Fall is in the air

The only sign we have, that fall is in the air, is when the Plumeria tree starts to drop all its leaves.  In a couple of weeks, they will all be on the floor.  Here in South Florida September is a hot summer month like any other, except that it is the high of hurricane season and no one knows what we have in store.  We lucked out this season, but it is not over yet. 

The garden looks green and lush, the summer has been a wet one and all the plants have taken advantage of the added rain.  I am holding off on starting any new projects until we get into mid-November when the threats of hurricanes have passed.

This week some of my plants started to show fall and winter blooms.

Powerpuff tree

Bride's bouquet 

Brasilian red

Now that I am retired, I am more careful with my plant purchases.  I found these Torenia on sale at Home Depot for a $1 each.  Perfect to fill a couple of hanging baskets. 

I am experimenting with my Micro lens, I have a long way to go before I can get the hang of it.  I like the photo of the Blue Porter flower and the out focus backdrop.

My first attempt at creating a Bonsai

I told my family that when I retire, I was going to pick up several hobbies and one of them was going to be the art of Bonsai.  One of my retirement gifts was a set of bonsai tools.  I got a couple of books from Amazon and today I purchased this Juniper groundcover at Home Depot for my first Bonsai.

This week I finished working on the back of the garden, I added mulch and trimed some of the big plants.

I am finding several Monarch pupas around the garden, we had a lot of caterpillars this year.  All the Milkweed plants are gone.  

Heliconias do well in my garden, I purchased this one this week and planted it in a container. 

Flowers showing off this week.  Orchids on the mango tree, Blue Porter flowers (loved by bees) and the always reliable summer annual Purslane.

The accidental collector of bromeliads.

In my early gardening days, I didn’t have much affinity for bromeliads.  My gardening guru, my dad loved bromeliads and his garden was full of them.  Whenever dad would come to visit, he would bring me a bromeliad plant as a gift.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that they were not my favorite type of plants, but I always found a place for them in my garden.  Little by little, these plants won me over and today they cover about 60% of my garden.  Most of the bromeliads in my garden today, are descendants from my father’s garden.  My dad passed away last year, and my mom is no longer able to take care of his garden.  Whenever I visit her I try to do some work in their garden and keep it going for her.  Sometimes I find bromeliad plants in the most unexpected places, these days I am the one that brings the bromeliad plants to their garden, to keep the tradition alive.

 Bromeliads are perfect plants for the South Florida climate, they thrive in our hot, humid and wet summer months and can handle our mild and dry winters.  This week I made some changes in my back garden.  I took out the old plants and put others in pots.

 Moved the windmill to the front and away from the big trees.  

 These little ones are great ground cover and excellent climbers 

Before

Work in progress

I have several Cuban Knight anoles in the garden.  They are not native to South Florida and are very destructive to the local lizards' population and bird's nest.  

The lady of the night is in full bloom and the aroma at night is intoxicating  

Good luck to everyone in the East Coast in the path of hurricane Florence, I hope she stays away from land and goes out to sea.  Be Safe.