Here today, gone in the morning.

This week two of my succulent plants bloomed overnight.    The Echinopsis, (I looked up the name on Google) one of my regular summer bloomer and my favorite.  The other is my Dragon Fruit plant; I counted seven flowers, two in trellis next to the house and the others up high in the Plumeria tree.

These flowers are stunning, but they are short lived.  Fully open by midnight and gone by ten AM the next morning.  This is one of the reasons why is so hard to get Dragon fruits, the flowers must get pollinated overnight by night flying moths.  

 Dragon-fruit flowers

Mowing the lawn the old fashion way

Today I took out my push lawn mower and cut the grass.  My lawn gardener has been missing over three weeks, and he is not answering his phone. 

The grass was so tall, that I could not wait any longer.  There is no job that I despise more than mowing the lawn.  This hate goes back to my teenage years.  My first job in this country, was cutting other people's lawns, for three years, I cut grass in the hot summer months of Connecticut.

Paddling my way through Key Largo

Last week I had a birthday, and according to our family tradition, the birthday person gets to pick an activity for the day.  My birthday wish was kayaking in the Florida Keys.  We set up camp at John Pennekamp state park in Key Largo.  My daughters and I rented kayaks, while my wife stayed on the beach reading and keeping an eye on our camp.

The Florida Keys is made up of hundreds of small islands, a perfect location for kayaking.  The weather was cloudy and breeze, ideal for a day out on the water.  I was disappointed that there were not many birds on the mangroves, but this Florida in the middle of the summer.  Many of the birds have moved on to cooler climates.     

 This week at the DragonFly Garden

My birthday present was a Nikon D5300 camera; this camera comes equipped with Wi-Fi. Now I can take a picture with my Nikon, send it to my phone and share it with everyone on the spot. This camera is similar to my old D3100, except for a few new different features.

I spotted a couple of Knight Anoles in my palm tree today.  These lizards are not native of Florida, they come from the Caribbean and as non-native species they cause trouble for the native lizard population.  These guys are very territorial; I have noticed a decrease in my army of smaller Florida lizards, they will disturb bird’s nest and will eat fruits on the trees.  My neighbor’s mangos have been attacked by something; I would not be surprised if the Anoles are the culprit.

                                 And soon there will be more.

 (Personal Editorial: This country should pass a law prohibiting the importation of exotic animals to be kept as pets.  This is how these guys, the Burmese Python and many others got here)

HAPPY FATHERS DAY  

Thinning the bromeliad herd

Every year at the beginning of the summer I pull out all my bromeliads, cut the old plants and replant the new pups.  Over the years my collection of bromeliads has grown, making this a two weekend job.  Today I started in the back garden, but I had to stop early as the daily thunderstorms arrived. 

I know that my collection of bromeliads is taking over my garden.  This is to the displeasure of my wife, who is not a fan.  Bromeliads are the perfect plants for South Florida gardens, they need little maintenance and they can handle our harsh summer weather.  What other plant would give you a couple new pups every year from a mature adult plant. (The reason why they are taking over)      

 Before

 Ready for the trash

 Long leather gloves a most when working with Bromeliads

This week at the DragonFly Garden.

The rainy season is here; we are getting rain every day.  With the rain comes an explosion of blooms, rain lilies, powderpuff, Mexican flame vine, Rangoon creeper and the buttercup flowers