Sherree Tales

I have moved

2011-06-09T09:51:00.000-04:00

I have moved the Friday Flowers blog to http://www.sherreetales.com/. Enjoy the new and improved site!

When it rains, it pours

2011-06-07T13:16:00.000-04:00

Friday Flowers have not disappeared, nor have I. However, I have been very busy in the creative department. I even took a week off from work so I could devote my full attention to expanding and refining my use of creative tools. I am learning a new web site management program and in the process of doing that I needed to finish another Sherree Tale so I would have something to post. But to finish the Tale I had to illustrate it, and to illustrate it I had to work around my deadly fear of spiders (since the new tale is called "The Spiders"). I know a lot of people are afraid of spiders, but my fear is so severe that I will leave a house rather than share space with one...my fear is so great that I cannot even kill them...it is so paralyzing that I certainly cannot draw spiders! That created quite a pickle for me. So I changed my focus and decided to draw spider webs instead. After all, the tale is about two spiders who create unusual webs. The irony is I was unable to draw creative webs even though I could create spiders who could create creative webs. So I did what anyone in 2011 would do; I Googled webs. That was a good start, but they were still pictures of regular spider webs. So I Googled other web-like things and hit the jackpot. The problem was these were not my photos, but they did give me an idea of how to make web-like pictures.

What has any of this got to do with Friday Flowers? Well, the flower project started because I wanted to share my gardens with people in the hopes they would receive as much joy from them as I do. I didn't know how to do that until I got an iPhone that takes really good pictures and is always in my pocket when I am working in the garden. I started taking pictures, writing little captions and emailing them to my friends and colleagues. I had to learn a bunch of new skills in order to do this (like manipulating photos, posting in a blog, setting up a mailing list, etc).

And what does any of the above have to do with illustrating spider webs? Everything! With my trusty iPhone, I started taking close up pictures of anything around my house or gardens that looked remotely web-like. I then uploaded those to my computer and messed around with the color, shape, tone, etc. until I had pictures that any creative, web weaving, spider would be proud of. I even made 8x10 glossies of the morphed photos and started framing them.

Anyway, that's why I've missed a couple of weeks of Friday Flowers...I've been growing!

Oh, this week's flower is a Rain Lily. They pop up when it's warm and raining. Me too.

Pretty in red

2011-05-13T14:54:00.000-04:00

Another week is ending and we finally got a great soaker of a rainstorm after weeks of drought and heat. My plants are very happy as am I. I’ve been trying to grow grass (no, not that kind!) from seed and the ground has to stay moist. Well, with no rain and 90 plus heat for weeks, my grass growing has been quite a challenge. Now I’ve heard on the news that we may get rain through the weekend and into next week. Yippee!! Of course that means the lawn will grow and need cutting. The work never ends, but since I love the work I don’t mind it.

This week’s flower is an orchid. I used to think it was a Vanda, but an orchid-wise friend of mine insisted it is not. I don’t really know or care what kind it is. All I know is it is hanging on a coconut palm and is very prolific. It blooms several times a year and I’ve split it into two other orchids and placed one on the arbor over my Koi pond and the other in an oak tree. We’ll see how the orchid children do in their new environments.

I really don’t have much to say today except enjoy the rainy weekend doing the rain things you like to do.

Ginger by the coconut palm

2011-05-06T15:19:00.000-04:00

This is another ginger. Last year I sent you a picture of a pinecone ginger. I wish I could tell you the name of this one, but there are over 1300 varieties of ginger and I haven’t a clue what this one is. I’m fairly certain it isn’t the kind of ginger that helps your digestion or has benefits for your heart. But even if it were, I’m not sure it could heal a broken heart or soothe over an event that makes you sick to your stomach. Still, just looking at it makes me feel better, even happy, for a little while.

I hope this weekend there is a ginger in your life that can make you forget your stomach or heart ache, even for a little while.

Bottlebrush

2011-04-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

Today's plant is a bottlebrush. I'm sure you can see why it is so named. This one is leaning out over my pond. Every year it leans a little more. There used to be a chain attached to it that was wrapped around a post. I guess the idea was to keep it from eventually falling into the pond, but it broke free of its chain a long time ago and I just let it do what it will. We're both happier that way.

But today I want to talk about how I made myself unhappy by trying to prevent what was going to happen anyway. As many of you know, I took last week off to spend some quality time outside gardening. It was supposed to be relaxing and rejuvenating for me. I spent the first few days gathering the materials. By day three I was ready to plant. I started working in the little garden outside my screened porch. I loosened the soil, added some cow manure, dug holes, and put in dozens of new plants. I was quite happy with my work and could easily imagine the garden all filled out in a few months. I went to bed happy.

The next morning I went to my newly expanded garden and every plant was dug up. I was so shocked I couldn't even get mad. I spent a good part of that day replanting everything. You know what they say about "crazy" being defined as doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. Well, that perfectly described my actions, because the next morning every plant was dug up again! I replanted them all again and headed to Lowes for some help.

The gentleman from the gardening area showed me some products that would (or possible could) ward off digging critters, but he also made a phone call to an "expert" who said mothballs would work better. He took me to the mothball aisle and handed me a box. I said I would probably need at least two boxes. So I left the store with 200 mothballs and a plan to go to war with my mystery digging critters.

