Naturalizing Orchids Part II

Here are a couple more orchids I'm trying to naturalize on my trees. This first one is Prosthechea cochleata one of Florida's native orchids it has interesting flowers, but there aren't any blooms to share with you, so I'll save that for later. I'm trying to establish it in the crook of my Pink Ipê (Tabebuia impetiginosa) it is taking off nicely with lots of new root growth. I can't wait to see it bloom this year!


This one is a funny story. I accidentally broke this cane off one of my larger plants a Dendrobium hybrid and just for kicks I tied the broken cane to my Black Olive (Bucida buceras). I though it died to be honest because it shriveled, but low and behold a new keiki. It's growing vigorously too. This should produce a massive clump eventually. That will be quite a sight when it is in bloom.





Naturalizing Orchids Part II by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com.

Io Moth Caterpillars

I have a million little caterpillars eating my coconut palms. They are the larval form of the beautiful Io Moth. I find them from time to time throughout the year. It is found throughout most of America east of the Rockies. The adult Io Moth has a wingspan of 2.5-3.5 inches. This species is sexually dimorphic, males having bright yellow forewings, body, and legs, while females have reddish brown forewings, body, and legs. The males also have much bigger plumose (feathery) antennae than the females. Both have one big black to bluish eyespot with some white in the center, on each hindwing, a defense mechanism meant to frighten off potential predators. [1] We have our own subspecies here in Florida Automeris io lilith and the males have a distinct red-brown forewings. The same type of red form is also found in southern Mexico and the Bahamas. Io moth larvae are leaf feeders, gregarious in early instars, then solitary as they grow. After several weeks of feeding, they make a simple paper-like cocoon away from the host plant. In Florida, there are three to four generations per year. There usually is only one generation in northern states. [2]
The io moth has a long list of host plants, with over 100 recorded plant genera in North America, including such diverse plants as roses, cotton, hibiscus, azaleas, willows, clover, and palms. In Florida, io moth larvae are commonly found on oaks and other hardwoods. [3] I'll say let's go ahead and add Coconut (Cocos nucifera), as a larval food in Florida!!!!

Early instar larvae of the io moth, Automeris i0 11-26-2008



Second instar larva of the io moth caterpillar, Automeris io 12-10-2008


Final instar larva of the io moth caterpillar, Automeris io

Adult Io Moths Female(top)and male(below)
photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Automeris_ioFMPCCA20040704-2974B1.jpg
Original photo by Patrick Coin


Family/Subfamily: Saturniidae/Hemileucinae •
Genus: Automeris •
Species/SubSpecies: io/lilith •
Common Names: Io Moth •

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Io_moth
[2] http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/io_moth.htm
[3] http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/io_moth.htm



Io Moth Caterpillars by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com

Citrus in South Florida

Citrus doesn't fare so well in South Florida! What you see here is a 'Meyer' Lemon and an 'Ortanique' tangelo. I planted them four or five years ago, still no fruit and just a general lack of vigor! So today I dug them up. I potted them in some amazing potting soil, Fafard 3B to be exact. Hopefully, they fare better with lots of extra care because their not gonna make it in the ground. In fact the last three photos are of some sort of fungi that was smothering the root system of the 'Meyer' lemon. We'll see if re-potting it helps!






Citrus in South Florida by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com

My Research Library!

This is my personal research library. Of course I use the internet too, but the majority of the information I use in my posts comes from these books. I doesn't matter if it is rare fruits, bamboo, or orchids. 90% of the time I can ID it and find the info I need right here. Some of the books I bought, some were gifts, some were found! All I can say is, I love to read!

This picture is the full collection of non-fiction/reference mostly gardening, but there are also books about birds, butterflies, bugs, etc as you can see. Do you have any of these? Let me know.



My rare fruit bibles! I use 'Fruits of Warm Climates' extensively. If you search the internet for info on tropical fruits. Every web-site you'll find uses this book usually word for word, with-out giving J. Morton credit I might add! and 'Five Decades with Tropical Fruit' is loaded with info as well. I love this book but it wasn't organized very well, but it is chock full of information on some real rare fruits.

These are all first editions 'Garden Islands Of The Great East'(1943), The World Was My Garden'(1938) and 'The World Grows Round My Door'(1947) all by David Fairchild. They are my pride and joy. My Mom got me 'The World Grows Round My Door' for my birthday back in 2005, my Mom is so sweet! I hunted the other two down on the internet and paid a pretty penny, I might add. They are all tales of a plant hunter, as he worked for the US Department of Agriculture. They are interesting as hell, at least to a plant nerd like me. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden was named after him and some of the plants he collected are still growing there and at his home the 'Kampong'. Not to mention all the plants growing around Florida and elsewhere that were propagated from those plants. Fairchild was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants. He was truly a pioneer of the plant world!



My Research Library by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com