Saturday, September 27, 2008

Another Coontie Bed

Note: If you read yesterday's post, I slept from 6:00 pm until 4:30 am this morning so I'm feeling a bit more alive.


My coontie plantation continues to develop. Two beds planted last year are sporting about 75 healthy young plants.
My brood herd of coontie adults are heavy with cone, so more seeds are on the way.

And then there is this mess.
Gad, it's messy lookin'. The bits of carpet are used for weed suppression. I've pulled them off an area outside of the camera's view and tossed them aside.

The bed in the foreground has been left fallow and was taken over by crabgrass, etc. ... because I did not cover it with old carpet.


Before. The young citrus tree in the pot is a satsuma.

After, but not done of course. I double dug this bed after pulling the weeds from it.
The next day, I smoothed it all out and planted about two hundred coontie seeds that had each been scarified with the dremel tool I use in carving.
That nick to the seed should speed up germination from one year to about 3 months.
Worked like a charm on the last batch.
Gorgeous day today and I am heading to St. Augustine to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday ... and to find out the ESCAPE (thanks Emma) diagnosis.
... sigh.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good morning! I'm curious about your plans for all those coontie. I'm guessing that you'll plant them strategically for beautification, but how do they benefit PF ecology?

Sharon said...

Happy birthday to your Dad! :) Mmmm...Satsuma...hope it's nothing serious with the Ford.

R.Powers said...

Susan,
Good evening! Coontie are a great native xeriscape plant. Some of these are for me, but mostly I am planting beaucoup coontie seeds as a pocket change item to sell a few years from now.
Pure Florida is perfect coontie habitat, but they are relatively slow growers.

Sharon,
Thanks, he had a good one. Ford diagnosis by Monday, so we have to wait a bit.

MamaHen said...

Hey! Glad to hear you got to catch up on yer sleep! Now I need to 'cause when I read that title I thought at first it said 'Another Cootie Bed'.... wha???? LOL!

Aunty Belle said...

RIP van Winkle...happy Birthday FC Dad!

Coontie? I have no idea--whar' would I a seen some grown ones? Sounds like a major project, so I reckon the fall air got to ya'...(smile.)

threecollie said...

Happy birthday to your dad....and your before garden picture looks about like the beds next to my kitchen door. lol

h said...

Happy 80th! I remember mine vaguely. Hey, you're a Science guy, back me up on today's bobcat assertion!

Unknown said...

Hey Dad, when did we get an explorer I thought it was an escape :). Just teasin. Hope everthings fixed enough that you can still come down this weekend. I love you!!

Ericka said...

am i the only one that was wondering why in the world you'd be planting and tending cooties?

it's okay, i understand now. alles klar!

yay for getting enough sleep! amazing what a difference it makes, isn't it?

R.Powers said...

Annie,
I try and avoid those cooties.

Aunty Belle,
Pretty popular in xeriscaped medians these days as well as home and business landscapes. Green, ferny looking... our native cycad.

3C,
Every spring I think my garden will be different this year.
Nope.

Troll,
Why would anyone doubt that a cat can fish? I don't even like cats, but I respect their ability to snag fish.
You are validated.

Emma,
Obviously I didn't sleep long enough!
Love you!!!


Ericka,
Yes, it makes all the difference. I think I need some more about now!

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

Hope the prognosis for the EXPLORER is good :-D
And, interestingly enough, we were both in the same neighborhood yesterday...And now we are both many, many miles away from said neighborhood.

Unknown said...

I'm assuming the perforated PVC around the perimeter of each garden is for drainage. Is that right?

Miz S said...

Hope it won't be too expensive...but it always is.

Have a good day at school! Be highly qualified!

R.Powers said...

HT,
Ironic ain't it? Hope your visit went well.

Robert,
No, just cheaper than solid PVC. I needed a bed border that was not PT wood and still would not rot.

Miz S,
You slay me.