It is impossible to capture how fantastic this orchid is - she is a member of the Grammatophyllum genus and grows in tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia - there are 13 species in this genus, one of which - the tiger orchid - is the largest orchid in the world. I don't know for sure which species this is but I love her...I almost always have an orchid blooming in my house and love to live in a climate (just barely) that I can tie them up in the shade and they will re-bloom

This week has been very overwhelming but I will never be too down on myself or my circumstances to not notice the important little beauties. I saw this monarch through my office window yesterday - these are relatively rare in my yard, although I am hoping to start seeing them more with some milkweed that I managed to get established recently. This bush is a native lantanta, common name: buttonsage, species name: Lantana involucrata. I often see butterflies on this beautiful s

I just spent a long weekend exploring Acadia National Park and am excited to share some photos I took! The house I stayed at with my boyfriend's family was built in the late 1800's by a civil war veteran and it has remained in the same family for seven generations - how special! It was steps from Phillips Lake, about an hour from the park, and felt like glamping in a museum full of old artifacts and antiques. There was a hummingbird feeder on the patio that was pretty popula

Staff will lock you into Viera Wetlands if you are not out by 7:00 - lesson learned! I was hopeful with how overcast it was that we would enjoy a nice sunset. It was a beautiful walk despite the bugs - the sunset was subtle and muted and we got to watch all the wading birds flying in to roost down for the night. This great blue heron perched on an odd palm caught my attention along with the limited lighting reflected on the water. I also had a moment with this red-winged blac

Check out this Atlantic ghost crab! I love that you can see his hairs. These little guys are super shy and they move so fast. I scoped him from pretty far away on my beack blanket. I went to change my angle on him and the second I got up, he scurried into his hole. Amazing how sensitive they are to movement, it felt like he was watching me watch him lol creep! There were lots of marked sea turtle nests - some that seemed surprisingly close to the water! I asked the young wome

Plumbago & Roxy girl African iris Plumbago The display difference between design and mobile viewing is so annoying. Moving on from messing with this post but I hope you enjoy these - I like how they look in b&w and each one for a different reason...Roxy girl even looks cute in b&w, keeping a good look out for friends & foes! African iris in the middle is from Southern and Eastern Africa. Plumbago's origin is a bit more complicated and depends on the variation but she's

The flat lighting from the cloud cover early this morning pulled me into Roxy's Square with my Nikon. I fell into two tiny critter moments - I am starting to feel like I need to investigate macro camera options. A quick search resulted in an interesting and affordable lens option for iphones. I am looking forward to splurging on an upgrade in the fall...maybe this lens add on will be a fun addition for backyard critter photography. Check out this itty bitty butterfly I watche

I messed w/ the SEO settings and now my site design is all f*cked up. As the virtual representation of my garden/life, I am accepting it as a constantly evolving beautiful mess w/ no urgency to fix it. Last week I wrote about making beautiful things happen but now I want to recognize that the process and journey can feel so messy. I was weeding outside of Roxy's Square this morning - a rare occasion bc I live on a busy street - and as I was moving pavers around, I recalled

Cam and I are supposed to be in New Jersey this weekend, meeting 3 new baby girl cousins. The travel nonrev standby gods rejected us after spending a full day at the Charlotte airport and we have wound up back home with Cam sick on the couch. Bummed to not be with my family as planned this weekend but funny how things work out sometimes bc being sick while traveling is the actual worst. Unexpected downtime for me has turned into spending considerable energy playing with web d

An unusual butterfly came into Roxy's Square this evening, attracted to plumbago - I think it is a giant swallowtail! It was the second time today that I wished I had my Nikon - not sure why I didn't bring it in the field with me today on such a gorgeous, flat calm day, and then I knew this butterfly moment would be fleeting so I settled with my phone since it was in hand. In looking at the live photos, these butterflies move their wings in such an interesting way....in some

I had a moment(s) recently that reinforced lessons taught early on in the wildlife photography course I am taking - prepare back up batteries and memory cards. Such a simple and obvious concept but of course lessons only seem to sink in through experience for me... Side note: another recent lesson learned - skip the cute gardening gloves at the dollar tree! .... I was watering plants on my patio over the weekend when an odd bird noise caught my attention. I found a pair of

After I weed whacked the grass in Roxy's Square today, I tried to get her to pose in one of her favorite dirt spots in front of the plumbago pergola. I love this candid shot I wound up with instead. You can feel her happiness in her expression and the full tail wag. She was more interested in posing after she proudly stole the treats I put down on the trampoline. She can be a thief but her reaction to getting caught is so endearing. She is maybe never happier than when she ge

