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Terra Mirabilis

• Orchid shopping

  Number of comments: 7
  Someone once told me that if you're hard up (and who isn't?), always go to sales at closing time. There are two good reasons for this: First, you never know what you missed, and second, prices plummet.
  
  I went to an annual flea market last Saturday [...]
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• The neighborhood clowns

  Number of comments: 11
  We have a flock of six turquoise and yellow macaws around here. They make a horrendous call that can be heard from a long way away and is particularly harsh when they are overhead. This was taken from the garden last week. [...]
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• Cardinal

  Number of comments: 3
  A lovesick cardinal is singing its heart out in the yard. If you're not familiar with the song, I recorded this the other day at Fairchild, where they could be heard all around the garden.
  
  I took these photos last June of a pair that' [...]
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• Mangoes

  Number of comments: 9
  One day in November 2008, standing on the platform waiting for a train to go to work, I noticed the (unpleasant, in my view) scent of mango blossom. It was a first since there are no trees near the station and suggested we were in for a [...]
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• Laundry

  Number of comments: 0
  How can one garden and not use a laundry line? [...]
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• The view from my desk

  Number of comments: 13
  
  Working at my computer earlier today, I looked up to see white ibis balancing on the utility lines. They really don't look stable up there, but they made me smile.
  
  The Australian pines behind offer a perching place to an osprey. I hear it calling' [...]
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• Sometimes I hate my dogs . . .

  Number of comments: 2
  Until yesterday morning, this was a lovely patch of lush liriope. I'm not sure which dog is responsible, but they've already made themselves plenty of sleeping hollows around the garden. I know it will recover, but enough already! [...]
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• Flaming flame vine

  Number of comments: 13
  I wonder how this plant got its common name??
  
  Inspired by fellow South Florida blogger, TOG of Coral Gables who posted pix of a hedge of flame vine (Pyrostegia venusta), I'm posting pix I took at Fairchild Garden this week. Generally, I'm not a fan [...]
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• Oaks in flower

  Number of comments: 7
  It's another sign of spring.
  
  I was up on the roof this afternoon to clean the gutters and take care of any pruning needs and was delighted to see the live oak closest to the house covered in "blooms." Most of the time, they're so inconspicuous' [...]
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• Death and life in the garden

  Number of comments: 7
  I was at my potting bench this afternoon when a commotion at the top of a coconut palm caused me to turn just in time to see birds scattering and a broad-winged hawk flying off with a victim in its talons. Small, downy feathers drifted to the [...]
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