Giving Thanks!

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  Wishing you all a most wonderful Thanksgiving!  Hopefully you will be surrounded with your family and friends and lots of love and good times!

Today I give thanks for my blessed life, my family and friends, a roof over my head, 

my health, this wonderful country I live in, my amazing blogger friends, continued work 

coming in and a future to look forward to.  

I am thankful for all the things I do have in my life instead of the things I don't have.

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving and wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Happy Gardening and best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

Birds in Flight

Every year around this time, we have a huge influx of these small non-native black birds called European Starlings.  Unfortunately they do more harm to our native birds environment and habitat than good.  Though with that said, they have the most unique and spell binding flight I have ever seen.  Sometimes during the evenings you can catch me watching them fly in their uniquely choreographed flying formations.  For me it is absolutely mesmerizing and brings a sense of calm to my buzzing brain.  It's amazing how synchronized they are; birds fly into the group, they fly out, they turn one way then another never touching the bird next to them and they always seems to have the same exact spacing from the next bird the entire time, crazy!  The ironic part about it is they usually do this acrobatic flight right in the middle of some of our city's busiest intersections, almost like they are putting on a show for us, lol.  So I am usually watching in my car at a light or in a near by parking lot since I would like to remain 'poop free'.  This week I was finally able to get a snippet of their peaceful 'air dance' to share with you.  

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do even though blogger made the video so darn small!

Happy Gardening and best wishes!

Sheri

xoxo

Final moving day for my orchids

     There have been many posts before this one about our orchids in bloom.  In almost every "bloom" post, I probably mentioned that I have been in the process of moving my entire orchid collection from "clay pots hanging in our shadehouse" to being "mounted in our trees pot-free".  I have lost over half of my collection due to my negligence of re-potting, fertilizing, fungiciding, etc.  And anyone with a handful of orchids knows what a tedious and expensive job that can be.  Plus orchids do sooooo much better au natural.  Finally I had some time last weekend to move the last twenty to their final destination's.

     So while my boyfriend removed the old chainlink fence & cleaned out the clutter on the side of the house, I freed the root bound orchids from their clay pot shackles & into the trees they went.  A few of the vanda species found homes on our wood fence.  Where was this epiphany when I started collecting orchids?!?   I guess everything has a rhyme, a reason and a time!

Laeliocattleya in our cattley guava tree lol

     I zip tied them to the black ironwood tree branches.  But I am in a mental debate about it, in the past I have used a few dollar store pantyhose or bath scrunchie's to wrap the roots in sphagnum to the branch.  There are two trains of thought here...to zip-tie or to scrunchie.   Zip-tie pro's:  very easy to install, holds orchids tightly to trees, allows for good drainage & air circulation.   Zip-tie con's:  if they aren't monitored they can cut into the tree branch as it grows, they don't last long due to the sun & can pop off before the roots have a chance to grow on to the tree and need constant watering to start root growth.

     Then there is the pantyhose/bath scrunchie pro's:  inexpensive, one pair can be used for many orchids, can hold sphagnum moss to help keep moisture on roots.  Pantyhose/bath scrunchie con's:  they have to be constantly monitored for breakthroughs, can hold too much moisture & can restrict air flow which can lead to bacteria growth, you still have to use zip-ties or thick string to attach them and once the roots start to grow they growth right through the hose/scrunchie & then you have bits of material in your orchid roots on the tree, ewww.  So I think I am going to stick with the zip tie's for now but would love to hear all about your experiences with mounting orchids, bromeliads & airplants into trees!

