Tropical Heat

Can you say... H-O-T today?? Im sure the rest of the east coast can also agree that the last couple of days have been brutal. I won't complain too much though, after all, I DO enjoy the heat. I will take a day like today over ANY cold, windy bitter snow day. But when Im pregnant, this extreme heat keeps me homebound for majority of the day. No pool, no puttering in the gardens (except for early mornings and after 730 pm) just me inside my Little Red House. Thats ok. Cleaning and organizing have gotten done.

This year my love of Elephant Ears has taken over. Its my second year growing them and my love for all varieties has quickly taken over. They are just LOVIN this heat!! Happy as clams they are... growing really big.

This is one I bought as a really small potted plant and she has over doubled in size. The corner of my front porch is the perfect place for her, plenty of shade... just like she likes.

Well, these aren't Elephant Ears but they are just growing beautifully in this sun. You can see when I started to use miracle grow on them. The bottom leaves are all thin and yucky but the top leaves are full and lush. OOPPPSSS. Better late than never though. I planted a second round which just finished germinating. That way I can have these all the way till the fall!!

Here are my back screen porch beauties that I bought on clearance for $3. They too were much smaller but have thrived in this spot. I also have miracle growed them and they are getting out of control. At the end of the season I will take out the bulb and stick it in the ground at the side of my house. They should come back....

Last but not least my pride and joy. These are second year Elephant ears and I love them so much. I bought bulbs last spring and planted them in the ground and to my surprise they took. They grew lovely. There are two plants side by side. In my region we are borderline perennials on a lot of plants based on our sub-tropical climate BUT can have cold winters... which we did this past year. I was sure I lost them but LOOK!!! they are back better than ever. This year I will layer double mulch to make sure I don't lose them.

I also transplanted another green EE to the other side of my porch. It wasn't doing good where it was... too much sun. It survived the transplant and looks as if its responding well, so hopefully in the next few weeks it will really grow big. Right now its tiny. Im hoping and praying it gets as big as the others. How cool would that be.

Stay cool everyone and enjoy the sunshine.

Xoxo