Dolphin Whimsy

our little dolphin lady

The Story of a Dolphin

Day 1: getting started

When we moved into the house, there was this concrete dolphin fountain in the pool area. The fountain didn't work, so Brian disconnected it. It sat in our pool area looking very forlorn for several years. I knew I wanted to do something with it, but I just didn't know what. I also needed a name for the dolphin.

When we created the front landscaping plan, we left a circular area for something to spotlight. At first, we wanted a fountain. Brian really likes water features. We looked and looked, but could never find the right fountain for our design style (which I call "Flori-fornia"). It's a mix of California and Florida. We just needed a touch of whimsy.

color blocking

a blanket for her back

So the circular area sat vacant, first collecting weeds, then just covered with stones, while we tried to find something that would work. The neighbors would ask us now and then what we were going to do in the circular area. Eventually Brian moved the dolphin there, just so we had something to show. But she was just so plain.

After a while the dolphin grew on us both. We liked seeing her cute face smiling at us when we were coming and going. I decided to try and come up with a decoration plan.

Day 2: adding some details

daisy head

I've always loved folk art and so I decided to try my hand at painting the dolphin. It took me many, many months to build the courage to start. In 2025, my word of the year was "create." I used that word as a catalyst to start many creative projects I'd been putting off out of fear, including knitting, art classes, home improvements, and painting a dolphin statue. (Even this blog came to be because of that word "create.") Here's a link to my pinterest inspiration board: dolphin inspo

Finally, one day, I sketched out my ideas on paper. Of course, sketching a 3D object on paper just wasn't happening. But problems aside, I came up with some general ways to section the dolphin, and found the color combinations I liked. I drew out some large images to surround features. Those images ending up morphing because I hadn't looked at the statue carefully enough. For example, I drew concentric flowers at the base because I didn't want a realistic looking wave-area like most dolphin statues have. However when I went to paint, I saw that was impossible. So I repositioned the flower to surround the blow-hole. It worked out!

Day 7: finished dolphin!

such a cutie

After more research, I decided to use Outdoor Patio Paints from Decor brand, which I bought at Michael's. I selected bright citrusy colors (because that's what I love). I also bought a set of cheap paint brushes. I've never painted before, really, so I had no idea what I should use. I ended up using several sizes of the paint brushes, and a foam brush for large areas.

With plan and paints in hand, I finally started! I started off by outlining the large sections with a pencil, then began filling them in. Later I added extra design elements, and lots of dots.

she's our watch-dolphin

up close

It's Florida, so of course there were days when it rained. And rained. I knew I had to do this before the rainy season officially started, but I also had to have a plan in case it rained while I was painting. So I moved her from the circle towards the house, and when it rained, I pulled her into the little porch area so she wouldn't get wet.

It took a week from start to finish. Most days, I painted for 2 hours or so. The final part was the wave area which I really didn't want to detract from the dolphin. So I decided to just paint it blue and highlight the curves in the concrete with dots of color from dark to light. When I finally finished, I wasn't sure if I was done. But I moved it to the circle and I haven't gone back to it. It felt so good to finally do this! And I think our little dolphin lady enjoys being the center of our front landscape! Now, she just needs a name...

say cheese!

Mid May in the Garden

We took a trip for Mother's Day and I knew it was a bad time to leave. The garden was on the brink of producing huge amounts of long beans and cherry tomatoes. I asked our pet sitter (a neighbor) to please harvest them, but I don't think she did. So we came home to what my husband called "dreadlocks":

long beans or dreadlocks?

I harvested the fattest beans, left the thin ones (for tomorrow lol). I cooked up 2 pounds and we still have 1.5 pounds of today's harvest left. Here's the recipe I used and it was delicious: Garlic Green Beans Recipe

I also harvested a couple of cups of cherry tomatoes which I roasted with some olive oil and added to a side of vegan fettucine alfredo using this sauce recipe: Vegan Alfredo Sauce Recipe

The arugula is still producing handfuls of greens. They made a delicious salad to go along with our dinner. I also picked 3 poblano peppers, but we didn't eat those tonight. I will look for a good recipe for them for another day. Here's one I may try: Vegan Posole Verde Recipe (I have a recipe in the Minimalist Baker cookbook that is very similar and I will probably just use that one.)