I spread the mothballs around the plants. I spread them around the fence that surrounds the garden. I put them in front of the 4 gates that lead into my garden. By the time I had distributed 200 mothballs, I had created a bio-hazard that should have repelled any creature on earth. I mean the place really stunk. I was glad I had the AC on in my house, because I don't think I could have slept there that night with the windows open. As a further precaution, I put some deer prevention netting over a few of the plants. I wouldn't say I went to bed happy that night, but I did go to bed certain that I would win this war.

I was wrong.

The next morning the only plants that were not dug up were the ones with the netting over them. Mothballs were everywhere. I think the digging critters played hockey or soccer with them. Vacated plant holes were full of mothballs; sort of like shooting pool balls into a pocket. And the smell...beyond description...definitely a sinus clearer.

So, I started replanting for the fourth time. Me, bending over, inches away from dozens of mothballs. Then I started to feel dizzy and short of breath. Next I was soaking wet from profuse sweating. Finally, I gathered what wits were left to me and did what I should have done in the first place; I read the warning label on the mothball box. "Toxic if inhaled, or touched, or eaten!" I had done everything except eat them.

I was foolish to think I was going to win a war I started against an unseen, digging critter. Anything I did was going to be just as harmful to me. So, I am back to letting hungry critters dig where they can and hoping that the mothballs eventually dissolve.

Have a great weekend and don't play with mothballs!

Purple Orchid

2011-04-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

I have a screened porch on the side of my house. It looks out over a fenced-in tropical garden, past some royal palms, over an oak covered lawn of mowed weeds and spotty patches of grass, and leads my eye to a pond that is framed by a Bottle Bush tree half in and out of the water. The porch is the perfect place to watch the squirrels and birds and the otters when they are in town. I also use the porch as a refuge for Christmas cactus and other succulents and as place to display orchids when they are in bloom.

Some of the orchids spend most of their time on the porch, but I've found they get diseased or weak if they never get any time outside. The balance that the porch cannot provide the orchids is natural predators to eat the various bugs that somehow do end up on the porch and do end up leaving nasty things on the orchid leaves. I don't like to kill anything (even spiders I'm phobic about) unless I'm going to eat it and i sure don't like killing with chemicals. So all the orchids get some time outside with the sun and rain and wind and bug-eating predators. They're healthier that way.

Next week i am going to put myself outside for 9 days. I'm going to plant 50 Caladiums, 3 Elephant Ears, re pot orchids, divide bromiliads, move mulch, and just generally have a healing time in the sun, rain, and wind. The predators will be there too, but its been a long time since any of them have been interested in me so I'll be just fine.

You have a good week too!

Corn Cob Bro

2011-03-18T15:54:00.000-04:00

A few months ago I sent you a picture of a bromeliad that I nicknamed “Candy Corn Bro.” Today’s bro is a close relative. I call it plain old “Corn on the Cob Bro.” Unfortunately I waited too long to take a picture of this bloom and the fat little corn kernels sprouted feathers on top. But trust me, a few weeks ago these flowers looked just like corn on the cob. I have these particular bros spread all over my yard and some of the clumps sported many more flowers than this one, but none of them photographed as well.

If you look beyond the last flower you will see clumps of lip stick bros and even a few candy corn bros (the ones with the striped leaves). All of these bros live together between and under a small ficus and a small oak. They love the leaves that fall on and around them, love the shade though they don’t bloom as much, and absolutely love the dew that drops on them on foggy or humid mornings.

I know I’ve said before that living in an environment that suits our needs is very important for plants and people. These bros are a testament to that.

This weekend look around the environment you have chosen and made for yourself. If it doesn’t suit you, change it. It doesn’t matter if you have gardens or not. We all have a space that is our own, indoors or out, a whole house/condo or a room or tent. Whatever the space that you can make your own, make it suit you and keep you healthy and happy.

Banyan Orchid

2011-03-11T14:27:00.000-05:00

What a surprise this was. This orchid was just thrown into the base of my Banyan tree because I didn’t have time to split it or find it a proper home. So, years go by and I forget about it, except I do notice it is climbing up the trunk of the tree. It never blooms but makes great foliage, so I let it be. Then I come home from work one afternoon and I see some color peeking out from what has become a mass of orchid foliage. I pull some of the leaves back and viola, this is what is in hiding. Honestly, it took my breath away. Other than being an orchid, I have no idea what it is (someone receiving this email will tell me, I just know it).

I don’t want you to think I am neglectful of my plants, but most of the time I have more than I can care for. I’m pretty sure this was one of the plants that came from a liberation raid that my friend Leslie and I made to Pine Island. Someone she knew was going to bulldoze acres covered in bamboo, and we were permitted to save what we could. Besides bamboo, there were orchids, bromeliads, and other tropicals. We hacked, and sawed, and hauled as much as we could. I think Leslie was probably much more realistic and prudent than I and only took what she could manage at home. I, on the other hand, acted like a kid with my hand in a candy jar; I had too much to be able to get my hand out of the jar but I just couldn’t let go of one piece.

Now I’m glad I wasn’t prudent. Sometimes it really is OK to take more than you need or can handle.

If you get the opportunity this weekend, go ahead and let yourself have more than you can handle. You might be surprised.

Spring at last

2011-03-04T16:19:00.000-05:00

Those of you who live in south Florida know spring is here. Even if you are not aware of the changes that have been happening in the last few weeks; all kinds of oaks losing their leaves and sprouting new ones, wild bromeliads in bloom, cypress trees no longer bald but covered with brilliant light green needle fuzz, and otters rolling over and over each other in the ponds…even if you are not aware of any of that, you are perhaps aware of an itch to get outside, play hooky from work, go to the beach, or sit in the sun and pretend to read a book. And even if you are not aware of the natural changes around you or an itch inside you, there is no way you could possibly miss the blooming of the azaleas as an announcement of spring.

