End of Summer 2016 ~ I guess the end of summer was actually in September but it hasn’t cooled down much. There have been a lot fewer interesting bugs in the St. Augustine Road Fish Management Area and only a few birds. Doug gave us a lotus plant that pupped from one in his water garden….
Flowers & Plants
Cannonball tree, Couroupita guianensis
I was cleaning photo files this week and ran across pictures I took last year of a friend’s Cannonball tree, Couroupita guianensis. The first time I ever saw one was 15 years ago in the botanical garden on the island of St Vincent. I barely remember the garden, the oldest in the western hemisphere, but…
Japan: Glowing Mushrooms!
July 2015 Japan: Glowing Mushrooms! One of the highlights of our trip to Hachijo-jima, Japan was a nighttime walk to look at the glowing mushrooms. We went to Hachijo, a small island about 180 miles south of Tokyo, to scuba dive (my post about the blennies we saw) but our host, Kotaro Tanaka, graciously took us…
Blossoms & Bugs – DC Edition
We’re just back from a speaking engagement at the National Zoo in Washington so I thought I’d share some of the bugs and flowers I saw in the lovely yard of our hosts, who live just outside DC. They had several small ponds, one of which had a beautiful lotus blossom. The yard was full…
Blossoms & Bugs: April Edition
The yard is in bloom and the bugs are out. There are so many nasturtiums that we decided to sugar some of them and decorate a cake. This peachy color was new this year and ended up being my favorite. We ate some of the leaves in our salad. The caterpillar wasn’t eating the banana…
Photo Friday: Reflection – Water Lilies
This week’s Photo Friday challenge is Reflection. Last year’s water lilies were so beautiful but we had a very cold winter so it will be interesting to see what made it.
Photo Friday: Flowering
The walk from our backyard to the wildlife management area takes us through about a quarter mile of woods before the area opens onto a road around the lakes. This time of year, all kinds of flowering plants, both wild and domestic escapees are beginning to bloom. The Parrot Lily, Alstroemeria psittacina, is one of our…