The Spooky Garden

Well, this post might be a little lame, because frankly, my garden is rather far from spooky - it being a cheerful, colorful, subtropical garden.  BUT, All Hallows' Eve is absolutely one of my favorite times of the year, so I'll give it a go and you can see if you get a chill or two up your spine, haha.  

Now, don't worry...none of my photos are very chilling.

And this one is probably more psychedelic than spooky.

And this one a bit goofy as this grackle is definitely giving me the evil eye!  

But add a little black and white - and the mood suddenly changes.

The Birds, The Birds!  Honestly, this was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  A flight of swallows flew up out of the preserve behind our house in a vortex motion.  I wish I would've gotten a video, but I was so surprised and felt I was very lucky just to have been in the right place at the right time for such an event.  Google bird murmuration if you aren't sure what I'm referring to, it is amazing!

"Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore - Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."  E. A. Poe

Maybe the scariest thing about this is how I let this beautiful vine dry up!  I did however like the decayed draping over the urn.

Wooooooooooooo - eerie birdbath.

Even the gorgeous morning light can create a spectral atmosphere using some of the photo editing features.

Vines can be spooky.

Spanish Moss definitely has a Southern Gothic thing going on.  (I keep thinking I should take that moss off, but I like it too much.)

Some of our neighborhood residents are rather ominous.

Definitely just an experiment with editing features, but this Anthurium ended up looking kind of dark and shadowy to me.

As did this peach Hibiscus.

Southwest Florida has some truly very picturesque places that make for a spooky vibe.  This is Shadow Lane in old Fort Myers, one of my favorite streets to wander down and take photos. The gardens in this section of town are drool-worthy!  But that's another post.

LOVE old oak trees!

I'll refrain from posting any more local shots after this one.  Buckingham Cemetery is an historical and hauntingly beautiful place filled with live oaks draped in Spanish moss,  It has a jungly setting with a few confederate graves.  (I've been wondering if the "PC" Police have made the caretakers feel they must take down the confederate flags...) 

I also apologize if this is an upsetting photo to any of my readers - I realize cemetery photography is not every one's 'cup of tea'.  I appreciate the historical aspect of old cemeteries, some are peaceful, some have an uncanny, uncertain feel - but that's probably just me...

And just to end on a brighter note - here's a baby pic taken eleven years ago of our Tibetan Terrier Flash and the rest of his brothers and sisters.  Flash is second from the right.  Our older TT named Kohl sired this litter and I think he did a pretty good job with mom Goldie. 

I did not take this photo. I don't remember the photographers name and apologize for not giving him credit...I normally wouldn't post someone elses photo, but gosh darn it, they're so cute!

 I hope you all have a safe and very Happy Halloween!

Mama Raccoon and the Kits

I was just saying the other day, that I never have my camera whenever I see a raccoon.  Well, not that this is a great shot, but Hurray - I finally got a pic.  

This was an unusual situation as mama raccoon made her nest clear at the top of the Giant White Bird of Paradise that grows next to our pool cage.

So when we noticed her she had already given birth to two kits.  Well, we could sit on our couch and watch her from the living room as she sat in her nest during the day.  It was very interesting to see her move her babies around - she seemed a little rough, but I'm sure she knew what she was doing.

Anyway, we tried not to disturb her by going out onto the lanai, but we had to take care of the pool and water orchids, etc. and she finally decided to move her kits to a new nest somewhere.  I don't know where.  

While she was moving the first baby, I went out and tried to get some photos of the other little guy.  It wasn't ideal conditions - the sun was beating down, taken through the pool cage screen, but there he is.  Looking kind of like a little sloth.  

I'm glad she moved them as we desperately need to powerwash the pool cage and I hated disturbing them whenever I needed to go out back.  

But it's always fun to have a front line seat to the backyard nature show!

For just one second, I'm going to say something about my health - which is a subject I don't like to discuss - kind of like politics and religion.

Last week I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that I have to take some rather heavy-duty pharmaceuticals to help combat any damage that it is doing.  

I have no idea how this will affect me and may or may not hinder my gardening (and just when we're coming into the fun gardening season!!!), but I thought I'd just say if you don't see anything very exciting showing up in my gardens lately, this is why.

I hope I can continue on as usual, time will tell.

But even if I can't garden much, there is still always something interesting (at least to me) going on in the yard.  Even if it's just a fly on a leaf.  I love the iridescent colors, his wing details and of course that gorgeous green leaf!

Or maybe this cool Orb Weaver.

Or how this collapsed wet spiderweb turns into a rain chain.

Anyway, changes are a part of life.  I'm trying to think positive.  I'm changing my life of debauchery, like giving up alcohol, seriously exercising and eating a mainly plant based diet.  (What took me so long! lol)

And Hey - I've still got Magnolias blooming!  :)

Tribute to Ozzie the Eagle

People from all over have watched the southwest Florida eagle cam with the famous pair Ozzie and Harriet, for years now.  

I'm so sad to learn of Ozzie's passing on September 30th of this year.  

