FAREWELL FEBRUARY AND FLORIDA!

Goodbye beautiful white beaches......

Pelicans and other water birds........

Grapefruit and orange trees.....

Beautiful Palm trees everywhere .....

Hibiscus in bloom .....

and dear friends.....

Goodbye February and Florida !

A FLORIDA LEGEND

A Woman for the ages : Gifted writer, conservationist, gardener and superb cook

As a young girl growing up in the South THE YEARLING was a must read in school. Its author, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, won the Pulitizer prize in 1938 for the true story of her neighbors in backwoods Florida. The novel was later made into a movie starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman. It too is a classic.

I knew nothing about the writer until recently when I saw a 1984 film of her life, Cross Creek. Travelling through Gainesville, Florida I discovered that her home still existed and is an attraction that draws 30,000 visitors a year.

The sign at the entrance of Cross Creek reads : " It is necessary to leave the impersonal highway, to step inside the rusty gate and close it behind. One is now inside the orange grove, out of the world and in the mysterious heart of another. After long years of spiritual homelessness, of nostalgia, here is the mystic loveliness of childhood again. Here is home. "

A transplanted northerner with sophisticated taste and a city girl's education, Marjorie endeared herself to her "cracker " neighbors in the wild swampland of Cross Creek by learning and respecting their ways. She could " cuss and drink along with the best of them. " She was also at home and friends with such literary giants as Margaret Mitchell, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Truly an " enigma wrapped in a mystery ! "

Marjorie loved her garden which produced the food for her superb cooking. She wrote Cross Creek Cookery, a treasury of Southern recipes that uses local game, fruit and produce. This is not a cookbook in the traditional sense but an evocative and charmingly conversational discussion of cooking. Her garden has been restored and still produces vegetables, herbs and flowers. Of it she wrote " I do not know how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to come to. "

Of her beloved Cross Creek home she wrote : " But what of the land? It seems to me that the earth may be borrowed but not bought. It may be used but not owned. It gives itself in response to love and tending , offers its seasonal flowering and fruiting. But we are tenants and not possessors, lovers and not masters. Cross Creek belongs to the wind and the rain, to the sun and the season, to the cosmic secrecy of seeds , and beyond, to all time."

As I looked at the silent typewriter sitting on her desk, the novel THE YEARLING and the Pulitzer Prize nearby I was moved by the character of this woman who could've been the darling of the literary world and high society but instead chose the simple life . She'd rather hear the song of cardinals and mockingbirds .

Her friend says it best : " Ponce De Leon discovered Florida in 1513 but found only the physical and material aspects of it. Then, more than 400 years later, you came to discover the heart and spirit of Florida and reveal them to the world in writings of rare beauty and sensitivity. "

ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL TREES IN THE WORLD

FLORIDA'S STATE TREE

Can any other tree match the palm in usefulness ? From it comes food, seeds, medicine and construction materials. It's also hard to match it for durability and beauty and is a favorite of the Florida landscaper.

With it's fibrous trunk it is about as hurricane-proof as trees get. It can withstand drought, urban conditions of compacted soil, pollution, space, and poor drainage .

A true native of Florida's swampy coastal regions the early pioneers harvested the heart bud of the Sabal Palmetto and ate it like cabbage, thus it's name.

The Seminoles used the trunks to build their homes and the fronds as a roof. It's green fruits are favorites of squirrel and racoons. And to top off all its wonderful attributes, it produces a beautiful 4-5 ' creamy white showy flower. What more can you ask of a tree?

WHEN IS A PINE NOT A PINE ?

Araucaria heterophylla

On my drives around the Tampa Bay area I saw a most beautifully shaped conifer with widely spread branches and triangular outline. Good thing my friend knew a little about the flora in Florida and identified it as a Norfolk Island Pine.

Yes, the same pine you've probably purchased in a pot for a small indoor Christmas tree. Reading up on it I found that it grows well in pure sand but is very frost sensitive and can be damaged at temperature below 40 degrees.

When is a pine not a pine ? The name is misleading as the Norfolk is not a pine but a very ancient confer that covered the earth during the Jurassic period. Norfolk Island, off the Australian Coast where this conifer originates, displays it on its flag, as shown above.

