HI Deb, I hope you are OK and that things are going well in your garden. My edibles are doing fine as well,..only have one edible nowadays,...my luscious mangoes. Down to only two trees now ( gettin' older/reducing work load ),....my 20 ft tall Glenn is, as usual, having another banner year of colorful fruits, despite the windy weather we've been having here the last 3 months. The Kent is not doing well, in the ground 3 yrs, but is a skinny 7 ft tall with only five ( 5 ) fruits hanging on for dear life.

Next year i am thinking of only having the Glenn tree,...will have that tree till I die, - so gotta aggressively maintain it,...otherwise my favorite bartenders in town will be greatly disappointed !

( smile )

Shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss " bloomers ! "

About 18 months ago was when I decided to change my game plan,..to lighten my work load going forward ! But being a wise-guy from New York,..I was not so sure what plants/trees to keep, thin out, get rid of or import.

That's why I joined youse guys on GW so many years ago,...to get some good advise based on y'all's experience gardening in Florida. So cutting down all the other mango trees except the Glenn & the baby Kent, is really only half the story regarding the " lightning of my load " as I proceed forward.

The other half are some Crape Myrtle " Bloomer's " that I ordered online that were generally recommended by Silvia & a couple of others. After studying them closely, I ordered & planted 4 Pink Velour CM's along the 6' tall fence at the rear of my lot, then a Tonto CM adjacent to the driveway out front and last, a robust Muskogee CM right out on the front lawn where my majestic ( tho got too tall ) Magnolia Tree stood for 10 years.

All these Crape Myrtle's I realize are summer bloomers but so far am happy. The Pink Velours out back are already 4 ft tall with gorgeous red flowers. The Tonto & Muskogee are very robust also, just haven't shown their colorful blooms yet.

So far am very happy,..the 12 bags of pine bark mulch I poured into the raised bed around the Pink Velours out back has worked better than I ever thought it would,..hardly ever have any small weeds popping up. Also, all six Crape Myrtles have proven to be so easy to maintain,..just what I was looking for.

Am sitting pretty IMHO,.. all thanks to my knowledgeable friends on GW !

Will post a few pic's after the colorful leaves appear !

Hi Joe! I'm paring down quite a bit too. I've been giving away plants and seeds right and left. I just want something manageable for the last year I"m here. Can't go to Mexico. Can't go anywhere. But my garden is what keeps me sane, so I keep digging away.

I'm in the same boat... I downsized in a big way this year. I Marie Kondo'd my yard and only kept plants that give me joy. I have hundreds of bromeliads and got rid of all of the landscape varieties (the ones with very little color - just a mix of bronze/green/reddish purple/pink/brown). Also got rid of any plants that I have to work like crazy just to keep alive. I even removed quite a few duplicate plants that I had gone propagation-crazy and replanted all over the yard. It was just too much. I'm so happy with the results - the yard is cleaner and manageable and I'm not fighting to make any plant work for me.

Deb, I did read your blog and it's always fun to hear how much you have going on and get done in your garden! I only did Dollar Tree seeds and bulbs once... like you, zero success. I think it was zinnias and maybe a pack of rain lily bulbs... no, wait, those came from Big Lots. :)

Carol

Carol, I'm just tired and want to spend my energy on other things. I'm now thinking of giving away all my brugmansia seedlings, because they won't grow, won't bloom and take too much water and fertilizer. I'm actually getting rid of all duplicate plants now. I used to be so afraid of losing one, I'd plant several of the same kind, but I'm now thinking if I lose one, it wasn't worth having. LOL

I keep staring at plants and thinking I want to get rid of them, but I never do. It's really time to be brutal.

Deborah are you doing ok?