Can you believe it? The weather forecast has another cold front making it down into our area for the weekend! Lows in the 40's and 50's they say - sheesh!

Really, Elaine? They're saying that cool in Sarasota? Wow! The WFLA forecast for Tampa shows the coldest night being Saturday at 54 which isn't bad at all. My phone is telling me 51 but that's for Lutz. I am a little north and a bit inland. I get why they have the "official" weather reading at the airport but it's right next to the bay which artificially warms it up. Personally, I'm not ready for too warm weather yet. It wasn't bad when I went out today. Warm in the sun, but a nice cool breeze. Looks like Friday's going to be a bust though with 70% chance of rain. Guess I'll go to the movies. And at least I won't have to worry about watering the plants! My Resurrection Ferns are looking fabulous after the rain we got on Monday.

Our big Flower Show starts Friday - terrible timing for that much-needed rain...

Y'all are going to get just a glancing blow from the front that comes through here this afternoon/night. We are predicted to get down to 37F in the morning, 33F Saturday AM, and 37F Sunday AM. We then have a more typical, spring-like warming trend. Hopefully this is the last of our cold weather and I can start moving out plants on Sunday. That is usually a two-day chore though I will probably hold back moving more tender orchids for a while longer. My oaks are all starting to leaf-out, but I still need more leaf-canopy to shield my plants. Thank goodness I have some cedar, and being evergreen, I can put plants under those trees. I have already been up on ladders, strategically positioning Spanish moss to keep the afternoon sun off my orchids. Spanish moss is a great "dappler" (I don't know whether that is even a word!).

If it isn't a word it should be, I like it

So today was to be "sunny & 85" before the cold front & rain tomorrow. They lied again. Have not seen a peek of sun & when we were furthest from the Ext Office bldg, was when the mist turned to rain. Trying to get last minute Fair prep done on the grounds & we don't need this wet weather.

We killed a million or so baby lubbers that were all over the iris. Pulled them off by the hand fulls & tied them up in a yard bag for disposal. Now I need to start checking at home & see if there are any out & about. So much easier to kill them when they are small.

Sprayed 2-4-d on the weeds yesterday afternoon. Added some Sticky so hopefully the rain didn't wash it all off. Really want to start putting new mulch down but need dead weeds `1st.

If you have a shopvac you can vacuum the baby lubbers up, Jean. We do that at the Botanical Garden where I work.

Got a neat shot of a black bee on one of my Passiflora 'Lady Margaret' flowers today. African, or 'africanized'?


The plumbago is starting up while the callas keep on blooming.


Last but not least, a wonderful surprise today, must have been inspired by the good little bit of rain we got on Monday.
Phaius microburst 'Dan Mendenhall' and Phaius tankervillea 'Oktoberfest'

Elaine - beautiful Orchids. Never thought about vacuuming them up. I still don't see any at home & at the office, there was no power anywhere near where we were.
Rain stopped long enough this afternoon so my new Irrigation guy could check out my heads. Finally, someone who knows the difference btwn watering lawn & flower beds.

I haven't seen my first lubber and I am going to remain in denial until it happens. I hate those things! They eat everything! I've seen one eating my bromeliads! What eats bromeliads? That's got to be like eating shoe leather with the cleats attached!

If you vacuum them up, don't you have to clean out the vacuum? I'm not going to lie - I'll pet caterpillars all day long but lubber grasshoppers scare me. At least they're slow so I can squish them. Also, I don't have to worry about them flying in my face or jumping on me. But still...they scare me.

Finally saw my first hummer of the spring this afternoon. I ran out and cleaned out the feeder and made them some nectar, just in time for what is now a deluge. Not going to many flower heads standing up for them after this. Makes me feel better. I sprayed weeds yesterday morning, hope it wasnt in vain.

Fill the shopvac with soapy water ahead of time...

Is it pouring the rain on anyone else right now? It just opened up a few minutes ago. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, too which is why I'm going to the movies. At least I don't have to water the plants! Lugging hoses around tires me out. Dad was nice enough to install a new hose next to my butterfly garden last year so it's not as bad as it used to be. But nothing beats Mother Nature watering in all the newly planted trees and flowers.

No rain here yet, and I sure do hope it makes it this far south.

Looks like you might get a really good downpour later, Melanie. The map looks pretty stormy for tomorrow. Guess I'll enjoy the sale at Tropiflora on Saturday instead . . . nice cool weather predicted then.

I'm looking forward to volunteering on Sunday. Those are the kind of days you just want to sit in the flight cage and chat up the guests all day long.

Elaine - enjoy Tropiflora for me!!!!! If I didn't have the Farmer's mkt on Sunday I'd drive on over and make a weekend out of it. Being cool, plants would be fine in the car overnite.

Well, so much for rain all day today. It is beautiful out now but I'm sure that will eventually change. Hoping tmrw is nice so I can get the edging put in along my walkway. And I have Zoysa to remove from 1 area & plant where I need more. Gotta love how the stuff spreads..

Today is a "work" day so I need to head back to my quilting..........so I'll make $$$ to spend on new plants!!!!

Is anyone else looking at this "Spring Bulb Week" stuff and feeling grateful there's a Florida forum to escape to? I love daffodils, irises, and tulips and all that stuff. They're really pretty - when I visit Grandma in WV. They also look really nice in the catalogs. Meanwhile, I'm just going to enjoy living in the subtropics. And since I know everyone on the internet likes pictures, here's a picture of one of the things I'm enjoying about living in Florida. Monarch caterpillars! I took them outside to clean their cage and feed them. Here they are in a big, wriggling mass.

Neat, Melanie. What are those leaves they're eating? Doesn't look like milkweed to me.

I'm with you on the spring bulbs, while they're a wonderful 'harbinger' of spring after a long winter, they just never seemed to last long enough for me. A flowering plant that blooms once for a week and then just has dying leaves for a couple of months after that really has no place in my garden. I tolerate some lovely amaryllis here because they were planted by the previous owner, but . . Really ? ! Give me cannas, daylilies, gingers any day - they keep on blooming and blooming!
My daylilies are putting up scapes already, too.

Here's my Passiflora quadrangularis, now growing rampantly through my mango tree. The mango has very few fruits this year so far, thanks to the late cold snap we had a few weeks ago, but amazingly the Giant Granadilla has set a fruit! I'd about given up on ever getting fruit from it, but I guess whatever pollinates the mango blossoms did the job for the passi, too! The fruit is supposed to get as big as a football! We shall see.