     With out further adieu...here are a few snap shots of my orchid collection in their final locations mounted in the trees, palms and on our fence.  Sit down, relax, hope you enjoy and are inspired! :)

Some of our orchids in the black ironwood tree

Another view of the orchids in the black ironwood tree

Orchids in our Jamaican caper tree

Cattleya in our Jamaican caper

Vanda's & dendrobium's on our triple veitchia palm

Miltassa orchid on another triple veitchia of ours

Bird's eye view of the orchids in the black ironwood tree

'No name' orchid close up from in the previous picture

Maxillaria tenuifolia (flowers smells like toasted coconut) in our lignum vitae tree

Dendrobium's on our double adonidia palm

             

             Close up of one of the pink blush
              dendrobium's in the above picture

   

   Another close up of one of the purple
dendrobium's in the above picture

Blc. Rustic Spots (Bl. Richard Mueller x C. Landate) in the cattley guava tree

L. tenebrosa 'maravilla' in the guava tree

                

                 The one in the middle is
                 Vanda Lamellata var. remediosae

V. Lamellata var. remediosae close up
The flowers smell super sweet!

Another 'no name' vanda species

A close up of the little vanda cutie

Ok so this cattleya didn't make the trees
yet but it surprised me by blooming early

A close up of this October bloomer.
It's a deep orange that gets lighter as it ages.

Pot. Netrasiri 'orange delight' in our guava tree
can you see it!?! LOL :)

This Netrasiri is so hard to photograph!
The colors are super saturated & intense.

Pot. Netrasiri 'orange delight'

lc. gold digger 'redland gold' x c. schilleriana'

Blc. Dennis Kone AM/AOS close up

Blc. Dennis Kone AM/AOS this orchid has doubled in size!

This 'no name' cattleya blooms the exact same time as the blc. dennis kone!

Yes this orchid should be busted outta this crate but I'll wait
until it finishes blooming 

This amazing orchid is in our lignum vitae
I think it's part of the brassavola family

Yes I lost the tag, lol

So here you have it folks...a glimpse into the life of orchids at our humble abode.

Of course I will do a follow up post as to the status of how everything is doing with the

hopes that all newly transplanted orchids will start attaching their roots to the trunks!

Happy Gardening & wishing everyone a most wonderful weekend!!!

Best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

Berries, Blooms & Birds

     Not sure how I became infatuated with birds but here I am talking about them once more, hee hee.  In our yard, er I mean garden, there are alot of blooming plants and trees...and when I say alot I mean almost everything blooms & berries at least twice a year.  This year our yard has almost reached it's capacity of quantity and with the quantity of plants we have hence the more wildlife we have.  So this year has been my "oh wow, look!" year.  Never have I seen so many birds thrive in our garden!  We have a brood of 6, yes six, mockingbirds that must be parents and offspring because up until this year only a breeding pair would staunchly protect our garden as their territory.  Now these six mockingbirds just absolutely love chattering all day, flying from tree to tree, singing on the telephone pole and chasing each other all around.  Along with the mockingbird clan, we have 6 orioles, yes six, that fly in our garden for some tasty treats.  Usually I see the orioles only in pairs, but not this year.  Oddly enough we normally have a gang of bluejays but there have only been a few in passing as I think the mockingbird clan chases them off.   There are always the wandering gypsy troupes of young ibis's.  Walking through yards, picking out lawn bugs & grubs, nere a care in the world.  Then we have a multitude of seasonal birds that come in throughout the year.  I can't wait to see who comes to visit this year for the holiday's, lol!

     So my thinking as to the shockingly high number of birds here is....food, water & shelter.  Yes all the main necessities in life a bird could ask for.  With that said, here is what I have noticed the past few months.....  

Our willow bustic tree's bloomed & the bee's pollinated the heck outta it! 

Then the birds ate all the willow bustic berries off
the entire tree in four days flat!  I don't think the tree was expecting that, lol.

We have three beautyberry bushes that load up on beautiful bright purple berry clusters all throughout the summer.  The birds absolutely love to sit & pick at the bunches of them like they were grapes on a vine.  Even the morning doves and the squirrels will muster up the courage to go to the end of the thin branches for these edible delectable's. 

Look at how many beautyberry clusters there are, gosh who wouldn't love to nibble on these!
Yup, all gone in a matter of weeks.

