Steep learning curve

The learning continues in this land of floral abundance. I added some new palms and cycads to the learning list and have started to learn different varieties of crotons. My sister-in-law’s yard is a learning library in its own right. She and her husband started a nursery 12 years ago and all kinds of specimens are growing in her courtyard and on the periphery. I will consider myself well educated if I can just master her yard before I leave.

Our morning walks on the beach are filled with beauty. This morning as we crested the dune, two dolphins jumped out of the water in front of us. The beach is still recovering from the three hurricanes that hit Florida last year. Sometimes we are kept from the beach by the high tide, but this morning it was broad and flat and beckoning. It is the first exercise I have done since I broke my foot in early November and it feels good.

We have been spending a few hours each day out at the nursery. Mostly we weed, but yesterday, with a frost threatening we helped to cover plants with frost cloth. I came across this lovely snail … I wish the picture had come out less blurry.