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Canary Island Date (Phoenix canariensis)- inflorence

Florida Thatch palm(Thrinax radiata)-inflorence

Canary Island Date Palm trunck with Asparagus sprengerii and fern

Hibiscus rosa sinensis cultivar

Hibiscus rosa sinensis "Snow Queen"

Bower Vine(Pandorea jasminoides)

Ixora chinensis "Singapore Yellow"


Yellow Poinciana (Peltophorum pterocapum)

Dwarf Poinciana (Caesalpinia spp.)

Prescribed Burn on Big Pine Key

What's Happinin' - Around the Island
On this incredibly humid and soggy day today the Florida fish and Wildlife conducted a prescribed burn on a few acres of Pine Rockland habitat yesterday off Key Deer Blvd. located on Big Pine Key. This Pine Rockland habitat is essential to some species of plants and animals. Without the burn which is a natural component of our ecology this P. R. habitat would slowly convert to Hardwood Hammock. Not so good.

The area is walked through to ensure no animals are present and when weather conditions are right they begin the burn. The conditions were perfect yesterday with high humidity and low wind. The fungus on my orchids liked the weather too.
Here we have a Sable Palm, an unusual species for the Pine Rocklands. An enterprising bird picked just the right spot to deposit this seed.
This image shows the far more common Brittle Thatch Palm( Thrinax morrissii) and the resulting char from this quickly moving fire. At one time it was said that hwen transplanting Brittle Thatch you should flame the cut root ends to simulate fire. This practise never worked for me as all my transplants just died. The story of my life.

That's it, see ya.

Brittle Thatch, White-crowned Pigeon

What's Growin'-Palms Brittle Thatch Palm(Thrinax morrisii) is an uncommon palm elsewhere is a common tree on the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key.

This slow growing endangered species is not a tall palm with extreme specimens reaching 20’. The berries are a favorite food of the Key Deer.

It has a characteristically rough trunk with the frond bases not persistent but falling away as the tree matures. A very difficult palm to transplant but nice as a low specimen plant or in a group.
What's Flyin'-Birds Our summertime visitors, the White-Crowned Pigeon(Patagioenas leucocephala), are becoming fewer and fewer. They arrive in late April or early May feasting on the ripe fruit of the Poisonwood tree, Blolly and Randia. Local lore says they do show the effects of fermented berries sometimes crashing through the trees in a drunken frenzy. They are a timid bird that is very difficult to approach but fortunately show a preference to sitting on solitary branches. This fine bird suffered from hunting in the early part of the century. They are only found in the Florida Keys, sporadically in South Florida and the Caribbean.

That's it, see ya

Lignum Vitae, Dendrobiums

Another Labor Day has come and gone with me doing almost no labor…sweet. I did plant some Waltham broccoli seeds and planted a couple Pitch Apples that we got at a free plant give away. Nothing like free plants.
What’s Growin’- Vegetables
I took a quick pic of my compost pile this one is just a bit smaller than the one I used to make my potting mix for the veg. garden .

What’s Growin’- Natives
The Lignum Vitae, one of two in our yard is showing seed. Every year I say I should start seed but the darn things are so slow growing that I always say forget it. Sure do love the flowers when the tree blooms though. Lignum Vitae is an EXTREMELY dense and hard wood, so much so that it is used for mallet heads and blocks for the ships of yore.

What’s Bloomin’-Tropicals
Couple pix of some Dendrobiums growing in the buttonwoods along the driveway. I have very good luck with sticking Dendrobiums in the trees especially as opposed to Phals. Vandas do pretty well also but Oncidiums seem to want more care than I’m willing to give.

That's it...see ya

Pitch Apple, Swallows

What's Bloonin'-Native
The Pitch Apple(Clusia rosea) goes by a couple common names including Balsam Aplle and Autograph Tree. If you carve your name in the thick leathery leaves they will stay on the tree for many months to come. It is said that the pirates of old used the leaves as playing cards.

The seed pod contains small red seeds and is surrounded by a black resinous substance that was at one time used to caulk the seams of boats hence the name Pitch Apple

The bud opens with white and pink petals that later turn brown.

The seed pod is a tough poisonous applelike structure.

What's Flyin'

Barn swallows have stopped in in the beginnig of the annual migration. They can be seen wheeling about the sky in seach of insect meals each morning and evening.

Joewood, cicadas

Whats Happenin'-Life

It’s a beautiful day weather-wise so I gathered some more lumber for the veg. garden enclosure. Picked up some old 4x4’s that I had stashed and it looks like I’ll be able to build this 14’x16’ cage from all scrap lumber. I’ll try to doll it up some and maybe throw a coat of paint on it but that is work for the weekend.

Whats Growin'-Vegetables

I took this pic yesterday from the road that leads from our home to the Overseas Hyw. Just an illustration of how anyone can grow a few cherry tomatoes if you really want to. This boat belongs to an old sponger named Dwayne…and I mean he really is a sponger…collecting sponges from the clear waters of Newfound Harbor.

Whats Buzzin'-Insects

The days of summer are starting to wind down, it still is hot but the sun isn’t as brutal as it was a couple of weeks ago. One of the harbingers of fall is the die off of the Keys cicada (Diceroprocta biconica). Yup, the Keys even has their own cicada. They are larger than the infamous 17 year cicada of the eastern US and no one is sure how long their lifecycle is but adults emerge every year instead of the mass hatching we have heard of.These guys are those buzzing critters in the trees from May through August, the ones that dive bomb ya when you’re running a blower and they think you’re a giant cicada that they can mate with. Anyway, I found this guy with just a couple of buzzes left in him.




What's Bloomin'-Native
This native is a favorite of many and Liz and I are fortunate to have a bunch of mature specimens on our property. It is a large shrub that rarely reaches 15 feet in height. It has a dense crown of foliage with 2” leathery leaves. The small white flowers have a killer fragrance that is very pronounced in the evenings. It is currently in bloom and still has clusters of seed from its last blooming period. The wood is very hard and we try to hold back from pruning as the natural shape is extremely pleasing.

Thats it, see ya

Floss Silk, Wild Allamanda

I took the morning off from garden chores to try and figure out my problems downloading images to my computer from my camera. Lo and behold it was a bad card reader and not me being a total computer illiterate.

Whats bloomin'- Tropical Exotic

While running to the store I spotted one of my favorite trees in bloom at a local dentist’s office on the Overseas Hyw. in Big Pine Key.

The Floss Silk Tree (Chorisia speciosa) is a member of the Bombacaeae family and is a South American native. This large tree has an open growth pattern with branches radiating out from a central trunk and what a trunk it is, studded with short, squat, barbacle-like thorns.

The pink and white blooms were alive with pollinators ranging from Sulphur butterflies to bees and wasps. The leaves are few during bloom allowing for pollinators easier access but what leaves there are are palmately divided with 5 or 7 leaflets.

Whats Bloomin-Native

The Wild Allamanda (Pentalinon luteum) has its 2" bright yellow flowers all year long but it is far less prolific than its non native cousins the common Allamanda (Allamanda cathartica) or the Bush Allamanda (Allamanda nerrifolia).

This sprawling vine adds a welcome bit of color to the wetland habitat where I took this photo.

That's it for now, see ya.