Yep, I do have those plants, Patty. So far, so good. Beautiful bromeliads.

We are going to have really spring-like weather this week. It will be in the mid-40's in the AM but for the following seven days it will be in the 50's/60's and highs in the 60's/70's. I already have all my plumeria out, and I covered, lightly warmed the two groups of them the last three nights. We were in the mid-30's. They all seem to have weathered that cold just fine. Knock on wood. I will start moving some of the more hardy tropicals out this week, plants like fiddle leaf, banana leaf, ginger, and bromeliads. I will be able to see the floors of my greenhouses!

I have 12 boxes of plants to ship tomorrow and Tuesday. I am finally going to catch up shipping to areas that up until now have been too cold. Its a good thing I am getting stronger. My wife allowed me to drive and do the grocery shopping this AM. She really didn't think I was quite ready but she also knew I was itching to spread my wings. I made her stay home. I did fine.

Patty,

The plant with the tiny white flowers is a rhipsalis - an epiphytic cactus. Very cool looking.

Daisy

I think I found the likely variety of that one with the tiny white flowers, Rhipsalis capilliformis. The yellow flowered one may be Rhipsalis dissimilis. I am relying on pictures and nothing more. I could be 180 degrees off-base with the labeling though.

Thanks Daisy...and Ken! Did you ever figure out what the one with the 'pearls' on it is, Ken?

How do you like the spike forming on that giant tillie? I'll keep taking pictures as it grows so you know what to expect!

I have tons of small tree frogs here just north of Tampa..but they might be a nasty
non native invasive kind. I find them all over my bench..inside stacked pots mostly..

I bet those who have lived in FL long enough will be able to tell you what sort of frog that is, Lindsey. My frogs are very limey-green in color and I don't think they show a pattern such as that.

I'll bet Elaine is about to tell you those are invasive Cuban tree frogs that are running our natives out of town. You can tell because they croak in Spanish and smoke cigars.

Jim

What Ken said!!

Our frogs are Pacific tree frogs. They come in every color: bright green, cream and brown and all shades in between with a black eye stripe. I am (impatiently) waiting for the spring chorus. It should start anytime now.

I have their 'pond' full off water and ready to go. I even added some aquatic bladderworts (Utricularia gibba) this year.

Daisy

I answered your questions @SarasotaPatty, but I must have forgotten to click on "Finished". I think those string-of-pearls are Rhipsalis baccifera. Do post pictures of the "Giant Tillandsia" blooming. None of mine show any signs of doing so.

They say the Cubans are up here now too. Maybe that is why we no longer have the beautiful little green ones. I am going to listen and see if I can hear any "Ole"s tonight when they start singing. As to the cigars, no man or beast gets away with them around me.

Maybe I should be listening for an accent too.

Yep, they're Cubans Lindsey. You can tell by the big round toe pads, and generally they are that pale beige color, although they can change color. I hadn't noticed the cigar smoke, but ours sure do croak in Spanish as well as English. The ones at my house just croak, period. In my freezer. Marsh calls them "frogsicles" when he finds a ziploc bag with a frozen frog in it in the freezer. It seems cruel, but truth be told, since I've been eradicating the Cubans, I now have a nice population of 3 different kinds of native frogs and toads in my little fish pond out front.

I was up on the roof blowing out the gutters and getting the roof cleaned off in preparation for oak flower season. The view from up there was nice and I took a few pictures of stuff I can't see when I'm on the ground. Here's my back yard veggie growing area with Earth Boxes and the big raised bed in the middle, mango tree on the left in full bloom (more pollen and boy! do they smell too.) and our shop at the top, (aka The Garage Mahal) and corner of the house at right.

Clerodendron quadriloculare 'Shooting Stars' really put on a show this winter. They like it warm!


This pretty palm has volunteered in the bed at the corner of the house. The stem is less than a foot from the roof overhang, and it is at least 15ft. tall. How the heck it got so big before I noticed it is beyond me! But, Jim can you possibly put a name to it? Fronds are long and curve downward, individual leaves are not in a plane on the frond, they go all around like a Foxtail. I think I'm going to have to cut it down or at least move it since it's too close to the house, and if it's something nice I'll (get some help to) move it.

ugh....then NONE of the frogs I've seen are good frogs...even this one that was in my bathroom!
Your Clerodendron is gorgeous...I saw one today for the first time at a friends house.
I had a Clerodendron in NC that looked totally different...I'll have to look for a photo of it.
It was a beautiful small tree with gorgeous flowers that the butterflies loved..but it was
in the seriously invasive category as it would spread very quickly through the roots..20'
away.
It IS cool getting a different perspective on your garden..I used to do that when I worked in the garden
center at Lowe's...climb up on the really tall ladder and look down at all the wonders in the garden.

Round toes and a Cuban accent, got it. I understand the zip lock in the freezer part but how do you persuade the frog to jump in the zip lock?

Don't frogs cause warts?

These frogs can cause a nasty rash, or so it says on the UF website. They secrete an irritant in their glands on the back of the neck so I grab them by turning the ziploc bag inside out with my hand inside it. Before that I spray them with some anti itch spray like Benadryl that slows them down a lot (I know, it's cheating . . but I'm old and slow).

Lindsey there are a lot of different clero's and lots of them 'runner' like that including my 'Shooting Stars'. Luckily my terrible soil and competition with 4 huge oak trees' roots are holding them back somewhat. But I still do find them popping up here and there.

Elaine, clumping or solitary? Any thorns?

I had some aquatic bladderworts once but the doctor gave me some pills and they went away.

Jim

Solitary, no thorns. I really wish it was just a couple of feet further from the house . . . it's nice.