When I initially started my garden, I was quite worried about killing things. To tell the complete truth, I’ve killed my share of plants (all by accident, of course), but one plant that never ceases to amaze me is the moonflower.

Since planting my first few moonflower seeds, I was worried that they wouldn’t sprout and when they finally did sprout, I worried that they would be too cramped in the container I was using, and when I realized they would grow without hindrance once I’d placed some stakes in there, I worried that the unforgiving South Florida would do them in for good.

Nothing, and I do mean nothing, that I may have done (or not done) could wipe out these darling flowers. Then, one evening after a long dance class and work out at the gym, I came home to the most beautiful sight: two full moonflower blooms beckoning me with their sweet fragrance.

I wanted to weep with joy–those blooms were the first flowers I’d ever grown myself that made it to maturity and graced me with their beauty. For the next couple of weeks, I was regaled by even more blooms, each starting to unfurl just before sunset each evening and then beginning to shrivel up the following morning just after sunrise.

Oh, let me back up a moment and explain that I had no idea the blooms only lasted for a single evening. Finding that out simply broke my heart because those delicate blooms were just too beautiful to have such a short life span. But, I guess that saying about the brightest stars burning shortest are true.

In any event, I wanted to share with you some photos I’ve taken of my now mature moonflower plant along with the second set I planted once I realized I simply couldn’t mess it up.

Then, just two days ago while I was watering some of the other plants (wow, South Florida can really go from sopping wet to intensely arid in just the span of a few minutes), I decided to check the seed starter greenhouse thing. Low and behold, seedlings! And lots of them.

It appears that my Yellow and Red Wonder Alpine Strawberry seedlings were just taking their time, but they appear to be doing well.

I intend to leave them in the greenhouse for about another week before moving them to their own pots indoors until they’re strong enough to survive on their own outside.

Chances are I won’t have any berries to nibble on this year, but if the 8 seedlings blossom into full on plants, something tells me I’ll have plenty to enjoy next year.

A few days ago, I was worried about the amount of work it would take to bring my front porch up to snuff. Surprisingly, it wasn’t nearly as much work as I had imagined. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a lot of work; it was just easy to get done when taken in small chunks.

Now, I can officially say that my front porch area has gone from hell to purgatory. I still need to fix my screens and clean off the area directly in front of the door, but for the most part, everything else has been straightened out and I can now begin to think about the layout and design.

Thank goodness for small miracles.

Strawberries happen to be one of my absolute favorite fruits, so I figured it would be a fun addition to the garden. (I’ve heard they’re pretty easy to grow in a container.)

While looking for seed sellers on Amazon I discovered that strawberries come in a number of different varieties. Growing up, I’ve only been exposed to one type: the big red ones you get at the grocery store.

One variety that immediately jumped out at me was the Yellow Alpine because, as you can guess, they aren’t exactly a color you’d expect for a strawberry.

Further research into the Apline variety shows that they could potentially be one of the yummiest strawberries I’ve ever tasted and I just couldn’t pass that up.

According to the article (where I snatched this image from), these strawberries are quite small, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in sweetness and flavor. Based on that, I went ahead and ordered a packet of Yellow and Red Wonder Alpine strawberries. I’m so anxious for them to arrive so I can plant them.

Although I’m fairly certain that strawberries will require a little bit more attention than I’m used to giving, I will happily dole it out. Frankly, reading over some of the germination and growing tips has me somewhat excited. Tomorrow I’ll be heading out to get some small peat pots and plastic covering in order to start the seeds and once they’re sprouts, it shouldn’t be too difficult to pop the little peat pot up and just drop it into the planter.

The best news so far? It seems that if I can get the seeds germinated in time, I may even get to taste a little fruit this year. And even if I don’t, I’ll definitely be looking forward to some melting in my mouth next year.

Since I’m still looking for uses for all the herbs and other plants I’m growing in the garden, I decided to experiment with some corn on the cob which I had to use before it went bad and the chives I rued planting. The results were surprisingly good.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 ears of sweet red corn (I’m sure you can substitute sweet yellow or white corn)
• 2 Tbsp. honey butter
• Salt and pepper to taste (I prefer sea salt and freshly ground peppercorn.)
• 5-10 Shoots of onion (or garlic) chives
• Aluminum foil to wrap corn and a conventional oven is helpful
• If you’re daring (like I am), you can also throw in a few leaves of sweet basil and lemon balm

Don’t worry too much, it’s easy.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Remove the husk and silk from the corn and place them in their own individual sheet of aluminum foil (foil should be large enough to wrap the entire year).

3. Spread a tablespoon of honey butter on each ear of corn, sprinkle each with salt and pepper, and snip a few shoots of chive over each. (I used regular kitchen scissors to snip the chives into 1/8″ sections making sure to cover the corn cobs from tip to tail.)

