The aroma is intoxicating

This is the only plant in my garden that was not planted by me. One day, I discovered this little guy growing in my back garden; it did not look like a weed so I left it alone.
Surprise, surprise--I was rewarded with this beautiful flower that emits an aroma at night that covers my entire garden.

I don’t know the name of this plant. I think it comes from the jasmine family but I am not sure. If anyone out there can identify this plant and knows its name, please let me know.
The flowers bloom in the summer and last for a couple of weeks. The aroma at night is intoxicating and quite potent. Sometimes when the angels' trumpet bloom at the same time, the garden smells like a perfume factory!

Planting a tree the right way the first time.

The powderpuff flower, from my powderpuff tree.

My neighborhood in western Miami used to be a swamp, part of the Everglades eco-system. During the early 1960’s, developers arrived, drained the swamps, and filled them with crushed rocks.
Today, if I want to plant a tree, I need to dig through about a foot of crushed rock. When I planted my plumeria bush a couple of months ago, I was feeling a little lazy and, as you can see in my last post, I paid the price when Fay passed by this week.

This morning, I decided it was time to finish the job by taking the rocks out and re-planting the plumeria the right way.

Tropical storm Fay

I am happy to report that my garden survived tropical storm Fay, except for my white plumeria bush.
As tropical storms go, Fay was not a big deal for us. We received around 6 inches of rain in two days and last night we had wind gust of 40 to 50 miles per hour. This morning we woke up with tornado warning, there were a couple reported but no property damage, thank god.
Tonight Fay is heading north thru the center of the state, dumping a lot of rain on Lake Okeechobee good news for our drought conditions. Fay is suppose to exit the state some where in the Daytona Beach area, gain strengths to category one hurricane and re-enter Florida around Jacksonville. That shows you that these storms are unpredictable and we always need to take them seriously.

August GBBD

August 15 GBBD is here and the summer weather doesn’t let up. Every day it's hot and humid and most days it rains as well (so, what else is new in Florida during August?). The garden is looking a little tired from the summer heat and both the plants and the gardener can’t wait for the cooler autumn months.

My purple allamanda bloomed for the first time this month and I am expecting many more flowers in the next couple of weeks.


The rain lilies burst forth with blooms this week, as well they should since it has been raining every day for the last two weeks.


The buttercup bush greets me every morning full of flowers as I do my morning walk around the garden before going to work.


The white wild orchids are putting on a show this month.


The red canna lilies are doing well this year. This plant has grown over seven feet tall!


The moss rose is my favorite summer annual.


Purslane, like the moss rose, is a great summer annual and perfect for hanging baskets.

A visit to my favorite nursery in Miami.

Going to Richard Lyons' nursery in southwest Miami is like visiting a tropical park. The collection of tropical fruits and flowering trees, flowering vines, native plants, hummingbird- and butterfly-friendly plants are unmatched by any other nursery in this area. The owner, Richard Lyons, is an encyclopedia of knowledge of plants, truly unique in today's mass-marketing nurseries, where knowledge is a distant second to agreeing to work for minimum wage!
The nursery is located in the outskirts of southern Miami, a rural area almost like a world away from this busy, crowded metro area. It is only fifteen minutes away from my house but I always feel like I'm crossing a time zone when I go there! Many of the trees Richard offers for sale are also planted around his property, fully-grown, which allows customers to visualize the end-result of their purchase. The nursery gives the feeling that you are in a botanic garden instead of a nursery. Countless butterflies flap around the butterfly-friendly plants, giving customers confidence to purchase the plants to start or replenish their butterfly garden. There are also many native birds which enjoy this oasis, as well as a stray cat or two!

Jackfruit Tree

This weekend I purchased two Mexican flame vines and a purple passion vine (this one has a gorgeous exotic flower). I have a big project in mind for next week.

An explosion of Marigolds

Every year I can count on a few annuals like the pentas, torenia, Bolivian sunset, and others to reseed throughout my garden. Usually I don’t have a problem with it, except that I want to save every plant.

This year, I have an explosion of marigolds growing everywhere in my back garden. It's gotten to the point that they are becoming a nuisance, growing in places where I really don’t want them.

I don’t like pulling perfectly healthy plants (I feel like I am committing a crime!) so I just let them grow. Since I also have a weakness for yellow flowers (I believe they make the garden look happier), these especially push my "sympathy" meter!

Since pruning is so important to gardens, every afternoon I am out there with my clippers, performing a kind of birth control on the dead flowers. I want them back next year, but I need to coax them towards the right place.

Bananas, anyone??!!!!!

When I purchased this banana tree a year ago it was about a foot tall. This week, I noticed a shoot that had grown into my neighbor's yard full of little bananas. I don’t know how I totally missed it before this.

These bananas are the dwarf type, much smaller than the kind sold in the local supermarket but, in my opinion, much sweeter and have a longer shelve life.

The best thing about growing bananas is that from one tree you get many. I already have three offspring plants growing next to the mother plant.

A new fountain for my garden.

The small pond in my back garden became a casualty during my vacation this month. The pump stopped working and, as you can see, it did not look very nice and smelled worse! I'd been thinking of replacing this pond for a while because it had become too difficult keeping it clean.

This weekend I took a trip to my local Home Depot and found this beautiful fountain. It’s the right size and height and resembles the fountains found in courtyards in Italy. I am very happy with the result.

