Florida Trip -- 4

My Aunt is a Master Gardener and voluteers her time at the local extension center. So, of course we stopped by there before we caught the train home. And I took lots of pictures.







And some portulacas and a mystery blue flower. Edit: The blue flower is Blue Daze.

Recent Developments

I've gotten back in my garden this week. And for more than watering and being eaten by mosquitos. I mowed the back lawn and mulched my poor flowers. Maybe now they won't need watered so much. I also dead headed my hostas and removed a few spent blooms from the hydrangea. The hydrangea is still going strong.

Despite the bugs determined to eat my sunflowers, they are doing quite well. Blooming in fact.

Florida Trip -- 3

Continuing up the boardwalk and over the dune, there was the Atlantic Ocean.





At low tide, there were a lot of rocks on the shore. The tide actually lifted them up and washed the shells underneath them. There were also fossilized shells in the rocks.



On the cove side of the dune, various birds would feed at low tide, ibises and rosy spoonbills. Too bad my camera does not have a stronger zoom, or I'd have a good picture of the birds.



Back at the visitor center, the fire bush was in bloom.



Inside the visitor's center was a 9 month old baby loggerhead sea turtle. This one's name was Kiwi. She's supposed to be released after a year.

Florida Trip -- 2

Further along the trail at MacArthur State Park in Florida.



And a sea grape hanging over the trail. We even saw one with "grapes" on it!



My mom was quite amused to spot this little cactus off to one side. They didn't even have it marked in the trail map!



A "close up" view of a local butterfly. The butterflies here were really flighty and did not want their pictures taken.



A brown cuban anole partially hidden by a wild flower. These little lizards and their green cousins were all over the place down there. And well welcome to eat the bugs.



A shot of the steps leading up to the beach.




More to come...

Florida Trip -- 1

Since I don't feel like doing normal blogging, I can share some pictures. The first place I took pictures of was John D. MacArthur State Park in West Palm Beach.

These are some mango trees on the protected cove side.



And here are some palm trees along one of the nature boardwalks.



A wild coffee plant along the nature trail. These were all over the dune.



And the pointsetta before it was bred into the one we see spray painted at Christmas.



A tall palm tree outlined against the sky.



And some more trees along the dune.




More to follow later.....

Da Funk

I'll admit it, I've been on a blogging slump. It started up when it was too hot to work outside, and to sweltering to be on the computer. Took two weeks to get them to replace it this time around. And then, in the glory of the coolness, I just don't feel like doing much. Not to mention, I've been assigned to a different location for work, which means that I'm without internet all summer. It wasn't supposed to be that way, but inertia being what it is, I doubt they will get me hooked up before I leave again. And the adjustment in working hours has thrown me off schedule completely.

Not much is going on in the garden. The nasturtium bloomed, but I keep missing them with the camera. The beebalm I tried to transplant seem to have not liked the swampy conditions and died back. The hosta are blooming away happily. While I had to take out one of the mystery plants so they could replace the air conditioner.