Joani's Corner

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Joani
by Joani MacCubbin

February, 2003

The end of this month should signal the end of this very cold winter. The groundhog should be making his prediction on February 2nd. Let's all hope that it will be cloudy on that day! We've had enough of the cold stuff. Our groundhog, Florida Phil has been right for quite a few years.
Don't forget that February 14th is Valentine's Day so don't forget that special someone in your life. A bouquet of flowers or a nice plant is always a welcome gift. The Society of American Florists say that Flowers and Plants are the No 1 gift to express love, beating out jewelry and perfume or cologne.

This month in Joani's Corner will be:
Cold weather survivors
Moles - ground breaking information about these underground bulldozers
Baked bean casserole - it's not what you think!
A prayer for our Florida Home

Here in Florida it's been a cold winter. But no matter how much we hate it and wonder why we came here, just remember it's much worse north of the state line. During January we had temperatures that stayed well below 32 degrees for at least 9 hours at our home. In central Florida this means that we must pick the citrus as ice crystals were found in the fruit. It will be ok for now but in a week or so you may find your citrus not very tasty or just plain spoiling on the tree.

For a little good news.....as we did have quite a cool December that led into the same for January, this means that some of our plants were hardened off and were well prepared for winter's fury. What this means to us is that because of this our plants didn't get hurt as much as they would have been if the freeze had come unexpectedly after a month or so of warm temperatures.

Plants that Don't Mind the Cold

Some of our plants are not looking very good and our lawns are mostly brown. It's not that tropical feeling that we expected to have all year round. If you don't like that mostly brown look, I have a little list for you to ensure some color in your landscape during the winter months.

Annuals:
	Pansies and violas - many colors available
	Dianthus - red, pink and white
	Straw flowers - available in fall colors
	Million bells - looks like a miniature petunia and comes in shades of pink, orange, yellow and white
	Sweet alyssum - shades of purple, lavender, pink and white
	Chenille plant - red
	Petunias - many colors available
	Bacopa - white
	Dusty miller - silver gray foliage

Shrubs:
	Loropetalum - bright pink
	Roses - all colors
	Camellias - many colors to choose from
	Nandina - no flowers at this time but has bright red berries during the winter months
	Tea olive or osmanthus - small white flowers that have a scent of ripe apricots.
	Viburnum suspensum - small white flowers
	Jacobinia - pink

Loropetalum

Trees:
	Chickasaw plum - clusters of small white flowers
	Loquat - evergreen tree with clusters of white scented flowers that will give you fruit in the spring.
	Magnolias

Loquat

Moles

Have you noticed little piles of sand here and there in your beautiful lawn??

Well I'm sure you have and these little underground bulldozers are called moles. They come with good Florida living just like the heat of the summer. The damage they do is just cosmetic so there is really no cause for alarm. They are NOT eating the roots of your lawn or your prize plants. They are only feeding on insects and it's those insects that can be causing you harm. Actually by leaving him be you are doing your yard a favor as one mole eats between 25% and 100% of it's weight insects daily.

If you ever see a mole and it's unlikely that you will, you will see a 5 - 6 inch mouse-like mammal with very soft gray-brown fur. Thy have small 1-2" almost hairless tail. There are no external eyes or ears. Moles do have very strong, powerful webbed front feet that enable him to travel underground easily and quickly in their search for food. An interesting thing to notice is that their fur doesn't lie flat but sticks straight up allowing the mole to go forward or backward in it's tunnel without rubbing their fur the wrong way. The life span of a mole is about 3 years.
January through early February is the breeding season in Florida for moles so it may be spending most of it's time at the moment in search of a tunnel mate this month. In 5 to 6 weeks there will be probably be 2 to 5 more little moles to claim on your income tax form. (please don't tell the IRS that I said that!)

If you notice that a mole has taken up residence in your yard, the best thing is to do is stamp down on the raised trail it has made, then water well to reset the plant or grass roots.

Someone's in the Kitchen with Joani!

Baked Bean Casserole

	2 cans of yellow string beans - drained	Click to Enlarge
	2 cans of green string beans - drained
	8 strips of cooked bacon cut in small pieces

Mix the above ingredients in a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Topping: In a large zip lock bag, crush 1 stack of low-sodium Ritz crackers
then add 1/2 stick of melted butter. Mix well in the zip lock bag then add
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

Spread topping on the bean mixture. Any extra topping can be stored in the refrigerator for later use.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 - 35 minutes.

A Prayer for Our Florida Home

Bless our house, oh Lord we cry
Please keep it cool in mid-July.

Bless these walls where termites dine,
While ants and roaches march in time.

Bless our yard where spiders pass
and the fireants building castles in the grass.

Bless the garage, a home to please
carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas.

Bless the love bugs, two by two
and all the gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you.

Millions of creatures that fly or crawl.
In Florida Lord, you've put them all.

But this is our home and here we'll stay
So thank you Lord for insect spray.

.......Author unknown