Rain Rain Beautiful Rain

 

          that translates to about thirty gallons of rain collected and counting for my thirsty captured 

plantings.

Dragon Fruit Flower Update

 I'm learning how I got from spotting the end life of these giant Dragon Fruit flowers

                       From this bloom closing up, having already opened the previous night.

 

 To these, at the end of the evening where one is already shriveling up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to the process of beginning from tiny buds. This is the second flush of flower buds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where there were five some what viable buds to now three?

 

 Where there are only two healthy looking buds as of today.

 

 

To these two new latest finds. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This new pair didn't last long, in the days to come their will be only the one.

 

and there you go, the trials and tribulations of a Dragon Fruit plant, doing what comes

natural in a man made urban environment.

 

 

Another Volunteer This Year

 Welcome to the club, first it was a Milkweed plant that is already blooming again this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Milkweed popped into my garden earlier this year and now there is this.

What pretell is this?

I was complacent in assuming that this was a morning glory vine due to it's similar 

heart shaped leaves. This profile was not my first sighting, so my first wonder was

fungi and are they of the same plant? Then I witnessed it's profile and it's connection

to the vine and my mind went racing to all those images in my head from all the books,

online plant images. It wasn't until it came to me that once it started to open up with

a little nudge with a few drops of water from the garden hose.

If I hadn't seen these at our Florida State Fair's Cracker Country demo garden several

weeks ago. I would have sworn they were visitors from an alternate universe.

These volunteers are called either Callico Flower or Scotchman's Pipe, take your pick

you have both feminine and masculine names.

 

How bizarre. 

 

Today's New Find

 New in that I thought these Flap Jacks were long gone. They never quite fit in 

and yet here they are trying to have another go at it.

Flap jacks anyone?

Dragon's Second Breath

 

Count them....flower buds and I have all the time in the world to watch these Drgaon

Fruit flower buds grow. Spotted these buds while showing my neighbor something else,

almost as interesting has this new find.

Dragon's Last Breath?

 

Finally looked up and to my astonishment is this magnificent display.

      First time blooming for these four year old Dragon Fruit plants started from a cutting.

One spent bloom and the two other's are on their way out.

   Tinted by the evenings glow, this monumental dragon gave this garden some

more history soon to be legend.

soonforgoten.

Bromeliad's Pool

 

A microcosm of beauty.

Do You see what I see?

This Week's Garden Happenings

 No pictures...just some observations and actions.

Escorted another Grey Tree frog off the premises. 

Observed a family of Cardinals take part in sampling some Everglade berry like tomatoes

from my walkway garden. To see the different types of red birds, male, female and young

Cardinal which I suspect could be a female picking the bright ripe orange red tomatoes.

    I wonder if they know there are some more tomatoes out front? Shhhh...I'm not telling.

Laid down some white sands on my back yard rambling side walk's generous cracks.

Some heavy trimming of my broadleaf Podocarpus 'Nagi' and a leggy twenty foot tall sunflower.

Also managed to trim up some Lemon grass and prune out some various yellowing leaves

and did some watering .

We Have A First

 time bloomer.

I guess I never really gave much thought to this ZZ plant blooming and having it pot bound

all this time and finally finding it's happy place it lets know by putting out a bloom.

Not saying that it is a beauty, but  hey, it made the effort and so here it is.

Larger than life too.

Just When You

 think you found the last bloom of the season, there then pops up another bloom.

I thought these were close, neck to neck candidates for the last bloom mind you,

these both are on their second set of two ,with both in the throws of decay.

 Until the next day when I decided to do some watering when this spanking brand new 

Amaryills makes it's premiere with it's first set of flowers getting ready to open up.

 

 Congratulations, we have a winner.

 

 

As much I enjoy the first bloom of my collection of Amaryills

This Vanda

 nothing like some back lighting to glam up this orchid.

First time blooming last year, to me ...meh!

This second time blooming after relocating it to get a bit more sun has bumped

up it's beauty quotient.

Purple Me This

 

Oh Pott'd One

 

...what pale creature of the femoral forest lies at thous feet?

                                                    ...how thee cries to the cloudless blue sky above...

...lamenting it's woes or peradventure a yawn...       ...or to acknowledge the passing of time

                                         ...on this hither orb?