Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: ranunculus on March 27, 2008, 02:44:06 PM
-
Well gentle folk, we are back from sunny Florida and, by opening a separate thread for some images of our ten day trip, we give you the option to follow or avoid images of our journey as you see fit.
Admittedly not an ‘alpine’ area (the largest hills have been constructed on the numerous, and very beautiful, golf courses), this lovely state does possess many natural, and created, wonders that may be of interest to members of this splendid forum.
Our first visit to this particular state coincided with our first long-distance flight with our eighteen-month-old grandson Ollie and travel will never seem the same again. He was marvelously behaved (for a toddler) but, unable to occupy his own seat, his ample proportions (he WILL play rugby for England) proved a handicap at meal-times, a lovable burden during transit across Orlando airport and a weighty encouragement for deep-veined thrombosis during the long cramped flights. …But it was worth every effort just to see him walk (gleefully) straight off the side of the pool into his mother’s arms without a thought for any consequences…. And to see him chattering to the brown pelicans on Sanibel Island as if they had known each other all their lives…and to watch his unbelieving stare as he saw his first manitee, his first turkey vulture and his first dolphin jumping up beside the boat in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Because of his young age (and his granddad’s TOTAL indifference) we avoided all the ‘attractions’ of Orlando and Mr. Disney and headed straight for the beautiful coastline to the south of Sarasota (in a splendid villa in Rotonda) and resolved to explore the islands, swamps and shell-strewn beaches of this sun-drenched part of Florida.
The weather did not let us down (it rained…HARD… on one day out of the ten) and neither did the wildlife (though the drought conditions that Florida has endured for many months did restrict sightings of alligators and other residents of the swamps). The birds were truly beautiful and the beaches drew us back time and again with their diversity and riches.
We let Ollie and his parents visit a local mall as we explored the utterly gorgeous Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, a garden that had not crossed my radar prior to this trip, and we were not disappointed.
Opened in July 1975, this magnificent garden of thirteen acres maintains a plant collection numbering more than 20,000 greenhouse specimens and many more in the outdoor gardens. Specializing in epiphytic plants makes the Marie Selby unique among the two hundred or so botanical gardens in the USA.
We had approximately two hours in this floral wonderland and the sixty plus images that accompany this text were all captured in that time using a Nikon D80 digital camera.
More from Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and the rest of our Florida trip when time and tide allow
-
Set two of images from Marie Selby Botanical Gardens....
-
Welcome (to your) home Cliff. We missed you of course.
This intro is excellent and we wait with baited breath for more to come. I'd also like a picture of the delicious Ollie please. I'll pin it on my wall and watch and wait for some years to come before welcoming him onto the field at Carisbrook or Eden Park.
-
Many thanks Lesley....every day is an Ollieday in our family now!
Images of the 'little' fellow will arrive with you soon....
Batch three from the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.....
-
Batch four from our Florida trip....still at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens....
-
Batch five from Florida....and still at Marie Selby B.G.......
-
Hello Cliff,
Good to have you back. I had missed you and when I saw your face again it struck me that I hadn't seen it in ages but quickly remembered your telling us you were off to the USA. It seems you have enjoyed yourself, good weather and good company apparently. Fabulous photographs, what colour.
Keep posting, Paddy
-
Many thanks Paddy....I suppose I should say; "It's good to be back..." ...but it WAS incredibly sunny over there! :D
Batch six....and STILL at the Marie Selby B.G. .....
-
Next batch at you know where?
-
Clear blue skies - yes, Cliff, I think I might have been tempted to extend my stay also.
Paddy
-
No 8 in batch 3 - Now that really IS Old Man's Beard! ;D I also love the stunning foliage of many of the tropical plants, and those long and willowy bird necks. Wish I had one. :)
-
Lesley,
You wish you have a long bird's neck? Or a long-necked bird?
Paddy
-
I really meant a (personal) neck as long as a bird's. It would give so many more options for the kind of jewellery I could wear. :) But then I began to think of the washing it would need to keep clean, so perhaps not. Besides, I'm put off by the (lack of) size of the brain above it. I think I really do win there.
-
M a r v e l o u s pictures Cliff !
An amazing plant world ! :o
Thanks for sharing it and I'm eagerly awaiting more .... 8)
-
Thanks Luc....glad you are enjoying the images.
Some more.....
-
Welcome home, Bookers! A thread which I know i will enjoy perusing at leisure, some time, but for now----it just so happens that I have been asked to identify a house plant.....it is familiar because it is one which is seen quite a lot in the UK- it has big leathery leaves and it is the very plant which is the first flower pic that Cliff shows! = "At Selby 1" Help, what IS the blasted thing called? It's driving me crazy! :-[ :P ::)
-
I believe it's Medinilla magnifica...