The squash and cucumber plants are growing well but I found evidence of something eating squash flowers from the inside out. Sounds like a pickle worm to me 😟. I also noticed several little black dots, probably eggs. There are a couple of tiny cucumbers which I am hoping will grow so I can make pickles. 

Most of my watermelon plants don't look so well. I'm wondering if there were cut worms doing damage under the soil. I think it's time to go into combat mode. Normally I use BT for caterpillars and Neem for anything else. I haven't seen leaf footed bugs yet, so I'll probably start with the BT. I don't have any good caterpillars hanging around so I think it'll be okay to spray the curcubits.

Backyard Landscape

I've been working on the backyard. Every spring I weed the massively overgrown areas, and even lay cardboard and mulch overtop, only to have the weeds come back in full force during the oppressively hot and humid summers.

And yet...

southeast fenceline

This year, I weeded again. It was mostly bidens alba and grass runners. It was pretty easy to weed, but the flower seeds went everywhere. I've been diligent about using my long-handled fork to cultivate twice a week since completing the weeding. But summer is coming and I don't know how long I can keep that up.

I picked out plants for the back neighbor's fence line and the southeast corner of the yard. I did a lot of research and I've been working on paper for proper placement of the plants.
Also, I got an obelisk for my birthday! I plan to plant the pink mandevilla vines on it. I still need an arbor of some sort and another trellis (possibly DIY) for other vining plants.

south fenceline

orchid

I bought this beautiful orchid at the Melbourne Botanical festival. I am praying I can keep it alive. The seller told me it needs 60% sunlight all day. Google says it prefers humidity to water. It bloomed for several days, but we went on a trip and set up a sprinkler. I think it may have gotten too much water via the sprinkler. It lost all its flowers.

As to the backyard, my preference would be to eradicate all of the grass back there and create a lush tropical area around the perimeter, a succulent garden surrounding the lanai, and a crushed shell path between the two areas. I'm working on convincing my husband about that...

For reference, here is the spreadsheet I've created for plant needs and spacing for the backyard:

First Day of Blogging

Well. I'm starting this blog to keep a record of my gardening adventures in Florida.

For those of you unfamiliar with Florida gardening, it's been said that to garden here you have to forget everything you've ever learned elsewhere. I've been here for 4 years and I have found that to be fairly accurate!

the beautiful Melbourne Beach coastline

For this blog, I'll be starting where I am. That is, in my 4th year of gardening, approaching the cruel tropical summer, here on the East Central Coast of Florida. In the salty, sandy soil of Melbourne Beach Florida.

I'm a transplant from Baltimore, where I learned to garden following zones and seasons. Here we have two seasons: dry and wet/hot. We can garden twice during the dry season. That's when we grow the typical garden plants. And we can grow them pretty much all at the same time. During the wet (HOT) season, which lasts about 6 months, we can grow tropical spinaches, and southern crops like okra and cowpeas. I grew okra two years ago, froze it, and still have it. So I won't be planting okra again for a while! I will use the summer months to enjoy inside hobbies like art and knitting (yes, knitting in summer here!) and fixing up the house.

So today I am tending the garden which I planted late (as usual)... in late February and March. I have the following plants in the two raised beds which my husband built for me out of galvanized aluminum and wood.

Frangi is my garden helper

Raised Bed Plants

Tomatoes

• Husky Cherry Red
• Super Sweet 100
• San Marzano plum
• Early Girl
• Midnight Cherry

All have been producing since mid April.

Peppers

• Cubanelle
• Jalapeno
• Poblano
• Yellow bell

I've picked a few Cubanelles and the others have tiny fruits. This year, I was unable to find Banana Pepper plants anywhere. I'm sad about that because I like to pickle them.

Herbs

• Basil
• Culantro

None of my seeds really did anything this year. I may have to try seeding in trays next year. But some basil popped up anyway, from previous years I guess. The culantro I bought as a seedling.

Carrots

I seeded these way too late, in late February. But they've sprouted so I'll keep watch.

