Ken, as I understand it, adult moths don't live very long so it probably died of moth old age.

MJ, I hate when you try to do some work outside & it does that on again, off again rain thing on you.

We don't have any HO Assoc. here either. All the other properties mow like they are afraid the grass will eat them if it gets over 1/4" high but we let everything grow except right around the house. I am getting more & more into wildflowers & less & less into formal planting beds -- age is abetting that thought process. Then in August or September we call the bush hog in -- by that time all my wildflowers have gone to seed & if I try to walk the property the growth is up to or past my hips. People are pretty laid back here about letting you "do your own thing" or at least they have never made a single comment to us about our weedy acres. We will have the bush hog in again around Nov. and then I will sow more wildflower seed as long as we've had at least 3 frosts. We have tons of butterflies and I am working on getting native host plants for them all. I'm also working on getting more plants that have berries in the winter for the birds.

Perhaps I should perform an autopsy?

A few things still blooming in my garden ...

Clerodendrum paniculatum (Pagoda Flowers) - I need to cut them back but I've been waiting to see if perhaps a few hummingbirds pass through on their migration south:


Asclepias curassavica (Tropical Milkweed) and Clerodendrum Bungei (Cashmere Bouquet) which keeps popping up everywhere ... a pest plant that's difficult to get rid of but oh so pretty flowers:


Adenium (Desert Rose) - I blame my sister for getting me hooked on these; since March I've accumulated 4 plants. I had to move them in to the screened porch because we've been having so much rain the past couple of weeks:


Koelreuteria elegans (Golden Rain Tree) is popping blooms, a sure sign that the seasons are changing and a blooming No ID Canna whose tag is long gone:

Very serene, Lin.

Thanks Ken! I was just outside with the dog and noticed blooms on a ground orchid. This plant is in a container amongst a bunch of other stuff under a tree. I have a couple of other ground orchids hiding somewhere in the shrubbery, need to look and see if they are still alive or if they've bit the dust from not seeing light in awhile.

Spathoglottis 'Berry Banana'

I have the Spathoglottis plicata 'Purple' in bloom as well. All mine are in pots since they all have to come in during fall/winter.

Wow, Ken that is a gorgeous photo!

, Lin. I don't have a lot of these. Only two are blooming so far. I also have the Spathoglottis 'White Angel', but they are all seedlings and I imagine they won't bloom until next spring/summer. The only other terrestrial I have is the Sarcoglottis sceptrodes, and those bloomed last winter.

Oooh, I had never heard of Orchid (Sarcoglottis sceptrodes) the blooms are interesting but those leaves are gorgeous!

It is one of the "Jewell" orchids, Lin. The winter blooming was their first (and most bloomed. How about that). Just four months before, I thought I would lose them all. I finally figured out their proper potting mix and voila, success. I call it the "Green Dragon" orchid. They do have the cutest little flowers but most people grow them for their sparkling leaves.

I miss my Spathoglottis. I had about 5 cultivars down south. I am not going to get any here though. No dragging things in & out all the time - no more zone jumping for me.

Thanks for reminding me to check on my Spathoglottis, Lin. I have one that looks similar to yours. It's the only one of my several colors that is blooming right now, but I do have some big, fat stems coming along.



My New Orleans Lady brug is finally putting on another bloom. Hib. schitzopetalus has been blooming like crazy.


These crazy Heliconias were growing wild in the shady border when we moved in, and now they insist upon popping up in the gravel pathways.


My 'Florida Beauty' Caladiums that were planted last fall are making their re-appearance now. I really thought they were all gone but I guess they were just resting. Lots of different colors and patterns on this one. Hadn't noticed before but they look like they are related to 'Hilo Beauty'.

Beautiful blooms, Lin and Ken!

Lin, that is the most beautiful blooming pest plant I've seen.

Those ground orchids are beautiful! I saw some similar to the one on Ken's picture for a great price and orange once in Lowe's last week but both times we had other places to go first.

Elaine I love those caladiums, I have a few of them too and my Heliconia I think is in bloom.

Ken, years ago I grew the jewel orchid Jewel Orchid (Ludisia discolor) for the pretty leaves ... I sure do love the leaves on that Sarcoglottis!

Elaine, That Ground Orchid in your photo does indeed look to be Berry Banana! I have two other pots, one is the purple but not sure of the other because I haven't seen blooms in awhile; I have many container plants that are hidden in deep shrubbery and I really need to get out in the yard soon and search for a few things. I have a large pot of Nuns Orchids and I'd really hate to lose those but I know they are completely covered by shrubs and getting very little light. It's really going to be interesting when we move next May ... getting all of these plants in order. Love that Hibiscus schitzopetalus! I had one back in the 70's and hope maybe to grow it again once we are settled in our new place. Those Heliconia's are so pretty ... I had no idea they would spread like that! I've grown a few in pots over the years but they ended up biting the dust from winter cold. Those Florida Beauty Caladiums sure are pretty and the lovely 'Hilo Beauty' has apparently been re-classified as a Caladium! Elephant Ears (Caladium praetermissum 'Hilo Beauty')

Gigi, I agree, the Cashmere Bouquet Clerodendrum is a beautiful plant .. such a shame that it spreads so rapidly and takes over everything in it's path. Those things seem to pop up overnight, we have it growing through the lawn in one area where it came from the flower bed where it was originally planted by mistake; we mow it down in that part of the yard but I now have a few that are about 3' tall growing up along one side of the house! So beautiful but such pest!

I was walking around the yard early this morning and took more pictures to share.

Allamanda has been blooming it's head off lately, due to all the rain maybe? Helianthus debilis (Dune Sunflower) goes strong for the better part of the year. Tagetes erecta (African Marigolds) are slowly fading but a few are still producing blooms here and there:


Caladiums are slowly fading away this time of year but some are still sporting their pretty leaves:


Golden Raintree .................................. Plumbago .......................................... Tibouchina


Hibiscus .............................................. Salvia coccinea (Tropical Sage) ............ Spathoglottis 'Berry Banana' again:

I have another Clero that does the same thing - it doesn't seed itself, it 'runs' underground and pops up 10ft. away from the parent plants. The flowers look much like your Cashmere Bouquet but have longer shafts and the leaves have purple on the backs so it's a very attractive shrub. But becoming a real pest!

Clero quadriloculare - the Shooting Star Clerodendron. It blooms beautifully in the winter IF it doesn't get cold! But if the cold gets to it before the flowers open, it drops all its leaves and looks terrible for 3 months or more.


Second pic, the runner made it all the way under the wall, and happily showed itself in front of our address. Of course they like the middle of the gravel pathways as well - guess there's more light out there.

I have that Clerodendrum quadriloculare also, and mine doesn't run, for some reason. I see it becoming very invasive everywhere else but mine stays neatly in its place....

Wow, you're lucky, Hetty! It seems to take a few years for the plant to get 'comfortable' and then it starts to send out its messengers of doom. I have one in the back yard, too that has not yet sent out a single runner but I started it from a cutting only about 2 years ago. That one is competing much more with the oak tree roots, so maybe that is holding back the runner production . . . as you say - who knows?