Thursday, April 7, 2011

A GREEN Thumb

Meet Lola Brandt

Lola B. (Love Often Love Always) : An ever growing Blossom. Whether it be trees or flowers this girl has the creative knack to Grow! Grow! Grow! Lola is originally from Kentucky, and has been living in Florida for many years now. A determined girl that works hard to get what she wants, and these pictures of her flowers, and trees prove that she is a determined gardener. Her knowledge of growing plants, flowers and trees is a proven fact that she is passionate about this hobby. She has a mindset to be good at everything she does, and this shows in the beauty of her plants. She will never give up if the plant doesn’t grow to its full potential, but instead Grow! Grow! Grow! to produce the right results. It can be challenging, but she likes that.

Here is my Q and A with Lola on her creative hobby of gardening!

-What caught your interest to start growing?

My grandfather. Growing up we had 2 acres of land give or take a bit and it was all garden. Fruit trees, strawberries, melons, sunflowers every vegetable you can think of. We even grew our own pumpkins. I am from Kentucky so canning was a big thing growing up. I would come home from school and my grandpa would take care of me until my parents got off work. He would pick peaches fresh off the tree and we would stand under the tree and eat them. This makes my soul warm. He taught me with my grandmother’s help as well about tons of trees, flowers and plants.

- What is your favorite flowe,r and why?

I have to go with a tree first over a flower. The Tabebuia Caraiba tree in yellow. They bloom in Feb/March for us here in Florida and they look like they are on fire with color:

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&pwst=1&q=tabebuia+tree+yellow&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1180&bih=520




I love tulips because they are so beautiful for a second then they start to weep I like the messy yet classic look they have in a clear vase. Teddy Bear sunflowers are super cool. There are many different versions of sunflowers on the west coast we just don’t see in the east. Bougainville’s are so bright and eye catching, can’t get enough of those. I could go on and on…

-Is this flower the one you grow more than any other flower? If not which one is?

I grow red geraniums currently more than anything else. I have one plant I have had for about 6 or 7 years. They are super hearty and flower pretty much year round here. You can just snip the flowers when they wilt and there will be a new bloom quickly after.

-What is a major goal you'd like to accomplish with growing flowers?

With the flowers anything I can get to bloom I am pretty stoked on. I had orchids bloom this year; those are hard so I was a little proud about that. I want to have our own food garden that is my main goal. Although not flowers I think of all the “gardening” as the same.

-Do you feel that you've already accomplished a major goal(s)?

Never

If so what are they?

See above ….full organic vegetable garden.

-What are common mistakes that gardeners make?

Giving up.

-How can gardeners avoid these mistakes?

If it dies try again in a different spot, water it more or less. It may take years to get something to do what you want it to do, practice and patience!!! My desert rose is blooming for the first time. This has taken me 5 or 6 years. It was close to death several times. Turns out I was paying to much attention to it. Once I left it alone it blossomed.

-What flower have you never grown that you would like to?

A Venus Fly Trap and I have never grown my own roses. I would like to have a small rose garden.

-With this hobby what direction do you want to go with it?

More More More. Working toward the garden direction.

-What gardening/flower tips would you like to share with others that grow?

I think I did this one above…. 

Here are some beautiful pictures of Lola's plants:


This girl was born with a green thumb and will continue living her life with one ;)


A Special Thank you to Lola for saying yes to be featured in my blog, for taking the time to answer my questions and for giving such a good detailed answer to each one. Also, thank you for working with me on picking out a rawkin' profile picture to use, and sending oh-so-many lovely pictures of the plants, trees and flowers.

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