My sister has been living in the same house in Miami since about 1972. The place has changed so much since they moved there that you would never recognize the original house if you saw it again....the major part of the remodeling was due to Hurricane Andrew and others, and some also to the fact that my BIL loves to knock walls down or build some up where there were none to begin with ;-)
The part of the property that has suffered continually is the yard, which is fairly large for Miami. Every hurricane that even blows nearby seems to change the landscape a bit each time.
They are getting ready to do another round of re-landscaping after this year's hurricane season is over with....;-)
So much of what they have growing in their yard in Miami is similar or the same as to what I have growing in my yard in Hawaii!
Purple bouganvilea
The heavy winds of April 16-17 knocked a tree down, which fell over the fountain. A lone waterlily peeks through.
Double ruffled red hibiscus
They first became acquainted with the 'yellow elder' (not alder) in St. Croix when they spent a vacation there. They said the yellow blooms were found everywhere. On their return to Miami, they found a nursery that sold it, so they bought a couple as a reminder of their trip.
This salmon pink datura (from the deadly nightshade family) was in the backyard of my friend's house - one of the 3 guys from Miami fame - when he and his wife had a Cuban Style Pig Roast in my honor. I will be sharing more about that event soon.
"Guanabana" - the soursop fruit. Still fairly young and won't be ready until later this summer. You can find out more about this fruit here . My sister and BIL also have mangoes, avocados, annona (in the same family as the soursop, but completely different fruit in taste), bananas and plantains in their yard.
Photos taken with an Olympus E-500 digital using the regular lens
Check my food and other Gather articles here and with my food and garden blog, Sonia Tastes Hawaii here
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Comments: 26
I'm glad so many have enjoyed traveling with me!
Dalal, spring was not too pleasant even doen in the Carolinas. High winds and extremely low temps killed a lot of the flowers right after they started blooming.
I'm just glad I was there in time to capture some of them while still beautiful!
Your photos are so vivid and crisp.
Thank youso much for sharing.
Again another 10
Thank you!
Sonia, have you posted any fried plantain recipes? I had some in a little cuban restaurant here in NC and they served them with the most delightful little dipping sauce, I would love to know how to make! :(
I can grow the Bougainvilleas, Hibiscus and Daturas here in Illinois but I must bring them in to winter in the sunroom. I love their prolific ways, bearing such lovely blooms!
We call the soursop fruit, GUYABANO. It's smaller cousin we called ANONAS. Both are luscious fruits... the anonas slightly edging the guyabano in the sweetness taste test.
BTW, the dipping sauce you tasted with them in that restaurant is probably just a variation of the mojo sauce for the pig roast, maybe less garlicky and with some olive oil added....
Pearl, when I was in Manila (umpteen years ago) I was amazed at how much that area of Makati and surrounding little cities reminded me of Cuba, due to the flora....sorry you have to bring your tropical plants in, but at least you can enjoy growing them in Illinois!
We Cubans call the soursop GUANABANA and we too have the anonas, but we call them ANON or ANONES for plural....also another fruit in the same family is the CHERIMOYA, which is my favorite of the three!
Can you tell I don't visit the mainland too often? ;-)
Lookit here! our tags are now inside the comment bubbles!!!