-
Carlo, I knew you would know it! 8) Many thanks.... you were just in time.... not much hair left for me to pull out!! :-X
-
Just in time then...I'd hate for you to have to wear that hood forever!
I've got a plant of it here...and have just picked up its tiny little cousin Medinilla sedifolia.
-
tiny little cousin Medinilla sedifolia
Didn't know that one, so had a google! Given that this species is from Madagascar and looks completely different to the larger Medinillas, I doubt that I would ever have twigged they were the same family, never mind genus! Truly, the depth of my ignorance is astounding....move over Atlantic Trench, you've got nothing on me :-[
-
Ignorance? Certainly not. This is just the kind of thing that keeps us coming back for more...
-
Hello:
What great images! Many thanks for sharing them.
However, what will make Mary Selby immortal till the end of time is Phragmipedium kovachii. Search in the web using these two magic words, there is lot of info available.
That was a turning point in conservation and plundering history.
Best
Alberto
-
Magnificient pictures (as usual).
Thanks for sharing your trip with us, Cliff.
-
Many thanks Luit and Alberto (you certainly have intrigued me sir, I will investigate in the morning)...
...And now for something a little different.....
Royal terns seemed fairly common on the island beaches of western Florida and I shall post a collection of images of these and other lovely birds.....many more to follow.....be warned!
-
Some more amusing but beautiful brown pelicans....
-
Very quiet viewing figures overnight! Everyone asleep or what?
Few more images to greet the snorers...
-
....And, before some of you mention it, the shifting earth effect WAS deliberate in the 'White sands' image....but please don't ask me why!
-
My thanks once again to Alberto for drawing my attention to the history of Phragmipedium kovachii and the link to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (but not, of course, to the dear lady herself who passed away on 9th June 1971).....What a story!
For a brief introduction to this amazing tale please visit:- http://www.slipperorchids.info/phragdatasheets/kovachii/index.html
-
Cliff,
It seems Friday nights and Saturday mornings are quiet on the forum. People will wake up and catch up soon enough. As for me, well, I have my job as a roadie for a teenage rock star and had to transport him to the recording studio early this morning, so that's what got me up early.
I am amazed at the Royal Terns allowing people to get so close. Is it the same with the pelicans, cormorants and the egrets?
In the photograph above 'White Sands' is that an owl on a perch near the sign about the manitees?
And I won't ask you about the 'White Sands' photographs. We all know what makes the earth move.
Many thanks for the photographs, Lovely.
Paddy
-
Good evening Paddy,
You obviously missed the title of the 'owl' picture? The clue was contained within. ;)
Thanks for the kind comments...as you will see from many of the images still to be posted, the birds of Florida are incredibly trusting .... all except the ospreys, of which more later.
Kind regards from an amazingly wet East Lancashire.
A further posting this evening....after a warm soak.
-
To borrow Luit's words "Magnificient pictures (as usual)".
I thoroughly enjoyed them, Cliff!
regards from Portugal, where it was a very nice day, after several days of dreary but welcome rain.
(saw the rain in Manchester during a certain match - it was certainly bucketing down!! but didn't stop a certain player's jinks, did it ...)
-
Many thanks Chloe....
Unfortunately many British football fans cannot watch your wonderful young player during certain matches because the pictures are relayed on ANOTHER pay-to-view channel....today was one of those days...
Back to Florida and an escape from the rains and winds of Hexham, Exeter and Whitworth....
-
Some flowers ... for a change....
-
Back to birds perhaps....or how about some trees and scenes?
-
Ha Cliff,
Now I spot him, it - the caption to the photograph of the fake owl.
More excellent photographs.
Paddy
-
All very nice, I'm sure.... but some of us are waiting for Ollie! ???
-
The pictures of the divine Ollie were sent only to ME!!!!!
But I'm sure Cliff will post them here if you ask him nicely. ;D
-
All very nice, I'm sure.... but some of us are waiting for Ollie! ???
Patience is a virtue! 4607 BIRDS, 11285 BLOOMS and 316 SUNSETS ....and then Ollie. (If I get permission from his parents).
-
Can't believe you were only 2000 miles away from Berea and didn't pop in for a cuppa!!!!!
Welcome back good buddy.
Your photos are significantly better than usual. Been using Ollie as a tripod?????????? What sort of a Grandad are you? ;)
Hope the show went well....give our best to everyone at Rammy
Love,
Me & Her
-
Cliff,
fabulous of you to share all these images!
Bloom 16 in Reply 32 is the wonderful blue vine Petrea volubilis! Just like in the picture books!
cheers
fermi
-
Hope the show went well....
Show? show? what show? I don't think Mr Bookeroo does shows any more ... far too busy sunning himself in exotic places. ;)
(Of course, Cliff, we look forward to seeing you at Chesterfield ....)