Thanks to my mother, I have 4 azaleas on my property; three are fuchsia with huge blooms and the other is this pitiful, little orange-ish thing. It stands about knee high and is leggy and pale, but this year it decided to show me its stuff. Every stem has flowers and, except for 4 or 5 leaf clusters, every leaf is veiled behind a flower. It lives alone in a different part of the yard from the other three azaleas (who are also in glorious bloom) and its environment is not what we would call rich. But still, those nasty cold fronts stopped coming down, February turned sunny and southern California mild, and this little guy just couldn’t help but burst forth in blossom song.

My wish for you this weekend is that you find the spring inside you and sing a renewal song. Being pitiful, little, leggy, or pale is no excuse. Find your song and sing!

Aliens

2011-02-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

I don’t know what these plants are. They are some kind of succulents and seem to grow everywhere. I didn’t purchase the first one or liberate it from someone else’s home. They just showed up. They remind me of saucers from outer space, so I call them alien flowers. At first I tried to get rid of them because they are so prolific and grow where they want…not where I want! But that became an impossible task. They grow through underground spreading, they grow from pieces of their leaves that break off, they grow from dried up flowers flying on the wind. Even pulling them up will not work. Some little piece of root is sure to be left behind or leaves will literally leap from the trash bag and hide under a rock.

So I give up. They can stay and grow wherever they want. The invasion is over and this is now their home. Resistance was futile.

Funny thing is, once I surrendered, I started to notice they are sort of pretty.

Have a great weekend.

I have a follow up to this posting. I received an email from a friend of mine who no longer lives in Florida. It said:

"When you and I took a trailer and chain saw out to Pine Island to cut bamboo so I could make an orchid house and other stuff circa 1996 or1997, we saw these out on the Reed property and admired them, and when they invited us to come get bromeliads and such since they were bulldozing parts of their land we took some of these with us. I love watching the small birds cling to the tall dried stalks and sway in the wind. Good times, sister, good times."

Appenrtly I did liberate these aliens and willingly brought them to my home. I'm glad someone has a better memory than I do.

2011-01-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

Last week I sent a picture of my “candy corn” bros. I heard back from one of you that “Bros are very hard to grow....at least I've found it so.” I wanted to write back and say, “Please don’t tell me that. I have hundreds of bros and they get no care from me at all.” Then I remembered a lesson from my mother. I had been trying to get a bougainvillea to bloom with no success. When I complained to my mother that I was at my wits end, she asked what I had done to the bougainvillea. I said I gave it the best of care, planted it in almost pure cow manure, watered it often, and made sure nothing bothered it. My mother said, “…and that’s why it won’t bloom. Bougainvilleas like neglect; almost to the point of abuse.” She asked me to think about where I had seen the most spectacular ones. I didn’t think long before I said the Keys. And mom said, “What kind of soil do they have in the Keys?” Sand. “And how many cows have you seen in the Keys?” None. “And how many water sprinklers do they have in most parts of the Keys?” None, water has to be piped from the mainland and is precious. My mom rested her case. Bougainvilleas like sandy, salty, arid conditions. I had done almost everything wrong trying to get mine to bloom. The lesson I learned is to pay attention to what the environment is like where the plant is in its native habitat. It’s not about having a green thumb. It’s about paying attention and creating friendly environments for your plants.

This is a picture of a native bromeliad. It’s growing on or by my fence. I did not plant or attach it. I don’t do anything for it. These things grow all over south Florida and require no care from us humans. So that’s what I give them; a place to live similar to what they would choose for themselves and nothing more.

To my friend who finds them difficult to grow I would say, “You probably give them more than they need. You probably take great care of them in a way that makes them weak.” I know there is a lesson in there about how we take care of each other.

Have a great weekend.

2011-01-28T16:02:00.000-05:00

Isn’t she pretty? While these look like flowers, they are actually the leaves of a succulent. Because it does not have spines, it is probably an old world succulent. That’s all I know book-wise about this plant, but from watching it I know it does not like a lot of water, likes sun, will grow on rocks or between sidewalk cracks, and requires no care to thrive and reproduce. As a Christmas present last year I potted a variety of succulents for my friend to use on her pool patio during the dry winter months. I told her this was a temporary way to add color and texture, but when the summer rains came they would probably die from too much rain water.

This is what one of the pots looks like after a year and lots of summer rain.

So this just proves what I’ve said all along…I have no idea what I am doing, but since I have done it for a very long time, I end up with lots of success. And yes, there is also a bromeliad in the pot. I put it there so something would be alive when the succulents drowned.

I hope this weekend you are as happy about being wrong as I am.

Candy corn Bro

2011-01-14T16:16:00.000-05:00

As I said last week, with all the cold weather, it’s getting harder and harder to find flowers at my home. I know it is difficult to see what this is a picture of, so you will have to trust me. This is an old pine tree stump covered in bromeliads (and some other unknown vine that just showed up). The bro’s have striped leaves and a flower that looks like candy corn, so I call it my candy corn bro. After hurricane Charlie I had a lot of pine trees that were snapped in two. Rather than have this one removed, I pulled up some of these bro’s and attached them to the tree with nylon cord. The bro’s soon attached to the bark and began to multiply and climb the stump. I have several trees with bromeliads attached, and not just pines. The bro’s seem to like them all. If you walk through any swampy area in south Florida you will see native bromeliads attached to trees (orchids too).

