Saturday, June 11, 2016
Turtle Nests, Sweet Potatoes, and Spanish Moss
This is turtle nesting season, so for us, it means no outdoor lights from dusk till dawn, and for our local university students, it means constant vigilance as they count, mark, and protect the nests proliferating on the beaches. This is always such a great sight to see on a morning beach walk!
In the Throw-It-And-Grow-It Department, the sweet potatoes are doing very well, guarded by my own little Plant Spirit sculptures.
My only regret about living beachside is that Spanish Moss, (Tillie usneoides) can't grow outside here. But my indoor Tilliescape has many square feet of Spanish Moss, busily cleaning our air (it's one of the best air cleaners on the planet), and I go hiking inland to see lovely old oak trees full of Tillies.
Most of my orchids are blooming. Catasetum is a little late this year but coming along (we had a really cold and dark spring), and so is Paphiopedilum, so pictures will be arriving. Here's a no-longer-dyed big box Phal....
I'll be doing a proper Tillie Post tomorrow- in the meantime, I wish everyone a wonderful and wacky Weekend Walkabout!
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Marla,
ReplyDeleteYour photos bring back happy memories of my childhood and early adult life in Florida. Despite the crowds, the draughts and more frequent fish kills the natural world appears to be doing OK in the sunshine state! In fact, the turtle situation might just be better than it was in the 1950s and 60s?
Thanks for these lovely posts.
Gail
Hi, Gail!
ReplyDeleteThe turtle situation is doing very well- we teach all about turtles and how to help them in the elementary schools, and it's wonderful to see how people do the right thing when they care about their environment. There is some life in the river now, and I spotted a dolphin last week. But the brown tide is still really bad, so I'm concerned. Lots of work to be done to clean up the IRL.