Preparing for Spring/Summer...too soon?

Yes, it’s still January, but I am so anxious to get my spring planting started, that I began buying some new palm trees, flowers, tropical plants and of course herbs. Also, one must remember, I live in Florida and we have had such a mild winter, I doubt we will have a freeze this late into the winter, but we never know, so I am not planting the palms quite yet, but the others I am in the new pots, and keeping all close to the Lanai, so if our weather takes a drastic change, I can bring them in and not worry about frost.

The two new palms are bottle palms, and when the new fronds come out they have a beautiful red color to them, and the base looks like a coconut, very tropical are about 5’ tall. I seem to have an obsession with palm trees since I was a very young girl, seems like I always have room for just one (or two) more. The pots I buy at HomeGoods of course, my addiction! They have such a large variety of shapes, colors, styles, etc. and here in Florida our local HomeGood’s is stocked well, but come another month or two, they are limited on what they have, so it’s important to get them now – that’s what I tell my husband anyway. The one in the middle that is a turquoise color actually has a silver shimmer to it…and the one to the left of it is a jade/blue green, the sunlight into my camera was too bright to show the actual colors. But, I’m ready to start planting!!! I have a large pot that has my herbs in it (which I think I have pictures of in an early post), the only thing that made it from the summer was the mint (great for those summer Mojitos), so I purchased, Greek oregano, cilantro, variegated basil, and chocolate mint, going back this evening for some others that I use on a regular basis. They always look so pretty in the pots, the variety of colors, fragrances and like the Greek oregano how it cascades down the pot. In another pot, though it’s just a large terra cotta pot with a ledge around it, I have planted all my chilies…and they have been producing for about three years now, even during these winter months, I always have fresh chilies. Nothing nicer than when you’re cooking to go out in your backyard and get fresh herbs or chilies, which I use a lot of in my cooking. I’ve included a picture of a pair herb scissors that I purchased from Crate and Barrel, that I wasn’t so sure about at first, thought why not just continue to dice them with a knife, but after using it for the first time, it works so wonderfully, and I don’t know what I would do without it now. It doesn’t bruise the herbs, and they look prettier. I know several people who have them as well and love them.

We still have so much yard work to get done, since I haven’t spent too much time back there in the last couple of months…but as I was working back there yesterday – while my husband was on the golf-course (thought I would throw that in there), I discovered over by my Haas avocado tree, which is in one of my side-yards, I had planted a top to a fresh pineapple we had in late summer in a large pot, I was shocked to see how big it was…and I have to admit, I didn’t water it, the last several months, but with the small amount of rain and lots of warm weather and sunshine this winter, it grew, and I’m so excited about it. Time to get some more fresh pineapples and start more…they are so pretty in lighter tropical colored pots, the deep green of the plant contrasts well with the tropical colors. So, I guess you can tell, I am looking forward to spring and summer but getting ready just a “little” early.