We Thought We Were Back in Michigan!

...but then the sun came back out. Yes, we actually had 2 1/2 days of overcast skies. The sun did come out for a while this afternoon and I went for a bike ride. Had to take advantage of the good weather; later today we have thunderstorms forecast. We will be much cooler and windy tomorrow before we get back to the more normal January temps of highs in the 70's.

I finished repairing / replacing the two gates on the west side of the house. I borrowed a neighbor's pickup truck, got a 4'x8' sheet of white plastic lattice (no rot this time!) and installed it last Saturday. I raised the bottoms of the gates for clearance so they swing well clear of the ground. Yes, I have to paint the treated lumber yet.

We have had ant problems lately. We have these little black ants, less than 1/8" long, that are all around the perimeter of our house. I've even had them in some of my plant pots. Had a nest in an orchid pot in the lattice house and also in a hanging orchid and my staghorn fern, both hanging from the oak in the back yard. I sprayed the house perimeter with Sevin this morning, and I'll give it another shot next Saturday. I don't like to use such powerful, potent insecticides but enough is enough! Too many ant caravans running around the house for dozens of feet. Or thousands, if you count all the little ant feet...

Both of our camellias are full of blooms right now. The Pink Perfection in the front is particularly eye-catching. And right next to it is the red hibiscus, which blooms all year round. We also have a cattleya orchid blooming -- three wonderful flowers with a remarkable creamy lime (limey cream?)with purple. Spectacular! I had to wait until today to take some pictures outside so I could catch this unusual color.

Almost Winter

We had a storm front go through this morning. Lots of wind for a half inch of rain, but we're grateful for whatever we can get at this point in the year. Central Florida is about 9 inches below normal for rainfall; we've had about 38 inches of precipitation this year, and the concerns have begun already about drought and water usage. Kissimmee and St. Cloud were put on 2 day/week lawn rationing this week, which brought them into alignment with the rest of us.
The back yard is looking lush, so now I'll rework a little along the wall. I got permission from the homeowners' association to remove the Royal Palm. It's grown too close to the wall; if I leave it

alone, it will push the wall over. The bougainvillea will also go. I want to put in some bamboo in the room that we'll then have. The fishtail palms have given us the green barrier from Michigan Street that I had hoped, so the loss of the tree (other than we just love Royal Palms) is OK. We will lose the color of the bougainvillea by the wall, but we can't see it from the house anymore.

The camellia is beginning to bloom. This is the first of at least 50 buds on the tree.

After 18 months, our paphiopedilum 'Pinocchio' orchid has begun to bloom again. Not bad, eh, Bob?

Sooo, with all that green and flowering beauty here, we will be en-wintered in Denver in a week. And looking forward to it! Just one week of kids to go, and an early dismissal on Friday.