Some are for beauty, some for short cuts to get some place, and then there is mine. The hedge to the right is at the back of our garden. It is 4 feet from the edge of the property. This allows me to trim all sides of the hedge and not burden the neighbor. And if your young it's fun to run around and hide. It was 12 feet high but as I have aged it is now 10 feet high and I can still clip it.
Last night we talked to relatives in Missouri, and it's cold up there. In their little town, trees are down due to the ice and the electric lines are out due to the trees. They hope that the center of the town will have electricity by tonight. One church is giving out warm meals. Our relatives at least can keep their house warm. 
One of the new and large homes. But this one reminds me of the older homes. The surround of the front door and the windows look just like the ones of the 20's and the 30's.
The owner was a retired bachelor that didn't keep up the property for the last ten years of his life. When he was more active the garden was a botanical forest and the building was well kept. Now we just hope that who ever buys the property will see it as a gem to fix and not a piece of land that can be used to build a super big house.
The house shouts new, new, new. There was once a fine little old Spanish style house. This new house is OK, but I miss the old house.
Another house with three windows in the stairwell. You can't build a copy of a house within one mile from the original house in Coral Gabels. But you can use an idea but not the entire house. You can find these stairwell windows in many of our houses. I grew up in a house that had a twin 1.2 miles from our house. It wasn't an exact copy, it was about 20% smaller. The small house was torn down to make way for a large home.
The C & A house is any house on the historic streets of Castile Ave. or Asturia Ave. In the 20's these streets had some of the most interesting houses in the city. The small and medium sized houses were what our city was all about. Some of the houses have been torn down to give way to a larger house. 
Last night it went down to 41f and the night before it was 39f but this orchid is looking good in the sun this morning. I had the well water running in the pond for the last two days because the cichlids (fish) will die when the temperature goes lower then 40f. The breadfruit tree needed the warm water for the same reason.
Dew on the window means that it must be cold outside. It's just relative. For 2 months we had nights down in the 60's and last week it hit the 50's. Last night it dropped to 39f in the Miami area. The thermometer in the open garage read 49f. The breadfruit tree, some Ae Ae bananas and one or two small plants will show temperature damage, but the rest of the garden will get through this very coooold night.
Forty years ago when we were looking for a house, this was the one that we wanted. But it wasn't for sale. We looked at a house directly across the street but couldn't think of living across from the house that we wanted. Twenty years later when it was up for sale we were too pleased with our house to think of moving. We knew the house we have now was the one we would buy before we even looked at the inside. So house 3 is second on my list and I have never been inside.
The curb appeal can't be topped. When I was last in this house it did not have crown molding, stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, and slabs of granite all over the house. This house doesn't even have a great room. But I can tell you this is a great home.
This orchid looks like a newly produced hybrid that you can buy in any big box store like Home Depot. It's a species from the jungles that was found over 70 years ago. This clone (divisions of the original plant) was extremely expensive until they were produced with cells from the original plant. Now the price is related to the production cost and not for its rarity. I have 6 of them hanging in the tree enjoying the winter temperatures. This week we have night temperatures in the 50's. Lan (Miami Blog) also has this orchid in his back yard.
Diane is a friend of mine and she and her husband brought this Heliconia clone from Jamaica. It blooms all year long and I thought we needed some color. We were down to the 50's in the evening this past week.
This house was built on one lot with gardens on separate lots. The lot west of the house was sold a few years ago and a modern house was built. This is a very nice looking house but for some of us that remember the original garden much has been lost.
This is Schomburgkia wallisia that thrives in our garden. It needs the full sun and doesn't mind a few hours of cool temperatures (it's in the 50's today).
Pigeon Peas also known as grandules grow very well in Coral Gables. These are growing a block from city hall. The grandules tastes like a black eyed pea but it is a much bigger plant. I have grown it off and on for the last 40 years. Shucking the peas take time and that's the reason that this vegetable is seldom seen in gardens around here. The other problem is that the green pods stain my hands a dark brown and the stain lasts for a day or two.
This is one of the earliest houses in Coral Way. We looked at the house when it was for sale 40 years ago. The house is a beauty but too big for us.
It looks like a well but it's a fountain under the pergola. This is a feature of the city and not part of the private house behind the wrought iron gate.
This flame brightens south Florida through the winter. The old Spanish style homes often have the vine on the roof or on the perimeter walls.
Healthy
Nearly Dead
The shutter has been closed for ever, at least it seems that way. The blue shutter doesn't enhance this fine old house.
For the last 5 weeks we have had perfect weather with nights in the 60's and the days in the 70's. If we keep this weather for the next two months the flowers will be so large it will be comic and not good landscaping.
This small tree blooms off and on for the whole year. Some time you don't look up to see the flowers, but you stop to enjoy the fragrance. It smells just like Narcissus papyraceus, the paper white narcissus. The seed pods look like a bunch of red radishes when ripe.
