Hong Kong Orchids imported from Lake Okeechobee

Thursday brought me down past the shores of Lake Okeechobee to get four Hong Kong Orchid trees. Latin name is Bauhinia, these trees are covered from January through March with large lavender blooms that resemble cattleya orchids. And although they are tropical, I've known specimens that have withstood 25 degrees and are still flourishing. They reach 30 to 40 feet here and make great shade trees with their evergreen foliage. I've always admired them, but for no good reason, have only used them once before at a home in Vero Beach. I plan on putting them in many more landscapes in the future. We'll put a couple tabebuia trees, beautiful flowering trees native to Brazil, to add more color to the hacienda in Windermere where we are currently working.


Hong Kong Orchid Tree Bloom


On the way down I took a couple pictures of the big lake. You can't see the far shore, but I did see a twelve foot alligator guarding the near shore. I wish I could have seen the lake before it was surrounded by its twelve foot dyke and filled with sludge created by phosphorous input from the surrounding sugar farms. The horizon showed three huge sugar refineries and fields as far as the eye could see east of the lake. I don't think it will look like that in twenty years. I wonder if the rows of houses I forsee will be much of an improvement. They could be if they were designed properly with appropiate parkland and green space. One can only hope that we'll continue in that direction.