It’s May already and in my garden the orchid rose has spoken — it’s time to get a move on with the garden projects!

Last September, as I was quickly filling sandbags at a local park and fill site in Hudson, Florida, Hurricane Ian was inching its way toward Tampa Bay. As we now know, it hit further south devastating many areas in its track across Florida and elsewhere.

During summer last year, I had a patio screened enclosure installed in my back garden before Hurricane Ian struck Florida in September 2022. After the construction was completed, the backend was in need of some landscape support due to a sloping backyard. In preparation for the storm, I lined the sandbags against the kickplate until I could get the proper landscaping in place.

One thing lead to another and a couple of weeks after the hurricane, a family member was rushed to the hospital and had to have emergency surgery. Needless to say, in October of last year, all garden projects and most everything else came to a full stop, as I navigated through the aftermath of caring for my parent (who is now doing much better).

It wasn’t until last month in April of this year that I finally found the time and composure to get back to the landscaping project I had begun six months earlier. The sandbags were still in place and disintegrating at that. The idea for a rockery was born. I proceeded to design an herb garden combined with a bee and butterfly pollinator bed supported by Florida capstones.

If you’re not familiar with capstone, it’s a natural Florida limestone found near the surface of subtropical bodies of water. It contains shell and marine deposits that have accumulated over millions of years when the state was covered over with seawater. Go to floridadep.gov to learn more. This is a good read if you’re interested in the geology of the Southeastern U.S. and especially Florida. I brought in about five to six boulders, each weighing from 80 to 90 lbs., along with some smaller stones.

So far, the rockery has held up to some recent heavy rainstorms. So, it’ll be a good bet that it stays strong for our rainy season beginning in June. The other side of the patio still awaits for the planting of ferns and perennials with capstones in between.

I’m hoping this year will by my year for trees! There’s the podocarpus hedge and maple trees to plant in the side garden. And, I must not forget the small oak in the back corner garden. I’ve got a host of gardening projects planned for this year, and I hope to share some of them with you as time permits. Happy gardening!