Orchids In A Flower Bed

The tenth hole of the city golf course has a bed of orchids. These orchids, Epidendrum radicans, grow like weeds.

Serenity

With a bit of osteoarthritis it's sometimes nice to just sit and enjoy the beauty of the water around us in Coral Gables. This is another pond at the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden.

Lotus 'Momo Butan'

This is my first double lotus flower of the season. On the first day it's only partly open.


The second and third the flower opens and the forth day the petals shed.

8 AM On A Sunny Sunday

The rest of the block is sleeping, but Starbucks is busy. The 11 newspaper boxes are getting a workout.

The Monarch Is Gone

When I went into the garden I saw that the chrysalis was empty. I had missed the unfolding of the new butterfly. Then I saw it about 3 feet down the branch.

The inner wings were still curled. The butterfly disappeared in a half hour, no were to be seen.

Memorial Day

The flag in our garden is the most important part of the day. I honor all that went before me, not just heroes, but all of the people that gave to our country.

This floral flag below is 740 feet long and 390 feet wide and maintains the proper flag dimensions. This flag is 6.65 acres and is the first floral flag to be planted with 5 pointed stars. This flag is close to Vandenberg AFB. I thank the friend who sent it to me and let me share it with you.

Freedom of Speech

A few days ago a viewer ask me if Coral Gables had problems with newspaper boxes. I talked it over with my wife and we thought that we have it under control. It had been bad, but the city cleaned it up. Early this morning we went to the center of the business district. Wow where we wrong. This corner at Starbucks Coffee has 11 boxes and the other three pictures are across the street.



The Miami Herald in English and Spanish

Coral Gables Gazette, New Times, and Coral Gables News

Sun Post Weekly (Ft. Lauderdale) and the Career Building Extra (part of the Miami Herald)

We did stop the the boxes that had circulars about houses for sale or ones about cars that were for sale. The city would like to clean up the sidewalks but FREEDOM OF SPEECH is more important.

A Place For A Wedding

The last time we were at the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden this area was getting ready for a wedding. It was strange to see all of the imported flowers (white roses, hydrangea and calla lilies). A royal outing if it doesn't rain.

First Lotus Flower Of The Season

Columns Of The Prado Are Being Fixed

Money is tight for the city, like anyone else. It's nice to see that the infrastructure is being kept up.

Time To Take a Swim

Every Thing Is Grand At The Biltmore

This swimming pool is one of the biggest in the country. There is a pool in Chile that makes this look like a bath tub. But that big pool uses salt water.

Mexican sunflower or Nitobe chrysanthemum (Tithonia diversifolia)

pupa/chrysalis

Fridays butterfly never was able to fly properly and this morning I found the wings near our back door. But don't be troubled, the next one is on the way. Every 3 months the caterpillars eat the entire green parts on my milkweeds. In the last 4 years the milkweeds have flowered once, the caterpillars are always there to do their thing. I was never sure that they had enough food to mature properly. Now I know. Check out, pupa/chrysalis

The Columns Of The Prado

This column is in good condition.

But this column has a slight problem due to a hurricane, many years ago.

A Queen Or A Monarch

I found this butterfly drying out its wings on a dead leaf near the backyard path. The leaf fell before the butterfly was ready to fly. I picked it up and put it in to a bush. But the next day it was still there and the wings were still curled at the ends.

Our Swimming Hole

I learned to swim in this pool. The Red Cross gave free swimming classes when I was a youngster.

Oaks In Front Of The Prado

Orchid Growing in a Fruit Tree

We have four of these in the tree and it's a great show.

Daylily With Bee

The Prado Entrance

The entrance to the Prado has a new bed of summer flowers, on the north side. Last year I posted the central fountain of the Prado. This looks more like Spain then Florida.


The flower is periwinkle, not the northern blue Vinca, but Madagascar periwinkle, Vinca roseus. When I was young this flower grew all over the city. It seemed to be a pretty local weed. Now we have periwinkles on steroids. The color is much more vivid and the flower is bigger. But it is fragile and fungus often kills it. I gave up growing it. Now I will watch to see if the city can control the fungus.

Foxfire Sitting On My Firefox Page

The waterlily 'Foxfire' blooms every day of the year. As the temperature goes up the flowers get larger. Last week I changed the fertilizer and today the flower is noticeably larger. Well it could be the heat.