-
Wonderful pictures as usual Cliff, having not been on much this weekend I have only just caught up properly. Is that a leonotis in « Reply #4 on: March 27, 2008 ? There are certainly some desirable plants there and I thoroughly enjoyed the escapism!
-
Well, I’ve only been away from this screen and keyboard for about twelve hours and what do I find on my return? Spring has sprung in Kentucky; Chile is looking wonderful; David is working his magic in the land of the beautiful big buttercups; Diane is barracking again (deservedly, I accept) and all manner of wonderful images have been posted from all around the globe…..and Fermi has been very kind once again…..so nothing new then?
To dear Mr. and very dear Mrs. Grainger….we did actually call on you, but you must have been out at ballet classes (cured that darned tutu rub yet mate?), so we tidied the garden, had a cup of coffee with the neighbours (they were intrigued about your rash and the strange cure that you are trying) and then drove back to Florida TOTALLY EXHAUSTED but thrilled that we hadn’t wasted the entire evening looking through your photo albums.
LOVED the hepaticas by the way….Sherba is getting very proficient with the camera.
Shame you couldn’t have spared ten days to join us in Florida, we would have saved quite a bit of cash!! Our love to you both and a little extra for Sherba. Xxx
More Florida images to come……
-
Oops....many thanks Fermi, Brian et al for your very kind comments.....hopefully the best are yet to come (?)......
-
Here we go again....
-
Not much changed there then !!!!!
Sherba sends her love.....Sue can come anytime !!!!!! ;D
But on a serious note (what? me?) So happy you enjoyed your time over here....and yes, it's a shame we couldn't have met up. Can't offer you a pint at the local though. Berea's a 'dry' state. And I'm not talking climate, folks.
Of all the places, in all the world, I chose to live in a 'dry state'. Can you believe that?
-
We WERE very sad not to see you both....can't you make it for the East Lancashire Show at Bacup on the 12th April...we would appreciate your help in the kitchen?
Sorry folks, should have mentioned...the only 'concession' we made to the usual Florida tourist trail was a visit to Busch Gardens (the second word just about saved it from the same fate as Disneyland, etc. etc.), and (for a grumpy old sceptic I was pleasantly surprised)....the next couple of postings will feature images from this manufactured habitat....
-
On with Busch ....and out with Bush.....
-
Wonderful sets of pics, as usual!
Is the peacock forma alba a concession for those poor galanthophiles which suffer from a shortage of white colour ;D
Gerd
-
You call those "Fancy Florida Fliers"...birds?
These are REAL birds !!!
Seriously, just looked out the front window and saw these vultures sitting on the fence posts, Now I know I wasn't feeling too good this morning...but I didn't know I was THAT ill. ;D
-
Alan, are you sure those are vultures? ::)They just look like well fed Moorhens to me, with those red faces. ;)
So, at last, Cliff, the long-awaited Ollie!! What a cutie he is... takes after his Grandma, I suppose :-X
Nothing smarter than a young chap properly attired for a life on the ocean wave 8)
-
Alan,
You can go out and tell those vultures that Cliff is not dead yet, that he has returned to the UK and will not be providing a free dinner for any vultures in the near future.
Paddy
-
You call those "Fancy Florida Fliers"...birds?
These are REAL birds !!!
Seriously, just looked out the front window and saw these vultures sitting on the fence posts, Now I know I wasn't feeling too good this morning...but I didn't know I was THAT ill. ;D
Boy Oh Boy Mr. Grainger....are you psychic?
The next posting features TRUE vultures.....BLACK VULTURES.....and they rejected my ample frame....and little Ollie's thank goodness!
-
Hate to tell you this, Cliff, but Alan's
moorhens sorry, Turkey Vultures, are BIGGER than yours! ::)
-
....But NOWHERE near as close Maggi.....!!! (And these were AWAKE)! :D
-
True, true :-X :o
-
Psychic???? I think the word you were looking for was Psychiatric !!!!!!
Vultures? Moorhens? Black Bluebirds!!!!! They still had the same effect. Just remind me.....do alpines like fertilizer????? ???
-
Cliff,
Fantastic pics as always. I remember seeing Flamingos in the Waikiki Zoo in Hawaii when there on my honeymoon.... the colour in pictures just doesn't do them justice they're so bright. Do you happen to know what the green and blue bird you posted a few pics on the bottom of the last page was? The one with the bright beak and eye, and the white flash just behind the face. I just love it, but haven't seen anything like it before so I had to ask.
Really wonderful pics Cliff. So enjoyable to see these exotic locations!! ;D
-
Many thanks Paul....I'm afraid I didn't get the name of that particular bird, but I agree...what a cutie! I'm sure Anthony or Carlo can put us on the right track?
