Before and after not quite 4 years. Things certainly grow a lot here in Low Country…like year round!


About a year and half ago I took the seed pods from our front landscape fuchsia crepe myrtle and stuck them in a brown bag. The following early spring (which is the end of February in Bluffton SC) I put a few of the million seeds I had in little seed pots. Well, last year they grew and I got about Ian 80% success rate and now have about a dozen of them about 10 inches tall. Some made it back into the landscaping and a half dozen made it into this new creation of a Crepe Myrtle Bonsai Forest. During the seedling process I got a lot of moss collected in the containers and that I used in this display as grass. Next year the forest will be ready for a shaping, but it looks great today. It came out pretty good as my 5th bonsai, with today adding 2 others to my collection, all from seed or saplings.
Coffee view from porch.
I always tell my wife Brandi, “You have to have the right tool for the job”, I think I nailed for this one. P. S. the Honda is 22 years old and in top notch condition , single pull start, used once a month for our lagoon bank.
The Smallest Praying Mantis
While trimming my bonsai trees today I came across this bug that I thought was a mosquito, some say the state bird of South Carolina. After further investigation I noticed it was the smallest Praying Mantis I have ever seen! It was not even 3/8”. Watch the video and tell me what you think.