Skeletons Florida Style

CCC

 

Skeletons abound at CCC - mermaids, alligators, frogs, and scorpions! More fun than scary.... My alligators are a big hit with the neighbors. Perfect for Florida.

Ally the Alligator

Pamela Munson Le Croc

No new updates on the alligator hanging out in my yard on Saturday. He/she lives in the lake across the street from CCC. This is the beginning of alligator mating season here in South Florida and it was Saturday and he was looking for a date apparently. Not sure of the sex, but males do tend to be much more on the prowl during mating season.

A Florida Christmas

One Kings Lane

 

How's this for very chic styling of this fireplace with Florida flair? I love the pair of alligators. Many people assume that alligators are found all over the world.

Happy Halloween

CCC

Happy Halloween from Casa Chinoiserie Chic. The house and the pups are all ready. I love my alligator skeletons and mermaid skeletons - Halloween Florida style. 

A Florida Halloween

Crocodile Skeleton

 

As you know, we have alligators here in Florida. I was looking for some fun Halloween decorations with a Florida vibe. I ordered a pair of these skeleton gators for my front yard. They arrived a few days ago and they are so unique!

Styling, Orchids & Alligators

CCC Foyer

CCC Foyer

CCC Foyer

I did a little styling in my foyer yesterday. So fun!

I mentioned I am interested in growing orchids on my trees in my Venice garden. I saw this done for the first time in Jamaica while on my honeymoon cruise and tucked it away in my brain. There is an excellent piece from The American Orchid Society with all the details, but you basically unpot the orchid removing the soil and attach it to your tree using pantyhose or long strand sphagnum moss or raffia twine or black cloth (something soft in other words) and keep the roots moist while it's getting established. My palm trees and oak trees are both perfect choices.

Orchid on palm tree

As for the alligator succulent topiary - I have ordered the form and plan to stuff it myself with sphagnum moss and plant it with succulents - I am thinking either Echeveria

 or Graptoveria.

You just make openings in the sphagnum moss with a pencil or screwdriver and stick in the succulent stems without soil and secure with a hairpin, florist pin, or more moss. There are tons of You Tube videos on topiaries showing it in more detail. The succulents grow and expand quickly so you obviously don't cover it but leave several inches of space between each. I read that you can just cut off the succulent stem and insert it, saving the pot, and a new succulent will grow in the pot. This obviously is much more cost effective. OK gardener friends, is that coleus inside his mouth?

I will post photos when I work on these projects.

Another gorgeous day here of course. Everyone told me it would take me a summer to adjust to the summer heat here and I found I needed zero adjusting. I think the summer heat and humidity here is very much like the D.C. summers. And no more coats and boots in my future. Glorious!

Weekend Projects

Dombeya wallichii

I  was visiting the Edison and Ford Winter Estates a few months ago and saw the most incredible sight - nicknamed the tropical hydrangea, Dombeya wallichii is a stunning shrub/tree that smells like cupcakes. Now that I have my own garden and no crazies in it, I decided to see if I could track it down. Real hydrangeas are not happy in South Florida, and this is a wonderful alternative. I did locate it close by in St. Pete and am having it shipped.

As you might have surmised by my post on Saturday on Duranta, I tend to be a bit of a plant collector and love tracking down the exotic as well as heirloom plants.

A close up of "Tropical Hydrangea"

For any of you gardener friends, I now have the perfect location to start growing Brugmansia (Angel Trumpet), something I have wanted to do for ages. I would love a white, a pink, and an apricot/peach. Any cultivar suggestions?

For those of you who do not know this plant, here are a few pics.

I am aware of the genus' toxicity, these will be in the side yard away from the puppies.

I am enjoying gardening here beyond words. I love learning new things, and gardening here is like I moved to Mars. Or perhaps Venus since men are from Mars and women are from Venus. LOL

Most of the plants I knew and loved in NOVA do not grow here since the zones are very different. I knew little of tropicals and that's what loves it down here.

And the Master Gardener program which is connected with the University of Florida seems really first rate. It is on hiatus now with the pandemic, but I hope to get involved down the road. Interesting story - a supervisor from my lawn and shrub care was out this past week and "alerted" me to a "very serious" issue in the garden. I was polite but didn't believe a word. I called Extension and a lovely MG called me back and we had a delightful conversation and she agreed with my analysis. I sent photos and a second MG reviewed them and agreed the guy was completely wrong. Once again, Girl Power!!!!

More work planned in the garden this morning - I am getting it ready for an exciting transformation starting this week that I will share.

On another gardening topic, I mentioned my love of topiary - I came across this and think a succulent alligator would be a hoot. You are not going to believe this, but you can glue gun succulents to the moss and it does not hurt the succulent and they take root and grow. Wild! I think a large one in the garden would be fun. I have tracked down frames already.

I think this sounds fun. Anybody want to come over and glue gun succulents? (I am sure if I do this project I will use the tried and true method of making a hole in the moss and securing the plant and soil especially to get them to survive and spread long term).

Alligators in Florida

Jonathan Adler Limited Edition Needlepoint Pillow

Here in Florida, the alligator saw his shadow on Groundhog Day and we get 12 more months of sunshine! I just found this Limited Edition Jonathan Adler needlepoint pillow on eBay and bought it. Super cute. As I write this, three alligators are sunning themselves in my backyard including two babies. One of my favorite things about Florida is all the animals - in my yard I see sandhilll cranes, deer, armadillos, alligators, roseate spoonbills, mallards, egrets, and pelicans. Every evening at sunset like clockwork about 50 great egrets roost in one of our trees. Quite a sight.

I did get this guy at Z Gallerie years back and it is perfect in the Florida house.

Now available at CB2

I have been hunting for this discontinued Jonathan Adler Limited Edition Greek key brass alligator for years. A Chinoiserie alligator!

Jonathan Adler Limited Edition Greek Key Brass Alligator