August peak pruning and hurricane season

August is the month to prepare our gardens for whatever mother nature will throw at us.  Every year from mid-July to the end of August I become one mean pruning machine.  Two reasons, one the wet and hot summer makes the garden grow like if it was on steroids and the second is that August and September is the peak season for hurricanes.  I am writing this post while it rains outside, and something is forming over the Bahamas.  The weather people are telling us that it will be a wet weekend but that there is no chance of tropical formation as of now, (they been wrong before) but those in the Gulf of Mexico and mid-Atlantic states need to keep an eye on this no-name storm for next week.

Back to pruning, I am done with my fruit trees and some of my flowering bushes except for my Powerpuff tree in the front garden.  This tree flowers several times each year and this month is full of flowers.  The Powerpuff flowers are very popular with bees and butterflies, so I will wait. 

These white orchids are in full bloom, the plant is getting bigger every year and looking better. 

Bromeliads are the only plants I have that love our hot and wet summer.

Garden throwback Thursday

Today I was reading one of my earliest blog post written back on November 2006 (What a yard sale find!! ).  The post was about my wife’s and I obsession with garage sale bargains and collecting of odd things.  Much has changed in the last thirteen years, we no longer go out to garage sales.  If we see one that looks interesting, we will stop and check it out, but we no longer are in the collecting business, so unless is something that is needed and is a bargain, we pass.  (FYI, I do have a soft spot garden container)

One thing that remains the same is the bougainvillea plant pictured on the post, here we are thirteen years later, and it is in the same pot, going strong.  This plant was the best one-dollar investment I ever made.

Avocado season at the DragonFly Garden

Our summer season revolves around peak times for different tropical fruits.  Late summer is when our avocados are at their best.   This is my first-year harvesting avocados from my tree, my family and neighbors are all excited about the prospect of eating fresh avocados from my garden.  Avocados are native of Mexico and Central America, but they love the sub-tropical South Florida climate.  My tree is about eight years old, it was planted from a seed, that is the reason it took so long to have fruits.  So far, the testimonials are in, everyone agrees my avocados are of excellent qualities. 

Avocados are not the only fruits in season this time of the year, dragon-fruits are also making an appearance.   Today I picked two dragon-fruits growing in my plumeria tree.  I get many flowers every year, but not many fruits.  The conditions must be perfect for the one-night flower to be pollinated by a moth.

Adult Julia butterflies are common in South Florida gardens all year around but are most abundant from August through October.