My home away from home.
These trees covered with Ferns, Epiphytes and Orchids are pretty neat. Wish I knew exactly what species they are...
Private Garden Near Kendall Florida - OLD Private Garden.
Looks like Vanda or related intergeneric hybrids.
and there's definitely lots of polypody ferns along it - although they do look very 'dry'
Regards
M&G
dendroworks Wrote:and there's definitely lots of polypody ferns along it - although they do look very 'dry'
Regards
M&G
Yep....they are dry. Florida is normally a lot less humid than most people believe. This year is even drier.
REALLY DRY. We've had 2 1/2" of rain this weekend, bringing our year-to-date total to 6 3/4" (that's about 30" below normal). Hasn't been easy to garden lately....
People think Florida is like Costa Rica and could support invasive Dart Frogs and that's just not possible.
Reptiles...snakes, lizards....yes.
Philsuma Wrote:People think Florida is like Costa Rica and could support invasive Dart Frogs and that's just not possible.
Reptiles...snakes, lizards....yes.
And a great number of the snakes and lizards died off in Jan. 2010.... It does freeze here too (has in '77, '87, '89, '03 as well)!
My wife's sister lives in Boca and she said that iguanas were falling out of the trees dead from the cold. My son was so disappointed when my wife took him to visit his cousins last week. He had heard stories about iguanas, knight anoles, marine toads, cuban treefrogs, etc. in our inlaws' backyard. But, he hasn't found any. Ten years ago when we visited I found one or more of each (except an iguana) less than 20 feet outside their back door.
Apparently there are still plenty of Curly Tailed Lizards running around and my son is on a mission to catch a couple as pets. I prefer that he keeps native species because his interests usually wane by the end of the summer. We usually have a red rat snake, baby chicken turtle, a green treefrog or two, etc. around all summer. The nice thing about native herps for kids is that they can be released if interest wanes.
Palm Beach / Lauderdale is ground Zero for curley tails. The have been introduced on the beach side since the 1970's.
Look for them closer to the beach- parking lots, near sidwalks where they can get under. Try to catch them on cold days, in the morning when they are trying to heat up for the day and are a little sluggish.
Great. Thanks for the tip. I'll pass it on to my son.
Philsuma Wrote:Palm Beach / Lauderdale is ground Zero for curley tails. The have been introduced on the beach side since the 1970's.
Look for them closer to the beach- parking lots, near sidwalks where they can get under. Try to catch them on cold days, in the morning when they are trying to heat up for the day and are a little sluggish.
Phil,
My wife and son took your advice and dang if they didn't catch one. My son's so excited he can hardly stand it. Thanks again.
Cool..where did they catch it? What County ?
There's at least 2 different species down south. I don't know how far North they go, off hand.
They were east of Boca. Can you tell the sex easily? He'd like to try for a pair now.
Females would be heavier and more drab...males brighter coloured.
I love seeing them zip around my Condo lot with their tales up in the air like little RC cars with an antenna.