A peaceful and safe Memorial Day weekend to all

I am taking the weekend off from my gardening duties, the weatherman is forecasting rain the entire weekend.   The Angel's Trumpet are in bloom, a sign that the the forecast is going to be on target.  This morning the rain stayed away and the light was perfect for some photos.  This afternoon tropical storm Bonnie is bringing some storms our way.

I hope you all have a happy, safe and peaceful Memorial Day weekend and remember to thank the veterans for whom we celebrate this holiday.

The Dragonflies are back

Summer is here and so are the Dragonflies.  I love to watch these creatures fly around the garden, they are usually found near wetlands, but I like to believe that they know, that this is their garden.  Dragonflies are fast fliers and like a good predator they pose in high places and wait for the right moment to strike. They feed on small flying insects like mosquitoes, this year they are especially welcome.  Florida has declared a war on mosquitoes, so the more Dragonflies the better.    

The new gate to heaven.

Two weeks ago, the old gate in the front of the house came down after many years of service.  It was not totally unexpected, since the old gate dated back to 1992. I contracted my son in law, an independent fine carpenter and I asked him to surprise me.   The design blew me away, the new gate totally changed the look of the front garden and now I have a new gate for the next fifty years.   

This week at the DragonFly Garden

The summer blooms are coming in fast as the weather turns hotter and humid.  This is the time when the cactus, orchids and bougainvilleas bloom regularly.

You know the summer has arrived, when the Rangoon Creeper is in full bloom.

 I never get tired of taking pictures of butterflies in the garden, this one is a Julia

The construction begins

Another week at The DragonFly Garden.

More information about this unexpected project in my next post

The bees and butterflies are loving these mix color Lantanas.  These flowers are perfect for our South Florida summer.

This bromeliad is on steroids.

The bananas are almost ready for harvest

HAPPY GARDENING

Refreshing the garden for Mother’s Day

Sometimes it hits you; this corner of the garden looked awful.  How is it that I didn’t notice before? Well today it bothered me and off to the nursery I went to remedy the situation.  I got begonias, liriope, caladium and one lily of the Nile.  I also transplanted some Irises that I divided several weeks ago.  This corner of the garden is under the Plumeria tree and is in shade must of the day.

Before

After moving some garden decorations around, now we are ready for our Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday.

This area also needed some refreshing.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY 

Looking for volunteers

Is that time of the year when the Monarch butterflies return to garden to lay their eggs, and their favorite host plant is the Milkweed.  I can never have enough of these plants around; the good news is that the wind carries the seeds all over the garden and volunteers pop up anywhere.  Milkweed is a hardy plant, usually one Monarch will lay a few eggs per plant and days later the caterpillars will eat it in a day.  It takes a couple of weeks to recuperate and the plant is back up and running again.

This week at the DragonFly Garden.

The Irises are back.

A blue jay couple is building a nest in my Plumeria tree.