Native Maples

Maples are a common sight around the farm. They grow very easily here in north central Florida and make great trees. My mother-in-law digs them up when they're small trees and pots them. This way, we can use them in our yards. Last year, she "rescued" probably 8 or 10 of them. They've been in the pots way too long and have rooted into the ground. We finally got around to planting a few. Joh dug up four of them - three for me and one for his mom. We got ours planted on the porch side of the house. They're all about 6 feet tall. I put two on the inside of the fence and one on the outside. I'm hoping to create a garden on both sides of the fence. The one on the far right isn't doing so well now. The leaves have all turned brown and Tebow has stripped some of the bark off. Imagine that. The others are doing okay. They're suffering a little shock from the transplant, but not too much.


This is the one on the outside of the fence away from Tebow. We're propping it up a little bit right now, but it's doing well. I sprayed a big area around it this weekend, so we can start turning it into a flower bed.

Coreopsis

Last fall, I planted a small area of coreopsis seed. I've been watching them (and making sure my husband mows around them) all winter. They're finally blooming. They're gorgeous and they're Florida's state wildflower!

The view from my kitchen window

So, this is what I get to look at every morning. Pictured here are Argo, Spot, and New Horse. Yes, that's actually her name. They don't get very creative around here with naming animals. We actually have another horse, that's not pictured, whose name is New Horse 2.

It's pretty reminiscent of old Florida. John's great-grandfather built this barn in the 50s (I think). It's still used by the horses. Since this is a cow-calf operation, the horses are considered a tool. During the busy season, John's uncle rides almost every day. He can crack a whip from a horse's back. That's actually how the original Florida pioneers came to be known as "crackers" - because they would crack a whip to get the cattle out of the scrub.