A day in May...

So many wonderful things happening in our yard in May...here are a few pictures...

I threw some rain lily bulbs in a pot, unfortunately forgot about them until a few days ago when they greeted me with their light pink blooms.

Our Jamaican Caper tree is in full bloom and the bees are absolutely loving the star burst flowers.  Their sweet smell from the flowers fills the hot summer air.

A few of our bromeliads showing off their colors.

A partial few of the backyard showing Copperleafs, Beautyberry's, Bird of Paradise, Necklace Pod, Croton, Biscayne Prickly Ash, Rain Lilies, Panama Rose and Fiddlewood.

A partial view of the south side of the back yard with Myrtle-on-the-River, Butterfly Ginger, Heliconias, Jatropha, Montgomery Palm and Plume Flower.

 Our Myrtle-on-the-River tree is finally blooming!  I planted this tree about 5 years ago in honor of my brother.  For some reason it did not really grow nor bloom nor die and I tried everything to encourage this shy tree.  I finally left it alone and this year it has really started to show it stuff!  The flowers are tiny but have a really neat sweet smell.  The flowers turn to pink berries, that turn to blue berries that the birds like to eat.

Believe it or not, this palm was shipped from Hawaii 6 years ago as a tiny little thing wrapped in damp newspaper.  Yes, this is a sloooooow growing understory palm. When the new fronds unfurl their leaves they are a brillant red and the trunk is dappled light & dark green like the outside of a watermelon, hence the name Watermelon Palm, Chambeyronia macrocarpa, a very cool palm to have in any collection.

Everyone who comes to the house absolutely loves this large shrub called a Holmskioldia taitensis or Tahitian Hat.  Unfortunately it is sandwiched between a Simpson Stopper and a Beautyberry so it is not able to really spread to its full width. It makes up for it with lots of beautiful warm red purple flowers, though they look more blue purple in the picture for some reason.  A female Ruby Throated Hummingbird who frequents our yard every winter loves this tree to rest in.

Can you see the bee in this Plume Flower picture?  It flew into view just as I was snapping the picture. :)

This is a partial view of the southeast section of the front of the house showing Wild Lime, White Sage, Croton, Bay Rum and Asylum.  It's changed some what since then so I will have to post some new pictures soon to show you how much everything has grown.