Another pileated woodpecker

The red oak tree directly seen from our deck has (a relatively recent) old dead branch poking out to the right of the main trunk. It's a magnet for woodpeckers, not surprisingly,-- we've seen downies and red-bellied woodpeckers visiting our feeder frequently,Since the dead branch has occurred, we've...

Read More

Clay County Delegation Hearing and Plan Ahead!

Speaking at the Clay County Delegation Hearing.I spoke before the Clay County Delegation hearing on Nov. 18th. The delegation includes our state senator, Rob Bradley and 2 representatives that claim part of Clay County in their districts: Charlie Van Zant and Travis Cummings. I spoke to this same group...

Read More

Short-day onions & more...

Garlic chives!The winter edible season has started, but not before a couple of last gasps of the fall crops.In doing the research for "Organic Methods for Vegetable Gardening in Florida," I planted some garlic chives.  I'd never planted them before and was prepared to be underwhelmed, but not so. ...

Read More

Fall sunsets

There have been glorious fall sunsets the last few days.  And the full moon just added to that.This evening,  there was a remarkable sunset below the clouds, with orange illuminating the mountains beyond. Unbelievable.  Of course, I didn't have my camera with me. Nor a phone with a decent...

Read More

A pileated woodpecker

A Sunday morning excursion at the Garden (where I work) found us noticing a pileated woodpecker.Its loud call is distinctive; no, that's not a hawk, I said, and then we spotted the vocalizer, a beautiful and striking bird.Pileated woodpeckers are LARGE, the size of crows. And striking. I didn't have a camera along, but here's a link to the Cornell Lab of Lab to learn more about th...

Read More

One week only: signed books offer

From November 10th to the 17th, I am taking online orders for my books. See the Gift Book Offer page. Maybe you know an avid gardener who would love one of my books for a Christmas present. If so, let me know and I will hold off mailing it until the middle of December and include a Christmas card...

Read More

A remarkable window box

It's such fun to be inspired by a wonderful window box that I saw in Rothenburg ob der Tauber just over a year ago.  Rothenburg is a wonderfully preserved medieval city, but these window boxes, above a cafe on the historic Marktplatz were both current and creative, filled with dried and live plants...

Read More

Sunrise at Spring Park

I went to Spring Park in Green Cove Springs this morning for the sunrise to see the partial solar eclipse. We have too many trees in our neighborhood for a good eastern horizon. What a beautiful morning! The outlet of the spring into the St. Johns Rive in Green Cove Springs.Looking back toward the...

Read More

You can never have too many leaves!

I enjoyed sharing some thoughts about creating a native woodland garden with a class this morning;  this was one of the "slides" that was part of my presentation, showing leaf collections from years past.I love the leaf depot image -- bagged leaves on the old coal road, ready for spreading! Here...

Read More