Bougainvillea Bonus

Rick has still been battling with his bronchitis and sinus infection, so we have been lying low the last couple of days.  Finally he called the doctor yesterday and got into their office before the weekend.  The Physician's Assistant gave him another prescription since she said that even a virus should not have lasted for six weeks.  I hope that the new medication helps him feel better quickly.

The white spots on the leaves were not what we
expected them to be!

We noticed on Wednesday that the Ti plant in the corner garden had some white spots on it, so Rick took some pictures of it, and yesterday we returned to the nursery to ask what was happening to our new plant.  The good part of buying plants at a nursery is that they have a one-year guarantee, so if it does not survive the summer, we can get a replacement.

We showed the picture to Anna at the nursery, and she called in Dave for some expert advice.  He took one look at the pictures and said, "Sunburn."  Go figure.  Only in Florida can a plant get a sunburn!  Dave said that the leaves were sunburned, but as they fall off and new ones grow, the plant will adapt to the amount of sunlight in that location and be fine.  Ha!  At least I did not have to buy some plant sunscreen for the silly thing.

While we were at the nursery, we picked up two deep pink bougainvillea to fill in the gap in the back fence. The day was windy and cool with a forecast of a very chilly evening, so we decided to just protect the plants in the garage for the night with plans for planting today.

The trellises fill in the "gap" on either side of the oak tree.

The day dawned with temperatures in the low 50s; therefore, we did not rush outside to work in the yard.  Instead, we ventured to our home-away-from-home: Lowe's.  What day would be complete without a visit to either Lowe's or Home Depot?  We picked up a vinyl trellis on which the bougainvillea could climb. Being forewarned by others that the wimpy staples used to hold the trellis together would fail in the first wind, we also bought screws so we could rebuild the structure into something with longevity.  Sixteen screws later, we had a sturdy trellis.  Then we cut it in half.

The trellis leans into rather than away from the tree.

We purposely had purchased a fan trellis with the idea that we could split it and reverse the sides so the trellis would lean into our tree rather than away from it.  Once the trellis was "planted" and secured to the fence with more screws, we were ready for the flowers.

The bougainvillea adds color to the shady place
next to the fence.

 

When the flowers start to climb the trellis, the colors
will be spectacular.

Bougainvillea are the perfect plant for this space.  The flower will send out long branches that will climb the trellis, the tree, and the fence.  Additionally, bougainvillea bloom all year long, so we always will have color in that area.  Finally, bougainvillea have nasty thorns to keep any animals that want to climb through or under the gap in the fence out of our yard.

The flowers are gorgeous.

Gladys got flowers for the spring.

The massive roots of the live oak tree posed a few spacial problems, but in the end the flowers were nestled next to the tree with room to branch out and to grow upwards.  We both pray that they will adapt well and thrive in that area.  If they do, we will have a wonderful visually stimulating splash of color to enjoy all year long.  Like any woman, Gladys loves flowers.