yellow is always happy. Here is Dutch Yellow Truffle today. Its also my avatar picture, so not much new

Just had a terrible thunderstorm go through here the power is out the dogs are nuts and not sure if there's any dead trees down on the driveway. but we sure did need the rain

Stay safe Molly!

Where in FL are you? I'm in Sarasota and it's been sun shiny all day...I would love a good storm, I was outside a little while ago watering all my droopy plants!

I just came in from watering the plants myself. I went to a Hibiscus show yesterday in Pinellas Park and posted it on the Hibiscus forum. If you guys would like to take a look, here's the thread: The thread "Sunset Chapter American Hibiscus Society Show and Sale" in Hibiscus forum

We got a little rumble around lunch time, then when we headed out to Home Depot, drove about 4 blocks east, and the road was all wet with puddles!

It's my fault, I had Marsh install new gutters and two new rain barrels. Know what the fatal flaw with rain barrels is? If it doesn't rain they don't work. And when it doesn't rain is when you need them the most. Can't win.

I have lots of this pretty pink Salvia blooming now. It seeds itself everywhere it's sunny, which is nice.


Really enjoying the first big flush of blooms on this double daylily. They're even fragrant, and rust resistant which is a huge plus for a daylily in Florida.

Nice Daylilies, I don't have the best of luck with them in my garden, probably too much shade and too sandy of soil. I love the pink Salvia, it does pop up here and there in my garden, mostly finds a potted plant to join.

We had some good rain past two days...finally, it kept going around us, were not home yesterday evening but rain gauge showed just under an inch. Garden looks happy this morning and rain barrel is over flowing again.

Almost missed my Tillandsia flowering while in the Keys.


Neoregelia flowers


White shrimp plant


Caldiums are looking nice now, this is Florida Beauty

So pretty, Sherri! And your caladiums - huge and beautiful

Molly, your lucky. We could hear the thunder, see the dark clouds, but nary a drop. Still a dust bowl here. So dry and sandy.

I did finally find some milkweed, Im so jazzed, as there are three monarchs that seem very happy. Well, Im thinking they are the same three, Odd thing is, I have had nary a butterfly on the red pentas, I thought the butterflies liked them. The giant swallowtails do eat the pink pentas, so thats a good thing.

Pam, my red pentas are VERY popular. The Giant ST the other day was only eating the red, and the hummingbird even hit them up. I'm not sure what affects nectar levels in plants. Maybe because it's been so dry where you are, they aren't producing as much?

I'm seeing Monarchs daily but they seem smaller than normal. Lots of Zebra long-wings, since I have passionvine, a few swallowtails, but they seem to increase in later summer.

One thing I have that is really bugging me is Lubber grasshoppers. I never had a problem with them in the 20 plus years we've lived here until the past three seasons. I'm killing one or two daily, as much as I hate killing anything, these things have eaten a lot of my cordylines and some of my broms. They got quite a bit of my spider lily out front too.

Are the lubber's the huge, almost black, grasshoppers?

They're black when they're juveniles, but multicolored as adults. And yes, they're huge!

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/crea...

We had those when I lived on the river, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Thank goodness they are not here in Starkville.

I have monarch cats coming out of my ears. Im so excited. Just put one in the net house, the other one got away in the night. I have about 17 small ones, and eggs still. Most I guess wont make it, dont have enough milkweed to feed them all anyway.

The lubbers, the worst, and so big, you cant kill them without..well...yuk. I try to just cut them in half with the nippers

I took this picture several years ago at Brookgreen Gardens. You don't see too many lubbers in SC but Brookgreen brings in truckloads of plants and I suspect this one was a hitch hiker. I have only seen one lubber here at my home.

I've been pretty lucky this year and last year and have seen minimal Lubbers. They're usually a big problem. They eat anything, including bromeliads! I always say that must be like eating shoe leather - with spikes!

My Angel's Trumpet is blooming again...

This is an an adult lubber it is about three or more inches. Right now they are mostly black and half that size. This is the time of year I see them, but usually I get them all, they are easy to grab with gloves of course and yes...snip them in half with the clippers. I read they like open grassy areas and along roadsides. Our neighbor next door stopped mowing her backyard three years ago after her husband moved out, that is when we started getting them. Not sure if that is where they come from but that is the only side of the garden they are on. Thank goodness they have not found my orchids.

Has anyone had success growing fuchsia in southeast Florida? I am trying to keep it alive and it has good days and bad days. I bought this one before I knew that there are certain fuchsia that are heat hardy. As you can see from my pic, I am losing some of the plant on the left. Any advise on how to keep him healthy down here would be great! Thank you.

Mm I think the only way you're going to keep that plant going through the summer is to grow it indoors, Jen. They really like cooler weather, so if you can keep it alive it will do well through the winter here.

Looks like you might have a little bit of root rot starting already - too much moisture and the soil never dries out with all the humidity causes this. I would douse it with diluted hydrogen peroxide to nix the fungi, then bring it indoors and let it dry out some before you water it more. Just spritz the leaves with a spray bottle if needed.

i will take your advice and do it right now. I will let you know how it does.
Thank you