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"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Captiva Florida Weekend Getaway


Hubby and I returned home late this evening from a long weekend out of town south of our home. We stayed on the Gulf of Mexico in Captiva. It is one of our favorite small island towns on this coast.
I'm posting a couple of videos/photos to give you a preview of our time there until I can get around to completing a post.

Willet shorebird foraging on Captiva.


White Pelicans (here for the winter) at J. N. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Preserve, Sanibel Island on an extremely foggy early morning.

5 comments:

  1. Looks like a divine weekend, and sure different from us. We''re at ten below zero F with a wind chill of who knows how yucky, so I'm staying indoors and dreaming of warmer days.
    I have a question about bromeliads: do they die after flowering, or does it depend on the species? I was really tempted to get one on Saturday when I spied a pile of them for sale, but several were in bloom and I didn't want to bring them home only to have them croak when they finish flowering, as they were quite pricy. (This would be for indoor enjoyment only, of course!)

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  2. It was so nice to be at the beach this time of year- although I'm pretty sure the northern half of the U.S. had the same idea. :-) I'll be posting more on Captiva as soon as I catch my breath from being gone.

    To try to answer your Bromeliad question:

    I have read that as a (indoor) bromeliad flowers it is an indication it is nearing the end of its life. That has not been my experience. Although I must note here that as soon as my indoor plants complete their bloom cycle (which is famously showy and longlasting) I do transplant them outdoors where they have produced bright blooms for me over and over.

    What I adore about these plants (and I would think they would be a good choice for you indoors)is that the clustered foliage has its own beauty with numerous variations of colors, shades and glossy (or not)elongated leaves. They also produce baby plants shooting out from the original which you can either divide or leave it to create larger clusters. All that to say that even when the flower is gone you may be happy with the enjoyment of the foliage alone.

    One more wonderful thing about these tropical beauties... they are extremely low maintenance taking their nutrients from the air and an occasional watering. Just my cup of tea.

    I'll be curious to know how they do for you if you choose to splurge - you're right- they can be pricey. Maybe you could start with one --just to experiment?

    That was probably more information than you asked for... can you tell I'm a big fan?

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  3. Hi again Meems :-)

    Thanks for the invitation to this post! It is good to see someone else posting video of birds. That's how my blog began posting video of the european robin to my friend in Australia. I will need to have look around your blog now too :-D

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  4. shirl: Glad you stopped by. I love the way you share your videos with music. Capturing the little birdies on video is sometimes easier than with "my" camera. Someday I hope to have a great camera that will do the work I want it to ...

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  5. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I'm glad you're home safely from your "paydaytion to Aptiva" as my son says.

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Have a blessed day,
Meems


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