An Old Spanish House?

Yes, it once was an old Spanish house. Recently it was enlarged and made more modern. The carport and the windows next to it look Spanish. The rest looks new. It doesn't work for me.

A Daylily In South Florida

The daylily grows all over the USA. In the middle and north parts of Florida they are very easy to grow, but it's rarely grown in south Florida.

Golf At The Biltmore

Seem like a nice way to start a round of golf.

A Chickee For Shade

The chickee on the left is a great spot to rest and enjoy the beauty of the water.

Mango Season in South Florida

Nam Doc Mai mango

This is going to be a long season because the trees had early blooms and late ones. For the last three weeks we have been eating the early mangoes and we have all of these for the next 2 or 3 months. Then after that we will have the Golden Nugget mango, one of the last to mature.

Glenn mango

Jacaranda

Jacaranda is a common tree. But this one is a different species. The leaves are shinny while the common one has dull leaves.


But best of all, the flowers are double the size of the other species.

The Last of The Jade Vine

This vine started blooming in early February with a bang. This is the fourth flush of flowers.

I've Lost a Good Friend

The Coral Gables Country Club closed it's doors yesterday.

Gables House, We Have Your Number

This morning I woke up with out a number. I walked out to find my number before breakfast. Every single house in our block had a number that looked pretty neat, except our house. Manny years ago I removed the numbers on our house so I could paint the door. I left the numbers off for two years and no one complained or even realized that their were no numbers. Our home in Key Largo didn't have a legal street number until 25 years ago. Now we have a six digit address. The first three numbers are 101, that means that we are 101 miles from the most southern point of the USA.