After I took Roxy on her pooh walk this morning, I made my rounds saving any desirables from the impending mower. I wound up with a great haul - a nice bushel of spiderwort, about a dozen plugs of tropical salvia, a few scorpiontails, and some plugs of a cute, pink succulent that I love and don't know the name of.... I pulled them up with as much root or stem as possible and put them all in water - they went in the ground after work when it cooled off. I also moved pavers a

I went into the garden this evening seeking something beautiful to fall into. I have been feeling a bit exhausted and disoriented coming back from a beautiful vacation that rolled right into a giant unexpected wave of grief with a death in the family. Cam also left for her dads for ten days and is headed to Boston to celebrate a family wedding. Separations like this offer incredible balance in my life but they can also be so very tough. All this to say, I needed some time out

Today was our last full day in the Exumas. We slept in and then ventured over to Little Exuma to visit the Tropic of Cancer Beach, named for the meridian line that passes right through it and known for powdery sand and stunning turquoise waters. The bridge connecting Great Exuma and Little Exuma is a little one way connector and the roads on much of both islands are unpaved and very rustic. We enjoyed swimming and sitting in the shade enjoying the scenery for a bit. Cam reall

We enjoyed a down day yesterday and did not leave the airbnb. I woke up before anyone else and enjoyed a cup of coffee while watching the tide go out, exposing a massive tidal flat sandbar. I watched an American oystercatcher hunting and wished I had my Nikon to zoom in on him. I also watched some local fisherman walk across to the flat, clearly timing it perfectly to spend all day flats fishing the entire perimeter. Later in the day, I got mom on a double kayak with me and C

Today’s Exuma adventure did not disapoint. We started the morning with an early meet time at the Exuma Markets followed by a shuttle up to the north end of Great Exuma, where we boarded a boat at Barraterre Dock. Our first stop was to visit the endangered Bahamian Rock Iguanas. These ancient looking lizards are only found on a few tiny islands within the Exuma Cays. We got to see hundreds of them on the beach which was quite a spectacle! These critters are very limited in pop

I haven't blogged since the last day of May as I have been busy prepping for a significant summer splash, requested by my best and most favorite little life inspirer. My daughter has been in a phase of aspiring to be a marine biologist for a solid year or so, and of course...I have leaned in hard. About six months ago, she asked if we could go to a random place on the map called Compass Cay to swim with the sharks. I had never heard of this place but was immediately enticed

I went out to enjoy Roxy's Square this morning but it was so steamy out that my lens kept fogging when I would get close to the ground. The sun is shining after a day or two of gloomy slow on/off rain. I wonder what the solution is for this situation. One of my favorite photographer's specialties is shooting south Florida swamp environments. I wonder what kind of accommodations he has to make to his equipment to avoid the steamy effect on the lens. <If you haven't heard of hi

WOW - I like to think I brought in some incredible luck with my last post about how gulf fritillaries, the OG, are difficult to shoot. I can't wait to show you these incredible shots of this experience this morning... I was enjoying photographing butterflies and flowers in Roxy's Square early this morning, went in to upload them, and saw they were all under exposed. I was a bit bummed bc I had an intense moment with a zebra longwing -official state butt of FL - that had lande

I adventured into Roxy's Square earlier today and noticed a butterfly was caught in a spider web that I have been observing for a few weeks. I got a decent shot with my iphone which I am sharing mostly bc Roxy girl is in the background looking cute. I have always enjoyed iphone point and shoot photography but I do not find it nearly as satisfying as manipulating settings and feeling it when you get it right. I am developing this skill which is a super fun blend of art, scien

The learning curve is a bit steep but I have spent a few hours and have a functional home page and one post live...I consider this a win but how will the second post work? Thank you for your patience as I learn. I consider myself a lifelong learner and this is just a little virtual tangent on a relatively boring holiday weekend. I plan to share mostly from the perspective of my little butterfly garden in Roxy's Square but I am embracing this as a place for creative inspirati

I am new to setting up a blog and learning how to upload and create using some photos I took yesterday in Roxy's Square <3 I have been learning photography while also trying to stay off of social media recently. Someone special suggested I should start a blog highlighting my native plant gardening journey in my small side yard - Roxy's Square. I am excited to have a virtual space to express my photography journey along with & through my love for pollinator gardening. Nurturin