Evel Knieval died today. He was quite the guy. During my childhood in Fort Lauderdale, Evel lived in one of the beautiful mansions on the Intracoastal waterway. I had the thrill to meet him when I was about 16 or so. By this time my nursery was all ready 6 years old and there was a Hugh plant sale at the landmark War Memorial auditorium, where Chrissy Everett played tennis there on the public courts. I had a special invitation to sell my plants at a booth and was given the number one location right there in the front of the park, which was adjacent to the large circle drive that was in front of the grand entrance. I set up a bunch of tables and brought 3 truckloads of the plants that I had grown, all tagged with name and price and my beloved mother made bright orange table cloths that even covered the backside of the table as I wanted to store the plastic trays that I transported the plants in and didn't want them to be seen. The show was a 3 day plant sale and each day I was the first to get there and the last to leave as I enjoyed helping all the people and liked answering all of their questions about plants. A few people would ask about the fact that I was so young and many thought that my parents were making me get up early to sell these beautiful plants.

Well, we were the team, but they never held me back from what I wanted to do and always encouraged me.

Early on Saturday I was there arranging the plants, and suddenly I looked up and saw the most beautiful convertible jaguar drive and park right in front of my booth. Out stepped the man who I would watch on TV and instantly I knew it was my hero Evel Knieval. I raced over to him and not a sole was around and we began to talk about his beautiful car, he explained about the Mahogany trim and pointed out the custom features and opened the door and insisted that I sit in it and take a look. He was so cool and so kind to me and really took the time to ask about my life and he was quite impressed with my story of how I started with the nursery and really couldn't get over the fact that such a young man had his own business. What was so great about Evel was that he spoke to me like an adult and was very interested to know that in a time when so many young people were into drugs how was it that I was so focused on creating beauty in the world. I really didn't know how to answer his question so I just said,"Mr. Knieval, I can't explain why and all I know is that I somehow know , I mean really know , what I am here to do, and this it for me" He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye and said , Son you explained it very well I feel the same way about what I do" He then continued to be interested in my plants and was blown away that I knew all of the names of the plants. He was a true gentleman and to this day believe that it was one of my best days on earth as it was so exciting to a 16 year old. I proceeded to give him a tour of sorts of the show and as people recognized him, the crowds began to encircle him and the excitement grew. He was just as nice to all of the other kids and even introduced me as his good friend "Vince". He talked to all of the kids about the dangers of drugs and I could see that this was truly a mission of his. After an hour or so we got through the whole show and he said goodbye and said that I was even more powerful than him to spread the anti drug message as I was the age where kids would listen to me. He told me that he knew that God has really blessed me and that he knows that He will continue to do so and with an ending firm handshake perhaps like a awarded General would do he said ,"God Bless, son". I watched my hero drive away and knew that I had just been in the presence of greatness because Evel took the time with a stranger to be real, to be sincere and to simply make a 16 year old boy very happy.

Last Sunday we had a dinner party for 8 friends and we had a great time. It was a perfect weather day, the garden looked great and the dogs were all well behaved! What else could a guy ask for. I mean it the yard has never looked better and I have really been working hard. Last Saturday I did a lot of pressure cleaning and man oh man that machine really gives you a workout. We were so lucky as our friend Elainea brought me her famous rice pudding which is all I would need on a deserted island. I had the first bowl tonight with fresh Mango, and had 3 Carambola which I ceremoniously share with my son, we are really into the dwarf varieties as they are so sweet and juicier.

Today I did landscape estimates in Clermont and Windemere, I stopped at Subway for their Chicken Terriaki with vinegar and veggies only as I am trying to lose weight but its hard when all of our friends are gourmet cooks, we don't want to offend them you know. There is a little simple Thai restaurant near my home that is great and one of my listeners said his wife cooks my favorite soup called Tom yum goom or something like that. It has shrimp and lemon grass and ginger I think and I have suggested to the Wonder wife that I just bet she could make it. She didn't seem real excited about said new project but I will try to find a recipe on the internet as I tend to be persistent. If all else fails I think I can persuade my daughter to create it for me and yes I will help too if I have to, it's just that I would rather be outside every waking moment! So I will say bye for now as I need time to research that soup receipe.

