Skip to main content

The Dirt Patch

I lived in Chuluota, Florida in a tiny, approximately 480 square foot house for 5 years (2012-2017), and this is the garden I created on the side of it, lovingly referred to as the Dirt Patch. I do miss it - but now I live in Maine and await my next tiny house & garden :) In the meantime, I do still have dirt to play with!

An early April morning


Above is the Dirt Patch in its original state not long after I moved here in early 2012.


Here is the Dirt Patch in April 2015, not perfect, but a vast improvement I like to think! Though it is a small space, I cannot express how grateful I am to have soil to work and plants to grow. It provides a much needed respite; whenever something is tugging at my mind, I can come out here and tug at some weeds (to quote my Grammie); or just commune with the plants.

Not to mention, a garden attracts all kinds of insects! 
(and a few hummingbirds).

Evolvulus - Hawaiian blue eyes, a relative of the morning glory

I have a special fondness for blue flowers. Originally, I planned the Dirt Patch to be blue and white...bad soil and the central FL climate dictated otherwise.

Painted lady butterfly on onion flower
Lupine seedling

A volunteer fern between pavers

Lobelia


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 8 - Master Works

Day 8 Recreate or interpret a work of art you admire. This is based on a famous panel of the Choju Giga scroll (Animal Caricatures or Scrolls of Frolicking Animals) which was created sometime in the late 12th century in Japan. Similar to the original's ink on paper, mine was rendered in India ink and red acrylic ink on Bristol paper. I've replaced the rabbit with a click beetle trying to right itself, and the frogs were replaced with mantids (feeling ill today and my hand started cramping after I drew the beetle.  The mantids aren't as well done as I would like. I may redo this sometime because I think it came out cute otherwise). The top "seal" in red says  sumimasen , which is Japanese for  excuse me!  and the lower one is my name in Japanese. This was fun to make, but sketching with a brush is a lot harder than it looks, and no erasing! The Choju Giga artist was truly a master, I very much admire the brush work in the original.  Here is the o...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Quick Survey of my Backyard

Between the twin trunks of this large oak is the most perfect spot to sit, enjoy nature, and clear my mind Really, it's my LL's backyard and I am lucky to have access to such a place. The property is bordered by a river, so it is pretty much all wetland - you can see the high water line on the trees in the above photo (let your eyes wander out of focus a bit). The water is very high right now after a soggy cold front stalled right over central Florida earlier this week. The area in the photo above (which was taken last weekend) is now under about two feet of water. The water is flowing - it is part of the river. The following photos are all from the "yard" taken within the last week or so including some of its inhabitants.  Short boardwalk/bridge (after a storm) Cypress knees and duckweed Greenfly orchid ( Epidendrum magnoliae ) is a native epiphytic orchid and the only one to also occur north of Florida. Everything I've read (includi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 99 - CS Day 22 - In Public

"Do whatever you want today but do it in a public place - a park, library, coffee shop - get someone to take a photo of you doing it" Wheelbug on sweetgum I went to Lake Mills park for this one and decided I would draw the first bug I saw. Lucky for me it was this glorious assassin bug, a wheelbug, named for the roundish projection on its back. I traded out the air potato for sweetgum in my drawing. The wheelbug was actually in the middle of a face-off with a brown anole that was only a little larger than it was. Considering the digestive fluids the assassin bugs inject into their victims with each bite, I wonder who would have won that one? [June 25, 2016] Confession: I have to admit that my heart is just not in this right now and it's been difficult to get back into the swing of doing these, so the dates are all out of whack and I did not do one per day.
Post a Comment
Read more