• Orchid Show is next weekend.

    Experience the beauty and diversity of orchids and bromeliads at the 42nd International Orchid and Bromeliad Show at Flamingo Gardens, presented by the Flamingo Gardens Orchid Society. read more

  • White Handkerchief Tree in bloom.

    While hard to capture in a photograph, our beautiful specimen handkerchief tree Cynometra browneoides Is blooming now in the garden Arboretum. It can be found behind the Backyard Birds enclosure. These blooms don’t last long. 🌴 #tropicaltrees #tropicalflowers read more

  • The catalytic converter thieves have moved to Broward county. My wife’s car just had the converter stolen. The dealer said they had 7 stolen cats this week.

  • Botanical Auctions

    The new biweekly auction is up at Botanical Auctions.

  • I was struck by the beauty of this pink-orange lichen growing on a Magnolia this morning. 🌱 🌴 #lichen

  • On display now in the garden: The Insect portrait macro photos of Levon Biss. www.microsculpture.net www.levonbiss.com

    Levon Biss micro sculpture Levon Biss micro sculpture Levon Biss micro sculpture

  • The Yellow Ashoka tree - Saraca thaipingensis is in full bloom now in the garden and is putting on quite the show. 🌱 🌴

    Yellow Saraca flowersYellow Saraca tree

  • PSA: this is a Brown Water Snake. It is not poisonous and is a Florida native snake that is not dangerous to people or pets. If you see one, please just leave it alone. It has an obvious rectangular brown pattern. They are often confused with Cottonmouth/Water Moccasin which has a muted striped pattern.

  • Plant of the day

    Suessenguthia (Ruellia) multisetosa -Bolivian Violet is a large, scrambling, flowering shrub from Bolivia. It has showy pink flowers and calyxes typical of the family Acanthaceae. 🌴 🌱

    Suessenguthia (Ruellia) multisetosa -Bolivian Violet flowersSuessenguthia (Ruellia) multisetosa -Bolivian Violet flowersSuessenguthia (Ruellia) multisetosa -Bolivian Violet

  • Some photos and a video from the Butterfly Conservatory this am. 🌴 🌱 🦋

    Monarch butterfly on Pentas flowersZebra butterflyMonarch butterfly

  • Our Brownea macrophylla - Panama Flame Tree has begun flowering. This is one of several related genera and species which are called handkerchief trees for the drooping new growth. 🌱 🌴 #tropicaltrees #tropicalflowers

    Brownea macrophylla flowerPanama Flame Tree flowers

  • We are planting colorful foliage plants today in the garden. Neoregelia bromeliads, Peperomia, and Aristolochia vines for hanging baskets. 🌱 🌴 🌺

    Foliage plants on a nursery cart
  • I’ve been on this planet for almost sixty years, and working with plants for over thirty and this is the first time I’ve ever seen cauliflower flowers.

    They’re beautiful like some type of purple coral. 🌱

    Cauliflower flowers
  • Photos from our second plant clinic yesterday. We had two attendees, and we discussed a lot of plant problems. Orchid care and diseases, turf grass weeds and management, fungal problems and scale insects.

  • Some photos from my first plant clinic at Flamingo Gardens. I’m really enjoying helping folks with their gardening and plant culture. We discussed managing fungus in turf grass, the challenges of growing on top of limestone here in suburban South Florida, new insect pests such as Thrips parvispinus and Much more.

    Plant Clinic @ Flamingo gardensUsing the microscope to view leaf damage Tibouchina leaf viewed through a microscope.

  • The upcoming dates for my garden plant clinics.

  • I’m now hosting a plant clinic once a month at the garden on Saturdays. I’ll be diagnosing problems and offering advice on proper care and maintenance of landscape plants and gardens..

    Flamingo Gardens Plant Clinic

  • I just finished my first class/lecture. We had 10 attendees which is pretty good for the first time with limited promotion. I spoke about Horticulture in South Florida, in a very general way with a few specific problems and solutions discussed. I also threw in a couple funny anecdotes.

  • Back to school

    Well it looks like I’m starting to do some semi-formal teaching at the garden next week. I’ll be beginning with a short Introduction to Horticulture class on Wednesday in what we are calling a popup class. I’m excited to be getting back to this kind of thing, as at my previous job … read more

  • In our garden we have a fairly large collection of Baobab trees which are found in Africa and Madagascar. Pictured is an Adansonia za which is endemic to Madagascar, where it is endangered by habitat loss. 🌱