SYMBOLIC TREE OF THE SOUTH

The Live Oak in front of my vacation cottage

Looking like a scene right out of the Louisiana Bayou this Live Oak, draped with Spanish Moss, is the symbolic tree of the South. Quercus Virginiana, or Evergreen Oak, is a fast growing native tree with edible acorns that support a variety of birds and small animals. It's leaves are small, oval shaped, leathery and a deep shiny green.

The Florida State Champion Live oak in Alachua county, pictured below, is 108 inches in diameter and has a crown of 150.5 feet.

If properly cared for Live Oak can live for centuries. The low growing limbs make great places for children to climb or build a treehouse in. Some limbs are so low they almost touch the ground and make a good resting place for a cat in search of birds.

Live Oaks can be seen in abundance all over the South and is the state tree of Georgia. It is truly a majestic sight.

FABULOUS FLORIDA FLORA

" Chinese music under Banyan Trees.... "
-Steely Dan, Aja

The Banyan Tree of St. Petersburg

I found another fabulous Florida tree near the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Art. Ficus benghalensis is commonly referred to as the 'strangler fig. ' It starts life as an epiphyte, a plant that attaches itself to another.

The banyan tree may start from a seed dropped into a palm tree. It begins to send out shoots that wrap themselves around the trunk of the palm and eventually kill it. The long dangling rope-like vines you see hanging from the tree above eventually reach the ground where they take root and grow into another trunk. They keep spreading these roots and can, over time, cover an entire acre.

I saw a newspaper story of an old man whose humble little "cracker" house as they call them here was enveloped by the Banyan tree.

The banyan orginally came from India where it is considered sacred. The first Banyan tree in the U.S. was planted by Thomas Alva Edison in Fort Meyers, Florida and is one of the largest in the world.

This must've been the tree that Tarzan swung from in the jungle. It was in fact the tree that Robinson Crusoe built his home in. Brian Aldiss in his novel HOTHOUSE has the Banyan tree taking over the world when it discovers its ability to join with other tree and drop its far reaching roots.

Gardening in Florida

A typical frontyard garden with large areas of grass

A drought tolerant garden suitable for the conditions

I'm not in a ritzy upscale area in the Tampa Bay area but it is interesting to observe the different gardening styles on my daily walks about the neighborhood.

Despite the lack of adequate rainfall and watering restrictions it seems that large expanses of lawns are the rule around here. The grass used for the lawns looks like quake grass that we pull out for weeds in Chicago and it takes a lot of water and maintenance to survive.

I've only come across one or two gardens that have no grass and use all drought resistant plants and other tropicals that can endure the intense Florida summers.

I am amazed that huge trees such as the live oaks are planted so close to houses, given the danger of hurricanes and tornadoes. The soil is almost pure sand here and the trees are easily uprooted during a storm.

I am also puzzled at how Azaleas thrive in this sand that lacks the acidity that they love and am amused at how houseplants in northern climes are plopped in the ground and grown as garden plants.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TREE IN THE WORLD?

Moi, St. Petersburg, Florida
The Kapok is in it's final stages of blooms

Chorisia Speciosa
or The Red Silk Floss Tree

While visiting the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Art I passed through its gardens in the back area and was stopped by this breath-taking tree that appeared to be filled with red orchids. One of the Museum employees saw us oogling it and told us it was a Kapok tree. The Kapok I learned refers to the pods and the silk floss is contained inside.

Closeup of the blooms that appear similar to hibiscus, orchids or lilies.

The Kapok is listed as one of the top five most beautiful trees in the world. While it is not a Florida native, it is very drought resistant and does well here. The tree is filled with blooms on bare branches in late Fall and Winter.

The silk floss from the Kapok's pods

The silk floss is too slippery for textiles but is used to stuff mattresses and cushions.

I feel so lucky to have seen one of the world's most beautiful trees.

RAINY NIGHT IN GEORGIA

What used to be a Lake in Georgia

And Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. Even though Georgia and parts of South Carolina got a half inch or more it didn't rain enough to help the severe drought. I shot the photo above on my travels through Georgia earlier this month.

We were on tornado watch here until 11 p.m. last night. It hit Coco Beach and destroyed some homes and cars.

