Ken: Wow, it sounds like you are way up north rather than Mississippi with those cold temp's! I guess no one warned you regarding the non english speaking folks you encountered in Miami. My family moved there in 1967 and the first thing we learned was "No Habla Espanol" and "No Comprende because we had so many phone calls from spanish speaking folks and couldn't understand a word they were saying. After Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida in 1992 many folks (both English and Hispanic) migrated northward in the state ... Orlando now has a very large hispanic population and some of the cities west of me have lots of migrant farm workers who work on the fern farms, many are hispanic. My sister and brother in law have been in south Florida for 45+ years and are just getting ready to move northward to a house they bought in Sebastian Florida. My brother in law has worked in downtown Miami for 45 years and I remember many years ago him telling me that Miami not only has a large Cuban population but Haitian communities abound in the Miami/Homestead area also. To me, traffic in south Fla. is almost as bad as California! I haven't driven on the interstate highways in many years ... and I'm a very nervous passenger with cars going 10+ mph over the posted speed limits.

Elaine: That is one lovely "Big Daddy" of a plant you have there ... I hope you find it a warm spot for the cold that is due for a day or so. It's supposed to be 41 here on Wednesday morning I think and Thursday's high is only supposed to reach 55º!! We leave early Thursday morning for San Diego for a week .... hope it doesn't freeze here while we are away because my plants are on their own.

I had no choice. We played in the Orange Bowl, after a lapse of 73 years. Do you think I would miss that game!? I have nothing against foreign born folks. They did not chose where they were born and reared. It just seemed, well, odd. I just wondered why so many of them had such a poor grasp of the English language. Some of them were born here and/or had lived here for fifty years! I know because I asked. I am nosey.

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!


[/quote]

And worth all the effort'... What a beaut!

Thanks Lin!

You can do it, David! You don't want to lose that beauty.

Ken,

Florida is a diverse state with residents of many different languages and dialects. I wish I had become fluent in foreign languages when I was young especially the Spanish language since there are so many spanish speaking here. Florida has permanent residents, part time residents, visitors and college students from around the globe. Many french speaking Canadians have winter homes here or they lease properties for 6 months of the year. We have refugees from Cuba, Haiti and the DR; migrant workers from Mexico and other areas who work in agriculture and move around the SE during the growing seasons.

I've always felt that since we are an English speaking country, one should learn the language if living here permanently. If I were to move to another country, even if it were only part of the year, I would consider it my duty to learn the language of that country but unfortunately many people (for whatever reason) do not consider it. Florida has truly become a melting pot with many nationalities and languages as have a few other states in the U.S.

plantladylin said:Ken,
I've always felt that since we are an English speaking country, one should learn the language if living here permanently. If I were to move to another country, even if it were only part of the year, I would consider it my duty to learn the language of that country but unfortunately many people (for whatever reason) do not consider it.

I couldn't agree more !

as well, Lin. Nicely said. Even if I visit a country where another language is prevalent, I try to learn and speak as much as I can before I go. I think it is courteous to at least make an effort to speak the language of the country you are in.

Language is interesting and I really wish I'd learned more than just my homeland language of English. About ten years ago we had elderly neighbors who were originally from Czechoslovakia; they emigrated to the U.S. in the mid to late 1940's where they settled and had their children. Mrs. S spoke perfect English but her husband only knew a few words and he spoke with such a strong accent that those few words were extremely difficult to understand, Mrs. S always had to translate for him. They always talked about the old country and going back home some day.

Learning another language is a gift, some people learn easily, others have a very hard time. My Dh and I are both Canadian so we were required to learn French in school. I can still understand French pretty well, and put together a sentence or two as needed, but he has completely lost what little he learned. Sadly, I hardly ever get to practice unless we run into friends from Quebec occasionally. We are from BC so little or no French spoken there, although all the signs etc. are bilingual.

Luckily, because many French words are similar to Spanish, I can read a menu in Spanish and speak a few words. I'd like to go to Italy and learn Italian.

Fluttering about the garden with the frost cloth today. Gonna be 'winter' tonight, so they tell us!

Winter for y'all, Elaine, is like spring to me. The wind is howling, it is snowing 100 south of me, and the temperature has continued to drop all day. It is already below freezing and headed to a wind-chill in the single digits.

I just came back in from misting my plants (that chore never seems to diminish, and both heaters in both greenhouses were blasting away. The temperature was still 60 F in each, so all is good (until the electric bill falls due )

I promised a fella who was having problems with his staghorn that I would take some photos of my mounted stags (just a few of them) and I accomplished that while I was out. Glenn, the pictures are on their way.

Well,

May as well put my two cents in on the current subject. ...

