Brendan Cook
@brendancook.bsky.social
I grow passion flowers, sugarcane, and cassava in Tampa Bay.
Passiflora cincinnata blooming in Temple Terrace Florida.
November 7, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Passiflora cincinnata blooming in Temple Terrace Florida.
Passiflora pallida blooming wild outside my patio door. I wonder what pollinates these tiny flowers?
September 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Passiflora pallida blooming wild outside my patio door. I wonder what pollinates these tiny flowers?
Secession "drew the curtains" on the Confederacy; the real wonder is that it wasn't over in a year. All this focus on the generals, on either side, just distracts from how fundamentally outclassed the South was in terms of the kind of industry needed to fight a modern war.
April 9, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Secession "drew the curtains" on the Confederacy; the real wonder is that it wasn't over in a year. All this focus on the generals, on either side, just distracts from how fundamentally outclassed the South was in terms of the kind of industry needed to fight a modern war.
Well, Grant and Sherman were on the right side, for sure. But it's easy to seem brilliant when you have the kind of advantage they did. Don't get me wrong, the South deserved to lose, but it was their agrarian slave-based economy, and not some clever Union general, that made defeat inevitable.
April 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Well, Grant and Sherman were on the right side, for sure. But it's easy to seem brilliant when you have the kind of advantage they did. Don't get me wrong, the South deserved to lose, but it was their agrarian slave-based economy, and not some clever Union general, that made defeat inevitable.
Christopher Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada.
November 27, 2024 at 2:37 PM
Christopher Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada.
From central Florida to Canada's boreal forest in just one day!
November 23, 2024 at 5:05 PM
From central Florida to Canada's boreal forest in just one day!
Signs of life! After Hurricane Milton hit central Florida, I had to cut my massive Passiflora cincinnata vine down to the root. But it's a tough plant and it's sprouting back again.
November 21, 2024 at 1:16 PM
Signs of life! After Hurricane Milton hit central Florida, I had to cut my massive Passiflora cincinnata vine down to the root. But it's a tough plant and it's sprouting back again.
Hurricane Milton has devastated my own flowers here in central Florida, but this vine I gave to a friend is alive and well!
November 18, 2024 at 1:16 PM
Hurricane Milton has devastated my own flowers here in central Florida, but this vine I gave to a friend is alive and well!
The rich, rust-red color of a home-brewed sugarcane beer!
November 12, 2024 at 12:48 AM
The rich, rust-red color of a home-brewed sugarcane beer!
Passiflora 'Linwood' (P. maliformis x platyloba). The photo was taken before Hurricane Milton devastated the garden, but I hope it can flower again next season!
November 12, 2024 at 12:46 AM
Passiflora 'Linwood' (P. maliformis x platyloba). The photo was taken before Hurricane Milton devastated the garden, but I hope it can flower again next season!
This is honestly what comes to mind when I read some of my students' more creative attempts to recall what they learned in my lectures. I think I may have to start saying "you have no frame of reference" in my comments.
August 1, 2024 at 3:24 PM
This is honestly what comes to mind when I read some of my students' more creative attempts to recall what they learned in my lectures. I think I may have to start saying "you have no frame of reference" in my comments.
A student made this drawing of me teaching. The subject of the class is right there in the picture!
July 29, 2024 at 4:54 PM
A student made this drawing of me teaching. The subject of the class is right there in the picture!
Carpenter bees here in Florida know exactly what to do with the flowers of Passiflora cincinnata, which is adapted to the native carpenter bees in Brazil and Venezuela.
July 28, 2024 at 10:22 AM
Carpenter bees here in Florida know exactly what to do with the flowers of Passiflora cincinnata, which is adapted to the native carpenter bees in Brazil and Venezuela.
Passiflora edulis v. flavicarpa, Temple Terrace, Florida.
April 19, 2024 at 11:55 PM
Passiflora edulis v. flavicarpa, Temple Terrace, Florida.
Passiflora maliformis, Temple Terrace, Florida.
April 19, 2024 at 2:12 PM
Passiflora maliformis, Temple Terrace, Florida.
Passiflora cincinnata going wild in Temple Terrace, Florida.
April 9, 2024 at 12:22 PM
Passiflora cincinnata going wild in Temple Terrace, Florida.
First Passiflora maliformis flower of the season. I love how it hangs down like a bell!
April 9, 2024 at 12:11 AM
First Passiflora maliformis flower of the season. I love how it hangs down like a bell!
I made my first sugarcane syrup yesterday, and it was a wild success. It has an intense taste, with a green sourness that balances out the sweetness. It's a lot like honey, but also like a light, mild molasses. It took a lot of cane juice to make, but I have practically an unlimited supply.
October 22, 2023 at 7:25 PM
I made my first sugarcane syrup yesterday, and it was a wild success. It has an intense taste, with a green sourness that balances out the sweetness. It's a lot like honey, but also like a light, mild molasses. It took a lot of cane juice to make, but I have practically an unlimited supply.
The little frogs love my pineapples.
October 11, 2023 at 11:35 PM
The little frogs love my pineapples.
Passiflora cincinnata.
September 20, 2023 at 4:22 PM
Passiflora cincinnata.
Pink sugarcane, growing in my garden!
August 20, 2023 at 7:09 PM
Pink sugarcane, growing in my garden!
Passiflora platyloba. Blooming in my backyard right now!
August 2, 2023 at 1:11 PM
Passiflora platyloba. Blooming in my backyard right now!
Passiflora decaisneana. For reference, my hand is pretty darn large.
July 21, 2023 at 1:33 AM
Passiflora decaisneana. For reference, my hand is pretty darn large.