Amaryllis Flowers

This was my first year growing Amaryllis.  I was impressed with the size of the flowers. Hopefully they will be even more spectacular next year.

Orange Dendrobium Thyrsiflorum Orchid

This has to be one of the most incredible orchid flowers I have ever seen. I bought this Dendrobium Thyrsiflorum orchid at RF Fuchs about 5 years ago, it never flowered before, but patience paid off this year.  The cluster of flowers are about 14'' x 4.5''.  We had unusually cold weather this year. Dendrobium thyrsiflorum likes colder winters than we typically have in Miami, so this may be the reason for the incredible bloom.

Leaves

Not sure what these are called, but the leaves are amazing. 

Blue Morpho Butterflies - Costa Rica Trip

I was lucky to see some Blue Morpho Butterflies during my last trip to Costa Rica. They eat rotted fruit and  you can only see the blue when flying.

Giant Swallowtail Caterpiller

I was perfectly content to let the giant swallowtail butterfly caterpillars eat my orange trees, just so I could see them morph to butterflies, but this green Iguana had other ideas.

Lotus from Seed

Here was my first attempt at growing Lotus from seed in 2009. The first year went well, although I never got a flower. Hoping for a flower this 2nd year. I learned 3 things, nick the seed to help germination, if you live in the tropics, get a tropical lotus, they don't go dormant in the winter and don't cut the old leaves below the water line, it can drown the plant. I added floating duckweed to the surface, I think it looks nice and keeps the algae from forming.