(This is not so much a hate post, but an educational one)
Here's often what a client asks for:
1) Large, colorful flowers
2) Abundance of flowers
3) Flowers all year 'round
...all on the same plant.
Sorry, I would love to help you out, but there just isn't such a thing; Nature doesn't work that way. You're welcome.
Ivory Cane Palm (Pinanga coronata)
It's great to be human; to precieve and be awed by beauty when no beauty is intended, such as landscapes, sunsets and most forms of life.
Palms, by (nonintelligent) design, have only one growing point per stem/trunk. If the growing point is damaged, death is inevitable. Due to extreme diversity of leaf-eaters close to the equator, many tropical palm specie have developed colorations of their newly emerging leaves. One theme is reddish (orange/red/purple) leaves, which insects perceive as brown, hence appears dead or dying. Another is mottling; blotches of contrasting color, which gives gives the appearance of being anemic, diseased or in the latter stages of some insect infestation.
So this is one of Nature's way of intentional unattractiveness, yet we see it as beautiful. It's great to be human.
Now that you know how to pronounce it,
please stop calling them Chameleons. Thanks.
Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)
Florida was once teeming with Green Anoles. They still are
very common, but in distured areas, have been replaced by
the far more aggressive Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei),
accidentally introduced from Cuba.
Hence, Green Anoles are a indicator of a 'healthier' ecosystem.
From personal observations, the lower diversity of plant and
insect specie (either exotic or native) in a given area,
the higher the number of resident Brown Anoles.
So if you have an abundance of Green Anoles in your landscape,
rejoice. If the Brown Anole population is high, please plant more.
And stop using so many damn chemicals.
Recently, I suggested the inclusion of native plants
to the plant palette to a client, not only because of the obviously
challenging conditions of his homesite, but also because I
could tell this guy would be too cheap to irrigate his landscape.
"No, I don't want weeds."
You know, ... there comes a time in a seasoned Naturalist's life when
he (or she) wishes there was a strict Qu'ran to guide our people through life's difficult desicions. Such an utterance would surely be blasphemous and be pushishable by death.
That's all I got to say.
Plumbago (Plumbago ariculata)
Cassius Blue (Leptotes cassius)
Marine Blue (Leptotes marina)
Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus)
o man, it rained.
it finally fucking rained. real rain.
towering thunderheads with black scud and nastyass killer lightning, that kinda rain.
better still, sixty percent chance for the next few days. so, farewell little blog, you know where i'll be. outside, planting. adding a bit more food and shelter and surface area for the slime of life. mother nature is so sexy, i just can't resist giving her a little pat on the butt.
LOW ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE MAKES ME WET
If your goal is to provide food for wildlife and maybe a little beauty,
plant this vine now!
Basically, my three acre oasis is a under a strict self-imposed 'No Kill Zone' policy. Since I'm a hypocritical human, three exceptions apply:
1) Mosquitoes may be smacked.
1) Cockroaches may be stomped
1) Armadillos, in a perfect world, should be trapped when viewed as a nuisance
Speaking of 3, there's only three things that truly depress me:
1) When it's too cold for my plantings
2) When it's too dry for my plantings
3) When armadillos destroy my plantings
I will hide behind the fact that armadillos are non-native, while firmly believing this species would have inevitably made the trek to the Southern U.S. anyway. Of course, like virtually all animals, it's a highly interesting critter, but the damage they cause to my my little horticultural wonderland is infuriating. Since Central Florida is in the midst of a drought, they scramble from near and far, attracted to the soil dwellers in my artificially irrigated gardens. A major concern of mine is the effect on endangered Sand Skink populations, which have become reestablished on my property, due to habitat I've worked hard to recreate. I've trapped and released in past years, but setting a trap for armadillos requires constructing a veritable maze to lead them to it, yet it doesn't imply success.. not even close.
I hereby offer a 15 gallon native tree/shrub per animal or one native tree/shrub seedling per inch of animal, all to be planted on my property, of course.
So come kill the armadillos.
Just don't make me watch.
Sand Skink (Neoseps reynoldsi)
Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)
Winter 2006/07 scared me.
While I've been noticing a slow decline in visiting migrating birds in the past years, the recent season was woefully sparse, despite my extra effort and budget to provide food, even splurging on Thistle seeds. The migrating stopovers were the lowest I've seen in over ten years; even the cacophonous springtime onslaught of Robins appeared to be thinned out. One big fat old noble male (no, not me) stayed until the end of May, either oblivious to or relishing his solitary stint.
No uncommon birds were spotted, save for a pair of Orioles, which optimistically is the same pair seen here the past three years. Cedar Waxwings numbers were somewhat fewer. but the flocks stayed unusually long this year, despite some very warm weeks, perhaps because of the extra abundance of fruit borne on the Black Cherries and Cherry Laurels , perhaps not.
Across the road, the local tribe of threatened Florida Scrub Jays, which were banded during a filming of a documentary by the University of Florida has decreased from a thriving family of six to two haggard individuals in a span of six months, obviously because of urban sprawl and subsequent traffic creeping ever closer. Fucked up.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
Carolina Cherry Laruel (Prunus caroliniana)
