (2020) to expand the Blanket flower bed and “just go with it”.  They are very hardy, happy plants, drought-tolerant.

The air is very still, not a whisper of a breeze.  It will definitely be a hot one today!  


                                 So many Blanket Flowers to deadhead!

In Jo's Yard - 49 Garden Tour

May 19, 2019 is The Villages FNPS Garden Tour, and my yard is included!  People started arriving right at 7:30AM.  There was a pretty steady of visitors for about an hour.  Then, it was off and on, so that I could go into the house and have some water before another couple of people would arrive.  I learned that the Corky Stemmed Passionvine  [Corky Stem Passionvine Info] is Larval host for the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), the Julia Heliconian (Dryas iulia) and the Zebra Heliconian (Heliconius charitonius) butterflies.  But some of the butterflies prefer shade and some sun.  So if I got a second Corky Stemmed Passionvine, I should put one in the sunniest spot and one in the shadiest spot. Then the butterflies won’t compete for the same plant.  Also one lays its eggs in the teeny tiny corkscrew part of the plant and one lays its eggs on the leaf.  Everyone who came by was interested in Florida Native Plants – some already had a native yard, some were considering converting all or part of their yards to native plants and were gathering ideas!  It was a wonderful day of exchanging ideas and learning for me – plus there was a little”‘showing off” on my part.  

Corky Stemmed Passion Vine 

In Jo's Yard - 48 Weeding

May 2019 – spend the entire morning form 7:30AM-11:30AM, with one break, weeding, deadheading the blanket flower, trimming the tropical sage.  I find many “colonies” of spotted spurge [Spotted Spurge] and wood sorrel [Wood Sorrel].  The wood sorrel looks like little tiny clover leaves, but tiny and just spreads outward!  There’s also all the grasses – crab grass, signal grass, cheat grass.  No matter what the weather, the weeds seem to flourish!  Now I’ve got chickweed! 

In addition, I have to worry about the flowers that have re-seeded themselves outside the beds – the beebalm, the blanket flower, the tropical sage!  Oh a gardener’s work is never done!

After I went inside and showered, at my office window, who is walking through my wildflower garden, but the little cattle egret!  Love to watch him walk - the rewards of having providing native plants for native wildlife!  

In Jo's Yard - 47 Aphids and Ladybugs

The milkweed in the wild flower garden is getting covered with aphids.  But, ladybugs are there feasting!  A natural way to get rid of aphids is to just use a wet paper towel and gently pull them off.  One might also use the hose if you have a gentle spray option.  Of course, perhaps nature will take its course, and he aphids will provide some nourishment for the ladybugs!  

I went to these to articles for information: 
Ladybugs and Aphids by E. Vinje
and 
New York Times June 1 2018

                          In my yard, May 2019, yellow aphids on the Milkweed 
                                      and the Ladybug preparing for dinner!