The different colors of Croton plants

I was never a fan of Croton plants but lately, I have come to love them.   Five years ago my daughter purchased a townhouse with a garden full of croton, she was not a fan of the plants like me and pulled most of them out.  I took a few home and planted them around the garden.  The colors these plants bring to the garden in full sun is magnificent, I am now a collector.  Who needs flowers with colors like this? 

Flowers in the garden this week

The star fruits are ready for harvesting. It is interesting how this tree has full-grown fruits in the bottom and flowers on top. 

Future projects:  This corner of the garden is overgrown, it has been nearly a year since I did this area ( see what it looked like last January )

Today was time to clean the water fountain

I would like to wish you and your families a happy, safe and healthy Thanksgiving. 

The birds are back in town

Is that time of the year when the garden and the birdfeeder gets busy with our feather friends flying in for the winter season.

This Mucking bird is a year-round resident, one of his favorite treats are the seeds from the bird of paradise tree.

Cardinals are also year-round residents of Florida, but for some reason, we don't see too many during the summer months.  This male has a girlfriend hanging around.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Blue Jays don't like sharing the water fountain or the birdfeeder

The Painted Buntings are the stars of the winter season, this is the fourth year they have been regulars in my garden.  Last year we had several males and females.  So far this year these two are the only ones.  These birds are a bit skittish, so all the photos are taken from inside the house and the quality is not that good.

This picture of a Cat Bird was taken with my new iPhone, I was surprised it let get so close.

With the arrival of more birds, we also get more preditors.  No worries we subscribe to the Blue Jay's alarm system.

There are many other birds visiting the garden, but with the thick vegetation is hard to get their pictures.