Slow Food On The Way

Slow Food is coming to the Merrick House this fall. About 35 years ago I had a garden in the back of the house that produced all of the vegetables that we needed for the year. I did it for at least 5 years. That was slow food before It was called any thing other then a vegetable garden.

A Tent On One Of My Favorite Houses In Coral Gables

The house is has tented and filled with poison to kill the termites.This is the first time that I remember that this house needed the tent (at least in last 40 years). We have tented our house twice in that time. That's something that happens often in a tropical area.

A Brassavola nodosa Hybrid Hanging In Our Garden

I have had this orchid for 20 years and have never found a proper name for it. I think it might be Euchile mariae x B nodosa. I Googled that name with no answers.

Granada Entrance

We have a lot of entrances but no city walls. This is one of the smaller entrances. The entrance is on the north border of our city.

Bromeliad Plant Getting Ready To Bloom

The flowers are not open yet. They will be little yellow flowers on the top. The beautiful red leaves are what catches your eyes.

Coral Gables Alhambra Entrance

This is one of the lesser entrances, but it's a treasure.

Purple Allamanda, Flowering vine-like bush Cryptostegia grandiflora

More lavender than purple, the flowers are plentiful on this plant that differs also in its leaves from its cousin the yellow allamanda

Douglas Entrance On The North East Of Coral Gables

This is the portal that most people used to enter our city. We weren't walled in, this was just a very pleasant way to come in. The road has been closed at 8th Street for about 40 years, it was a traffic disaster.

Lagerstroemia speciosa

It is important to the health store people. They sell a product from the Lagerstroemia speciosa that can help you lose weight. I think it only works if you believe. I know it as Queens Crapemyrtle a small tree with really neat flowers.

A Double Red Adinium

The Grotto At The Merrick House

Myrmecophila tibicinis Is The New Name - I Know It As Schomburgkia tibicinis

This orchid comes from Mexico and all the way to Colombia. The large psuedobulbs are hollow with an entrance at the base and ants live in them. When the flower spike was growing the ants were all over the stem gathering nectar. The 5 foot stem and the flowers have nectar. Notice the ant on the flower. I let them alone because they bite.

Feng shui Lily

I thought that the lily would have damage from the cold winter. The flowers are bigger then ever.

Encyclia belizensis

Merrick's Neighborhood Is On Coral Way

Our street is lined with these beautiful oaks. It's surprising how many times that I see a tourist park their car and take a picture like this. Yes it's a Way, not a St., Ave., Ct., Tr., or Blvd.

Poinciana Place

This is the honeymoon cottage that George Merrick built for his wife. They used the house for a few years before they built their large home on the golf course. Poinciana Place was built as a one bedroom and one bath house. The major value of this home is the magnificent front porch with its view of the old oak trees that line the street.

This is one of the 289 pictures that were lost. I was very upset, but not any more. I saw someone that had lost a picture and I mentioned it to him. He said that the picture was in the right place. I finely found a friend that gave me the answer. My Firefox was the problem. Internet Explorer found all of the pictures. When I fix the Firefox I'll start with some more picture.

For The Last 40 Years These Blood Lilies Have Bloomed In May

The blood lilies are different this year. Normally they all bloomed at the same time for a fantastic show. This year they are not together. We will enjoy the flowers for 3 weeks or more. In the past we would have them for only one week.

This Orchid Was Damaged By The Cold Winter

This Dendrobium orchid should have at least 12 flowers on this stem and a few more stems. I'm happy that it is alive and I have one flower. Like any gardener, I will do it better next year.

A Pink House With A Pink Plumeria Tree

A Nice Poinciana In The Parking Lot Of Our Church

Just enjoy them, they are all winners.

The Poincianas Are Blooming All Over Coral Gables Like They Did In 1941

Enjoy the Poincianas because it may take 60 or 70 years to see them this good again. The last time that we had a winter like this one was in 1941.

Bellflower (Portlandia grandiflora) At Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

An Old House And It looks Modern

Midmorning Snack

The 18 month old took the chocolate cake out of the fridge and then his 4 year old brother brought some cereal. The parents were there, unfortunately not in that room. I can write more about our grandsons but the picture tells everything.

Hollyhocks In Our Garden

I haven't grown hollyhocks since the 50's. The northern hollyhocks with doubled flowers will not grow in south Florida. I was told that the type that I have came from Mexico.

They Are All Over The City, Some Call Them Flamboyant

Police-hen At Work

We have regular policemen and then we have this police-hen. Last August 10, 2009 we saw this hen guarding the Merrick house. The hen was out there on guard for a month. By the second day we were friends.
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