Local residents relaxing at the Gaylord Palms Hotel. 

Aglaonema 'Silver Bay' in a planting at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando Florida. 

Gaylord Palms Tour.

Spent Wednesday touring with a fellow Aglaonema breeder from India. We went to the Gaylord Palms hotel to check out their atrium. It was about 2 acres under a glass roof that about 10 stories above. There were many nice plantings of different foliage plants that included great mixtures of foliar color and texture. I was especially impressed with the use of texture. There even was a lagoon with baby gators and turtles.

One of my hybrid aglaonemas (Silver Bay) was planted in several different areas. Overall the plants and planting design were better than the $20 lunch buffet. It was well worth the trip and probably would be even more impressive to tourists who did not deal with foliage plants on a daily basis.

Several photos will be shared in later posts.

At least I have new blades.

Thanks to "Lifty" the mower deck has new blades. With all the rain we be gettin the grass doesn't know to stop growing. Rain is good. With every new house sinking its own straw into the aquifer the more water we get the better. Of course, it looks like this weekend I will be on the roof working on leaks. Life is never boring that is for sure.

I need a Nickname.

I love to give nicknames. I drive to work in the "Greenbean" and "Big O" is being restored. But, there is no name for the my new friend the lift (see below). Maybe it can be called "LIFTY" or "UPPER". Anyway this needs to be investigated in detail. Upperdates later.

The mower deck got new blades and a cleaning while sitting on my new best friend --- the lift. 

Three cheers for my lift.

In March 2005 we installed a lift in the Z shop. We got it from a friend who was moving out of state. For the first month or two it sat and was not used much probably due to my fear of it. However, now with some experience the lift has proven to be an invaluable friend.

In the last 2 months it has been used for the following:
1. Four Z cars have been raised and the undersides inspected.
2. An altima, a sentra, a chevy blazer, and ford mustang have been taken up.
3. I used it to load and unload my garden tractor on the truck.
4. Throw on a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood and you have a floating work bench.

Yesterday it lifted a boat off its trailer so the trailer could be repaired (photo above). Today it was used to lift my 6 foot mower deck so the blades could be changed (photo above). It was so nice and easy that the whole deck got taken apart and the belt pulleys were inspected, cleaned and greased (had not be done in 10 years). It turned a nasty job into a joy.

In summary: Any job is easier and more pleasureable if you have the right tools. I love my lift. My back loves the lift. Mosaic Mom loves the lift because I don't moan and groan as much anymore. So see, everyone loves the lift.

I have to go mow now with my new blades.

Scott works on his boat trailer while the boat is supended on the lift. 

Food for Thought..... 

How Long Can We Last?

Money and Greed beget all evil...
Now they be gettin all the land too....
Looks like we folks be gettin the shaft......
Oh Brother.......................

Oh well, it is either them or the Chinese.......
My money is on the folks from the far east.
You heard it here first........................

Rambling Again.

After 25 years I decided to clean out all the foreign growth under the trees at home. This has been a 4 week project so far. It is amazing how much stuff comes to life in a small area. The vacuum certainly was hated by nature and filled with all sorts of stuff. Unfortunately a lot of it was mine.

I found the frame and benches from an entire 20 X 60 foot greenhouse and a bunch of farm implements that have been missing for years. Also found several new species of rampant obnoxious weeds. The poor black snake was very unhappy about his house being disturbed. The gopher turtle hut was left alone. Poison ivy is not nice stuff.

Writing this here is too much work and brings back memories of sweat and pain so I quit. But below is another happy pothos photo. Life is nicer in a shaded pan and pad cooled greenhouse.

Here are some more happy pothos. 

The 'Mother' of the 548. 

Friday's ramblings........

Just finished sticking more cuttings from one of our pothos mutants. It is really looking like a good plant. Certainly different to the eye and seems to grow with enough vigor to have commercial potential. Hope to get it to flower and seed next year - of course it may be sterile but only testing will tell.

At least these ornamental aroids like the heat and humidity. The rootng and growth rate accelerates to the point of being amazing. So the random trips to the greenhouse are rewarding if not frequent this time of year.

Going out the driveway this morning I had an idea. There is this 18" diameter pine stump staring at me from the east lawn. I thought about carving a recess in the center and filling it with charcoal. Light the charcoal, have a barbeque and burn out the stump all at once. Sounds cool to me. Of course once Mosaic Mom reads this the stump grinder man will be called. Oh well, just a thought.

The surf fishing conditions are lousy and have been for weeks. Water is too dirty, the waves are too small and now it is too hot due to the constant west wind that blows the 100+ degree air from mosaci mom's studio over to the beach. Must wait for a light easterly breeze off the water to cool things off and clear out the crud. Of course that brings in the sea weed. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............

The greenbean is running beautifully. The new CD/stereo is really great. I can't even hear the fuel pump chirping away anymore. If it was not so hot I might consider finishing the front end suspension/bushings/shocks/springs overhaul on the Big O. Close but not quite finished. Need to get it done before the big blows come in August/September. Want to be able to move the car out of the Z shop before it falls in. I must rest now.............

548 Pothos (Epipremnum) Seed.

That is what we cleaned and planted yesterday. Check back later for an update as to what happens next. Anyway, we earned our pay this week for sure. Now to make it happen again and again. ......and we can do it......

The second pothos seed pod we have been able to induce. 

Twice in a lifetime day.

Harvested the 2nd pothos inflorescence of my career today (photo above). The first one was havested in 1996. It has taken that long to get all the conditions right again. This is really exciting. Now to wait for 6 months for the seed to germinate and the offspring to sparkle (we hope). At least we are the world's experts at something today.

A "surprise" Florida summer heat wave should help speed things along for the next 4 months. Of course everything else slows to a crawl this time of year.

This is another plantdaddy Adenium hybrid that is quite cheery. 

An interesting form of pothos. 

One fine Angel Wing Begonia. 

A Dream Plant.

A few years ago a person came to my office to discuss a begonia patent that he was trying to finish. It seemed the lawyers had bled him out of several thousand dollars and still not completed the patent. Feeling bad for him as he was almost in tears, I helped to answer a few botanical questions from the patent office and eventually he got the patent. He was grateful and later gave me a nice little plant as a gift.

Two years later this begonia is thriving in one of mosaic mom's pots. It is about 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide and covered with pink flowers. All we do is haul it inside in case of a freeze. This winter two stems were broken off by the TOP of the door when taking it in. This plant has never been treated for any kind of insect or disease problems. I am starting to get impressed.

Of course we now have a few seedlings growing from this plant. Two of them have nice white flowers and we hope they have the same vigor and toughness. Begonias can be good.