Ken, No kidding Burrrr !!!!
Actually it looks like our forecast has moderated just a bit. A few days ago when I looked it was saying 32º for us Thurs.Am but now it's up to 38º. I haven't had to run the heat in the greenhouse for the last two weeks so I guess I can't complain.
Stopped by David's yesterday...LOL..so much to see at his place you kind of feel like a Butterfly...OH Look there ! OH Look Here ! Much fun.,

I finally got a few pictures to post.

Thunbergia grandiflora (Blue Sky Vine) running amuck along the fence line of the riding area



Brug on steroids - for reference the fence behind it is 4 feet tall. I think this one is Equador Pink. They get no special care from me, they either make it or they don't. Apparently this one is good at fending for itself.



Another Brug that does well w/o help. Monster White...it's gets wider rather than taller.



Salvia miniata - the Hummer's adore this one !



Xanthosoma LIme Zinger hanging in there. Not as spectacular as it was this summer but I'm glad it hasn't gone dormant like most of the Colocasia's have.




Huge clump of Salvia " Hot Lips ". It will literally bloom all year unless we get a hard frost/freeze. Stays evergreen tho, another Hummer/Butterfly favorite.

MJ - did you have someone to distract him so you could sneak things into your car???? That is always my plan!!!!

Yep, I said "27". Of course, that is the airport temp & we are usually 5-10 deg warmer. I'm hoping for the 10 side.

Ken, get out your Woolies...................my Plumeria is still looking happy.

Funny, you ask that Elaine.

My only child, a son, lives in Sarasota and works in Tampa. He has lived in Florida approximately 15 years. He likes the Sarasota area and we thought that was where he would stay. Not too long ago my wife hinted that we might consider moving close (not too close though) to him, sort of a re-retirement move. This is my wife talking, not me. I am still way too much into my Dawgs' athletics. I have said that I MIGHT consider moving when I reach the 500th consecutive football game attendance. I figure that's enough games for several lifetimes...... I am only about five years away from that number. The Orange Bowl was my 441st consecutive game.

Though my son is only 51 years old, he is already talking about retirement. I would think he still has 15 or so years before he can/would do this. He says he does not plan on remaining in Sarasota (he and his wife are sick and tired of the "snow-birds") and has thoughts of finding a small town somewhere south of Orlando, a town that the snow-birds have no interest in. Also, they just love Disney World and for them, that's where they always seem to vacation. My hips and back no longer afford me the comfort of long walks (don't even think about telling me to use a wheelchair!), so for me at least, Disney World is only a fond memory. But moving south of Orlando does actually appeal to me. I CAN GROW MY TROPICAL PLANTS OUTDOORS YEAR'ROUND!

So perhaps, just perhaps, I will one day become a Floridian, Elaine. What's south of Orlando?

South of Orlando, I'm afraid to tell you, Ken, is SNOWBIRD HEAVEN.

Thank you MJ. The Butterflies abound in both of our gardens when the temps rise I know, and I love your new pictures! I'm looking forward to visiting you someday at your huge greenspace and know we will have many plants to share. It was nice meeting Larry and you.
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By all means welcome to Florida Ken!

qwilter said:To be 83 today & then 27 overnite Wed/Thur & 45 Thur for a high. Of course Thur is the 1st day back to working at the Ext Office since before the holidays!!!! I got a couple pr of the winter weight Atlas gloves & they are WONDERFUL for COLD days!!!!

I have to get out & finish putting the hoops over the veg beds so I can put the frost cloth over the lettuce mid-week. And close up the GH again...............plants are as confused as I am!!!!.

Gosh Jean,

How can that be possible? Its only supposed to be in the 60's tonight here and the coldest we're supposed to have this week around Thursday is the mid forties. Where you live in Fleming Island is usually only ten or so degrees lower then us. check that forecast again!!!

Oh, no, Hetty. Even the small towns, those considered "rural", have also been invaded?

That area, south of Orlando is crawling with golfers, sadly. So lots of snowbirds that want to come down here and golf in the winter go to that area.

But Apopka is a sweet little town just a few miles NW of Orlando . . . you might even be able to look at a property already equipped with greenhouses - with sides that lift up for summer weather of course! Whenever we go for a shop there, I always have the impression that people have retired to that lovely area, to "relax and grow orchids". There are many, many small cottage businesses there like yours.

I can't imagine being away from the seashore that far, of course we are sailors as well as gardeners.

on Apopka

Oh, decisions, decisions! So many choices.

I was once a sailor. I lived on the Mississippi Gulf coast for 25 years and went through three boats. My last one was built for off-shore fishing and from April till football season by "normal" routine was to load up the boat after work on Thursday, leave at midnight, and come back in Sunday afternoon. We did not even drop a hook in the water until dawn, Friday, usually approximately 100 miles out. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a sunset, a sunrise, or the night sky when you are 100-150 miles out in the Gulf. One cannot even begin to imagine how many stars are seen when there is absolutely no light around. There is practically no space between stars when you view the sky from that environment. And we caught our fair share of fish, which is why I went out. When we loaded out chests and fish-box with ice, I purchased 2200 pounds of ice!

After ten+ years of doing this, year after year after year, this sort of fishing wore me out. In the beginning years, I would feel tired most of Monday and then would feel fine. In the later years, I would be exhausted through Wednesday. I finally knew I could not continue this routine and donated the boat to the Gulf Coast Research Center. They used the boat as a student boat, taking out marine biology students from the University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State University. Thus the boat went to a good cause. I still miss that boat and the wonderful solitude it afforded me.

