The Unfamiliar Becomes Familiar

The mystery of the odd-looking blooms from a plant at the Manatee Park has been solved!  Today I visited the Butterfly Estates in Fort Myers downtown.  I showed the tour guide in the butterfly conservatory and she was very familiar with the plant.

It is Giant Milkweed, a tropical version of our New England Milkweed plant.

It is not native to Florida but the Monarchs love it.

And the Monarchs stay in Florida year-round.

The leaves look familiar, but those blooms are truly unfamiliar.

It is now identified for me after much searching online.

It is hardy in Florida and can grow to tree-size.

Lesson learned: Just ask an expert.