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A very ornate Utricularia pubescens bladder trap with internal glands visible

Not plant related, but an interesting "sky" this morning. These planes are stationed at Patrick Air Force Base and the base is about 70 miles due north of us here in Vero Beach. We've see these contrails practically every day for the six years we've lived here, but never the number and pattern seen today. There are actually 7 of these contrails, and I assume these are bombers, but don't know this.

Our first BLT sandwiches of the year, Elaine. I harvested a grand total of 4 tomatoes this morning, and we only have BLTs with my homegrown tomatoes. The tomatoes are still pretty small but are really tasty.

drdawg said: Not plant related, but an interesting "sky" this morning. These planes are stationed at Patrick Air Force Base and the base is about 70 miles due north of us here in Vero Beach. We've see these contrails practically every day for the six years we've lived here, but never the number and pattern seen today. There are actually 7 of these contrails, and I assume these are bombers, but don't know this.

I took this photo in November off my back deck. It must have been really cold up there to produce this many. And who knew this many planes flew over my house in any given day???

Amazing !

I don't know if they are the same contrails but we used to notice them when we were driving north on I 95. We would start seeing them in Jacksonville and see the same ones (you can tell by the patterns they make) all the way up through Savannah when the highway vears a bit to the west and we no longer saw them. I assumed they originated at the air station in JAX but now I am wondering if they started even further to the south.

I would guess Jacksonville, Alice. What made this amazing to my eyes, is that you could pretty much see them all coming from the same airbase, rather than just contrails all over the sky, as Lucy saw in CA. I'm easily entertained.........

Me too, I was surprised to see the same ones for more than 100 miles. Same thing has happened on several trips, I guess I don't look up except when I am in the car.

drdawg said: Not plant related, but an interesting "sky" this morning. These planes are stationed at Patrick Air Force Base and the base is about 70 miles due north of us here in Vero Beach. We've see these contrails practically every day for the six years we've lived here, but never the number and pattern seen today. There are actually 7 of these contrails, and I assume these are bombers, but don't know this.
Rather disarming knowing the delicate State of World Affairs

Glenn, we see contrails from the Air Force base every single morning. Just nothing like this at one time. I'm sure that the pilots are always honing their skills. Just what the military should be doing. We also see the space shots from our backyard.

My tropical hibiscus were all looking really puny ever since we moved in 10 months ago. Chlorotic leaves and little to no blooming. Our landscape folks have been of no help, whatsoever, getting these plants back to good health. Soooo, I began a program myself to get them back looking good. I've achieved that goal. They are all healthy and blooming like heck.

I think there are only three varieties. The flowers are larger than my outstretched hand, small dinner plate size. I stated that these are "tropical hibiscus", but they may all be "hardy hibiscus".

Looks great! My yellow are doing great but noticed that they attract aphids and mealies.

Since all my plants are on a regular schedule of fungicides and (more infrequently) pesticides/miticides, I don't often see any evidence of pests, Gigi. I'm also almost fanatic about removing any yellowed leaf (hibiscus or plumeria). I pick those sort of leaves off practically every day.

Nice growing Ken. We had a huge double in the back yard. Came with the house when we moved in March 2009. For the next 14 years I enjoyed the blooms and fought the whiteflies. They won every year. When they started spreading to other plants it was finally time to get rid of the bush. I miss the flowers but not the constant battle.

I can understand that, Ted. I guess, because I've grown so many orchids for so many years, I've gotten used to regular applications of fungicides, miticides, and pesticides. We are subtropical here, and needless to say, pests are always with us.

Ken, I am surprised you let the landscapers anywhere near your beds. I have always confined them to mowing and blowing.

I have always thought having bird feeders in the yard helped out with white flies and aphids. I did not have to use any sprays except for army worms on the tomatoes. You would have thought they would be a delicacy but the birds ignored them.

Here in the mountains I will not be able to have bird feeders because they attract bears. It will be interesting to see what pests I will be dealing with up here.

You surely won't encounter the number or variety of "pests" in NC that you found down here, Alice. All my beds are bordered and mulched. In the backyard, the landscapers only trim around the edging, mow, and blow. I'm a firm believer in bordering and mulching. If nothing else, it keeps those string-trimmers away from the bases of the plants. But those bordered/mulched beds also look so neat and nice. I'm about the only one in the entire neighborhood who borders all flower beds. Mulch is applied by our HOA, but it's simply blown onto the beds. Without bordering, that mulch is all over the place. The landscapers trim the front hedges only because they are just hedges and not a mix of tropicals like I have in the backyard beds.

Way to grow those hibiscus, Ken. They look fabulous. I'm glad I don't have to deal with a 'regular' landscape service at all. Just my opinion but they're really only good for clean-up and mowing. Most of them don't have a clue how to make the plants actually grow and be healthy, only how to cut them down and cart them away.

I have a garden helper that comes once a week or so, and I still have to supervise her because unlike me, she is obsessive about things looking neat and tidy, and often that involves some of my treasured plants disappearing or being pruned back to a nub. We're working on a balance so that she knows where and when to tidy up. No clue as to how to prune or when to do it - I'm working on teaching her, but she still cuts before she asks sometimes . . . :doh:

My neighbor's mowing service mows my street verges for me, and in exchange I supply him with well water for his garden. Now that's a win-win.

I know that some of our 85 homeowners hire outside landscape services. I see those trucks in the neighborhood. Because I'm normally home when the POA paid landscapers are on our property, I keep an eye on everything they do. I'm like your gardener, Elaine, I want want things tidy and looking their best. That's the perfectionist in me and it's something that I simply can't overcome. I drive the folks who "control" our POA money crazy with my constant bitching. In fact, I've asked them to have one of the landscape supervisors to come to the house so that I can show him (for the second time) how I want my backyard trimmed. I try to be nice about all this, but boy, does it create stress for me. Thank goodness, having practiced dentistry for 45 years, I can handle a lot of stress. But it is challenging.