Week of April 26, 2020

March was a dry spell in North Florida but the rains returned in April, bringing on the CALLADIUMS and their outrageous storms of color.  We have three clumps of them in the Florida garden.  One modest patch is in the backyard amongst the Coonties, where it is very dry and shady.  The second is at the street end of the driveway.  I provide the Mondo grass for this area shared with our neighbor, Jack, who likes to plant caladium bulbs there, as he did again this year.  It is always fun to have a bed in which you are not sure what will come up in the spring!  But the star of our Calladium show is the bed in the front yard, next to the street.  It has gentle morning light, rich black soil, and an old time working fire hydrant.  We planted a couple of dozen calladium bulbs there 4-5 years ago and now have scores of pink, red, white, cream, and green leaves.  The best part is it’s location just a few feet from the street with many, many walkers coming by throughout the day due to the CORID-19 home isolation.  I am happy to see them enjoyed by so many.