Garden Pic Wednesday: Trees & Birds
Among the common trees of Florida is the Sweet Bay Magnolia. It's a cousin of the well-known Southern Magnolia, but has smaller leaves & smaller flowers. It's semi-evergreen, meaning it does lose many leaves in autumn, but not all it's leaves. It has smooth gray bark and gets to be about 35 feet tall. Besides size differences, Magnolia leaves have a red underside; Sweet Bay is silvery light green underneath. It's in bloom now and produces 2-inch red berry cluster that birds and other wild-life enjoy. I happen have one on the edge of my yard. We planted it there 25 years ago. It was a volunteer we found growing in my garden, so we moved it. It has some a low-hanging branch that's low enough for me to stand by it and get a shot of it's pretty white flower. They bloom at dusk, something I didn't realize till this year. And, like all the Magnolia family, they smell divine: a rich fragrance with a lemony touch. So today's first Garden Pic is my...