My husband and I took a few days off and motored to the Keys for a little R&R this week. I decided to share some of the local flora and fauna we encountered this week on our trip. The Keys are very nice this time of year and the seafood is worth the trip – as is the Key Lime Pie! We both gained a couple of pounds, from the pie, I think. Follow this link to visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk for more flora tours of gardens around the world.
A classic inspiration for many tropical motifs and one of my favorites, the Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) tree. Almost oak-like in appearance, these produce fruit that only someone who grew up on them could love. I live a bit too far north for these.
Hanging over a 6 foot fence is a Pink Mussaenda (Mussaenda phillippica). These look a bit like pink squashed Poinsettias to me. I see many white and yellow ones where I live. The pink ones may be more tropical, they are from the South Pacific.
Pink Tabebuia (Tabebuia rosea) these are used as shade trees and can drop a lot of pods. They are a pretty, upright evergreen tree, not known for good wind resistance and a relative of the tree that tropical hardwood, Ipe comes from.
Ferns are not something I usually think of as a hedge. I think these are Macho Ferns (Nephrolepis biserrata). I like this, so tropical.
Key West has a wonderful butterfly conservatory we enjoyed very much. This is a high ceiling greenhouse structure with a meandering pathway and stream that is filled with butterflies sipping nectar then landing on your shoulder. My husband is not the gardening type and he said this was the highlight of the trip. The butterfly is a Menelaus blue morpho, a big butterfly – 12 cm or almost 5 inches across, they look like brown spotted moths on the backside and travel in groups, spectacular.
The quintessential South Florida flamingo. This is either Scarlett or Rhett, one of the pair of flamingos that live in the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. https://keywestbutterfly.com/
That’s my Six for this Saturday. I am heading to the garden for some chickweed removal!
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Lovely to see your photos when we are in Winter here, very sharp frost this morning.
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A bit of warmth via blog?
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Wow, amazing photos if your trip! 🌸🦋 That butterfly is amazing! Enjoy your key lime pie, I think I baked one once.
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I thought Breadfruit would be possible in your area, but apparently you say you’re too far north. I had to google to find where the Key Islands were. Are you going there by plane or boat from Miami? Thank you for sharing the link for the butterfly conservatory. It looks beautiful!
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I am in the Far North of South Florida. We drove down to the Keys, there is a road all the way down to Key West, one of the bridges is seven miles long. It is an interesting drive through the coral islands – not much beach at all, just mangrove edges.
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Thanks for sharing Amelia! Nice to see exuberant foliage and lush flowers. Love the Pink Tabebuia, with those dangling bean-like seed pods.
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I love it, too.
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Everything is so lush there. I did not recognize a single plant.
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Do you grow the white Musseanda there?
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I had to look it up as I never remember the name of that plant. I have a yellow one and it is not happy here. I can barely take temperatures in the low 50’s. I take it in and out of the garage all winter. They sell them as annuals, but because I take mine in, it is a small tree/shrub now.
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I see them here, the yellows, haven’t tried one yet.
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Wonderful, thank you for showing us plants that grow well in this part of the world.
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Ooh, nice getaway! KW is a lovely place, despite the tourists! 😉
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Indeed. The difference with the cruise ships in or out is amazing.
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Funny that you should mention that the Pink Mussaenda looked like squashed Poinsettias to you, as that was my first thought when I scrolled to that photo. Sounds like you had a lovely R&R trip.
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Sounds like a great trip and I love the taste of the tropics! I’ve been bored with everything here so all that lush green looks perfect.
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I love your planet. This was so refreshing. Thanks Queen
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Oh my! That is a scary pink chicken! Tabebuia is unfamiliar. Well, all of this is unfamiliar. Pink Tabebuia blooms in the Los Angeles region, but looks nothing like that. It might be Tabebuia impetiginosa, but that does not sound familiar. Tabebuia heterophylla sounds more familiar. One of my colleagues grew Tabebuia chrysotricha, with yellow bloom.
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Yes. I think there are two Pink tabebuia and that is the more tropical one. The yellow ones are common here as a harbinger of spring.
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Yellow tabebuia was introduced into California only in the 1970s. One of my colleagues got some of the first.
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Looks like an interesting place to visit for gardeners and nature lovers. All that lush green foliage is a nice reminder of summer days (when I was probably complaining about the heat and humidity! LOL!) Is it humid there? I like the fern hedges. 😃
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It is, but also very well known for bars and drag shows. A bit of a weird place. The humidity was down that day, it goes up and down with the rain in winter. It is pretty humid today.
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Isn’t our little earth so amazing? You’ve got flowers and plants there that just would not grow well here.
Fern hedge is amazing.
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The earth is amazing. Now I want a fern hedge!
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😜
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Eep, this all sounds so amazing. Miami is the furthest south I’ve managed so far, but would love an opportunity to explore the Keys some day. I could live on nothing but seafood and key lime pie, truly. Gorgeous photos, all of these. Love the idea of a fern hedge — I guess the trees overhead must be giving them enough shade?
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It was fun and I could live on the same food! I cannot make key lime pie as good as it is there. The macho ferns are fairly common and will take some sun, though it was a pretty shady street.
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We are going on a cruise in a couple of months and one stop will be Key West. If we have time, the butterfly conservatory sounds interesting.
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You would love it.. the Norwegian Jade was there when we were.
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