French Lavender
Eeeeee!  I'm so excited! My French Provence Lavender arrived today.  I ordered 4 plants in 4 inch pots.  This delivery was the fastest post I think I ever got and it came in a box marked perishable filled with those little Styrofoam peanuts.  The pots had tape over the soil to keep it moist.  These plants, though not flowering yet, are extra fragrant and as soon as I cut the tape and opened the flaps, the aroma wafted out and wriggled its way up to my nose and tickled my senses.  I can't wait until the weekend comes and I have the time to plant them.  I'll have to search Google and see if they'll be safe from the deer or if I'll have to make room in the cramped quarters on the lanai for them.   For people that know me well, they are probably laughing about now because they realize this is the 4th time I'm trying to grow lavender in Florida.  Every time before it has died on me.  This time I did a little more research and chose to search for the species that suited the zone I now live in.  When I lived in zone 5, it did so well, I couldn't kill it. 

Avocado - February 23, 2012

Avocado Grown by Seed
Have you ever grown a potato in a glass of water?  How about an avocado?  As a grandma to two 3-year old grandsons and a brand new grandson, I've been helping the older ones learn the love of playing in the dirt and growing things.  You saw what happened when we planted bean seeds.  It took two tries but that is how we learn.  We also ate an avocado and then washed the seed that was left after we finished enjoying the fruit.  After that, we stuck three toothpicks into the seed at equal distances around the center to help balance it and hold it on the rim of a plastic cup.  We balanced it on the rim of the cup and then filled the cup with water to cover about 1/3 of the bottom of the seed.  We kept changing the water to keep it from getting murky and rotten.  Some days it looked like it evaporated and we just added a bit more water to keep it covering about 1/3 of the seed.  After awhile, roots began to form.  When the root system looked fairly strong and the toothpicks caved in, we planted the avocado seed in soil.  It's been about 6 months now and we're starting to get some woody covering beginning to form on the stem.  In other words, we are getting a tree beginning to form!!