-
Was that 2nd picture from the Busch Garden a 'self portrait'? Looks like you've been indulging in too much Florida Fudge Cake, that's quite a double chin you've got there Bookeroo :o :o :o
-
I believe the bird in question is a Guinea Touraco...Tauraco persa persa.
-
I'm sure Anthony or Carlo can put us on the right track?
They never fail to come up trumps! Many thanks Carlo.
-
White Cheeked, Carlo. I used to keep them. Very strange bird with hair like feathers, amazing red under coverts and even more amazing feathers that can stain water!
Other birds are Stilts and Demoiselle Crane
-
What a forum this is....
The swamp in question is the Audobon Society Sanctuary at Corkscrew Swamp which was established to protect the largest remaining stand of ancient bald cypress left in North America. Unfortunately we visited during a period of prolonged drought so missed a percentage of the flora and fauna of this very interesting habitat, but I hope you can get just a flavour of this remote and hauntingly beautiful area?
CORKSCREW SWAMP IN A DROUGHT
FROM THE SWAMP BOARDWALK.
IRIS HEXAGONA
BUTORIDES VIRESCENS
SPIRANTHES ODORATA
FESTOONING
DRAPED TREE
BUG ON IRIS HEXAGONA
SWAMP TREES 3
TILLANDSIA ON SWAMP TREE
-
....Oh and by the way Shelagh....you will be dealt with most severely at Chesterfield AGS Show.....
Back to Corkscrew ....and the Banyan trees that are such a feature of this part of Florida....
The lizard is Anolis carolinensis, the Green Anole...
-
....Corkscrew again.....another bottle to open?
-
I would guess the grey feathers on the vulture came from a nest site or night roost where you need to be the bird to the top and not the bottom
-
You could well be right Mark...thanks...
On (or correctly, just off) Gasparilla Island we encountered these magnificent ospreys.....
-
O.K.....it seems from the viewing figures that Florida hasn't the same appeal as an alpine destination (and why the heck should it on a ROCK GARDEN forum)? .... so I will finish off this theme with just a few shots that pleased my critical eye....
The final shot is a very sad indictment of our 'throw away' world, and the pity is that I didn't spot the pelican's plight until I downloaded this image....the poor creature is certainly in danger.
-
....And the final few....
-
it seems from the viewing figures that Florida hasn't the same appeal as an alpine destination (and why the heck should it on a ROCK GARDEN forum)? says Cliff...
Well Cliff, it may be that everyone is busy reading the two latest segments of your monthly feature articles, on the main website:
LAND OF CORAL - MOUNTAINS OF DREAMS
The Dolomites parts 5 and 6
http://www.srgc.org.uk/monthfeature/march2008/content.html
http://www.srgc.org.uk/monthfeature/april2008/content.html
8) 8)
-
Cliff,
May I once more express my profound admiration for your photographic skills ! :o
Of course there's no alpines there (they would be hard to find in Florida I guess :-\) - but they are wonderful pictures all the same.
The picture you baptised "Flying display" in the final batch is absolutely superb !
How on earth did you make these birds "pose" for you to take a picture like that ? ;D
-
Many thanks Maggi for the extra publicity and I feel I must enclose a brief explanation as to why there are duplicated images and a Christmas & New Year greeting on the final image of a posting made in April!! The entire Dolomite sequence i.e. four complete postings, were all sent to the administrators way back in 2007 and were intended (though this wasn't, I must confess, made at all clear by an ageing poster), to be published in perhaps weekly bursts leading up to Christmas. The wonderful administrators probably evaluated the workload and posted them on a monthly basis (which, in hindsight, has worked even better) and I probably sent a duplicate image in the confusion of such a mass posting?
I hope viewers will forgive these slight blips and concentrate on the intention of the postings which was to inspire visits to these magnificent mountains and their equally stupendous flora.
We are back in Arabba later this year and we anticipate this visit with a relish equal to our first trip out there in 1999.
My dear Luc,
Your message was extremely well received...many thanks.
You obviously cannot see the elastic bands holding the birds together or the strings supporting their flight....they don't look stuffed do they? :)
The image was just a chance shot as I wandered too close for comfort to the resting birds.....if you look back through the images you will no doubt spot the precise moment when the terns took off?
Kindest regards from East Lancashire.
-
The image was just a chance shot
Kindest regards from East Lancashire.
You're a very modest man Mr Ranunculus.... 8)
-
Cliff, thank you so much for showing us such a beautiful part of the world; guaranted
free of alpine plants. Highlight for me is the Flying Display,every photographer dreams of
making such a picture.
-
Cliff,
AWESOME pics as always!! Fantastic shots of birds and nests! Never seen Iris hexagona before... very nice!! All the pics are wonderful!!
Carlo,
Thanks for the bird ID. It's a beauty!! 8)
-
Who needs alpines and bulbs every day. Don't we all have broad interests? It's sad that none of the kids my way are not in to birds of the feathered kind