Flora Journal in Northeast Central Florida

We've had two hurricanes, Irma and Matthew since I last posted.  Some of the trees have gotten bigger, impressively so, but they may be at a slight angle due to the unforgiving force of heat transportation.  As of right now, I am at home.  I'm not working today.  I have lost my voice with some sort of viral madness, but I am meandering around my yard trying to soak some vitamin Florida into my bones and realize I'll be getting the itch to mingle with leaves and sun and soil all too soon.  I need a shovel, stat!  Where the Red Bay Grows Look at this tree!  This tree was a little shrub just two years ago.  When we first moved into the house, we had a water oak that was growing in this spot but it resigned its life to wood burrowing insects, and we had to have it removed.  This red bay will be assuming the new floral leadership role in our front yard.  It's doing well. Banana Plants I don't even know which ones ar...

Some Sort of Citrus I looked up citrus identification and "winged leaves" and found that what I have growing (from random seed) is probably a grapefruit tree.  As you can see, it's it the house, because it has been getting chilly outside.  It hasn't been too bad since our one cold day, but the night will drop to about 37 Fahrenheit on Wednesday.  I could probably put it back on the porch.   Pineapples My pineapple plants are in the house right now.  They're still truckin', I suppose.  The one in the blue container is at least 18 months old if not older, and I just learned that pineapples should flower around that age.  I also learned that I could have had a use for an unused apple that my kids always really want but can never finish...  Old apples release a gas called acetylene which can force a bloom.  Also if you're interested in the chemistry of ripening fruits, check out, " Fruit Ripening:  How Does it Work?" ...