4. Wrap up the aluminum foil tightly and place them directly on the oven rack.

5. Bake for about 20-30 minutes — try to avoid over-baking, otherwise you’ll have soggy corn on your hands and no one likes soggy corn.

6. Take out of the oven carefully, unwrap and enjoy.

These were so yummy that I’ll probably be making some more tonight.

I worry that revealing my front porch to you will frighten you away forever, but I’m confident that you’ll return just to see the miraculous transformation I’m hoping planning for. (And yes, it will be nothing short of a miracle.)

First comes the planning. Each time I sit down to come up with a master plan for the overall look and layout, some strange mental block appears.

One thing I am certain of is that I need it to be a lot more inviting than it is now. I don’t want people to be afraid to walk past the front gate. (Which is the case now. I’m fairly certain the UPS man only took one peek through the gate before deciding to toss the package over and run for his life.)

I guess it would help if I started with the obvious problems. Getting the garden hose under control, fixing the screen, pulling the weeds, and sweeping up the rampant seed pods certainly couldn’t do any harm.

Frankly, it’s all about the execution. That’s where my huge problem is: where to start and how to maintain? Looking at it head on makes it just seem like a ton of work I’d rather not do, but I also know it must be done (within a reasonable budget).

Assuming I have the necessary tools and time, I should have the basics under control (i.e. garden hose, weeds, sweeping, and screen), and then I can move on to planning the overall layout.

One other thing that’s painfully obvious is that I definitely need more plants with color — already grown and blossoming — just to liven the place up a bit. None of the plants I have out there now are nowhere near flowering yet.

I also need some way to hang planters from the fence so I can move the eyes upward. But, I’m getting ahead of myself — one thing at a time. I hope to update soon with some after pictures and to tell you how well I was able to get the porch from hell under control.

In the process of mixing and matching some of the various mint plants from the garden, I’ve come up with a delicious fresh mint tea recipe which works well hot or iced.

Snip two medium sized sprigs of lemon balm, two medium sized sprigs of spearmint, and one small sprig of bee balm. Brew 2 cups of water and steep the fresh sprigs for about 5 minutes, strain, sweeten to taste (I prefer 2 Splenda) and enjoy.

The other day, I picked up a couple new hanging planters and when I got them home, I realized they were the wrong color. The question then became how to use them.

Last night, before bed, I decided to use some of the lemon balm and spearmint that had been overgrowing the side of their planters. After snipping off a couple sprigs of each, I boiled a cup of water and let them steep for a few minutes. The result was an absolutely delicious, light, and fresh cup of tea.

Since I’m in love with tea, I figure I should get myself at least a couple more mint plants. I’d also like to expand the variety to include peppermint. Peppermint tea is one of my absolute favorites, plus it helps soothe the tummy.

It’s name was the first thing to draw me in — moonflower — it seems so ephemeral. So, mysterious and mystical. On top of it, everything I read about the flowers said they smelled divine and as a bonus they bloom at night. Who could ask for more?

So, I set out to pick up some sweet pea and moonflower seeds. When I got home, I immediately planted the sweet peas and set the moonflower seeds aside. (Which reminds me, I still need to write about the sweet peas. I’ll do that in the next entry.)

For some unknown reason, I waited a whole month before I actually dragged myself out and planted the moonflowers. Oh wait, I remember now: I waited because I didn’t have a planter for them. It wasn’t until I remembered that I had a large planter that ended up not being used.

To my absolute surprise, 3 of the 6 moonflower seeds sprouted in about 4 days. I was expecting about one to two weeks, which is what the packet said. And the next day, another two seedlings poked their heads out of the ground. So, in total, 5 of the 6 seeds I planted have sprouted and are growing strong.

I also noticed they appear to be growing like vines. Turns out, they grow like vines because they are. Plus, they look like they’re going to be huge — turns out they can actually grow to about 10 feet. Upon some further reading, it turns out that they do tend to grow quite fast in hot weather, which is exactly what we have plenty of in south Florida. Guess I didn’t read the back of that seed package well enough.

Now, I need to figure out a way to space them out because those 5 plants in that large (but still entirely too small) planter just won’t do and they are growing at breakneck speeds. Not only that, but I now need to find some viable support for them to grow on. Look out Lowe’s garden center, here I come.

Hindsight is 20/20 for sure. When I think about it, I’m wondering why on this green Earth I chose onion chives when I cannot stand onions. Seriously, they make me gag. And onion chives smell just like those same onions which make me gag.

At the time, I decided on it because they were the only kind of chives in the Wal-Mart garden center and I do love sour cream and chive baked potatoes. I figured, what could possibly be better than fresh chives on a baked potato? The answer is fresh garlic chives.

Oh well, at least they’re growing fairly well. It’s grown about 2 inches in length since I transplanted it. (At first, I didn’t think it would make it because a ton of the shoots started to dry up and turn brown.)

Be smart, if you’re not down with onions, but enjoy garlic, skip this chive variety. You’ll thank me later.