Aphid damage on eugenia

I think we have a aphid damage on the Eugenia bushes in the front yard.
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Cocktail Photo Shoot at Work Today

I had so much fun at work today! Don't get me wrong...it was WORK, but when it comes to work, it doesn't get better than this!
We had a cocktail photo shoot today. Some of the garnishes came from my garden!...I'm so excited my little garden is going to be (almost) famous!

espresso was the only beverage during this work day for me

I work for an importer and marketer of spirits in the marketing department. Today's work was on location with experts who made and photographed signature cocktails for an upcoming campaign promoting our newest line of naturally flavored vodkas!!! More about my company and expert team later...

One of our signature cocktails is garnished with rosemary and lemongrass. I was so excited to include my delicious, organic, in-season herbs as part of this photo shoot!



By the end of our day, we had hundreds of photos and 25-30 signature cocktails made.

The team was great...I have to think about using names related to work on my personal blog...still don't know how to handle that. BUT....if you want a GREAT photographer in south Florida...email me.

Volunteer Coleus

I used to have coleus in this front walkway planting area....like a year ago. Just the other day, I noticed a volunteer coleus that must have grown from a seed that was laying dormat in the planting bed. I pinched off the top where it was beginning to flower. Now, two more stems will grow from where I pinched off this flower top.

Miracle Fruit and Blueberry in September

The blueberry bushes have outrgown the miracle fruit bushes. The MF is still flowering/fruiting now in mid September. Of course, the blueberries stopped flowering for the year, but it sure has gone through a growth spirt.

Flora in Orlando, FL

At the Omni at Champions Gate, the centerpiece inside the main lobby entrance is always beautiful. I love the sweet potato vine...it's probably my favorite accent plant because of its vining and trailing habits. And the chartuse color cannot be beaten. In this arrangement, I can see orchids and a few varieties of bromiliad. The orchid stems even have air plants attached with spaghum moss covering the twine
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The summer in Orlando is coming to a close. All the summer annuals have been changed out to coleus. I just love this time of year.

Plants that Grow on Trees

We were in Orlando this weekend and I couldn't help but notice how many of the trees had other plants growing on them.

Here's a date palm with Boston Fern growing all over it.

Here's a tall palm with perhaps dragon fruit climbing up the trunk.



Here's more palms with some type of fern


Here's an oak tree with Spanish Moss growing all over it.

Basil from the Garden in Ziti

I made ziti last weeked. Two boxes of pasta plus enough sauce, meet, and cheese for the two boxes yielded 4 pans of bubbly, gooey, ziti.

I used rosemary, basil, and oregano from the garden. I've learned over the years that if you want delicious food that has depth, you need to season each ingredient. For example, the browned meat got a handful of basil, rosemary, S/P, oregano. But so did the ricotta cheese, and so did the sauce. Some people might just add the seasoning at the end...not me. I add little portions throughout. That's my secret...logical or not...I believe it. :)


The basil has been inside on the kitchen counter because it's just too hot outside for it right now. All the other basil and most of the oregano has died from the mid-day sun/heat. The African Violet is doing good too.