LEAPIN' LIZARDS...It's Hot !

Leapin' Lizards ! It's May 11th and it's hot. We live just south of Tampa and even though Florida is known for its heat and humidity, it's still HOT ! The temperature on our front porch, in the shade, registers over 90 degrees. On the back patio, in the shade, the thermometer now reads 103 !!!

Even this little lizard, clinging to our patio screen, seems to be trying to stretch himself out to cool off. I think he looks a bit like a dancer in these positions.

And a one-two, cha-cha-cha. Turn, point, cha-cha-cha.

Fuchsia Flower Finale

For the past 8 days we've seen little of the sun, the sky has been gray and dark with scattered rain and thunder storms. Though rain and thunder storms are typical during the rainy season it is seldom that we see 8 consecutive days of little to no sunshine. I am not bemoaning these rainy days as Florida direly needed the rain and had been in drought conditions for much too long. Also nice to see the native grasses and even weeds green again.

With the rainy weather it's been difficult to do much in the garden so yesterday was spent on indoor projects. Decided to finish off those fantasy Fuchsia earrings...have my fingers crossed that perhaps somebody might like them...besides me !

above - Fantasy Fuchsia earrings now have their upper stems, leaves and tiny Swarovski flower buds.

above - colors are slightly off in this photo as is the focus, but here the earrings are laying flat
Unfortunately most of these shots are a little fuzzy, really need to invest in a camera stand to minimize any movement. Did look at some online a few months back but the most economical one received a lot of negative reviews and it certainly did look flimsy and unstable. Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and shell out the money for a good one.

above - my favorite photo, it shows off the fuchsia's frilly underskirt and here you can make out the top skirt of pointed petals ... are these REALLY all that childish ?

Forget about Spring, it’s sprung right into summer and is a very warm 85 degrees outside, of course this is Florida, just south of Tampa/St. Pete, so this should be no surprise.

Had a colder, longer winter this year and our yard suffered from freeze damage.
Fairly sure that our tropical Wax Jambu didn’t make it as it is now little more than a twig with a few blackened leaves. However some of the plants that I thought were certainly dead have started to come back. John and I now have the daunting job of pruning away all the dead twigs and branches.

Above is our driveway planter with the freeze damaged Lantana, the small magnolia tree did very well through the freeze but probably could use a dose of fertilizer. Below one can see the promise of lush new growth beneath the gray, dry twigs. Just have lots of trimming to do...also need to tackle the weeds that are popping up in our crushed shell drive.