Next in our line up is the Jamaican Caper, the birds & squirrels eat the red sticky inside of the opened seed pods like it was candy.  Our's have just started opening last week & it's amazing to see how many times a day the birds go in and out of the tree.

Juicy sticky Jamaican caper seed pod burst open!

Unidentified bird in Jamaican caper

Another unidentified new bird in our Jamaican caper

The firebush is one of our local wildlife's all time favorites around here.  The bee's, hummingbirds, butterflies & orioles love the flowers, the mockingbirds & oriole eat the berries, the warblers like the bugs, the ladybugs love the aphids/mites, the doves love to hang out in it and I love to watch it all go down, lol.

Our firebush before it was knocked around by TS Issac.

One of many troupes of ibis's searching for grubs & bugs in our neighborhood yards.

Just a little berry tasting here for you at Casa Sheri.  Hope you enjoyed it!

What kind of berries and tasty things do your local birds like to eat?

Happy gardening and many best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

Today's Moment of Zen...

   Today's Moment of Zen is brought to you by my backyard....hee hee...

Our place to have a Moment of Zen...and a glass of wine...
a new paver patio & new grill makes a gardening girl oh so happy!  :))

HAPPY GARDENING Y'ALL!!!

Best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

White Indigo Berry Bush

     This is the first time our white indigo berry bush actually had, what I like to call "a full-bloom regalia", which was back in May.  Yes, yes...I know...how contradictory...white indigo (blue), huh, que es esto???  Well, when the berry matures the outside is snow white while the inside is dark as night.  The Native American Indians used to use this indigenous berry as an ink.  Not many folks have white indigo berry bushes in their landscapes and to top it off I have never seen them bloom like this...completely covered in the most super intense sweet smelling tiny white flowers.  Incredible how you could smell the bush from 20ft away!  It also hummed with bees all over it.

     The white indigo berry bush, randia aculeata, is a native to the Caribbean Islands, Florida, Mexico, South and Central America.  It's a slow growing, drought & hurricane tolerant evergreen that is a great privacy plant for residential landscaping.  It grows anywhere between 6 to 12 ft high.  The birds love to eat the berries as well as nest in the thicket of the bush.  Butterflies, moths & bees love the nectar from the blossoms and according to Green Deane, it's one of only a few white berries that are edible though not very tasty.  It's also used as a Christmas tree throughout Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

     Here are a few pictures of our bush in bloom, I'm guessing it's about 10ft high right now.

Our white indigo berry bush in bloom

It was very difficult to get a good photograph of it since it was so bright out with the white flowers.

I captured a honeybee in this photo :)

This photo shows you how big it's grown covered in white flowers dropping like snow.

This is what our white indigo berry bush looks like now in mid July.

Where there once were white sweet smelling tiny flowers, now there are gnarly looking brown leftovers.

Our white indigo berry bush today...now that I'm looking at it, it's probably taller than my previous estimate of 10 ft high, the wood fence is 6 ft high...where's my tape measure...lol!

HAPPY GARDENING, STAY HYDRATED and 

MANY BEST WISHES,

Sheri

xoxo

Fabulous Friday

Well, first of all it's Friday so today is fabulous already...

Secondly I spent the day with my handsome man Cyrus...

Cyrus helping me take pictures of the bromeliads in the afternoon sunlight :)

Third it was such a beautiful day today I couldn't help but be in stellar spirits all day so I went outside to take some photographs when the sun was an angle....

My 'Hot Rio Night' heliconia just starting to throw out an absolutely stunning colored bloom

Fourth but not the last, I get to hang out with my honey this weekend to work on some of our creative house projects we started a few weeks ago, lol.

No kidding when I say, "this is exactly how it looked" when I took the picture.  The sun was shining through the beauty berry bush right into the middle of the gloriosa lily flower.  Amazing!

HAPPY FABULOUS FRIDAY TO YOU AND YOURS!!!

Happy Gardening and best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo