Well the weather is going to drop into the low 30s this weekend so I may be saying goodbye to a lot of our tropicals. It's going Down to 32f. If it stays for six or more hours at that temperature I can kiss the majority of our tropical plants goodbye. We haven't had it this cold since 2009. 🌴

Bromeliads in the garden today. 🌴

Hi Tropical Plant fans... I've been absent for a while. Here's our Florida Champion Cuipo Tree (Cavanillesia platanifolia) just starting to bud out. 🌴 🌱

I finished dehydrating another batch of peppers last night and turned the kitchen into a toxic cloud of pepper dust grinding them up into powder. I was coughing and sneezing for hours... 🌶️ 🌱 #hotpeppers #superhotpeppers

Triplaris americana is blooming now in the arboretum 🌴 🌱

Orchids in one of the garden holiday displays 🌴 🌱 Some after-closing light photos added as well..

This Enterlobium cyclocarpum- Ear tree is a Florida State Champion. It looks amazing lit up for the Holidays. 🌴 🌱 #plantsky #treesky

Today's mini pepper harvest 🌶️ 🌱

Heliconias are some of the plants blooming right now in the garden. 🌴 🌱 #tropicalgardens #plantsky

Bilbergia amoena flowers 🌴 🌱

I finally finished dehydrating these peppers today. I started last Saturday. Some of the thick walled baccatum crosses took forever to dry. The dark ones I smoked with apple wood before dehydrating. Next they go into the grinder tomorrow. 🌶️ 🌱

I attended an online lecture on UF plant breeding of Coleus yesterday and it got me thinking about pepper breeding and how weak and inbred most old heirloom peppers can be. They really could use a shot in the arm of new genetic material from outbreeding to become more vigorous E.g. the Datil. 🌶️ 🌱

Birthday Lunch view. 59 today. Boo.

Matt Rife's Netflix Christmas special has me dying. The man is an absolute crowd work genius.

Thank you Bullis Bromeliads bullisbrom.com for your amazingly generous donation to the garden. 🌴 🌱 #Plantsky #bromeliads

flamingogardens.org/donate-flami... On Giving Tuesday consider giving to your local, or not so local, botanical garden. 🌴 🌱

Eliott's aster - Symphyotrichum elliottii - blooming in the garden 🌴 🌱

These chinense x baccatum peppers are big, thick-walled, sweet, and crunchy with moderate heat and no floral taste. The look just like red habs on the outside. 🌶️ 🌱

AI is a conundrum. It's bad in many ways but also allows non-technical people to vibe code apps. I made this with Replit in about 15 minutes. It's only semi functional, but could be completed quickly for a low cost expenditure. cadscape-planter--thegreenmanus.replit.app

Just days after Democrats posted a video advising troops they should not follow illegal orders The @washingtonpost.com reported that Pete Hegseth ordered troops to kill everyone aboard a boat in the Caribbean Which numerous experts opined was an illegal order Psychopaths bsky.app/profile/slot...

You know, apropos of nothing in particular, and although I haven't researched it yet, I strongly suspect that a president starting a foreign war to distract from his extensive ties with child sex traffickers is probably a high crime or misdemeanor under the Constitution's impeachment clauses.

The great and mighty Worf has assumed his rightful place of honor on my Christmas tree again this year.

It looks like the US is invading/bombing Venezuela this weekend. Nobody wants this. We want the Epstein files.

I got to play with this adorable baby today.

Vote them ALL OUT in 2026 !

My Clerodendrum wallichii is blooming again. 🌴

Today's harvest Plants are loving the weather, even though I'd like it to be a little cooler. 🌶️ 🌱 I'm still watering every day because there hasn't been any rain in a month or more.

www.wired.com/story/growin... This is old but It's still relevant.

Exciting, my first F5 Aji Sunrise (Brazilian starfish x Aji Pineapple) has ripened, the color is the same yellow as expected, but the shape is different from the F4, which was football shaped. 🌶️ 🌱 #pepperhybrids #hotpeppers #sunrisepepperlab

Tonight's pepper harvest 🌶️ 🌱 🔥 💣 They've slowed down after the colder temps but still ripening and developing nicely.

I'm not the jingoistic sort, but there is something touching about this young special needs man named Matt, (Matt's Flags) who spends his time sewing American flags and gifting them to non-profits. He and his mom drove over an hour to bring and hang this flag for our garden.

Holiday Colors 🌶️ 🌱

I'm team wood chipper

I agree with Patton Oswalt. Wood chipper, feet first.

Here is a woodchipper

me waking up to see that Bluesky suspended Patton Oswalt @patton.oswalt.bsky.social for saying that it’s evil to sexually assault children:

patton oswalt has been suspended from bluesky for saying that megyn kelly should be fed to a woodchipper for justifying the sexual abuse of minors

In a world of Megyn Kelly's be a Patton Oswalt.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME BLUESKY

Woodchipper solidarity

Another cool pepper cross. 🌶️ 🌱

Today's pepper haul. 🌶️ 🌱 #hotpeppers #superhotpeppers

Bixa orellana - Annatto 🌴

Processed some peppers and put into the freezer today for future use also pulled some more. The yellows here are noid. I guess they could be another pheno expression from my Bhut x bird cross but it's possible they were Fatalii or another mixup. The reds are primotalii. 🌶️ 🌱

I have some new pepper fruit setting. The F5 of my Chiero do Norte x Golden Camo pepper cross is coming on. These should ripen to either an yellow, orange or peach color, possibly with a purple or mottled phase from the Golden Camo parentage. 🌶️ 🌱 #peppercrosses #hotpeppers