The Real Cavalier

Coral Gables Senior High School students think of them selves as Cavaliers. And this is the one they think about.

Coral Gables High School Cavalier

I'm a Cavalier and proud of it. But I'm not sure which classmate posed for this piece of metal. Click here to see if it gets any better.

The Orchid Was Purchased in The Summer of 1949

My Epidendrum cochleatum was bought from a Mexican grower that likely ripped it off tree in the jungle. That was legal back then. In all these years the orchid has had it's name changed three times. I still use the original name. The common name is Clamshell Orchid or black orchid.

Once the orchid is established and blooming it tends to be in constant bloom.

One More Dutch Village House

Notice the swirls in the chimney.

Jade Vine in Full Bloom

This vine looks very much like a glass window that Louis Comfort Tiffany might have made.

This Wisteria transom is one of many Wisteria windows that Tiffany produced. This one is in a Florida museum.

Lady Slipper

Just a little eye candy. These are more of a challenge in our warm climate.

Sleeping Beauty

This house is one of the Italian Village homes. Unfortunately the owners have installed a wall and a cover of shrubs that totally hide the beauty of this Italian home.

Yesterday I received a second bogus comment. The first one said 'see this'. I opened his profile to check out his blog. To my surprise I got a page about the virus that I have and how their product would clean it up. Since I use Linux I knew that I would not be open to his virus nor did I need a cure. This last blogger only left a link and no mention of my daily picture. When I looked at the profile, it was empty. I removed the comment.

From Mars

Does anyone have a clue what this could be?

Another Colonnade

This is one of the new colonnades. They come in handy when it rains.

Sobralia vialacea

This is a fairly rare orchid for south Florida. Most orchid growers pass by the Sobralia due to the fact that the flower only lasts for one day, at least the ones that we can grow.

Red Bougainvillea is Winning

The poor oak doesn't have a chance.

Jade Vine

This flower was my favorite picture for 2007 and it's in bloom again. Bigger and better then ever.

The Oak Tree is Winning

Imagine mowing the lawn with all those low branches. The car is parked between the branches. The Live Oak tends to have low branches that form with age. But these are amazing.

A Bronze Door

I have seen bronze doors on churches, museums and some very large buildings. But this door is on a up scale house (not even a McMansion). Two days ago you saw the front door that leads to the living room. Today's door is a back door.

McMansion: a large, grandiose and completely obnoxious home that looks so generic it had to come out of a styrofoarm box

A Nice Back Door

I have been in this house and yesterdays picture shows the front door. This door is the back door, maybe a side door. Can you tell me the material in the door and its windows? The house has very little set back.

Italian Village

Of the many villages in Coral Gables (French, Chinese, Dutch, etc.) this is my favorite.

Glenn Mango

All three mango trees had an early bloom in December and they produced a small crop. But now they are putting out a new flush of blooms. This means that we will have a longer season to enjoy this great fruit.

Orchids Growing in The Backyard

This orchid grows on a palm in our back yard and this one has been flowering for the last 3 months.

This orchid is 59 years old

I bought this orchid (V. Janet Tagawa) in the 40's as a seedling in a bottle. It took 4 or 5 years for it to bloom. But once it bloomed it never stopped blooming. It blooms off and on all year, every year. I have one orchid that is over 100 years old. But that one was 50 years old when I received it.

Blue as They Come

This shrub has amazing blue flowers, but it is an untidy plant. The spent flowers don't fall off. You just have to ignore the brown parts. The plant is normally scrawny and it's best in a mixed border were a few stems of blue flowers pop up here or there.

Flame Vine

In the 60's it was common to let flame vines grow over the roof. In houses with barrel tile the flowers would turn the roof orange with flowers. But when the home owner realized that the vine was ruining the roof the vine was taken off the roof.

Roystonea regia 'Royal Palm'

This is a native palm of the Florida Everglades and Cuba. They are very tall, but they seldom fall from hurricane winds.

Lantana

This small shrub takes your eyes a block away. This plant in illegal in many countries because it can poison cattle. But it's top class eye candy.

Flowers of the Gods

Recently Miami hosted the World Orchid Conference 19. The orchid show was open to all. This movie clip shows the Disa orchids from South Africa. This is the largest selection of Disa ever to be shown in the USA. They will not grow in Florida and the orchid growers in the cooler parts of the country have great difficulty with it's cultivation. The flowers are on long stems and are strong enough to be used as a cut flower.

Ficus Aggression

This tree will be here long after the last roach disappears. Fortunately the insect that pollinates this tree doesn't live in Florida (yet).

A Ficus Tunnel

Many of our trees are at risk during a hurricane. These trees help each other. The branches support one another. In my lifetime, I have seen only one of these trees fall over.

Star and Dome

This large home has a strange dome over the second floor. Since I was a child I knew the owners children and they were very active Catholics. I never went into the house or asked about the dome. But I do know that it was never a church, synagogue or mosque.

An Interesting Courtyard

The courtyard was added on to this rather plain home. Now there is a reason to look at this house.

The theme for Feb. 1 08 is: What Your City is Known For

The DeSoto Fountain is working better then ever. The fountain has not worked for 5 years. It took 4 years to find someone who would do the repairs and one year to do the work. The bill was $750,000. Yes, I know we could have had 2 or 3 of them if we started from scratch. Three blocks behind the fountain is an other icon, the Builtmore

Daily Photo Bloggers that are registered in today's theme.

Portland (OR), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Memphis (Tennessee), USA - Manila, Philippines - San Diego (CA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - New York City (NY), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - San Francisco (CA), USA - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - Mainz, Germany - Weston (FL), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Turin, Italy - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Bicheno, Australia - Durban, South Africa - Joplin (MO), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Brussels, Belgium - Chicago (IL), USA - Montpellier, France - Seattle (WA), USA - Mazatlan, Mexico - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Toulouse, France - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Susanville (CA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Helsinki, Finland - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Lisbon, Portugal - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Trujillo, Peru - Dunedin (FL), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USAPort Angeles (WA), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - London, UK - Baziège, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mumbai, India - Naples (FL), USA - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Setúbal, Portugal - Stayton (OR), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Arradon, France - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Athens, Greece - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Jackson (MS), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Budapest, Hungary - Rotterdam, Netherlands - St Malo, FranceChandler (AZ), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Cleveland (OH), USA - Nottingham, UK - Kansas City (MO), USA - The Hague, Netherlands - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Wrocław, Poland - Chateaubriant, France - Cheltenham, UK - Moscow, Russia - Monrovia (CA), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Toruń, Poland - Grenoble, France - Lisbon, Portugal - New Orleans (LA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Boston (MA), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Wichita (KS), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Christchurch, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Wailea (HI), USA - Aliso Viejo (CA), USA - St Francis, South Africa - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Seattle (WA), USA - Pasadena (CA), USA - Vienna, Austria - Orlando (FL), USA - Torun, Poland - Delta (CO), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Paris, France - Stavanger, Norway - Niamey, Niger - Le Guilvinec, France - Bogor, Indonesia - Saarbrücken, Germany - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Juneau (AK), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Glasgow, Scotland - Chicago (IL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Sydney, Australia - Riga, Latvia - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Terrell (TX), USA - Terrell (TX), USA>