Oh yes please!

Sounds like licensing is as good in Fl. as it is in Ca. You gotta wonder who they paid for that license, and inspection.

Thank you Ken & Ursula.

Ursula, the Uncarina may be a decaryi after talking to my expert friend yesterday. We are trying to figure it all out! We took cuttings and photos from each tree and he's showing them to yet another expert tomorrow. Such a mystery. My friend and I are also trying to root some cuttings from the Uncarinas...."they" say it cannot be done...but we are going to prove them wrong! (Or kill our cuttings trying!)

These aren't orchid blooms or other plants I'm growing, but this makes me just as excited....

Orchids that are sending their clingy little roots out everywhere and mounting themselves to my wall!! This is my favorite thing about orchids....their climbing ability. So impressive.

Great roots beget great flowers!

Yep, I agree with Jim. But Kate, don't stand still too long, they might grab you!

Healthy Orchid roots are always a good thing!!
Some Orchid roots tips can be very pretty, especially red ones, as some fancy Neofinetia falcata, Microterangis hariotiana and others.

Carol,

I'll bring mojitos! I LOVE fresh guacamole!

My Bonsai azalea is blooming. I'll have to get photos of our Bonsai collection.

Melissa, have you ever grown any bonsai on large, heavy slab of Portuguese cork or ever heard of anyone doing so? There would be absolutely no soil of any kind involved, so I don't know whether this is possible or not. You know me, I like to experiment and challenge the notion that something is not possible. My Spanish moss flourishes and I was assured that it would be virtually impossible to grow it in Starkville, MS.

I will furnish the margaritas!

I took a walk about this morning before the heat set in. I went out mainly to get some pics of the jacaranda, aka. the tree that ate my sewer. Included is the annual picture of the Canary Island date pame framed in purple.



Next is daylilies, gardenia and plumbago, all in bloom.


Then comes pentas, coral plant and sweet osmanthus:


And from the rose garden:




Also some hibiscus:


Stromanthe blooming and some daisies from the yellow garden.


Albutilon and Rondeletia:


Spiral ginger, caladium and azaleas still hanging around:


Pomegrannate flower, Bougainvillea aborea and Mary Nell holly berries:


Moving into fruit:
Little avocados, lychee and papaya:


Finally, a picture of the mature jaboticaba fruit and yes, it is coming on faster than I can eat it.


Jim

Lots of things going on in your neck of the woods, Jim.

What a beautiful, beautiful SHOW! I didn't realize you had so many gorgeous Roses too. The Jacaranda knocks my socks off!! So many lovely plants, it is a Paradise!!

I agree with Ursula, the Jacaranda is beautiful. Just glad it's on your property, and not mine. They are very messy, and prone to wind damage, but still one of my favorite trees. What type of Papaya is yours, Jim? Around here everyone grows the Mexican type (the size of a football), but ours are just about finished in this area.

The jacarandas are the most gorgeous, messy weak trees. The flowers are even fragrant. All flowering trees are messy when they drop their flowers, though so it's worth it anyway. We had to remove three of them from our yard when we bought this house, as they were in imminent danger of falling on the house. Luckily, there are several more on our block and now I have some sun in the back yard for my veggies. I also am still finding out babies from those trees from the yard every year. They seed themselves pretty generously.

Beautiful garden tour, Jim. I'm jealous of your fruit trees this year. Both my mango and my lychee seem to have been hit hard by the late cold snap, and I have hardly any fruit on the way. Hey, have you tried freezing some of those jaboticaba?

drdawg said:Melissa, have you ever grown any bonsai on large, heavy slab of Portuguese cork or ever heard of anyone doing so? There would be absolutely no soil of any kind involved, so I don't know whether this is possible or not. You know me, I like to experiment and challenge the notion that something is not possible. My Spanish moss flourishes and I was assured that it would be virtually impossible to grow it in Starkville, MS.

I will furnish the margaritas!

Ken, I have not. We grow ours in a made up mix of soil with diatomaceous earth, which is basically like a fancy kitty litter. I would imagine you can grow on cork, but you would need to be concerned with top heavy issues.

That's not a concern, Melissa. I have the densest, thickest cork I have ever seen. They are in big slabs, so I would cut a 1'x1' piece easily. A standard slab of cork would be 1 1/2"-2" thick and a 1'x1' slab would weight 1-2 lbs. I have some that are 3"-4" thick and weigh 3-4 lbs. for that 1'x1' slab. They would never tip over, not with a bonsai plant.

Just had to show off my new daylily blooms today, Siloam Double Classic:

Very showy, Elaine!!

Yes, I like it too. Very pretty, Elaine.

Jim