This is a close-up of the candy corn bro. Don’t look at the ratty leaves. It’s been freezing cold and windy and they’ve taken a beating. But doesn’t the flower look like you could eat it?

Have a great week-end and if you find a flower that reminds you of something sweet from your childhood, you go ahead and call that flower anything you want.

2011-01-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone! With the start of the new year, it is time to resume Friday flowers. I must say, with all the record setting cold weather, it is becoming more difficult to find flowers. Plants that would normally bloom during this time are apparently hunkering down just like I have been doing for the last few weeks. Still, some brave souls bloom in spite of difficult conditions.

This week’s flower is a Christmas Cactus. Some folks spend extra effort to make sure that the plant is actually in bloom when its name says it should be. I, of course, pay no attention to any of that and just welcome the blooms when they feel like presenting themselves. I have four of these plants and this is a small one. Although they are called cactus, they are really tropical epiphytes and prefer an environment more like a tropical orchid or bromeliad. In other words, they would be happy living in the dead leaf filled arms of a tree (me too).

If I remember to do so, I will plant one of these in my ficus tree in the spring and see what happens next year. That is my intention. Now let’s hope my memory cooperates. I wish the same for you; that you remember to do what you intend.

2010-12-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

I watched the Tim Burton “Alice in Wonderland” this week and somehow these bromeliads remind me of the movie. Unlike the Disney version, this interpretation of “Alice” is complex and in some ways dark as well as very funny. It’s like a more adult version of life. In the same way, these bromeliads take center stage with their fuchsia throats against lime green leaves, but if you look closer there are all kinds of other plants and debris sharing the stage. These plants are not perfect or a cartoon version of themselves, but they still manage to be viewed as beautiful and special while fitting into a very diverse community.

This weekend remember how complex and special you truly are, and thank your community for allowing you to be so.

tribute to Jeff

2010-12-22T15:51:00.000-05:00

This last Monday my very dear friend, Jeff, killed himself. His family has requested no memorial and no flowers.

I cried harder and hurt as much as when my youngest brother died. I want to respect the family’s request but I need a way to say goodbye to

Jeff in a gathering of people who loved him like I did.

We have been told no memorial but perhaps one day there will be a spontaneous gathering. We've been

told no flowers but this Friday my flowers are for Jeff.

Jeff, this orchid is for you. It started out spectacular but disease and bugs sapped it of vitality. I don't use chemicals to fight disease

and bugs so I set it outside and hoped sun and rain would make it stronger. Last week I was stunned to see it in spectacular bloom even

though every leaf was burned and eaten.

Jeff, I know your last thoughts were of isolation, hopelessness, shame and a horrible hole inside that could not be filled. You were as burned as the leaves on my orchid. It breaks my heart that you couldn’t find a way to fill that void inside and stay with us longer in full bloom.

I will miss you, my friend.

Sanibel orchid - liberated

2010-12-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

I took a piece of this orchid from a tree on Sanibel and gave it a home in my Banyan tree. Obviously, it is thriving there. I hope your chosen home brings out the best in you too.

My house and pond

2010-12-13T16:09:00.000-05:00

Some of you have made comments that my place must look like a botanical garden and be full of flowers all the time. What’s really true is my yard is mostly green, most of the time. The flowers that occur, occur at least (but mostly) once a year. They do not in any way change the over-all look of the place. To see them, you have to walk around, pay attention, almost let them surprise you.

This picture was taken close to the road with the pond on my right. When I moved in 12+ years ago, you couldn’t see the house from this position. It was overgrown with Brazilian Pepper, Melaleuca, and Slash Pines. The house itself had been abandoned and in severe disrepair. That’s the only reason I could afford it. Over the years, everything in the house has been replaced; windows, doors, siding, electrical, plumbing (pipes and fixtures), floors, appliances, etc. I added a new room on the ground floor, stairs to the back of the house, and a half bath to the second floor. The house wasn’t air conditioned when I moved in. It is now. It also got a new septic field. Every time the appraisal on the house went up, I repaired and replaced. It was a great investment until the housing crash. It’s still a great investment from the point of view of the joy I have had and still have living here.

So back to the view you are seeing in this picture. How did that happen? Well, as a friend said to me today, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. First a rancher down the road showed up with a front end loader full of smashed up roof tile. He said, “I hear you gals are here by yourselves (my mother was with me back then) and I know you can’t get up this driveway because of the pot holes. If you don’t mind, I’ll drop this tile and smash it on the driveway.” We didn’t mind, so he did. That’s a good neighbor! That tile made an excellent base for the driveway. When I got my first tax refund, I had crushed shell put on the driveway. The shell needs replacing every few years and you can’t see it in this picture. But on a full moon night that driveway shines like the ocean.

The rest of the yard was done the same way…a little at a time. When anyone would visit who could use a chain saw, out would come noxious trees. Even two hurricanes helped in the process by felling most of the pines. Now the property has an abundance of oak trees that are much better for planting bromeliads and other lower plants.

The plants you see along the left and rear of this picture border my pond and were planted by me. I liberated all of them from drainage ditches. Most of the plants in my yard were given to me or liberated by me, including the oaks.

There doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason to my gardens and that is because of two reasons. One, I plant things in places that are most like where they came from, so that leads to a random look on a large scale. Two, I figured I had as much need to control as the botanical world had. Left up to only me, I would create gardens that look like any gated community in south Florida. Left up to nature, the place would be a mess like it was when I moved in and was overgrown with exotics. My compromise was to find a balance between my need for order (and walking and viewing room) and the inhospitable suffocation I found when I arrived. The result is a random but happy garden.

I’ll be taking a few weeks off from Friday flowers. There is really too much to do at home and for the holidays. See you next year!

So from my house to yours, may you always have a random and happy garden.

2010-12-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

Don’t let the large leaf in the front of this picture fool you. It has nothing to do with today’s flower. Well, not entirely nothing. It’s the leaf of a ground orchid and it shares a pot with the bromeliad that is producing today’s flower. Why do I have orchids and bromeliads sharing a pot together? Because, when I planted the ground orchid it looked lonely and pitiful in the pot by itself. Besides, I had never been successful growing ground orchids, so I put the bromeliads in there to fill the pot up and to ensure that something was still alive should the ground orchid die.

As it turned out, the orchid overgrew the pot and produced spectacular flowers. The orchid became entirely entwined with the bromeliads, so much so that you can barely tell them apart nor tear them apart. They remind me of some old couples and friends of mine. We may have been put together for the wrong reasons and maybe other people doubted the relationships could last, but after years of sharing the same space, after years of becoming so entwined it’s difficult to tell or tear us apart, it is clear the pairings were good for all of us. And even though it is difficult to tell us apart, when we bloom, it is quite apparent we are as different as an orchid and a bromeliad.

This weekend thank an old friend you have become entwined with or thank an old couple who have been an inspiration to you. It is quite a feat to get so close and still be able to bloom your own flower.

2010-12-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

This is a spectacular orchid blossom. What you can't see is it is entirely supported by a root system that lives in a plastic basket no bigger than a small hand. The basket has just a few pieces of tree bark.

I have always been amazed at how many orchids require very little to produce such beauty. This particular orchid has no soil, thin long roots that sway in the wind, and receives no food from me. How does it produce such beauty in such impoverished circumstances?

Well, first it has to be in the nature of the plant to showcase itself. This flower is simply what this orchid does. My second thought is a little more understandable to us as humans. You can’t tell from this photograph but this orchid is hanging from a nail on a coconut palm. Some of its roots are embedded in the palm. Perhaps it is also the relationship between the palm and the orchid that leads to such beauty.

On this long weekend of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to all of you whose relationship with me has allowed me to bloom and share what is beautiful in me.

Lipstick bro

2010-11-19T16:20:00.000-05:00

This is a Lipstick bromeliad. If you look closely at the middle you will see two tiny purple flowers. In full bloom the entire cup will be filled with these purple flowers. I think the plant alone is pretty and I have lots of them in my garden. Some, like this one, are in full shade under an oak tree. Others are in full sun. The ones in shade have darker leaves than the ones in full sun. Also, look closely at the edges of the leaves of this plant. That scalloping is just what it looks like; saw teeth that can rip your skin open.

As most of you know, I take all of these pictures with my iPhone, but as a bonus today I’m including a close-up of the inside of a Lipstick bromeliad cup. I did not take this picture but I copied it from Google.

Isn’t that a tempting place to want to visit? Can’t you just imagine yourself as a small elf trying to scale down the leaves to get this kind of close-up view? No? Well, surely you can imagine bending over and getting your face as close as you can to get a better view. That’s where the rub comes in. As attractive as this plant is on the outside and the inside, if you get too close, you are going to bleed.

Have a great weekend and be careful around lipsticks, both on plants and people.

Not a begonia

2010-11-16T16:34:00.000-05:00

Today’s flower is not from my yard, but it is from my home. It currently resides in my office and has for many years. It has been split many times and given to other people. I think it is a begonia. I’m not sure because I didn’t raise it. My mother did. We lived together for the last few years of her life, and this plant was in her bedroom when she died. I was pretty sure it didn’t belong outside, so I brought it to work. Honestly, I didn’t think it would survive. I knew I didn’t know how to take care of it or even have much interest in growing it, but there it is, year after year, hardy and spectacular. I think my mother has something to do with that.

My mother was a gardener at heart, but not the fancy kind. She was more like a farmer. When I was a kid, we always had a vegetable garden, and chickens, and rabbits. We ate all of them. My mother was not into ornamentals, and that is where we would part ways in the garden. She was practical. I’m not. But we both loved to grow things and saw the beauty in our plants.

And speaking of beauty, when my mother was young, she was a beauty queen…Miss Miami, Miss Florida, and a Miss America finalist. All of this led to her being picked up by a Hollywood studio in the 1940’s. This impressed a lot of people, but not my mother. She hated it. She agreed to do it because it was a way to help her parents and brother financially. The whole family went to Hollywood and her father and mother were both able to get jobs out there. My mom told me her grandmother used to say, “Powder and paint make her what she ain’t” when referring to makeup and dresses and the glitz of Hollywood. My mom agreed that was just how she felt. She told her parents how miserable she was and they asked her to give it a year and if she was still miserable, she could quit the movie scene. She gave it a year and quit.

Eventually, the whole family returned to south Florida and my mother was able to be the “dig in the dirt” kind of person that made her happy. It took courage for her to turn down what she “ain’t.

That’s my wish for you this weekend. Be who you are and not who you “ain’t.”

