Bougainvillea

Wow, it is gorgeous in Key West this morning. Breezy, sunny, with temps in the mid 70s. The cool breezes of fall and winter are finally here. I said cool, not cold. These tropical breezes are like a caress on your skin. I love, love, love this time of year and I will happily sweat through the rest of the year knowing I will so enjoy November through March. Right now the fronds on my palm trees are making a lovely swishing sound, and there are some chickens making some noise some where close by. I am enjoying a quiet moment outside with a mug of coffee. I'm a happy girl. I walked around the property to check out the blooms and snapped some shots of my Bougainvillea. It blooms it's brightest during the cooler months. The colored part is the bract, and the tiny white bloom is the actual flower. I've got hot pink, salmon pink and purple....enjoy!!

Spider Lilies

The tropical spider lily is one of my favorite plants here in Key West because there is just so much going on in one place! First off, they can be HUGE, with giant, wide green leaves and purple striations that look so impressive in a garden landscape. This is a different variety than the general spider lily, which is found throughout the South. This is a behemoth of a plant! The leaves are green year round, but in summer the plant starts really showing off. They produce a large purple fruit....see the photo below. Kinda cool, right? If the fruit isn't removed eventually it will go to seed and make more spider lilies. Then come the flowers. Large and definitely 'spidery' with a heady, strong fragrance that just screams tropical island. There are some very impressive examples of the tropical spider lily at the West Martello Museum (you know, where Robert the Doll lives), in the middle green area, between the garden entrances to the museum. I photographed this plant last week at Coconut Beach resort in Old Town.