A multi-media account of my travels through life
The swamp iris have begun to bloom. Scattered throughout Myakka River State Park, they are a beautiful sign that spring is here … at last. Their botanical name is Iris virginica Southern Blue Flag but I have always called them Swamp Iris. Frequent readers of this blog have seen them before but, honestly, you can never see enough of them. ❧
These windows on an old Florida farm house caught my eye and imagination recently. There was a time when there were dozens of dilapidated, clapboard farm houses all across the Florida landscape but they are rapidly disappearing in the “new” Florida. I’ve photographed this particular house twice now. It’s still standing but doesn’t have much longer. To see more pictures from this shoot visit my Flickr set “Old Florida Farm Houses.” ❧
Tango and I walked the celery fields in Sarasota today. It is a vast open space that was once farm land and has been preserved because of its tremendous benefit to the bird populations. You may have guessed from the picture that Tango was really enjoying it. He did his happy dance several times. If there was any doubt of his happiness just look at this picture:
I’m dedicating this post to my cousin Margaret who just got her beloved Zoe back after six months absence. Here’s to happy dances on both coasts!❧
Lichen and mushrooms like to hang out together but they are different. Since I am without my reference books I can’t say definitively what all of those lovely colored beings are. Mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungus while lichens are composite beings that have fungi and a photosynthetic partner growing together in a symbiotic relation. (Thank you Wikipedia.) The pale green and the red & white growth are definitely lichen. But the tan colored growth has me stumped. There are mushrooms that are similar to this so …. ? This bark is on an old oak tree in the oak grove that I featured a couple of posts back (Oak Cathedral). ❧
Frequent visitors will know that I’ve had this “thing” about mushroom pictures this year. The North Carolina property had plenty of varieties so it wasn’t hard to get a good ‘shroom portfolio. Tango, as you can see, does his part. I could swear he is saying, “Hey mom! I found some mushrooms.” There were quite a few different kinds of mushrooms at Myakka Park yesterday. The Park has cleared out many of the feral pigs so the mushrooms at least have a chance. A couple of years ago you couldn’t find a mushroom in the Park. Will post a couple of others in the next day or so. ❧
It was really a beautiful day here. Tango and I hiked to one of my favorite spots along the orange trail at Myakka, off Fox’s High Road. I call it Oak Cathedral. Today it was particularly stunning with the new tree moss blooms shinning bright red in the sunlight, looking like stained glass windows. It is so peaceful in this grove. We lingered here for quite a while and many thoughts passed through my mind. I have cousins and friends who are going through some difficult, grief-filled times. I wished I could transport them all to this spot. For the grieving soul there is no better place than nature. Long hikes are not required. It is as simple as sitting quietly in your yard or a nearby park. The comfort is there, waiting to be embraced. ❧
That’s Caesar in the white wings, feeling his oats I suspect. Caesar is Mary’s new male goose, recently acquired to replace the late and fondly remembered Doodle. Caesar has been at Mary’s for about a month. I had the good fortune to observe his first dip in the pond. The ladies were happy to join him. They splash about and engage in reproductive as well as hygienic activities. Mary has wondered what the geese might look like who come from Caesar mating with the Toulouse geese. Stay tuned . . . ❧
Florida is awash in azalea and bougainvillea blossoms. The oak trees are also in bloom, covering everything with yellow pollen. It is spring. To my friends in the north, it is coming your way. Have faith. ❧
I had a nice hike at Myakka River State Park on Sunday along with my friend Kim and, of course, Tango. It was Kim who spotted the plant above. At the time I was busy collecting my dog who had decided to go for a swim in the marshy area by the two-track path we were following. I didn’t really mind that he decided to go for a swim but his backpack contained my macro lens! Thankfully no harm was done. Tango did need a bath afterwards.
But I digress. This tiny gem is about 2″ in circumference and seems to favor marshy ground. We found numerous clusters near the marsh but none further on. Alas, all my reference books are in NC and I am in FL so I had to dig a bit on the web. The “petals” as you can see, are spiked with a dewy substance on the tips. The plant seemed carnivorous so I ran a search on Bing images but, as usual, there were pictures with no data. I did locate one plant that was very similar and it had a name–Sundew. So I proceeded with a search based on “Sundew” plant and learned it was part of the Drosera family–there are more than 170 species. So, Sundew is as good as it gets. They are small and easy to overlook–especially when you dog goes swimming with your macro lens. 🙂
Many people have a love affair with Lady Bugs (Coccinellidae). They are the stuff of children’s songs and story books. Some will look upon them as emissaries from the spiritual world. But basically they are cute and colorful insects, welcome additions to a garden because they will eat other insects, especially aphids.
It is that Lady Bug talent that led my friend Mary to purchase more that 4,000 lady bugs. To the uninformed, L.B.s can be purchased online and will arrive via the mail in a cardboard box that is dotted with air holes. The bugs themselves are in small wire-mesh type envelopes that you cut open and loose on your garden. Mary is installing a butterfly garden and numerous aphids had found their way to it…I mean NUMEROUS. So rather than spraying them Mary decided to bring in a posse of hired assassins…the Lady Bugs. That’s one of the 4,000 in the top picture. In the picture below you can see some of the aphids–the yellow dots– that are fodder for the L.B.s. The L.B.s appear to be very efficient. Mary is hoping they stick around. ❧
Alice's WanderLand 