BTW, this "ain't" a begonia...its an Aftrican violet.

Heliconia

2010-11-10T14:54:00.000-05:00

Ok I'm going to admit I have a love/TMI (too much information) relationship with technology, especially that connected to information and communication.

On the love side, every new product/program/app makes me wish I was born tomorrow. As a creative person, each of the new discoveries removes an impediment to what I want to create and provides a more expedient means of sharing my creations. It's all faster and more immediate. I love it.

On the TMI side, I don't know if this is a result of age or wisdom or a combination of the two, but the new technology has made it almost impossible for me to disconnect from the virtual world and just spend observation/receiving/Om time in the natural world. Everyday there are so many new gadgets/apps and I am running as fast as I can to just keep up. Don't get me wrong, I am seduced by every one and they each enhance my ability to create and share.

This is where the problem occurs (and I won't lie to you or hold back). My creativity is totally dependent on the natural world. I don't make anything up; I just sit around and notice stuff. That's not special; even my cat does that. The more time I spend with technology, the less time I spend noticing the world.

So what has all of that got to do with today's flower? Nothing, really. I just needed to get the above off of my chest, and there you were willing to read this.

Ok, a little about the flower. Remember a few weeks ago I sent a picture of a bird of paradise and talked about how long I had waited for it to bloom? Well, this flower looks a lot like a bird but it's really a heliconia. See all of those strap-like leaves around it? Most years every one of them would produce a flower like this one. But this year I finally get a bird of paradise but only one heliconia flower. Go figure!

Bad Hair Day

2010-11-01T13:08:00.000-04:00

I call these my “bad hair day orchids.”

Everybody has had a bad hair day, a day when you just feel like a mess. I had several of those last week, plus I didn’t feel well. The upshot is that no Friday flowers got sent out. I went home Friday totally exhausted.

Then I come out of my front door on Saturday morning and here are these orchids sprawled all over everywhere. The lavender ones were actually sitting on a bench and not even noticeable. I picked them up and put them on the porch rail behind the white ones, and this is what I got. If you look at the upper left of the photo, you will see another pinkish orchid just in bloom. It’s attached to a coconut palm and is not the same as the lavender ones.

So, even though I do not know the names of any of these orchids, they will henceforth be called my bad hair day orchids. I thank them for showing me that even when I feel like a mess, with the right arrangement and viewpoint, I can look and feel better.

2010-10-25T16:17:00.000-04:00

How about this beauty! It’s a Crinum. There are lots of varieties of this plant from small to large. This one has leaves that are 5-6 feet in length and this flower is taller than I am (OK, that’s not so tall!). Still, if you are from up north, think of this as a lily on steroids. But, besides being beautiful and blooming several times a year, this plant has a wonderful smell. She’s at my interior entry gate, so the incredible aroma wafts up the stairs to my front door.

I wasn’t sure how to spell Crinum, so I looked it up and learned a few things.

They like water and sun or light shade. This one is in a dry spot and shaded by my Banyan.

It is better to start them from seed. I dug up several shoots creeping out from under her and planted them elsewhere. They bloom just fine.

Some varieties like arid conditions but they hold their bloom until there is a seasonal rain.

I guess the lesson here is that this plant is a lot more resilient and adaptable than the experts on Google give her credit for.

Like my Crinum, I hope this weekend you can be beautiful, stand tall, smell good, bend a little, and adjust to your environment.

2010-10-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

I don't know the name of this orchid. It is fairly ordinary and common. Almost everbody would recognize it as an orchid...proms and all. But two things are important to me about this orchid.

One, I never expected it, but there it was in full glory hanging un-cared for on my fence when I returned home from vacation. I just love unexpected beauty.

Two, it reminded me that even in the midst of exhaustion and chaos and travel away from home there is a calming influence if we just take the time to notice. This orchid wasn't hidden but it was also not easily noticeable. My intentions were as important to finding it as its gift of blooming was to being noticed and found.

This week I hope you are seeking an orchid in your life. If you are, I know you will find it.

2010-10-15T16:08:00.000-04:00

I missed a few weeks of Friday flowers. Some of you noticed...thank you. I was on vacation and most of the time out of cell or internet connectivity.

I have a confession. I take these iPhone pics when the flowers pop up, so I have a few weeeks of pics in advance. I thought about sending you three weeks of pics today but I can't let go of my advance stash. What if I end up with a week with nothing in bloom? You see, I doubt my own plan to make my yard a place that always has something in bloom. I'll deal with my neurosis at a later date. By the end of year I will have proof of flowers every week and the pressure will be off. 

So here we are with this week’s flower. I hope most of you recognize it. If not, I hope you live nearby. I will give you a starter if you want to grow this plant.

It is a Pinecone (or shampoo) Ginger. The pinecone name is fairly obvious, but the shampoo common name is because of what the liquid from this flower can be used for. Squeeze it and you will know. It makes the most amazing liquid...it feels and smells great! Even if you don’t bathe with it, this ginger makes a wonderful cut flower and lasts for weeks.

I’m going to cut some for a vase in my entryway this weekend. Between the fantastic ginger aroma, the cooler weather, and opening my windows and doors, my house will truly be a happy place.

I hope yours is a happy place too!

