Here’s to hoping for baby ladybugs!

Posted on January 14, 2019 by dinajohnston

A few fun things at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.

The beautiful silk floss tree that blooms in the fall. I always forget about it the rest of the year since it’s just full of green leaves. I forget about the pink flowers and am always surprised and amazed when I see this tree in late October. This was towards the end of the bloom and the ground was covered in the pink flowers.

Not many birds. A local red belled woodpecker and a wood duck couple.

The above was hanging on a tree in the woods at the gardens. Kind of creepy but also cool.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

Blooming in the winter

Posted on December 21, 2014 by dinajohnston

Pretty things were still blooming in the winter in central Florida. On a cold (60 degrees) sunny morning I headed out for a good 3 hour walk. I went to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. Not many birds there but still lots of flowers blooming. I know, everyone else is showing off their pretty snow pictures but soon they’ll be wishing they were down here for a visit.

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Flowers at the Botanical Gardens.

Posted on October 26, 2014 by dinajohnston

Shots of flowers in the drizzle. The sun came out an hour later and it was hot and steamy.

Mandarin Orange Monday Shine the Divine

Assorted flying things on pretty flowers

Posted on September 14, 2014 by dinajohnston

Labor Day weekend was hot as usual. I headed out Saturday morning to the Florida Botanical Gardens to see if there were any flowers left that hadn’t wilted. There were a few still blooming. The gardens were almost empty of birds. Only a few osprey hanging around.

Shine the Divine Mandarin Orange Monday

Birds at the Botanical Gardens

Posted on July 5, 2014 by dinajohnston

A young osprey sitting on the nest which is on top of a drum on a utility tower. He was probably born in February or March? He still has the bright orange eyes and spots on his feathers that juveniles have.

A green heron hiding in the pond.

A house sparrow hiding in the tree.

A very young starling getting a drink in the fountain.

A brown thrasher hiding in the tree.

There were two thrashers flying around the herb garden.

One flew on the fence. Yuk, is that a bug he was trying to eat?

Now he’s just posing for me.

Yes, more baby moorhens. They are everywhere.

Look how big those feet are!!

There is a fruit garden section and this squirrel has grabbed some type of fruit that had fallen on the ground. Looks like an apple or pear. He hit the jackpot with that big piece.

Just a few things on my walk around the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. It was pretty quiet. I had not been there since late December and the grounds looked really nice. A lot of work had been done by volunteers. It’s free to get in so it’s a nice place to stop and walk around for an hour or two. Plus, you might find a few birds there.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters

Tiny critters in the flowers

Posted on June 29, 2014 by dinajohnston

Tiny little critters are invading central Florida. Butterflies and bees are out for the summer. I spent a very hot morning in mid-June at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. The birds were limited but since the flowers were blooming, little critters were everywhere. There wasn’t a breeze at all and it was over 80 degrees by 9am. When you have sweat pouring down your face it’s hard to stand there and wait for the butterflies to land. I kept giving up and walking around. It felt cooler when I kept moving. I managed to get a few shots in though.

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Flowers in the fall (or “It’s still summer here in central Florida”)

Posted on November 10, 2013 by dinajohnston

Bird of a paradise.

Another type of bird of paradise.

This one looks like it has teeth.

Pink and purple.

Flowering cactus.

Some type of lily?

Palm tree

Some web sites call this bitter pear and some call it bitter melon. It is edible when green and then turns toxic when it turns orange and opens up. They are cool looking. I wonder if the birds try to eat the seeds.

Some type of banana plant.

I did not change the color on this. There were purple snow peas growing on a vine.

Bamboo in front of a waterfall.

Another type of bird of paradise? I think this is my favorite one.

A few test shots from my trip to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. The gardens looked really good. They must have done a lot of recent work on the grounds. They were setting up for a wedding in the rose garden when I was there one early Saturday morning. Soon they’ll have the Christmas lights up. That’s when I start to feel like it’s Christmas. Maybe the weather will cool off by then.