Spook-tac-u-lar Start to School!!!!

Phase One of our Halloween. This is how my pretty little girls went to school today. At 6:30 this morning we were on the porch coloring hair. Hope I don't get a call from the schools to come pick them up! This afternoon the two smaller ones will change clothes for Phase Two. Stay tuned!

Skywatch Friday

Yes of course this is the sky from our front yard, I love it because I never know what I am going to be blessed with. This is from October 26, 2008, this past Sunday.

To join and or view BEAUTIFUL sky photos from around the world click on the Skywatch Friday#16 in my blog list. Enjoy!!! We will miss Tom.

Million Dollar Friend Award!!

I have received another award, twice! A big thank you to Dorothy at Counting My Blessings and Patsy at The Smiths Bennie and Patsy, to view their blogs click on the link in my blog list.

It's going to take me a little while to decide who I need to pass this one to. All of you deserve it and some of you have noted that you do not accept awards or memes so, I have got to do some checking. Thanks so very much Ladies!!

It Got Cold and Only Bothered Me...Identify this...

I know you are tired of looking at these mums, everytime and I mean everytime I go look at them it is covered with visitors. All types of bees, moths, and butterflies. I just went outside to set out the sprinkler and this is what I saw. There were many more and about 8 Clouded Sulphurs on the Pineapple Sage, now that has been a huge hit with the butterflies and hummingbirds this year. So apparently the cold snap last night only bothered me!

Is this a Zipper?

Gulf Fritillary

What is this, a moth or a butterfly? It rubs it's wings together in the back, I actually thought the back was the front at first, it is so very colorful.

It Got Cold!

Because I live in North Florida, when the temperature threatens to drop I panic! I ran around gathering MOST of my potted plants yesterday evening and my husband helped me cover them when he came home. So, it did get down to 29 degrees! (We broke a record) I haven't uncovered them yet, all of the other potted plants and plants in the ground look just fine. The photos of the mums below were taken yesterday evening and they look just the same today. Our weather here will be chilly again tonight and then start warming up for a while longer.I planted some of my Mom's Mystery Mum in a wheelbarrow a few years ago. It's as pretty as the ones in the side flower garden, this is up by the side of the driveway in another flower bed.the side of the wheelbarrow. and the back of the wheelbarrow. Now the Mums are almost all open, it is massive with beauty and shines so pretty at night. This is in the side flower bed.

Bloomin' Tuesday...

Crinum Lilies aren't actually lilies or even related to them. Like oxblood "lilies", Aztec "lilies", St. Joseph "lilies", rain "lilies" and spider "lilies", they are in the amaryllis family instead.

Large perennial herb with tunicate bulbs, often with large necks, stalkless, clump forming.
Zones - 8 - 11
Height - 5 foot or more
Growth Rate - Fast
Average Well Drained Soil
Balanced liquid fertilizer monthly
Full sun to partial shade
5' Long, light green, fleshy thick leaves

Flowers - bisexual, white, pink red, some striped or multi-colored, summer-fall, some fragrant at night.

Pest or Deseases - Leaf spots, caterpillars, grasshoppers

Now the white ones have a darker green foliage, the leaves are wider than the pink ones and they seem to take longer to open.Uses - Border, pots , bedding

Bad Habits - Foliage damaged by frost--Recovers rapidly

Propagation - Seeds are slow to germinate and reach flowering size, division recommended

WARNING: All parts of plant poisonous if ingested - handling plant may cause skin irritation or allergic reaction.. I personally have had no reaction from handling this plant.

Sources : Floridagardener.com

Plantanswers.com

Sunflower Tree Blooms!

Hooray!! Blooms on the Mexican Sunflower Tree... These blooms are 12 to 15 feet high. We are having some wind gusts today so I stood out there until the blooms bent over so I could get a photo of them. You can see some of the flower buds yet to open. I can hardly wait to photo the tree in full bloom. The last photo I am standing under the tree with the camera zoomed in some. I still can't get close enough to tell if they are fragrant or not, supposed to be Honey/Vanilla...and I need to measure the width of the flower as well.

Today's Flowers

These are a few of my Pansies. I had every intention of photographing just flowers when I stumbled on this... Some strange looking spider on my Double Knock Out Roses.

I took a couple of photos and then it appeared the web was moving. Baby spiders!

A ton of them!

I decided since it is Today's Flowers I might want to post the Double Knock Out Rose as well as the Spider and Family that was on it. Enlarge, it's a must!!

To join Todays Flowers or just view flowers from all over the world, click on my Today's Flowers Banner on the right.

Camera Critters

Between the Pineapple Sage, Wishbone and Mom's Mums these are the critters I captured in about 20 minutes. At one time today we had over 8 Clouded Sulphurs on the Pineapple Sage. I do have two photos that are just Mums, I think they are so beautiful. To see more Camera Critters and or to join the fun click on the Camera Critters Banner on the right of my page.