Around the sunken garden are 40 Washintonia Palms that are about 30 to 40 feet tall. This palm keeps it's old fronds, which hang vertical hugging the trunk. Last year I did not trim them but we just had it done the other day and boy it sure looks good. These palms are between 15 and 20 feet apart and it seems impossible but the old dead fronds actually provided a lot of shade to the tropical exotics below. Now we have lots of sun but luckily the majority of the plants will adjust. It is so shocking that it can look so different and I prefer this clean, crisp look much better. If you could imagine each palm had about 150 dead fronds on them so we had massive piles around the garden that took an entire day to remove by trailer. The amazing thing is that there is almost no damage to the understory plants! We do have some tire tracts and I do have a rose that got flattened and some dwarf Mexican Petunias that could be picked up with a flat shovel but that is a small price to pay to have the canopy so beautiful now. The Red Cloaks are still in full bloom and I do have a photo of them on the plant ID page of the web site. I do want to add some annuals but I have not had the time as yet as so many folks want their jobs before Thanksgiving and Christmas. But that's ok it still looks really good and you would not believe the Tangerines and Carambola that I am harvesting, they are so beautiful and I now know why all artist want to paint a bowl of fruit. I am using Turf-Pro on the fruits and roses and they are popping with new growth, man I love that stuff. I also have been putting it on my palm trees so that they will not yellow this winter when the temperatures drop. It's all so natural and to all those other radio experts across the country who still think they have to use harsh chemicals to grow pretty plants I say just look at the pictures of my yard which depends on all organic Turf-Pro. I should get some crayons with an orange poster and put in front of the house in this country setting," Yard of the Year". Just kidding. Anyhow, I can't wait for Thanksgiving day as I intend to open a bottle of wine that we purchased in Switzerland and sit part of the time and enjoy the yard from different angles which is great when you live on 5 acres. Too many folks, I think, only see their yard as nothing but work but I see mine as the best psychiatrist on God's green planet. I'm serious plants have a designer built in energy that feeds us and I am very grateful that I discovered them as a child.

As I write this I hear in the background TV that Lindsay Lohan has served her jail time of 84 minutes, not 84 hours but 84 minutes! Oh, the benefits of being a talented star. It concluded that while incarcerated she did not receive any special treatment.

By the way the news was full of reports that curry and tumeric have incredible health benefits and I think this is true as these wonderful natural things that we have had available to us for thousands of years are truly amazing and I think as more research occurs we will continue to discover more benefits with other herbs and natural medicines. Of course I do know that they are not the cure-all for everything but in fact I do take a garlic pill everyday and I figure it hasn't hurt me so far.

I had a great day today, as we did a beautiful landscape in College Park and then did a large delivery in Minniola, both were absolutely stunning as the result was quite transforming and the second one was in a private country setting with loads of oak trees and the man is going to do all the planting himself so I reviewed proper planting instructions and told him to use some type of knee pads as after 40 it becomes quite hard to walk erect after standing up. We will deliver the second phase for him after the new year so at least he is ready for Thanksgiving.

The nursery looks amazing now and the stock has never looked better, I have a job next week where I am using many Bamboo so I am looking forward to doing that, I hope the weather holds up and I am definitely ready for rain but his time of year it gets cold after a rain so maybe I better rethink my wish!

I will write more when I can and I am very grateful for that kind e mail the other day from anonymous and it was so sincere and really made my day. God Bless.

Saturday was such a beautiful day for the yard, my son worked with me and we got so much done. I did some light thinning on the Carambola and Lychee trees, some weed pulling and picked up lots of Spanish moss. Tomorrow we have a few friends over for roast beef, which my wife is marinating over night and will have mashed potatoes and veggies. My romantic and sometimes fast paced Latin music will be on in the background.