It seems to me that anyone choosing to live in our beautiful Country should still at least be aware of and be able to agree with and say our Pledge of Allegiance in our language;...ie. know what it means and be required to sign a document swearing that they adhere to its message. At least it would be foremost in rightful citizenship. God should always be kept in it regardless of anyones personal faith as all religions have one. I suppose even atheists at least worship a God of some sort unawares;........even if its money, or whatever it is that motivates life for them while here and alive...
**************************
That was Elaines beautiful Philly Ken! I somehow lost her in the quote when I copied her words and picture. Drag that beauty in Elaine!

We're veering close to topics that dave would like us all to stay away from, so I think we need to go back to talking about the weather.

Hetty, thanks for the reminder! To get us back on track of our Florida gardens, I'll share a couple of things that are still blooming here. I think I posted these on another thread today so forgive me if you've already seen them.

Thunbergia battiscombei and ................ Amazon Lily


Guzmania Bromeliads


Beach Sunflowers and ....................... Salvia coccinea both still going strong


Turk's Cap and .......................................... Holiday Cactus


I probably won't be posting for a few days ... we leave early tomorrow morning for a flight to Atlanta and San Diego. Have a great remainder of the week everyone and a great weekend!

Lin Yes you are right Madame Hetti.
******************************
Gloriofabulosa pictures Lin! Nuttin's dull around your place!

Heres a couple of bloomers here currently. These guys will have shriveled blooms tomorrow as they won't even open below 50.





This is a new faux Fantasy Orchid design in development as of today. It has a long way to grow before hatched. ........................

Lovely pictures, Lin and sure hope this short cold snap doesn't zap too many of our flowers! The ground is plenty warm after the weather we've had, so that will help a lot.

I have that big urn with the Philo Pastazanum on a dolly, and can roll it right to the patio door, so plan to do that right before going to bed, and haul it into the house. It's huge, but the urn is plastic so not too terribly heavy.

I've been the last two hours schlepping 30 orchids into the house and deploying the big frost tent over my Earth Boxes. I think I have everyone under cover that really needs it now. Although I do have one big white brug in full bloom that is just too unwieldy to move or cover. It will just have to tough it out. Greenhouse shelf units zipped, tent unfurled, brug Monster White giving me a big guilt trip . . .

David, that Orchid is going to be gorgeous! Your Hibiscus in the first photo looks like one of the ones I have:

Red-Leaf Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella)
Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella 'Panama Red')

Elaine: It sure looks like you're prepared for the cold snap ahead! I hope your big white Brug makes it through ... can you cover it with an old blanket for protection or would that not help? I'm going to be out of town for a week and may lose a lot of plants if it stays cold for a lot of hours. We aren't supposed to have freezes over this way but wind chills are supposed to be in effect making it feel a lot colder. I haven't moved anything inside! We have a manmade waterway behind the house which offers a little more humidity and warmth so I'm hoping for the best. Other containers sitting out in the yard and baskets hanging in the trees probably will not fare well at all but I just don't have the energy to haul them all inside. I'm slowly downsizing a little with each passing year so this predicted cold might help.

Oh by the way,

Congratulations to Ann, Hetti, and Lin! In the last two categories of Dave's new statistical article, and in the last two categories for contributors;...you gals made up 3 of the 10 listed for us in Florida!

Thats almost a third. How cool is that?!!! Where is Ann here these days? I miss her inputs...

plantladylin said:David, that Orchid is going to be gorgeous! Your Hibiscus in the first photo looks like one of the ones I have:

Red-Leaf Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella)
Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella 'Panama Red')

Elaine: It sure looks like you're prepared for the cold snap ahead! I hope your big white Brug makes it through ... can you cover it with an old blanket for protection or would that not help? I'm going to be out of town for a week and may lose a lot of plants if it stays cold for a lot of hours. We aren't supposed to have freezes over this way but wind chills are supposed to be in effect making it feel a lot colder. I haven't moved anything inside! We have a manmade waterway behind the house which offers a little more humidity and warmth so I'm hoping for the best. Other containers sitting out in the yard and baskets hanging in the trees probably will not fare well at all but I just don't have the energy to haul them all inside. I'm slowly downsizing a little with each passing year so this predicted cold might help.

I was to lazy to list them up Lin, and they are so common I figured everyone knew what they were. We can always count on you to identify plants. Thank You. I will do that in the future again. Promise!

DavidofDeLand said:Oh by the way,

Congratulations to Ann, Hetti, and Lin! In the last two categories of Dave's new statistical article, and in the last two categories for contributors;...you gals made up 3 of the 10 listed for us in Florida!

Thats almost a third. How cool is that?!!! Where is Ann here these days? I miss her inputs...