Bird

2010-09-17T15:32:00.000-04:00

You’ve heard the saying that all things come to those who wait. Well, this was one really long wait! Years ago I was helping a friend clean up her back yard. She had this really massive Bird of Paradise that had stopped blooming. We dug it up and split it into 5 or 6 still really large plants. We replanted most of them in her yard, but I took two smaller plants home with me. I put one in a pot and another in the ground on the other side of my house. I’m never sure where a plant is going to do its best, so I usually give them several residential options.

Five, six, seven years go by and neither of my “birds” does any blooming. I had given up and decided maybe there is a kind of plant senility and they just don’t bloom anymore. Then, last Sunday as I was tearing around the corner of my house in an attempt to get everything ready to power wash the stairs, I ran smack dab (literally) into this bloom. Its only one bloom and it is from the Bird of Paradise that is in the pot. I would never have guessed the pot plant would bloom before the ground plant, but then I obviously was wrong about giving up and thinking they would never bloom. So what do I know!

I did go ahead with the power wash and this “bird” was under the rain of stair dirt, mildew, and bleach. It didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Have a great weekend and I hope you too run smack dab into something that surprises you.

2010-09-10T16:58:00.000-04:00

I’m lucky to live very close to where an excellent specimen of the rare Ghost Orchid grows. I absolutely love the shape of that orchid, but have I ever taken the time to visit the park when it is bloom? No, I have not! Why? Because I am too busy…I am always too busy to just take a Saturday off and go in search of this very rare thing that I love.

Instead, I pretend that this orchid in my yard is a close relative and I try to convince myself that is good enough. Mostly, it is good enough, but every now and then I wish I could un-busy myself and take the time to find the real thing.

Have a great weekend, and if something rare that you love is close by, please make the time to go find it.

Yum Yum

2010-08-27T13:56:00.000-04:00

This week you are getting a premature picture. It is a pineapple, but it is only half grown and you can see from the leaves that it had a very difficult winter. However, it is a "flower" and it is a bromeliad. I don't like traditional sweets but I always asked my mother for pineapple upside down cake for my birthday. I have such happy memories of those birthdays. Unfortunately, as I got older, I found it difficult to digest pineapple so I stopped eating them even on my birthday.

After I moved to this property somebody gave me a pineapple; you know, one of those perfect looking things from Hawaii. I couldn't eat it so I cut its top off, dried it, and planted it. More than a year later it produced a perfectly formed new pineapple. I had to eat that! It was the sweetest I have ever tasted and it didn't bother my stomach.

Last year I had nine pineapples and some of you got to enjoy them. This year I only had seven, but this year I also had feral pigs digging up my back yard. Five pineapples were destroyed in adolescence. The pigs didn't even eat them all; they just tore them up. That's how pigs are.

Anyway, these two runt size pineapples were on the front of my property. I don't know if they will mature or if between the pigs and too much rain they will wilt before they mature. What I do know is I hope at least one of them makes it because I really want to eat it.

Once you've tasted heavenly ambrosia, the memory and desire for more never fades.

Have a great weekend, and I hope you find your own ambrosia.

2010-07-16T15:36:00.000-04:00

This week is another bromeliad. Recently a colleague told me she didn’t know that bromeliads had flowers above their cups. The only ones she had ever seen had flowers that were mostly hidden. I have some of those too, but I have more like these. Most of my show-off bromeliads like this one have very plain and seriously serrated leaves. Fortunately, the flowers last a long time. People are sometimes like that too. Some are pretty on the outside but most of what is inside them is hidden, while others may seem scruffy and cranky but when they bloom you really get an eye full.

Have a great weekend…no matter what kind of bromeliad you are.

2010-07-16T15:32:00.000-04:00

Swamp Lily

Yes, this is a Swamp Lily and yes, I am standing barefoot in swamp mud up to my ankles in order to get close enough to take this picture with my iPhone. Stupid on so many levels!

The lily used to live under my front stairs but it never bloomed there so I dug up the whole clump of them, split the bulbs apart, and planted them in three different locations. Since it had never bloomed and had been put there long before I moved in, I had no idea what it was or what it needed in order to thrive. This piece of the clump ended up at the edge of my pond. For most of the year the pond edge is damp but not under water, but during summer it is quite flooded. Hence my need to wade in for this picture.

For the first few years after I moved into my house (1999), I would swim in the pond. But as gated communities began to spring up around my property, the water became polluted and overgrown with algae and grasses. Now it’s a muddy mess with a squishy, quick-sand like bottom that can support only the smallest of fishes. It still attracts plenty of water birds, occasional migrating otters and alligator, and is a good place for bog plants like this one. Eventually my pond will fill in entirely. In the meantime, while it is somewhere between pond and swamp, I will enjoy what is there.

May your weekend be used the same way…enjoy what is there!

2010-07-02T15:59:00.000-04:00

I’m sorry I missed sending flowers last week, but without a computer at home I am not as productive. Anyway, this week will be bonus week because you will get two flowers. The first is called, “I have no idea what it is.” I got it from an old friend, Carolyn, as a bulb. It sits in a pot with no leaves most of the year and then suddenly this thing below appears. It hangs around for a few days, and then it is gone for another year.

I know what the next flowers are. My mother loved them. They behave in a similar way as the flower above. They are rain lilies and this is an apropriate time of year for them to sprout up. I never remember where my mother planted them (scattered is more like it) until the rains force them to reveal themselves. Then they are all over.

Have a great holiday weekend and be as independent as you can be!