I cut some Variegated ginger today that was overlapping the sidewalk and it was too pretty to throw away so the prettiest ones went into a blue vase on the kitchen table.

Geraldo is starting now on Fox news so have to go , talk to you soon.

Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony put on one heck of a concert last Sunday night at the arena in Orlando! We had amazing seats only 7 rows back from the front of the stage, and unlike other shows , the sound system was perfect. I collect some Spanish artist music but I am particular and tend to be quite selective. I previously did not have any of their music but that will soon change. The stage was in the shape of a "T" and the show opened up with a comedian , then the lights dimmed and Mark Anthony emerges out of the bottom of the stage and his act was high energy and so well done. Dancer's were a big part of the show and they were equally amazing. In fact it was the best choreography that I have ever seen, seemingly not one step out of place. When Jennifer came out the charisma continued and she was pregnant and her outfits were designed to support and were very beautiful, the first one was in the form of a butterfly. Her dance moves were fast, high energy and she was truly the master performer; the whole family enjoyed every minute of it. This was their second to last show before the babies arrival and she said it was actually the first tour that she has ever done. Towards the end of the show they came out together and they really have a great energy together as well. They are quite the classy couple and they certainly have a fan here.

I became imprinted with the Spanish culture when I was a teenager spending my summers in Costa Rica. So it turns out that I love the romantic as well as the high energy Spanish music, the architecture, and the whole culture, even the food. I can't leave out the tropical plants as they are a big part of the Spanish look and the style of my home is Spanish as well as the garden so you see it has had a real big impact. My all time favorite singer is Migual Bose and I put him into the Elvis category, I probably play more of his music than anyone else. I also like Pilar Montenegro as she is pop and fast beats, also there is a band called Van Gogh which is amazing. I have a lot of other music as well but the Latin songs relax me and really make me happy. The other thing that I appreciate about the Latin culture is that it is not afraid to use color and it is this passion that I relate too. The other singer that I love are Dolly Partin and Johnny Cash. Dolly writes many of her songs and the words are so beautiful and I have been a life long fan. Johnny's voice was just so unique that there is not anything out there even closely similar, his last album before he died had a spiritual quality and America lost a great man when we lost him. I'll never forget that when we went to Paris a large music store in the busiest part of the city had a big display promotion which was a credit to his genius. Oh, and how about Roy Orbison, now he knew how to do a song. Recently, while at a dinner party of our dear friends, Suzanna and John somehow we got on the subject of Roy and John Lent me a CD of Roy's and I truly enjoyed it, how odd that we have been good friends for years and never knew we liked the same artist. As you can tell I could go on about music forever so I will just stop and save some other stuff for another night.

Tonight we took my mother-in-law to Stonewood restaurant in Heathrow. We had not been there in quite awhile as we live on the very far side of it in another county. The food was exceptional as usual, they have a salad with a sesame ginger dressing that is out of this world. The whole family craves their salad every so often and that's ok with me. Afterwards, at home we had ice cream cake, so it's been a real good evening!

The poodles and the Yorkie all got groomed today and yes they are quite the show-offs now. The mobile groomer comes to the house so it works out great.

I had a little time late afternoon to cut some grass, but the rest I have to finish tomorrow. There is still some light trimming to do on the topiaries and edging to do so it's a busy day tomorrow.
I talked to my cousins today and invited them all up for Thanksgiving, but they're all going to Tennessee to their place up there. I like staying home for the holidays, why would I want to fight all the traffic? Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays next to Christmas as we usually have at least part of the family here, which means lots of kids and laughing.

We are still having lots of raccoons visit at night and the dogs go wild so it's quite the drama around here with the wildlife, but at least we don't have the otters eating the koi as we don't seem to have otters in this area of the lake. One of the customers I have had otter wipe out his entire pond, even though he had a net on it!

Looking forward to this weekend as the temperature is supposed to be in the seventies.