WINTER COLORS

Our Cypress trees have a lovely rust color after the first frosts. This is the 15th hole of our Lagoon course.

MORNING GLORY VINES

Winter has taken it's toll though.

WINTER FRUIT

It may be really cold (for Florida), 23f this morning, but it's still Florida and the frost will only make these kumquats sweeter.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas from North Florida. Our Christmas colors are out.

Banana Leaves, Ponte Vedra Beach

We had our first run of 20 degree days here and it turned my bananas into papier-mache.

Grass and Sand, Ponte Vedra Beach

WEEDS, GUANA DAM

We don't get the spectacular Fall colors that New England does, but I love the subtle changes in the weedy undergrowth.

SALT MARSH SMILE, BEACH BLVD. BRIDGE

This can only be seen if one walks up the Northern side of the bridge.

VIEW FROM BRIDGE, JAX BEACH

PHILODENDRON LEAF, 129 N. ROSCOE

PHILODENDRON MONSTERA, 129 N. ROSCOE

As a gardener, moving from Vermont to North Florida was a real learning experience. All of the plants that we loved in VT came here and melted in the Summer heat. Like almost every Yankee who has come here, I spent two or three years trying to get my old favorites to bloom or even to live. Finally I gave in and started looking and asking and found out what worked. (Don't plant tomatoes)


One of the other things that I learned is that plants we considered exotic tropical wonders were almost weeds down here. Our plant shops sold a lot of Philodendrons, the trailing kind and these P. Monstera. In VT they would get close to two feet tall in a perfect environment, warm and humid. Here in Florida, you put one in the ground and run away. I planted these 12 years ago and now they are well over 6' tall with a spread of double that.

FIREBUSH FLOWER

This is a close-up of the flowers on the bush shown below. I have looked it up and it is a Firebush. In mid-Summer through the Fall it is covered with these red flowers, that open into tubes, thus the hummingbird attraction.

LAST DAYS OF MY FIREBUSH

I have a row of firebushes planted next to the Intracoastal Waterway. They thrive in semi-drought conditions and attract hummingbirds all summer. They get to 7' tall and are covered with red flowers for the whole blooming season. 


We have had a series of frosts and tonight we'll go down to 19f, which will kill them to the ground. Next year they'll be even bigger.

Palm frond, Landrum Lane, Ponte Vedra Beach

This is a test to see if I can get sharpness at a larger size.

Delia's Weapon

Another pesky water pistol on the dock.

Beach Boulevard Christmas tree tent and field.

This is on my way to walking over the Intracoastal Waterway on a very tall steep bridge.

My shadow, Roscoe extension

In a small tribute to Lee Friedlander, my photographic hero, 
here is a self-portrait by shadow from a car.

Design problems

I apologize for the last, badly made post and, I'm sure, a few to follow, as I learn how to put larger pictures on this site and manage the text.

I love weeds. Don't know why, but I do. A lot of them are beautiful, just not useful or edible. 

This fence was brand new when we moved to Ponte Vedra in 1993. As the years passed this vine grew, unchecked, until now it has taken over the fence.

Foam on sand, Ponte Vedra Beach

The foam looked like it went down into the sand. I tried Silverefex to make it look like my old favorite Agfa 100 film.

Vines in the backyard.

These are the last remnants of my summer Morning Glories.

Bucket and water pistol on my dock.

We have had a few days of really cold weather, for here. So I have not strayed out of the house very far to take my daily quota of pictures.

This is one of my granddaughter's seemingly endless supply of water pistols.

Gull feather, Ponte Vedra Beach

This was over a foot long.

Sand pattern and bike track, Ponte Vedra Beach

Sand, PVB

Every now and then, when I walk on the beach, there is a flat beach with mixed light and dark sand that the waves have washed into patterns. This is the best time of year for these so you may see a lot of them in the next few weeks.

Sand figure, Ponte Vedra Beach

On a recent walk on the beach I came across this little sculpture with nothing else around it.