Spotted bro

2010-06-18T15:51:00.000-04:00

This week's flower comes with mixed emotions from me. On the one hand, I experience such joy sending happy pictures and thoughts to all of you. On the other, I am feeling a little down and vulnerable after having my house burglarized for the second time in three years. So, I am trying to follow my great-grandmother's advice and "keep my eye on the donut and not on the hole."

The "donut" this week is a bromeliad. If you can make the image larger on your computer, look at the tiny blue tips of the "flower." They're curled like Christmas ribbon. How cool is that?

And you burglars...you have no more of my attention than the weed that is sharing the pot with the bromeliad. I know you are there, but you are insignificant and cannot take beauty away from me or the world.

2010-06-17T13:50:00.000-04:00

I know I’ve missed a few Friday’s and I know this picture isn’t clear, but what do you expect for free!

Anyway, this orchid has a survival tale. After hurricane Charlie, an orchid grower in the north Cape (just before Pine Island) put an ad in the paper that he was getting rid of the few orchids that had survived the storm. His green houses were gone, his house was gone, and as my friends and I discovered while trying to find him, the road to his business was mostly gone. He was correct in saying that almost everything was gone and, in addition, most of the surviving plants that he managed to round up were damaged by wind and salt.

I found this orchid on a dilapidated bench under what was left of one greenhouse. It couldn’t have had more than three leaves and was smaller than half my hand, but what attracted me was the picture of what it could be. The picture showed a robust orchid with bright red flowers. I did not own a red orchid. I had never even seen one. So, on faith alone, I bought it from the man and took it home. Sure enough, within the next year the little orchid produced two bright red flowers. I was thrilled but did not think to get a picture.

It outgrew its pot, got repotted, and did not bloom for a year or so. Then this year it went crazy with blooms, but they were not red. I don’t know where the red went, and I don’t know if it will ever come back.

So, the thought for the weekend: Have faith in a rare potential, but don’t take for granted that it will always be there.

2010-05-21T10:51:00.000-04:00

We’re back to orchids this week. I really wanted to post a different orchid, but this one is in bloom right now and this is only one of two I have going absolutely bloom crazy. I thought it was called a Sherry Baby, but apparently, although related to Sherry Baby, it is really called Popcorn. You can see why. Both Sherry Baby and Popcorn are also called Hula Girls and that is exactly what they look like when the wind blows. I know I have a Sherry Baby somewhere, but it is not blooming so I don’t know where it is.

Maybe that is a good thought for this weekend. Make sure you are always blooming so people will know where you are!

2010-05-15T16:01:00.001-04:00

We're moving away from orchids this week. Most of my plants suffered frost damage this winter, the first winter in 12 that I have had frost at this place. I do not have a sprinkler system and there really are too many plants for me to cover when frost threatens. In spite of the damage, most are producing spectacular blooms even though their foliage looks ragged. This photo is of a bromeliad. It actually has several spikes like the one pictured, but this picture looked the best. The spikes are three to four feet tall.

I first acquired this plant from an old man who lived in the swamp on the Tamiami Trail between Miami and Naples. He lived there alone and was a retired engineer. On a wooden fence just off the road was the word "Orchids" in giant letters. He led me through his swamp/orchid sanctuary on a combination of dirt paths and boardwalks. Strung between the cypress trees was barbed wire, and hanging from the barbed wire were hundreds (maybe more) of potted orchids. He said the barbed wire was to keep the orchids from slipping when the wind blew too hard.

As we were finishing our tour, I spotted this bromeliad sitting at the edge of the swamp, half in the water and half out. I was blown away. The old man said, "Do you want it?" Of course I did, but I couldn't imagine how we were even going to reach it much less dig it up. He told me to wait and disappeared for a few minutes, returning with two tools. Without hesitating he climbed over cypress knees and waded through black water until he reached the bromeliad. Using the shovel and a machete, he managed to free a side pup which he presented to me. We put the pup in a box and jammed it in my car (even as a pup, it was quite large). This bromeliad has had many generations of pups which I have given away and/or moved to several different homes since I first acquired it. I have three clumps of it at my current home. Two are flowering just fine (yes, I know they are not called flowers), but one might not make it.

I visited the man a couple of years later. He was recovering from abdominal cancer surgery. I swore I was going to go back every weekend and help him. I never made it. Then hurricane Andrew hit. I passed by his place on my way to help family in Miami, and it looked like he didn’t' make it either.

Clyde Butcher, the black and white photographer, now has his gallery and studio there. What a perfect place for a nature photographer and the old man's spirit.

Have an adventure this weekend.

Prom orchid

2010-05-07T15:38:00.000-04:00

We all look great when we're dressed for the prom, but, like this orchid, we don't all look and smell good for very long!

Have a great weekend filled with prom looks and smells.

2010-05-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

We had an unusually wet and cold winter for south Florida. A lot of my tropical plants suffered frost damage, but this azelea absolutely loved the unusual winter. It probably felt more at home.

ground orchid

2010-05-03T15:04:00.001-04:00

I love my iPhone. I am generally not much of a planner at home, and having the iPhone with me all the time has allowed me to take spontaneous pictures of the flowers in my many tropical gardens. I grow the plants because it makes me happy. I generally don't know their names, nor do I care to. I decided if the plants made me happy maybe they would make other people happy too, so I started to share them with co-workers and friends by email. I call this endeavor "Friday flowers from Sherree."

Below is the first photo I sent out. Its a ground orchid. At first I tried growing it in the ground but it just sat there looking pitiful. Finally, I put it in a giant pot. The picture below is the result. Sometimes where you live is really important!