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The Tropical Grower welcomes you to the online version of Our Garden. Check out our What’s Bloomn’ slideshow featuring last week’s flowers, cruz the latest topics at the Blog Page for information, enjoy the Photos, or just check out what’s happening this week in Garden Dirt. While we are Growing Tropical, growing is for everyone, and we’re here to share the green.

Garden Dirt

July 20, 2026

Storm Day

Right smack in the middle of every Rainy Season we get these rare and wonderful days.  We start looking for them before a big storm.  Fingers Crossed.  The sky isn’t just overcast, it’s covered.  Light rainbands sprinkle water as they move through.  Yes, of course there are heavier ones, it’s the Rainy Season.  But unlike a storm where heavy rainbands pelt in waves, 1 or 2 move through quickly, and we’re left with sprinkles.  It’s wet, cooler, and quite lovely to work outside.  No bugs.  And, no sun.  Woo-Hoo!

Unfortunately, you can’t use anything electric.  Nothing plugged in, no battery packs.  You also can’t work with anything that has to stay dry because you’re not going to be.  Also off the table is anything requiring a big clean up, you might have to run inside unexpectedly.  There Are those 1 or 2 heavy bands.  LOL!

Saturday was a Storm Day, without the storm.  It was over on the other side of the Gulf, not sucking up all the moisture.  Most storms do, leaving the surrounding areas dry.  Not this one and not us.  We had a Storm Day.  And, despite having planned to cut the Schefflera off the front fence with the JawSaw, we were not unhappy.  It was nice.  Luckily, Butterfly #2 was released earlier in the week.  We would have felt bad delaying Her release.  She was ready.  Hopefully, she found a safe place to shelter during the rains.

Butterfly House

Indeed, Butterfly #2 was a Lady, and I’ve had that song stuck in my head since we found out.  LOL!  She’s a Lady.  Eastern Black Swallowtail males have a distinct row of yellow dots across the top side of their wings with faint blue.  The females are reversed with the blue being more distinct and the yellow dot row washing out.  Where Butterfly #1 was clearly male, Butterfly #2 was distinctly female, and much easier emotionally.  Woo-Hoo!  LOL!  We’re a little smarter, too.

We left our 1st Lady in the Butterfly House for a whole day and part of the next morning.  Butterflies like it warm, really warm, around 80.  They also shouldn’t fly in the rain, especially a 1st flight.  Since we had passing showers early, she didn’t go out until around 11 AM.  And, she was so ready.  We only got a few pics before I switched to video because she was trying out her wings.

Easy Release

Our Little Lady only hesitated a moment before walking out on the Cosmos flower we offered.  And, yes, I’m a little touched they consider me as safe, home base, and are hesitant to leave.  I’ll take it, there was lots of food and poop involved.  LOL!  In reality, she hadn’t been very excited about her flower bouquet in the Butterfly House, and we’re not sure she realized what they were for.  Still.  Walking around a few moments, she found out, and her wings started to work.

It was a fun moment, full of excitement, like watching a foul or baby rhino trying to stand for the 1st time.  If you haven’t witnessed any of these, I highly recommend, all of them.  In person if at all possible, but video is nice too.  Even if you skip the actual birth, standing is so much fun.  1st flight, exactly the same.  You could see the excitement in Butterfly #2, feeding, learning to use her wings.  Then, she flew straight up, and I thought she was gone.  That we’d missed the whole thing.  But, she dropped straight back down on a different flower.  It took a second, a wild 1st flight to be sure while she learned about altitude.  LOL!

After filling up on pollen, she flew up and around, circling.  One more drink, and she was off fluttering a giant circle once more and heading off toward the tree tops and the Rangoon Creeper, in crazy bloom.  We caught her once more dancing with another Orange Butterfly up high, and she was gone.

Later in the week an Eastern Black Swallowtail fluttered through the yard, only for a moment.  We like to think it was one of ours.  There are still at least 2 visible cocoons in the Butterfly House, and an unknown number hidden.  While it was clear which cocoon Butterfly #1 came from, Butterfly #2’s cocoon location is still a mystery.  For now, we’re just waiting. You can find the past updates here: Past Garden Dirt .

Around Our Garden

While we did not get to cut the Schefflera off the front fence on our Storm Day as planned, we did get it cleared off the next morning.  It still needs to be trimmed back from the house.  Unfortunately, the storms rolled in early that day too, and there’s stuff left undone.  Dang.  We only got a portion of the ones we did get cut, planted.  The rest are out in a bucket with a little bit of water waiting to be dropped in the ground.  So more cutting and planting is in our future.

While young Schefflera branches, removed at a section with care, will easily root a new plant, old growth is trickier.  It either roots or it doesn’t.  The sooner it’s planted the better, and we’re still a day out on the ones already cut.  Dang.  It’s all part of the perimeter landscaping we’re installing this summer.  The more old growth we can get to root, the less time it will take for it to grow big and strong.  Faster is preferable. Check out: How to Grow Schefflera Outside.

More Planting

Also planted, because we shifted gears quickly on our Storm Day, Giant Elephant Ear Philodendron, around 15 or so.  Our large plants on the new berm and dry detention have been popping out babies for about a year.  20 went into My Brother’s yard last year.  All the larger ones this year, we pulled, and there are still a bunch of smaller babies.  They are perfect for a perimeter berm, getting large quickly, and providing lots of screening, if you have the area for them.  They are large.

Also on our Storm Day, graphs.  We attached Pomegranate, Lemon, and Peach branches to Our Bitter Orange tree, and new Peach branches lower on the trunk of the Peach tree.  All the lower ones died, and we want them back.  We should know in about 6 to 8 weeks whether they took.  Still alive at this point.  Woo-Hoo!  Also this week, more trimming of the sick Dragon Fruit Cactus sections, making new pots of Basil to grow inside, and cleaning up the fountain, again.  The algae has been particularly bad this year.  Dang.  Spending time with the Water Lilies, oh darn.  LOL. 

Flowers

We’re Featuring the Dragon Fruit Cactus Flower this week.  Woo-Hoo!  Despite cutting back what was probably close to a ton over the last year, due to sickness and support collapse, we got a round of flowers last week.  We expected none, a recovery year.  And, there they were.  Woo-Hoo!  Few flowers rival the Dragon Fruit Cactus, as big as my head.  You can literally face-plant into one like a Bee.  That big.  Only blooming at night, the petals are best described as angel wing feathers that kind of glow in the moonlight.  Pointed, gossamer thin, in translucent iridescent white, they shimmer and sparkle for the brief moment they survive the sunlight.  The center is packed with long tendrils of stamen, each filled with yellow pollen that showers down at a touch.  But it’s the large tentacle covered stigma, looking like an alien or sea anemone, that makes it truly unique.  So amazing. Try your own: How to Grow Dragon Fruit.

The Wildflowers are still popping flowers all over Our Garden.  Humm.  It could be all the seeds we dropped.  LOL!  If you want an ongoing supply, you have to keep planting them, or let some seeds drop.  Wildflowers grow, flower, and die.  You want some in every stage, all the time, to get the continuing blooms.  We also got a new spike of the Purple Dendrombium Orchids.  Woo-Hoo!  And, there were the Golden Buttercups and Daylilies in the sunshine.  So pretty.  Enjoy!

Check out What’s Bloomn’ slideshow for more flowers or visit Garden Dirt Diary to catch up on what’s been going on around Our Garden.