Once in a while I like to take a leisurely trip through my 10-acre farm, with no ambition other than to enjoy the scenery. Today was such a day, an exceptional one in my view, and I’d like to tell you a little bit about it. As you know, this winter has been warmer than…
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Did you know that the flowers of Bougainvillea are small and inconspicuous? That’s because the features that produce the spectacular colors found in this genus are actually bracts, modified leaves located at the point from which flowers develop. Thus bracts are an integral part of the flowering process, though they are not flowers themselves. …
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After an abnormally-warm fall and early winter, southern Florida finally experienced some significant cold fronts in January. For most locations in the region, the coldest readings were recorded on Sunday, January 18, when widely-scattered frost was reported. While chilly weather can prompt flowering in some fruit species, we remain pessimistic that lychees will produce significant quantities this year. …
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Perhaps the best known butterfly in North America is the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). South Florida is very lucky this time of year, and not just for our mild climate. While most of the United States is in the middle of a frigid winter, with its Monarch Butterfly population safely hibernating in the Oyamel Fir…
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If one word had to be picked to describe the current status of vegetable and fruit crops in southern Florida, it would be “confused.” That’s because weather conditions over past few months have caused many crops to develop erratically. Forecast projections for the period from November through January went wrong immediately: November was predicted to be…
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