Ever thought of throwing fertilizer at people that need to grow up? 

The caterpillars feed only on the passion vines, the adult butterflies feed on nectar and pollen. Their most favorite flower in the garden is the Lantana but they also like the blue plumbago flowers and Pentas. Of course  they visit all other blooms as well. 

From the egg laid to the emerging butterfly can take as little as 3 weeks. Longer if the temperatures are cooler. 

So go ahead and plant a passion vine in your yard, the butterflies with thank you for it. Passion vine is also the host plant for the orange Gulf Fritillary butterfly’s caterpillar. 

what to do with leftover hypertufa mix?

make a tufa-cairn

stacked stones to me are fascinating. It’s a human thing, only we stack stones.

For me they say ‘I was here’ but all over the world they have different meanings.

It is for meditation in Buddhism, since it takes patience.

The Inuit call stacked stones inuksuit, you are on the right path or as a memorial for a beloved person. 

In Aruba they are someone’s wishes

In Greece they are associated with Hermes, the God of travel

And others see it simply as a sculpture

Can you find the Ruby-throated Hummingbird in this photo? 

I watched him fly through Myrtle Glen, sipping nectar from the flowers and when he finally perched on the branch he let me get close to take some pictures. 

This year we have two male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds chasing each other, and several females zipping around. They are very vocal and aggressive towards each other, guarding a flowering plant they claim for themselves against all other hummers, even butterflies and large bumblebees.

Males have bright read colored throat, females are grayish in color.

Wings beating about 53 times per second create the hum.

The birds are flying acrobats, they can hover, fly upside down and backwards. This takes up a lot of energy and their high metabolism requires them to eat up to twice their body weight in food each day. On the menu are insects, spiders, flower nectar and sap.

In Fall they migrate to  Mexico and Central America but breed here in the eastern half of North America. Males establish a territory and court the females with flying acrobatics, doing  loopings in the sky. Females may have several broods laying 1 to 3 eggs each time. 

We do not offer sugar water in feeders since the birds prefer the flowers.

Here is a list of flowers the Hummingbirds love to visit, they do prefer red flowers, and visit those first, to then go on the pinks, orange, purple and blue

Pineapple Sage

red Bottlebrush blooms

Coral Honeysuckle

the flowers on my Bromeliad Portea petropolitana

Abution

Shrimp Plant

Spiral Ginger

red Pentas

pink Porterweed

Bat faced cuphea

Candy Corn (Cigar Plant) 

purple Porterweed

Iochroma, purple bell-shaped flowers

Passionflower

Morning Glories

different Salvias and Sage 

Aloe flowers

This vine is great for Central Florida, non aggressive, butterfly friendly and its flowers display an uncommon and most beautiful shade of blue.

It is listed as Semi-deciduous and it weathers the cold seasons just fine. During our last cold winter it dropped its leaves, but as soon as it warmed up they sprouted again quickly.

The major bloom time is in Spring, but compared to the Wisteria blooming just once a year, the Petrea repeats flowering all through the warm season. The flowers resemble tiny orchids and are very attractive in a grape cluster with light lavender colored star-shaped petals and an amethyst colored center. 

This plant has average water needs and does not mind our clay rich soil. Once established it tolerates drought. It prefers at least 6 hours of sun per day. It can be kept at a small size, but if allowed it will grow to 30 ft. A strong support is recommended for this woody climber.

Why the name Sandpaper vine? The leaves are stiff like cardboard and rough like sandpaper

“One of the most delightful things about a garden is

the anticipation it provides.”

[W.E. Johns]

Orchid Vanda terete ‘Miss Joachim’ stretches its flowers high up into a Crepe Myrtle

The edible bird house is much-loved by the birds in Myrtle Glen. 

The seeds are glued on to a wooden bird house I bought at an Arts & Crafts store with edible glue made with whole wheat flour, corn syrup, gelatin and water. Black sunflower seeds, wild bird seed mix, peanuts, raisins and cranberries are yummy treats for the birds. 

As soon as all is picked off, I clean the bird house and make it again

This Fundraiser party was just wonderful!

Thanks to 40 generous guests Kristin raised $800 for  ’Walk for the Cure’ .

Thank you to all for coming to this little get-together. Everyone enjoyed the good company,  perfect weather,  and yummy treats. 

Teas in several flavors, hot and cold are waiting for the guests. 

The garden was decorated in the Tea theme with Teacup posies, candles, lanterns and torches.

Sitting areas were set up throughout the garden

I offered several of my hand formed hypertufa planters for sale to support the Fundraiser

This is what I received in a  forwarded email, thank you so much for this compliment:

Well…The Tea at Twilight in Myrtle Glen was exquisite!! Everything was perfect….the gardens were groomed to the highest degree – there was even a little hummingbird, and you KNOW I love that!The folks were all pretty and friendly…a couple of little fires were burning…one in a little firebowl and the other in a chimenea.. …..sweet smoke mingled with the fragrances of many different flowers and plants! Of course, I couldn’t resist the brush of the rosemary in the herb garden! There were orchids in bloom…oh so MANY Kinds of flowers and trees!

We were greeted at the gate by lovely Kristin, the gal who is doing The Walk for the Cure. The magic of Myrtle Glen enveloped us as we entered the beautiful gardens….little lights of various kinds twinkled along the paths and under the trees as we made our way to find our host and hostess, Todd and Evelyn. A champagne tea was soon in our hands – the teacups were busy holding little bouquets so beautifully and daintily suspended as if in mid-air! ….yes…china teacups…scattered throughout the garden! It was all breathtaking!!

Thanks again everyone, for making this Fundraiser so successful! 

Twilight Tea in the Garden

A Fundraiser for ‘Walk for the Cure’

I am grooming the garden, picking yellow leaves and spent flowers, making Hypertufa pots I plan on offering for sale for an extra fundraiser income, searching for recipes for the nibbles to go with the different teas, sending out invitations… 

Of course we are hoping for a great turnout, and if you, dear Reader, live close enough and would like to attend, you are most welcome to do so!  Just send an email to gonetropical at gmail.com  :-)