Beets

Again, too late. I hope I get a few leaves for salad.

tomatoes, peppers, herbs, roots

Beans

• Kentucky Wonder
• Chinese Red Noodle Beans
• Asparagus Beans

The Kentucky wonder vines look sickly (yellow leaves), but the long beans are halfway up the support arches. One has aphids (and as of today: ladybugs!!) Today I picked our first asparagus bean of the season. There are many red noodle beans growing, long but super thin! They'll be ready to harvest in a day or two.

Cucumbers

• Suyo

I try these every year because I love pickles. Every year they succumb to the dreaded pickle worm. What to do? I grow them anyway and get a jar or two of pickles.

Squash

• Tromboncini
• Seminole Pumpkin

I started growing Tromboncini Squash because supposedly it wouldn't succumb to pickle worm. false advertising! It's still cool though, and the baby fruits are edible even if they never develop. I grow them up arches. (I use ladder mesh; two 8 ft. pieces interlocked at the top and stretching between my two raised beds.) The pumpkins are new for me this year! My plan is to start them in the beds, then move them to the ground near the gardens.

Melons

• Cucamelon
• Kajari Melon
• Sugar Baby Watermelon

The Cucamelon seeds didn't really take. The Kajari Melon did. I believe I bought this to be a trap crop, but I forget! The Sugar Babies are growing, but still small. I have a-frame trellises for the melons.

Tropical spinaches

• Callaloo
• Malabar Spinach
• New Zealand Spinach
• Egyptian spinach

The Callaloo plants have sprouted up without my help. I have a couple growing amid my banana trees which I've harvested from already. I also have one that sprouted among my tomatoes. I'll move these plants eventually. The other tropical spinaches were just seeded today. Hopefully I'll get something from them for our salads.

beans, curcubits, greens

In the yard:

Elsewhere on the property I am trying to grow food. Here's what I have.

banana

bananas!

I bought 3 pots of Dwarf Cavendish bananas a few years ago. After the summer, the ground was overgrown with weeds. I went out at Christmastime looking for something, and found a rack of bananas on the ground! They were green, and I was busy, so I left them there. By the time I got back to them, they were gone :) I have since cleared the area of weeds, and hopefully I can keep it that way although summers are really brutal here.

We bought 2 avocado varieties at the Melbourne Botanical Festival in 2023. They are alive but struggling a bit. I think they need more sunshine but I'm afraid to move them. There isn't much of a main trunk. I thought about pruning them, but apparently you are supposed to let them grow their lower branches well in the early years.

lula avocado

avocado

chaya

chaya tree

This is a very interesting looking tree. We haven't tried eating the leaves yet. You have to boil them for 15 minutes before eating because otherwise they are poisonous. We tend to eat our spinach raw, so I'm not sure if we'll eat much of this!

I planted this strawberry tree as an edible berry to substitute for all the berries we eat, but they really aren't that good. People say they taste like Captain Crunch or Cotton Candy. Maybe that's somewhat true, but they also have a thick skin and gelatinous flesh. I'm keeping it because the bees like it and it supplies shade.

strawberry tree

strawberry

citrus

Lime tree

I bought a Persian lime tree and a Meyer lemon tree in pots several years ago. They are in the ground. The lime tree looks pretty good but it's short and wide. It hasn't had any fruits since the first year. The lemon tree doesn't look so good and something is chomping on the leaf edges. Probably a grasshopper.

We have mango trees that were here when we moved in. Unfortunately, they are in the jungle area on the west side of our property which is constantly overrun with wild grapevines, among other things wild and wooly (ARGH). I have worked on this area a few times since originally posting this. Weeding, pulling vines, getting lots of blisters. It's getting there. But still, sadly, no mangoes :(

mango

sweet potato

These are a great success! I bought an organic purple sweet potato at Publix couple of years ago. I sprouted it and planted the slips in a grow bag. I left the grow bag in a spot that gets watered by our watering system. They came out of there and sprawled on the ground. Now I have free sweet potatoes whenever I want them, and they are providing a ground cover in that area around our avocados and bananas. I am transplanting ones that grow where I don't want them, and new slips, to serve as a groundcover there. Hopefully the bidens alba and bitter gourd won't overtake them this summer.

sweet potato groundcover

slips to plant

OK that's it for my first post. I have a lot of learning to do. I intend to keep this blog as a record for myself, so dates and conditions are important. I wonder if I can add a calendar to this? I am such a newb.