It’s a lovely time of year here in central Florida. The daily high temperatures have dropped into 80s, the plants are looking lush and there are butterflies galore. I think I’ll go sit in the yard for awhile. Quiet my mind to the point I can hear the insects working.
The sago palm is locally extinct. And by locally, I mean my neighborhood and beyond. Thanks to the the lethal cycad scale disease that swept through our area. Or maybe that’s “no thanks.” Why did the sago palm suffer? The cycad scale prospered. Darn. No win-win here.
Have you noticed the later sunrise? I have. And yet it is high summer. Our planet’s climate manifests a lag time between solar energy input and an area’s weather. As for my area of the globe — it is now a season of plenty. Plenty of green. Plenty of growth: leaves, flowers, fruits and berries. Some berries are edible. Some, not. For humans. Such as the above inedibles.
As to what species might dine on the those crimson clusters . . . the red coloration might be a clue. What about the size? Distance from the ground? I wonder.
Where you find a berry, will you always also find a fruit-eating symbiote? No, all species did not and do not evolve in isolation. Except maybe the first.
Our ornamental pond looks so much healthier this year. The trick: my wife has been removing all sickly leaves. The result: so far no black pock-mark disease of the lily pads. By this team of high heat and humidity, all but a few floating leaves are usually terribly scarred and ailing. What is that saying about an ounce of prevention . . . in this case it is more like a minute of prevention is worth a whole season of growth.
P.S. I love the way water bends. It’s fluid alright.
Recent Comments