What a beautiful Florida day.

The fishing around here is stupendous, Ken. We are most emphatically NOT fishermen, but we have friends and family who love to fish, and we do have a 19ft. Boston Whaler as well as the sailboat. So when those folks come to visit, we take them out on the Bay and into the passes to the Gulf. It's like fishing in an aquarium! You catch a different kind of fish every time you put the line out. REally fun.

The one time we've gone 'offshore' fishing with a guide we only went about 5 miles out, but spent the day casting for barracuda and I must admit that was great sport. Plus the young ones are very good to eat, too! Fast, fighting fish!

So really, so you could have a boat, I think you'd need to look at property in Sarasota, just maybe to the east of I-75 where the snowbird traffic won't bother you. We are about a mile inland of the Intercoastal and certainly avoid driving on the Trail in tourist season if we can, but truthfully it hasn't been that much of a hassle. We absolutely love it here. Your son must live closer to the tourist-y places, I'm guessing?

Lovely day for the school garden today, but that gol-durned rabbit has been back! We didn't leave anything much for him to eat, but I guess he was thirsty because it appears he's chewed through one of my micro-irrigation tubes. There's always something, isn't there . . Mango tree's in bloom this week, hope the cold weather doesn't zap all the flowers!

My son is the physical-plants manager for a huge mall in Tampa. He basically is in charge of everything except the leasing. That's his exposure to the snow-birds, day after day. I did not know one could "escape" the traffic in Sarasota-Tampa-St. Pete. You sure can't do so on the "dark coast".

You have such a perfect life and family Ken. You too Elaine. You both eclipse my seaman talents by myself only having my small row boat for collecting specimens with a net for my two natural tanks. I raise Tilapia for eating in an above ground pool, and never fish anymore for food. We all have so many talents and different interests and abilities... nothing to brag about here though...

How are the gardens growing up there currently Ken? Closing in the greenhouses to save all those tropicals you do so well? Keep up the good works.
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We're so fortunate to not have those 'gol-durned' rabbits here Elaine. We do have those 'gol-durned' Opossums and 'Coons though....cough.....cackkkkkkkkk.......erp......

So then while the critters are tearing out the pathways in January and the gardens are being left alone; I create fake beauties.

'Mr Whiskers' is only one third on his way to life and is going to be fabulous.

Talk about talent! Growing my orchids are easy. A little light, a little fertilizer, a little air, and a little luck (whoops). It is cold as can be here in NE Mississippi. Thursday will be in the teens with a wind-chill in single digits, and it may or may not get above freezing that afternoon. One forecast says 28 and one says 33. It has been in the 20's every morning this week and will continue for another 7 days or so. Brrrrrrrrrrr

Yikes, so he commutes to Tampa on I-75 every day? Just got back an hour ago from making that drive, and traffic sure is heavier than in summer right now, but nothing like Miami traffic. Other than a backup for an accident, I've never run into much of a slowdown commuting between here and TPA. Mind you, we usually fly out of Sarasota anyway, but my husband couldn't make a decent connection from here for this flight. I think the Orlando area is much worse for traffic than around here.

On the surface roads, if you stay off the Trail, traffic flows well. Out near the beaches it can get a bit nuts on the weekends, but generally even there it's not bothersome. We often go to the beach for a sunset walk, and no driving headaches.

Gotta start schlepping some of the 'chids into the house, it's going to be winter for a day this week, so they say. Down to 50 tonight, then possibly below 40 tomorrow night! Brr. Going from running the a/c last weekend to the heat on tomorrow.

Oh, David I missed your post with Mr. Whiskers - he's gorgeous! Looks like a mutant Cattleya crossed with a catfish. Let's see if we can make a fun bogus orchid name for it out of that?

What's "manageable" and "light" traffic for you would be quite different for me. It takes me 10 minutes to drive from south of town to north of town and I get PO'd when it takes me 12 minutes! I know, I am spoiled. Needless to say, the Miami traffic drove me absolutely crazy and often being the only English-speaking person in the room was, well, sort of unsettling. I think I had more English-speaking folks around when I was in Central America than there were in Miami.

I did go to three "speciality" nurseries near Homestead. The Phal. one was owned/operated by a Mexican family and most there spoke very little English. The second one was a Vanda nursery, owned/operated by a Thai and he spoke pretty good English. He said English is taught extensively in Thailand and that he had been in the States for ten years. The third was a Cattleya nursery, the owner/operator was Cuban and he spoke very good English. He was born in Miami. I guess all the English-speaking folks are in Sarasota.

Must admit I've very seldom run into people (other than the odd tourist) who don't speak English around here. There's a very large Cuban community in Miami of course, and when we've been over there sailing it impressed me that the ladies at the grocery store checkouts didn't speak much English. That was in Coconut Grove, though. Fabulous Cuban restaurants!!

Wracking my brain as to how to protect this big fella for the upcoming cold night or two. Hm, maybe I can drag it through the patio door into my bedroom . . . might be worth a try!

David: Oh my, Oh my, Oh my I love "Mr. Whiskers"!!!

edited to add: He already looks PERFECT to my eyes ... can't imagine it any prettier!