8/2/2008 - One of the frequent themes on this site is my wonderment over the power of patience and faith in Mother Nature. A perfect example is the Silver Leafed Princess Flower (tibouchina grandifolia or tibouchina heteromalla) I purchased at the USF Tropical Plant Festival in early summer of 2007. Even though I covered the Tibouchina with a sheet during the frost in early January of 2008, it was severely damaged (see below), enough so that I thought I'd lost it. But with patience, by April the Princess Flower had completely recovered. What is truly wondrous is the profusion of flowers with which the Tibouchina has now graced our house. Oh me of little faith.

January 2008 (after the Frost)

April 2008 (recovering)

August 2008