Off Topic post with some pics I took of the Verrazano - Narrows Bridge

This past weekend I went to Fort Wadsworth on the North Shore of Staten Island to visit the fort (now National Park) and get some nice shots of the Verrazano. Here's some pictures from my day trip…

Some shots of the bridge...

There were over a dozen goats on the hillside eating keeping the vegetation under control.

The view of the city and NY harbor was pretty nice from the fort.

Here are a few shots of Fort Wadsworth itself.

Worth a trip if you are in the area! Thanks for looking!

A real treasure right behind my house.

I am lucky that although I do live in New York City, there is a forest walking distance from my house. As a nature lover, driving by big trees every day is very nice especially when you are surrounded by so much development. Well today I took some pics during a walk into the forest and i was very surprised to see some blooming swamp hibiscus. Actually not some, a LOT of them. They lined the entire bank of the pond. It really was a sight to see, pics don't even do it justice, but it is better than nothing!

Thanks for looking! 

Some Kopper King Hibiscus blooms!

Well the blooms are starting to wane now,  but just a few days ago, my Kopper king Hibiscus was blooming at it's peak and it's a sight to see when it's blooming at it's finest! I counted 12 blooms on it in one day!
Here's some pics!

And yup, here are some pics back in the forest! 

Pool plants

The plants by the pool area have been doing really well this summer. The lack of extreme heat has definitely kept them from drying out too quickly and the soil in the area is much more established this year than it was last year (we redid the fence because Hurricane Sandy destroyed the last one and the concrete really destroyed the soil). Here's some pics!

The lantana is doing great under my Adondila palm. The butterflies are always around it

My big plumeria remains huge! 

Thanks for looking!

Hibiscus blooms around the yard today!

Here's a pic of some of the beautiful hibiscus blooms in my backyard today. I really can't imagine it feeling like summer without walking outside and seeing some Hibiscus flowers. Both the hardy and tropical cultivators are awesome plants to have around!

Cucuzzi squash, beautiful and tasty!

Cucuzza is a type of squash (actually a gourd and not a squash at all) that is really popular in southern Italy. It's usually pretty hard to find live Cucuzza plants in most parts of the US, but one of my local nurseries had them for sale (along with a lot of other italian favorites like figs and citrus trees). Although all of my ancestors date back to Italy only a 100 years ago, I still had never heard of this plant before this year. All I knew is that everyone was buying them when I visited the nursery so that was good enough of a reason for me to try one. I planted it in a little corner in my yard that gets afternoon sun and it TOOK OFF! Now it has grown at least 25 feet in almost every direction and the fruits on this plant are also gigantic! I recently picked my first fruit. There is a second huge fruit I am going to keep on the plant so I have seeds for next season (and I want to see how big this fruit can really grow). Interestingly the new fruit on the vine is not growing as quickly as the first 2 fruits have, but I'm hoping for some more fruit soon because we cooked it this week for dinner and it was really tasty! Raw Cucuzza has a similar taste to the outside of a cucumber. Cooked Cucuzza has a really subtle almost nut flavor to it, but it is very plain tasting while still really delicious and perfect with some onions and shrimp!
Apparently by far the bulk Cucuzza growing in the US comes from a single farm in Louisiana. The Cucuzza for sale at the stores is pretty expensive and this is such a cool plant to grow so I recommend if you like Cucuzza and you have a place for it to run overhead, definitely give it a try!