Ruddy Turnstone

Florida Foliage

Pine Warbler

Honeymoon Island State Park

Osprey at Fort Myers Pier

Red Bellied Woodpecker

I took this photo at Corkscrew Swamp near Naples, FL.

Brown Pelicans at Fort Myers Pier

These photos are straight from the camera and untouched up. If you'd like to see the refined versions of these and similar pelican photos, visit my Flickr page.

Eclectus Parrot at Sunken Gardens

Fukien Tea Bonsai

Here is another bonsai in training that I'm working on. I love the bends and curves in the trunk.

African Strangler Fig Bonsai in Training

I took a series of beginner classes this spring which culminated with an attempt to create a banyan style bonsai. This tress was bare rooted and repotted in bonsai mix.

The tree was completely defoliated and each branch was individually wired under the direction of the instructors.

The straws in the picture are there to help guide the air roots down to the soil mix and is working well to help create the banyan look I'm hoping for.

As you can see from the picture below, the leaves are large. If I am understanding correctly, I probably need to defoliate the tree again completely and then "pinch back" (i.e. cut) the leaves regulary when they reach the desired size to create a small leaf structure.

I use a granular fertilizer, which is supplemented with a liquid fertilizer every three weeks or so. So far the tree appears to be growing well and is healthy.

Seabird Sanctuary near Medeira Beach, FL

Plains, Georgia - Jimmy Carter's Hometown

It's not in Florida, but for anyone traveling from the northern parts of the country, it would make a nice diversion enroute.

The pictures were taken during a recent visit to Plains. The farmhouse, the country store, the campaign headquarters for his Presidential campaign, and the world's largest peanut are just some of the attractions you'll find.

On certain weekends, President Carter teaches Sunday school at a local church and the public is welcome.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Bonsai and Penjing Sarasota, FL

I visited Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota, FL yesterday. The gardens were hosting the annual Asian Fest on the grounds, which included Asian Foods, crafts, music, and gardening displays. They had a wonderful display of bonsai and penjing near the mansion patio.

I attended a demonstration given by Hal Mahoney, a nationally recognized bonsai and rock penjing expert. Here are some pictures of his presentation. During the course of an hour, Mr. Mahoney walked throught the basic steps of creating a well-rounded penjing display from how to flatten the rocks using quick drying cement so they stand up in the display to adding depth of field and dimension, to placing the final touches including trees and other foliage.

I learned more about bonsai in the one hour demonstration than I've been able to learn in more than a year of research on the Internet. If you like bonsai, I recommend you take the time to attend one of Mr. Mahoney's rock penjing demonstrations.

Florida Bonsai Pictures