Erika is here

Erika dissipated over the mountains of the Dominican Republic and this is what was left after it arrived in Miami, some wind and rain.  Once again lady luck was on our side,

Keeping an eye on Erica

Looks like gardening this weekend is not going to happen.  I hope we don't have to get into hurricane mode on Sunday.  We'll have a better picture tomorrow.  Wish us luck.

Blooming Bromeliads

This summer has been a good season for bromeliads.  I am enjoying an explosion of blooms with most of my bromeliad plants.  Some of these flowers have been MIA in the garden for the last couple of years, but this summer they are back.

Bromeliad blooms are unique, colorful and last longer than must flowers.  My garden is about 40% bromeliads and that percentage is growing.  The fact that they are easy to take care and they reproduce like rabbits, make them my favorite plant in the garden. 

Putting Humpty Dumpty together again.

Yesterday we returned from our yearly two week summer vacation to Sanibel Island.  As usual, my family and I had a great time at the beach.  I worried about my unattended garden left behind; this year I did not have a dog sitter at home to take care of the plants, so they were on their own.

 Before I left, I moved all my potted plants to the shade and set up the automatic sprinklers for watering every other day. (I know, I was breaking the law, hopefully no one noticed) I also prayed for lots of rain.

This is what I found when I returned yesterday, overgrown grass, monster weeds and several plant casualties.  Overall I expected worse, but I was told that Miami had many rainy days over the two weeks I was away. (We were lucky; we only had one rainy day while we were at the west coast of Florida)

One happy surprise was these white blooming orchids. 

Are they cactus or are they succulents?

Today I will give you a quick video tour of my collection of cactus and succulents. The rainy season is in full swing around here and this time of the year is not easy on these plants.  Every summer I loose many plants because of the rain, one way to minimize the damage, is by re-arranging and repotting some of plants and moving the rare ones inside the cover patio.   This year as you can see I am late, and because of my neglect I already lose a few plants.