When Ozzie was injured and in rehab earlier this year, a younger male started hanging around Harriet and she apparently didn't chase him away.

Well, Ozzie came back and tried for his rightful spot (maybe according to the laws of the jungle, it wasn't his spot anymore?) - well, he and the interloper, as I like to call him, duked it out and Ozzie was found injured and then succumbed to a blood infection.

You can read more about it online....it's just so sad.  

Here is a shot of their nest.  You can see the cams strapped to the tree.  

This is the huge tree their nest is in.  You can see it about a quarter of the way down from the top.

Oh, Ozzie - you will be missed.   

I have a very hard time with sad stories, so I thought I'd try and end this post with a little bit of Happy.

Around the area of their eagle nest, they have horses.  Lots of beautiful horses.  This guy was the sweetest, most gentle soul.  He reminded me of my dog Flash.  He'd stick his snoz in my neck and hair and I fell in love at first sight.  He even took a carrot from the palm of my hand with the most utter care and softness.  

Now this guy, what a gorgeous black beauty!  His personality was much different from the above horse.  Let's just say his motor ran high and he was zooming around the pasture most of the time.  His carrot receiving abilities were rather roguish and a little bit rough.  Luckily I ran out of carrots after that, lol. 

How nice of these three to line up so perfectly for a parting shot.  So I'll say ta ta or toodles or whatever until next time....I hope you don't mind seeing a horse hiney, their colors are incredibly pretty!

Fall Migration is in Full Swing!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Autumnal Equinox here in the northern hemisphere!  And a very Happy Vernal Equinox to my friends in the southern hemisphere!  I'm, as usual, a little late in getting my post out, but I think the Equinox extends into the next day or so...something like that.  

Above is some lovely red leaves from a vine I found out in the preserve.  It's about the only obvious fall color I've found.  We do get quite a bit of subtle changes down here in the swamp and I try to document with photos as that goes along.

I'm so darn excited to have a new bird visitor to the yard.  This is an Ovenbird.  Some are here for the winter or he may move on to the Caribbean.  I haven't done all my research on him yet, but I got a positive ID from some Florida birding friends on Facebook.  Otherwise, these confusing warbler types really strain my brain trying to figure out which one they are.  The pink legs really help with this identification.

Now, I think this is a Yellow Rumped Warbler also known as good ole Butter Butt.  

And I think this is a Palm Warbler.  BUT - as I find the Warbler family to be so similar, I am never positive with my ID.  I should really join up with a birding group down here and get a bit more practice!

I am however, quite sure this is a Yellow Throated Warbler.

And this is a Black and White Warbler.  (not exactly a tough one to ID on those last two, haha)

This isn't a very good shot, but I did get what I believe is a Blue Headed Vireo come through the yard.

Another noisy shot, but what a cute Eastern Phoebe to arrive.

This guy showed up last year and I still don't know what kind of sparrow he is.  I didn't get a lot of pics of him so I'm tentatively ID'ing him as a Field Sparrow until somebody can tell me.  And I might not have enough photos to show all the aspects that is needed to get an identification.  Oh, well - I try!

And as always, the Holy Grail is when the Painted Buntings and Indigo Buntings arrive!  I love all the birds that visit, but I can't help getting a little excited when these beauties show up.

So I went ahead and put out the very heavy birdbath before the end of the hurricane season, which I usually don't do because it could become a flying missile.  We live less than five miles from the coast, so we would get a big hit if one came in.  But because the Painted Bunting arrived so early this year, I put it back out as they love it so much.  

If Florida gets a hurricane - yes, it will be my fault... aaargh!

All kidding aside, I love watching the buntings frolic in the birdbath.  

I had a few weeks lately where I went walkabout from the computer.  Needed a social media break I guess.  Hopefully, there will be more new birds going through the yard during migration in the next few weeks - always fun to watch for!  I'll keep you updated.

The Painted Buntings are Back!!!

I'm so surprised to see the Painted Buntings already arriving here in southern Florida.  Last year they didn't show up in my yard until the end of September.  This guy is looking a little scrubby - maybe he had a rough flight, poor guy.  I'm happy he's found food and water in our yard.

Here's a shot from February of this year - you can see how gorgeous and sleek and healthy this guy is looking.  I hope the above bunting will be okay.  I'm waiting for his friends to join him, they're so much fun to observe, especially frolicking in the birdbath.

I'll tell you, I've been pretty much MIA in the garden for all of August and it definitely shows.  I'll have to get out the big guns to tackle the jungle this month - that would be the machete, saw and ladder.  So, I think for this post, I'll just show the pretty parts, like this beautiful blue Plumbago! :)

The Purslane is thriving thanks to the deer that have decided to give it a break...they're devouring my Passionflower instead.  But that's nothing new.

I kept cropping and recropping this Crown-of-Thorns photo, but just couldn't get it looking satisfactory - so I gave up.  Here it is, looking bright and cheery at least. 

I think the stems are cool.

