Living in the tropics is a wonderland for gardeners, but I am beginning to believe that a beautiful garden can be had by anyone who looks closely at the plants that grow close to home. Developing a garden that reproduces itself is a gift from God. You don't need fancy plants from a nursery or to buy plants every year to fill the beds and this blog series will show you several examples of plants that are in my yard that self propagate. I mean think about it, how did the earth flourish without Home Depot Garden Center?
I am by no means an expert and have a simple common sense knowledge of gardening, but it works for me. Plants reproduce by way of seeds, roots and many will re-create themselves from just a section of a branch in the right environment. Lets look at flowering plants in my yard that reseed themselves and no I do not know their botanical names, all ya'll flower experts can do the identification if you like. Me, .... I call them what they look like to me.
This looks like a Zennia to me, but someone here called it a Marigold. Anyway, they can grow multi-colors on the same plant and are long lasting clipped & brought in for vase arrangements. They are beautiful in the yard and butterflies LOVE them, so if you like flowers that bring you butterflies plus can be used in cut flower arrangements this one is perfect. As the pollen is removed from the bloom, what's left will go through these stages:
This is when the butterflies like it best. Note the mount in the middle, it produces the little yellow flowers that are like candy to butterflies. As they are all used up the petals then start to dry out as well as the mound in the middle as seen in the following 3 pictures
Petals fall off, center mound dries and starts to separate. At this point I clip it off and spread the seeds that are inside the mound where I want them to grow, Versus letting the wind carry them away. as in this last picture.
I do not seed them in little pots or any of that silly stuff. They were designed to lay on the earth and with water & sun they sprout on their own. How much easier and just think, letting nature do what it was designed to do, .................. amazing!!!
Sometimes if I want to plant a whole bed of them I will pick the buds as the petals start to dry and put them in a little uncovered container on the porch until they are all dried and spread them in a large area all at once. I love how nature works! Oh & identifying the new sprouts is easy, just look closely at the leaves.
Full Grown
<Young plant
<Seedling
Next in this series will be my "Morning/Evening Bloomers" NO I do not know what they are really called. Stay Tuned!!
