A View of Old Fort Park

Along Indian River Dr close to downtown Fort Pierce is a little park called Old Fort Park. This is the original site of the fort that Fort Pierce is named after. The fort was built in 1838 during the Second Seminole War. The fort was constructed of sabal palm trunks for walls and thatched palm leaves for the roof. Today the park has 100's of Sabal Palms and it also has a fresh water stream that flows into the Indian River. It is thought that this was why the location was selected for the fort. And before the fort was there it is also thought to be a seasonal camp for the Ais Indians who became extint in the 1600's when the Europeans arrived. There is an Indian burial mound that stand 50ft tall at the park, but is cover with dense vegetation making it nearly impossible to see from the road . Here are a few pictures, of the Sabals, the steps that lead up the burial mound, and the last is a fresh water stream that feeds into the Indian River. On the left side of my blog I have a painting from Rick Kelly depicting the fresh water stream and the Indian River name The Old Fort.

OMG Can you say Addicted

OK. This is getting out of control. Tonight my fiancee and I were going to have dinner at her bosses house. Which of course is in Jensen Beach. Well the lady was still set up with her 3 for $20 orchids but now she had new 1's. So my girl had to buy some. Some = 6 new Phals. With 1 going as a gift it seems that we have added 5 more to the collection. I am going to have to take a count tomorrow to see if we have broken 40. 40 OMG that is crazy. But the plus side is my palm addiction seems to be contagious. My girl loves taking care of the orchids. Here are a few shots of the 6 orchids for $40. And the last is some of the orchids that are in bloom. Unbelievable!

Pictures of My Little Paradise

Here is a guided tour of my little piece of paradise. I have taken shots of all sides and a few others of some pretty neat stuff on the property besides all the orchids that are growing that I showed on some older posts. I am going to start with the SE corner standing from the road you come in on. This is the part that is nice with grass an some monster live oak trees. Then I follow the road around the south side to the west side of the property. These are the first 4 pictures.
Now the St. Lucie River runs along the north side and east side of the property, although the east side is only 1 or 2 ft deep. So shot 5 is were the main part of the river branches off and comes under the road into the neighborhood. Then the next 3 shots are of the north side that the little branch follows and then opens up to the large area of water. When I was a kid I slid my canoe down there and fished almost everyday. Then the next 2 are the overgrown east side. Then a few of the interesting shots. Standing under the palm trees, a shot of 2 oak branches from separate trees that have grown together and my little brothers house is in the back round, a palm tree that had to squeeze between the V of an oak branch. You can see the scars from it rubbing the branch as it grew on thru. Then some wild boar or hog rootin' and a few of the over growth.

Tillandsia fasciculata , Tillandsia utriculata Air Plants

I have some of these Tillandsia fasciculata , or Quill-Leaf , Cardinal Air Plant , Wild Pineapple are some of the names I have heard these plants called growing on my property. The first shot has it in bloom with a bright red flower, the second shows 1 with pups attached to it. The third shot has a variety of air plants in bloom growing on an old live oak. How many blooms can you see. The last is a different air plant. This 1 is called Tillandsia utriculata , Giant Air Plant or Giant Wild Pine. It is one of the largest species of bromeliads in Florida. This plant grows a huge stalk out of the middle and as the bloom begins, the plant starts to die. Sadly, these plants are declining due to the Mexican Bromeliad Weevil attack, as well as habitat destruction and some collecting, and are now listed as endangered species by the state of Florida.

Musa acuminata , Ice Cream Banana Update

Since I have a new update on the Musa acuminata , Ice Cream Banana. I have decided to do progression shots from the time I started taking photos . The first set is from 12/18/07, the second set is from 1/16/08, the third set is from 2/11/08 when the lawnman hacked the baby w/ the weedwacker, and the last set is from 2/20/08 with the update of my new leaf coming from the trunk that was cut. Maybe this will comeback stronger than before. Also the hacked baby still has not died. It is still 1/4 attached maybe I'll get 2.

Lemon Trees

Progression shots of the Ponderosa Lemon Tree. Pic1 is from mid Dec, Pic 2 is from Jan 15, and the next 2 are the size of the fruits today Feb. 20. Then is a shot of 5 cups w/ ponderosa lemon sprouts 1 cup has its 3rd sprout coming up. Then the last 2 shots are of the new variegated pink lemon tree. I just had time to get it in the ground today.

New Seedling Stand

Tonight I went back and visited my woodworking buddy J-Lead_LO and we built this stand to hold the seedling pots all together. It is so nice to have everything in 1 place to get things done. This stand took all of 45 minutes to build from scratch. Started as just a few cedar planks and 45 mins later all 100 of the seedling pots have a home. They came with these collars to hold them but no supports to keep them together. So we connected all the collars together and mounted them to the stand. I will have shots of the palm seedlings posted later this week. All of these little projects are coming together.