I've got a rogue Lantana bloom out front.  I left it.  I welcome all strangers to my garden, especially those that attract pretty butterflies!

The orange/red Lantana out back attracted this pretty Julia butterfly.  I love his polka dot eyes.

The Myrtles have been blooming for awhile now in the neighborhood.  There's this gorgeous deep pink, there's purple ones and white as well.  I'm happy to report there have been no Crape Myrtle murders in our area! :)

Speaking of the neighbors, directly across from us, we are provided with this pretty Mexican Petunia sight every day.

I can't get enough of anything purple.

Although I like to mess around with the edit features and see what happens.  Here the infrared edit shows such wonderful detail and it almost looks like crepe paper.

I really like to use the infrared on orchids.  Yes, I know it's not REAL infrared photography, but I still like how the edit feature looks.

Here's another one from one of my Vandas.  I have a bunch more, but I'll stop as I realize it's probably an acquired taste, lol! 

I want to gush and veraciously thank one of my garden blogging friends (e) for sending me this adorable Firebush marker for my garden!  I'm waiting until October (after Hurricane season) to put it out as it would be sure to be washed away by our daily heavy downpours.  I can't wait to get it set out!

I have, however, put out my Autumnal Door Blessing a little early this year.  I was just feeling like it.  I do find it a little hard to incorporate subtropical things like palm fronds (and palm doorknockers) to reflect a fall feel.  I guess I'll have to get crafty and work on that! Happy September everybody!

I've Forgiven my Angel Trumpet

You see, I'm not entirely sure she's guilty.  But I have my suspicions - uncomfortably so.  And even if she is guilty, it truly isn't her fault, it's just the way she is.  Here's the story:

A few years ago we were out and about looking for a home to purchase.  I had wandered into the backyard of what turned out to be an unexpected little secret garden.  Needless to say, I was more than mesmerized by my surroundings and just stood there taking it all in. 

 It was late afternoon and horribly humid, I could feel the build-up of the incoming storm.  It didn't bother me though as I was concentrating on the little whiffs of fragrance I was getting, but couldn't figure out where from.  I knew lots of the fragrant plants in the garden, but I didn't recognize this particular, very enchanting, floral bouquet.

 As I walked around I felt something bump into my head. Well, here was this peach trumpet bloom hanging down from above - entangled with vines and other branches.  There was only one bloom as if it were "just for me" (can you tell I'm a romantic?) 

 I, of course, had to touch it, repeatedly stick my nose in it, talk to it, but I didn't detect any fragrance from it.  It's taken a long time, but I have learned to listen to my intuition and not knowing a thing about Angel Trumpets, I just knew this was the flower luring me around that little garden.

After a few months we found a house and settled in.  I searched out the local garden center and they had one Brugmansia.  I didn't know what color it was going to be, but it didn't matter - I had to have it.  I decided I wanted it in front of the dining room window, hoping I could trim it to umbrella-out and put on a gorgeous display.  Also, I wanted to be able to open the window in the evening to get that amazing fragrance inside.  

No sooner had I planted it, the blooms opened and I could sit on the front bench after walking the dogs at night and inhale drifts of this glorious fragrance.

 Okay, now comes the part that bothers me:

One morning I go out to tool around the garden and I see a downed female painted bunting lying beneath the Angel Trumpet.

I was so saddened.  By that time I had read about the properties of the Solanaceae family.  That all parts of the Brugmansia are poisonous.  

I've read in gardening forums of how when working with their Angel Trumpets, gardeners have experienced uncomfortable symptoms.  One lady felt that her pulse was fluttering about after a while of trimming her A. T., went inside and her pupils were dilated sending her off to the Emergency room.  

There are all sorts of interesting stories - probably some that could be put in the Urban Legend category, like the little boy over in Miami falling asleep beneath an Angel Trumpet and they couldn't wake him for several days.

BUT, it is hard to calculate the toxicity of any Angel Trumpet plant due to the different concentrations given to a specific location.  A plant growing in a garden here in Florida can have completely different levels of alkaloids than the same plant growing in South America. It makes it hard to know just how toxic your plant truly is. 

I think the stories most fascinating to me are the ones where enthusiasts start out with one or two Brugmansias, and keep on wanting more.  It's like they just can't get enough...is the fragrance narcotic?  Does is really make you want more?  I have to wonder as I can't quit sitting on my bench inhaling that smell in the evening.  But then, I have a heightened interest of ethnobotany and find myself fascinated with the properties of all my garden plants.

So, do I really know if that cute little greenie met her demise from hanging out in the branches or beneath my Angel Trumpet.  No, I don't.  Maybe she ran into the window, I don't know, but it makes me wonder.  And it made me upset enough that I ignored my Angel Trumpet for over two years.  I just let her be...she's been eaten by bugs, gotten too much water, not received enough water, I just didn't care.

But now, time has passed.  I've started talking to her again, she's listening and is putting out blooms for the first time since "the incident".  I know, I'm so weird, lol!

One thing is for sure, I have respect for the properties of my plants and I'm always eager to learn everything I can about them.