Another Saturday in the garden

Today I took on the banana corner, which is what I call this area of the garden now; it used to be my meditation area until noisy neighbors moved next door. As you can see in the picture below, the place was out of control, and it was time to simplify.

I took out a plumbago and honeysuckle bush. As for the honeysuckle, it got the three strikes rule. I planted it in three different areas of the garden and today I finally realized that it does not belong in my small garden.

It was a hot and humid day today and the plumbago put up a fight.

I have five ladyfinger banana plants, the two older ones have bananas and they should be ready for picking in another month, probably around the same time. Mix with the banana trees are the heliconias

The decorative banana plant in the container was rescue from a neighbor’s garbage can.

This plant was a gift from fellow gardener, we don’t know the name but fully grow she is a beauty, it grows about six feet and the foliage is a deep red.

I am planning to paint the bench, but that will have to wait for cooler weather in October.

New logo for the DragonFly garden.

The garden has an official new logo; I found this cute dragonfly in a store on Sanibel Island.

These rain lilies are in full bloom this weekend, they only bloom once a year but when they do, they put on a show.

August is my least favorite time of the year in South Florida; by the time it comes around we are all so sick of the heat. Every year we tell ourselves that this is the hottest August ever, and this one is no exception.
This morning I was in the garden from 7 to 9am , I did some weeding and trimmed some bushes but by mid morning it was time to come inde to the AC.
This week I was so busy at work that I did not have any time to visit my favorite blogs, I am hoping to catch up this weekend.

I am back in my garden.

After two weeks away, I found some pleasant surprises and some not so pleasant.
Apparently it rained quite a bit during my vacation, the rain barrels were full and the garden was a little waterlogged.

One of the pleasant surprises, was finding this wild orchid full of flowers. It kind of resembles the famous ghost orchid from the Everglades, but is not.

My coleuses also did very well during my time away.


On the not so pleasant, I planted these bromeliads before leaving on vacation. I made the stupid mistake of planting them under a tree that drops a lot of leaves and flowers. The number one rule about growing bromeliads is to keep the center clear of debris, if not the plant will rot. In two weeks I lost three plants.

Goodbye Sanibel

Tomorrow morning is time to go home, my family and I had great time on the island.
Monday is back to work and the routines of life, but we will have many memories from this magical place.

After two weeks away from my garden, I don’t know what I am going to find, I hope there is minimum damage

There is more then beaches at Sanibel Island

My favorite activities during my vacation at Sanibel Island are biking the many trails and walking the natural preserve trails.

The Bailey track is a popular trail near the beach, teeming with many birds and an occasional alligator.

A beehive took over an owl’s nest.

New this year in the Periwinkle preserve, a trail dedicated the birds and butterflies. (I don't recommend it in the middle of the day, it was so hot)

Here we are biking on the rabbit road trail.

Sunrise and the shelling was easy

Early bird gets the best shells. Sunrise, combine with a low tide is the best time to go shelling.

Catch of the day

This dolphin was swimming close to the beach.

Brown Pelicans shilling after breakfast

Searching for wild flowers in Sanibel Island

About 75% of the Island of Sanibel is a wild life preserve, so finding wild flowers is not very difficult.

PS- Thank you for the suggestions on island restaurants