We left on December 4 for our winter vacation, spending a couple of days in chilly Wisconsin before heading to our vacation home in the warm and sunny south. We returned home in the late evening hours on December 22. It was a wonderful break and while we could have stayed longer I wanted to be home to spend Christmas with the kids and grandkids.
There wasn't a lot to do in the garden at the vacation home. We hired a gardener to look after them when we aren't there as weeds can quickly get out of hand in Florida. We have rented the vacation home out for January through April but can't expect our tenants to do any gardening. We dealt with fire ants for the first time and let me tell you that wasn't pleasant! Our pest control service came out to take care of that problem. We spread more red cedar mulch on the gardens as well. I can't believe the difference in price. Here (southwestern Ontario) a bag of red cedar mulch costs $8 but there (Florida) it only costs $3. The red cedar mulch gives a nice splash of colour while conserving water in the soil and it has natural pest deterrent oils that help control centipedes, millipedes, spiders, pill bugs and ants.
On the homeside, I lost a few of my indoor herbs while away. They were fairly new, still suffering a bit from the transit and although they were being cared for a couple dried out. The geraniums are looking good but need a bit of cleaning up. The first of the seed catalogues arrived while we were away so I'm already excited at the prospect of starting my new gardens. I will be placing my first order for seeds shortly. We have just enough ice and snow on the ground to not quite cover the grass but the never ending grey days of November are long gone. We are seeing more bright, sunny days which makes the anticipation for being out in the garden a bit stronger.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
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