On Sunday, my wife and I attended "Butterfly Days" at the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami. This is an annual event but it was my first time seeing it. We had a great time! It was amazing to see hundreds of native butterflies flapping around the grounds of this amazing garden. We attended a couple of seminars on how to make your garden butterfly-friendly and got some great tips. Sorry no pictures--I forgot my camera!

What I did on my summer vacation.

I mentioned in my last post that my family and I returned from a European vacation last week. We planned this vacation as a college graduation present for both our daughters. The oldest graduated three years ago and my youngest last year, so this was the perfect year to take this family trip.
All of us have traveled in Europe before but never as a family. The last time I was in the old continent I was carefree and single, looking for adventure. My wife did the same before we met, enjoying her own European jaunt as a single woman. This time we were going with a different perspective. Each of us had different wants from our European trip-- my girls wanted some adventure and shopping, my wife--a history buff--wanted to see castles, palaces, churches, etc. etc., and I wanted to see gardens.
We settled on 10-day cruise from Genoa, Italy, to London, England and a few extra days in London.

We arrived in Genoa after a long transatlantic flight so tired we went directly to the ship and did not get to see much of the city.

Our first port-of-call (the very next morning) was the Principality of Monaco in southern France. Monaco is the Disney World of the rich and famous with the second most expensive real estate in the world (second only to Hong Kong). Every inch of this beautiful harbor is taken by million dollar yachts.
The public gardens and parks are gorgeous and immaculate. I was surprised to find the flowers and trees growing in the area are the same as what I have in my garden in Miami.

There are many roof gardens because space is scarce in this tiny country.

The big yacht with the name "Carnival Splendor" is mine!

Our second port was Barcelona, Spain. I am not a big fan of cities but this city left an impression on me. There is an energy in Barcelona that is hard to describe.

The most famous sight in the city is the church of the Holy Family, “La Sagrada Familia." This church was designed by the famous architect, Antoni Gaudi (from his name comes the English adjective, "gaudy"). I have to admit his architectural style is an acquired taste, most definitely "gaudy!" The church has been under construction for over 100 years; Gaudi himself passed away without seeing his creation finished. When you stand next to it, is so impressive that even if you don’t like the style, you can't help but admire and appreciate its sheer magnificence and dimension. It literally dominates the city square where it is located.
Barcelona has very few parks and gardens. I was told that the city was designed that way. Most buildings have inner courtyards where the locals garden. Unfortunately, these are not seen from the streets. This city is definitely on my list of "must return for longer inspection."

Our third port stop on the cruise was Lisbon, Portugal. The entrance to the harbor reminded me of San Francisco (even with a Portuguese Golden Gate Bridge) and the city even has the old cable cars, just like San Fran! Lisbon is very old and charming but unfortunately we visited on a Sunday and most places were closed.

Our next port was La Havre, France, the port entrance for Paris. “Aaah, Parie” without a doubt, the most beautiful city in the world. I had forgotten how gorgeous this city is with its wide avenues, magnificent monuments and buildings, and famous landmarks. The architectural style of this gem is incredible and I was able to fully appreciate it. The last time I visited, I was a young man looking for adventure and the architecture was not my priority of things to find in Paris!

Cruising down the River Seine, you find many people that have converted old cargo barges into homes and on these barges you find lovely gardens. How cool would it be to have one of those barges as your home and be able to garden with the Paris skyline as your backdrop! Since we were in Paris just for the day, I was unable to visit Versailles with its magnificent gardens--oh well, looks like I'll have to return!

The cruise terminated in the port of Dover, England. We then treated ourselves to a few days in merry old London. Finally, I thought, I am going to see English gardens, famous for their beauty!
We spent several days in London, visiting the city, sightseeing, attending West End plays, and shopping (why do women have the need to shop everywhere they go???)

After a few days in the city, I had not seen any typical English gardens. London is a city like any other, with beautiful parks and exciting places to visit. Most of the locals live in "flats" (apartments). Space is scarce and there is little room for gardens but you see many balconies and side walks full of plants that reflects the English passion for gardening.
On our last day, we visited the village of Royal Windsor and Windsor Castle on the outskirts of London and finally I was able to see some beautiful gardens from the window of our tour bus. This magnificent castle is Queen Elizabeth's favorite residence. It is said that she considers Buckingham Palace her office but Windsor Castle her home. (No, she was not "home" that day!)

This garden inside Windsor castle belongs to the Lord Governor (in other words, the "manager" of the place). I would not like to be the Lord Governor, tending to my roses while thousands of tourists take pictures of me from above. The queen has her private gardens but these were not open to the public.

I have one complaint about our visit to England. While we were there, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth had one of her famous garden parties. Over eight thousand people were invited and I was not one of them! It is very upsetting that I, a gardener visiting London for the first time after 30 years, was not invited to her garden party at Buckingham Palace. That's it--I am taking her name off my Labor Day barbecue list. Let's see how she likes that! Cheerio, all!

Wrong plant for the wrong place.

This week I came back from my vacation and I fond my garden in total chaos.
It looks like I was gone for more than a year. The plants have grown like they were on steroids, the weeds are out of control and the snails are back.
I purchased this vine a year ago at a BJ super club while buying groceries; the flowers were so beautiful that I could not resist.
Here it is today, after three weeks alone in the garden. It definitely has to go.








I came back from my European vacation nursing a bad cold, my energy levels are not up to working outside in the 90 degree humidity accompany by thousands of mosquitoes. Sooner or later I’ll have to gather my energy and go out side and reclaim my garden, I can’t stand looking at it this way.