Theme Day: Numbers

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
Albuquerque (NM), USA by Helen, American Fork (UT), USA by Annie, Arradon, France by Alice, Aspen (CO), USA by IamMBB, Athens, Greece by Debbie, Auckland, New Zealand by Lachezar, Austin (TX), USA by LB, Avignon, France by Nathalie, Barrow-in-Furness, UK by Enitharmon, Barton (VT), USA by Andree, Belgrade, Serbia by Bibi, Bellefonte (PA), USA by Barb-n-PA, Bicheno, Australia by Greg, Bogor, Indonesia by Gagah, Boston (MA), USA by Sarah, Whit, & Leyre, Boston (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Bucharest, Romania by Malpraxis, Budapest, Hungary by agrajag, Buenos Aires, Argentina by Karine, Busan, Korea South by iamnbinb, Canterbury, UK by Rose, Chandler (AZ), USA by Melindaduff, Chateaubriant, France by Bergson, Cheltenham, UK by Marley, Chesapeake Daily Photo (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Chicago (IL), USA by Focused Light, Christchurch, New Zealand by Michelle, Clearwater (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Clearwater Beach (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Cleveland (OH), USA by iBlowfish, Cologne, Germany by April11, Concordia Sagittaria, Italy by Patrizia, Coral Gables (FL), USA by Jnstropic, Corsicana (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Dallas (TX), USA by turtle, Darmstadt, Germany by Elsch, Dunedin (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Durban, South Africa by CrazyCow, East Gwillimbury, Canada by Your EG Tour Guide, Evry, France by Olivier, Forks (WA), USA by Mary, Geneva (IL), USA by Kelly, Glasgow, Scotland by Jackie, Greenville (SC), USA by Denton, Gun Barrel City (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Hamilton, New Zealand by Sakiwi, Hampton (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Helsinki, Finland by Kaa, Hobart, Australia by Greg, Hong Kong, Hong Kong by Rachel A., Hyde, UK by Gerald, Inverness (IL), USA by Neva, Ioannina, Greece by Christos-Ioanna, Jackson (MS), USA by Halcyon, Jefferson City (MO), USA by Chinamom2005, Jogjakarta, Indonesia by Jogja Portrait, Joplin (MO), USA by Victoria, Katonah (NY), USA by Inkster1, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Edwin, Kyoto, Japan by Tadamine, Larchmont (NY), USA by Marie-Noyale, Las Vegas (NV), USA by Mo, Le Guilvinec, France by ds2944, Lisbon, Portugal by Sailor Girl, Lisbon, Portugal by Maria João, Lodz, Poland by ritalounge, London, UK by Mo, London, UK by Ham, Mainz, Germany by JB, Malaga, Spain by Paula, Manila, Philippines by Heyokity, Maple Ridge, Canada by Susan, Marseille, France by Alex, Medan, Indonesia by KT, Melbourne, Australia by Mblamo, Melbourne, Australia by John, Memphis (TN), USA by SouthernHeart, Menton, France by Jilly, Mexico City, Mexico by Carraol, Mexico City, Mexico by Poly, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Mitch, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Greg, Minsk, Belarus by Olga, Misawa, Japan by misawa mama, Monrovia (CA), USA by Keith, Monte Carlo, Monaco by Jilly, Monterrey, Mexico by rafa, Montpellier, France by Marie, Moscow, Russia by Irina, Mumbai, India by Kunalbhatia, Mumbai, India by Magiceye, Nancy, France by yoshi, Nashville (TN), USA by Chris, Nelson, New Zealand by Meg and Ben, New Orleans (LA), USA by steve buser, New York City (NY), USA by • Eliane •, New York City (NY), USA by Ming the Merciless, Newport News (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Norfolk (VA), USA by ptowngirl, North Hampton (NH), USA by Amy, Norwich, UK by Goddess888, Nottingham, UK by Gail's Man, Ocean Township (NJ), USA by Josy, Omsk, Russia by Nataly, Orlando (FL), USA by OrlFla, Oslo, Norway by Lothiane, Owasso (OK), USA by Jennifer, Paderborn, Germany by Soemchen, Paris, France by Eric, Pasadena (CA), USA by Petrea, Pasadena (CA), USA by Can8ianben, Penang, Malaysia by Maltelda, Perth, Australia by Elevation7, Phoenix (AZ), USA by Cheryl, Pilisvörösvár, Hungary by Elise, Port Angeles (WA), USA by Jelvistar, Port Elizabeth, South Africa by Sam, Port Townsend (WA), USA by raf, Port Vila, Vanuatu by Mblamo, Portsmouth (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Prague, Czech Republic by Honza03, Quincy (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Rabaul, Papua New Guinea by Jules, Ramsey, Isle of Man by babooshka, Riga, Latvia by Riga Images, Rollag, Norway by Stormel, Rotterdam, Netherlands by Ineke, Saarbrücken, Germany by LadyDemeter, Saigon, Vietnam by Simon, Saint Paul (MN), USA by Kate, Salem (OR), USA by jill, Salt Lake City (UT), USA by atc, Salt Lake City (UT), USA by Eric, San Diego (CA), USA by Felicia, San Diego (CA), USA by Zentmrs, San Francisco (CA), USA by PFranson, San Francisco (CA), USA by Louis la Vache, Seattle (WA), USA by Chuck, Seattle (WA), USA by Kim, Selma (AL), USA by RamblingRound, Seoul, South Korea by Phil, Sesimbra, Portugal by Aldeia, Setúbal, Portugal by Maria Elisa, Sharon (CT), USA by Jenny, Singapore, Singapore by Keropok, Sofia, Bulgaria by Antonia, St Francis, South Africa by Sam, Stanwood (WA), USA by MaryBeth, Stavanger, Norway by Tanty, Stayton (OR), USA by Celine, Stockholm, Sweden by Stromsjo, Stouffville, Canada by Ken, Subang Jaya, Malaysia by JC, Suffolk (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Sunshine Coast, Australia by bitingmidge, Sydney, Australia by Julie, Székesfehérvár, Hungary by Teomo, Tacloban City, Philippines by agnesdv, Tel-Aviv, Israel by Olga, Terrell (TX), USA by Jim K, Terrell (TX), USA by Bstexas, Tokyo, Japan by Tadamine, Torun, Poland by Glenn, Torun, Poland by Torun Observer, Toulouse, France by Julia, Turin, Italy by Livio, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina by Jazzy, Twin Cities (MN), USA by Slinger, Vichy, France by Delphsnl, Victoria, Canada by Benjamin Madison, Vienna, Austria by G_mirage2, Virginia Beach (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Wailea (HI), USA by Kuanyin, Washington (DC), USA by Rachel, Wassenaar, Netherlands by Rich, West Paris (ME), USA by crittoria, West Sacramento (CA), USA by Barbara, Weston (FL), USA by WestonDailyPhoto, Williamsburg (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Willits (CA), USA by Elaine, Yardley (PA), USA by Mrlynn,