This thread is for my NE friends who are starting to long for some color in the garden as the cold winter threatens. It took me awhile to get moving on planting some annuals, and I finally have some nice color from my perennials to share with you. Hope you enjoy seeing some color from my garden, and that this thread gives you all an occasional bright spot in your day!
Here is a shot of our "puppy yard" with the newly finished mini-patio in the shady area at the back of the enclosed area. We had our first lunch out there today.
This is a close-up of the small island garden that provides Bailey and Carli a place to chase each other around. It is quite colorful already with the annuals I've added. I've had to be very careful to select only non-toxic plants in this puppy yard.
Oh, Louise, how lovely to see sun, patio furniture, & flowers! You brightened up a very rainy, windy day!
How nice!
I'm so happy to hear it, Marilyn! Welcome to my garden until the day that you can come see us in person!
Hi Memory! Thanks! I'll try to get you a shot of the coffee plant tomorrow!
a different view of the island......
"Mrs. Jimmy Spangler".....she looked pretty pathetic when we got back here. I whacked her way back and she's got lots of new growth and a few blooms.
My son gave us these two purple bougainvillea plants when he was here last Thanksgiving. They are gorgeous now!
A visitor on our grill or just a fav watering can? :)
Uh Oh! Not there when I washed the pot the night before.......First thing in the morning I went to plant some beans, and ..........eek!
Tropical sage from the native plants sale.
petite pink ixora.....planted two of these this morning.
one out of 8 baskets up at this point
After we finished the new patio in the shade, the girls snubbed us and hung out in the sun on the doorway patio instead. Man!!
This guy was shopping in our neighbors' yard across the street.
Hi Louise and THANK YOU FOR COLOR!!!!
Love, love, love the bougainvillea!!!!!!
Maybe the shopping guy will find your snake.
Thanks for sharing! Great seeing some color this time of year.
Love the snakeskin!
... as long as it's over there. (lol!)
nice louise - you must really get a kick out of showing all those blooms while we get ready for snow:)
Hope the snake didn't stowaway from NH! Love that native sage....the bouganvilla is so bright....couldn't keep it alive at the Villages....too cold up there.
Oh how fun to hear from you guys! It's a funny mindset......when I'm down here, I feel far away, but in reality we are all only as far away as our computer! LOL
No sign of the snake again, Memory, so you might be right. Wouldn't you think that he would sense the girls and stay away? I recall that he did seem to do that last year, at least that's what I assumed was causing him to stay away! The cold spell that we woke up to down here will send him into hibernation, I think.
Hi Celeste! You are welcome, and I too love the bougainvillea! I am searching out a bougainvillea arborea (a tree bougainvillea that is thornless and gets up to 30 feet high. Hard to find and most nurseries have never heard of it. Thankfully, the Plant Files have good info on them, so I know I'm not nuts after all. One of my old-timey nurseries here said they can get me a 5' one for $99. Hmmmm, thinking about that. It fits all my criteria (non-poisonous, colorful the whole time we are here, creates privacy & shade,
non-messy, low water needs, etc. We'll see.
Glad you like it, Jen!
WC - I haven't touched the skin, but it seems to be disappearing rapidly. I'm going to tell myself that Guy Li'l Noir left it for me as a present and a token of affection. LOL
Actually, Bill, I am missing the snow - especially when we decorate for Christmas. Have you decorated yet? How about snow? Any yet where you are?
How about where you are, Sherrie? Snowy yet?
Hi Marilyn. It does get much colder up there, so I'm not surprised. I saw this morning that Gainesville had 27 degrees this morning. We were at 40. It was so windy though, that we skipped our morning walk. I had to get ready to go out to a native nursery and lunch with a neighbor pal. We saw lots of cool possibilities if I decide to shift gears from the Tree Bougainvillea.
Have a great day, everyone, and I'll do my best to keep you in color from time to time.
Louise
I have a high school GF in Gainesville - she is probost at U of FL there. I had NO idea that it ever got that cold in Florida! She did tell me that their AG school has a strain of blueberries that ripen in May! Should have figured out that they need chill hours - d'oh!
The weather report says flurries soon but the weather has been nice enough to work in the yard on the weekends - so far. And my daffodils are popping up! Such silly gooses! I do have some left over mulch to pour on their heads tomorrow - surprise! I really wanted to fertilize but can't do it until they are down for the winter. *tap, tap, tap, tap*
So great to see such pretty color.
Interesting, Memory! I think Florida is virtually 3 different states - the lower third is very tropical; the central third is largely rolling hills of orange groves and cattle ranches and the northernmost third is hilly, not as tropical, lots of mossy oaks and some gorgeous horse farms in the lower end of that section around Ocala and Gainesville. The weather is very different in each of these sections.
Today we took a day trip to celebrate our anniversary up to Sarasota to the Ringling Art Museum, winter mansion, fabulous rose garden and Circus Museum. Actually, we spent most of our time in the gardens and walking the grounds, and it was a really lovely day. The mansion was a bit over the top in opulence, but the huge terrace on the Gulf was lovely. We only saw one wing of the art museum and the pieces there didn't appeal to us. Next time we'll check out the main areas of the museum. We had the pups in the car, so we were somewhat limited in time. Fortunately, the temps were very cool, so it was a good day to take the girls and park them in the shade with the moon roof open. We found a really neat little oceanfront park near the Ringling complex, so we walked them there before and after our tour. Here are a few shots:
Hi Jan! Nice to have you visit us in Florida! :)
Here are some of the roses:
The sun was so bright that the shots are somewhat washed out. They cut these roses down to 2 feet high every two months and that's what keeps them full and loaded with blooms. More of them...
more....
the oceanfront mansion....
Hank walking across the terrace...
the walking park for the girls. We met a beautiful large Italian breed of dog that was so friendly with B & C. They seem to prefer large dogs for some reason.
Bye for now! Hope you are all warm and dry and enjoying decorating!
Louise
The mansion looks very middle eastern
Wonderful pics Louise. Helps on a cold morning. We have the sun shinning but it is not quite as beneficial up here as you know at this time of year. Enjoy the warm and blooms for all of us okay.
Great mansion, love the pattern on the terrace and I wish i was sitting under one of those palm tree's!
We visited the estate one year when we were staying on Anna Maria Island....it was cloudy when we decided to go, pouring when we got there! However, I was out in the rose garden under my umbrella....loved it! Was it a Neopolitan mastiff the girls liked? One of my neighbors has one...Baxter....he's a steel grey color, very friendly, but slobbery!
very nice louise - happy anniversary!