Being from tornado alley, Alabama, I spent a restless night worrying about it. Fortunately, it just rained all night and the tornado watch was lifted by early morn.

The forecast for tomorrow is sunny and 75.

POSTCARD FROM FLORIDA

Looks like Snow doesn't it?

Clearwater Beach, Florida. WISH YOU WERE HERE ! Weather report : perfect ; seventy five degrees.

Clearwater , on the Gulf of Mexico has one of the loveliest beaches in the state. The sand is so fine and white and there's a boardwalk with many interesting cafes and shops. We saw dolphins, pelicans and egrets galore.

And the Palm trees, which are everywhere, really say Florida to me. The cabbage palm,I learned, is the state tree. Mature palms are expensive, fetching up to $3,000 and I'm told that people sell them right out of their yard.

I'M EVEN GARDENING ON VACATION

I've been consuming my share of Florida's wonderful organic locally grown fruit. When I opened an avacado I found that it had already developed a bud at the top and roots at the bottom ! WOW! It's ready to be planted in a peat pot. So I potted it up and gave it to my friend who will eventually plant it in her garden. I read that avacados are Florida's most important crop ( Yeah, I know, I thought Oranges were, too ) and SO nutritious. A famous doctor said that of all the fruits in the world, the avocado would be his selection as the healthiest.

I was also surprised to learn that such tropical fruit as bananas, pineapple, kiwi and mangos grow here as well. What a paradise !

The seed will make a beautiful evergreen tree that will grow from 30 to 60 feet tall. So I've left a little tree as my legacy in a Florida garden.

A SPOT OF GREEN

Walking about the neighborhood I see bare trees sporting a spot of green. Curious , I drew closer to see what it might be. There were little white berries on the mass of leaves clinging to the tree. I haven't seen this since I was a youngun' growing up in Alabama.

Mistletoe ! I didn't know that it grew down in Florida. It's everywhere. We used to pick it off the trees at Christmas, along with holly branches loaded with red berries.

AMAZING TREES

I'm still in limbo down in Florida. My brain's been cooked by the sun. But one thing I've been paying strict attention to is the amazing trees down here . You can just go down the street and boom ! There's a grapefruit or orange tree. And, funny thing is that the property owners pay no attention to them at all. I said " Good Morning " to one of the home owners and asked what kind of fruit tree is that? Right away they knew I was from out of state and asked me if I wanted some. They grabbed a bag and filled it up and gave it to me. WOW! Juicy oranges and grapefruit; ruby red and sweet.

Live oaks are everywhere down here and I can see why. They have such beautiful shapes and when the Spanish moss hangs from them , it's a sight to behold ! They remind me of Savannah .Then, of course , there are the palm trees which really say tropical.

And, of course, the most beautiful tree in the world as far as I'm concerned , the Southern Magnolia.

I can't imagine living in a place where you can just go into your backyard and pick fruit for your breakfast. That's SO cool !

And the weather. Well, they tell me that February is winter down here. HUH? 70 -plus during the day and cooler at night, say 60. I'll take it if that's really winter.

Meanwhile, our Mini Schnauzer, Jojo is checking out all the fun stuff such as lizards, weird birds and funny bugs.

THE SUNSHINE STATE

Snapped this Photo on my daily walkabout

Driving down to Florida we passed first through Indiana. Interesting to see what slogans are on state license plates. I was surprised that IN GOD WE TRUST is on Indiana's. My friend from Indiana jokes that they should use STOP CONFUSING US WITH ILLINOIS. I think Illinois should use THE 'S' IS SILENT. You can tell a tourist because they pronounce the 'S'.

Moving on over to Ohio , Birthplace of Aviation. Well that's confusing cause North Carolina has First in Flight on its plate. Onward to Tennessee where Follow me to Tennessee is the slogan. Huh? Wouldn't "Jack Daniels : 'Nuff Said " be more fitting ?

Then on to Georgia who uses, what else, Georgia on my Mind, also their state song but who knows more than the first line ? Then , finally, Florida, The Sunshine State which a comedian joked should read ASK US ABOUT OUR GRANDKIDS.

My home state Alabama is no longer " The Heart of Dixie ." It's now " The Stars fell on Alabama ". I think that YES WE HAVE ELECTRICITY would be better ! Just kidding.