In the garden

Gardening

In My Garden

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Last week there was strange weather all over the country.  We had freeze warnings for Wednesday and Thursday.  Rain and wind pounded us on Saturday.  Heat and humidity came back on Sunday.  We went from 37 degrees on Wednesday morning to 80 degrees on Sunday afternoon.  

CRAZY CAKES!

So Sunday afternoon I was out on my screened room and saw a butterfly.  What??? Which made me think, I probably out to check out the yard after this strange weather and maybe take some pics.

Here’s that butterfly….

Butterfly

butterfly

He’s a little worn.  Pollen on his shoulder, part of his wing chewed off.  The weather hasn’t been kind to him.  But he just happened to flutter into a yard of butterfly flowers.  And life is good for him for a few moments.

Butterfly plants

 JatrophahamilliaMilkweedMilkweed

And I went on to check out the rest of the gardens.  Two of the hibiscus got hit with frost yet the azaleas are starting to bloom.  The plants are so confused!

azalea

 The trellis of mandevilla and roses has never looked better!

trellis of roses and mandevilla

roses and mandevilla

And these poinsettas.  I planted them last year just to have some Christmas color.  They were wee.  I never expected them to live.  Finally I put them in pots because I didn’t need Christmas color in September.  They shriveled up and looked pathetic but I put them in the sun and here they are now, ready for another Christmas season.

Poinsettas

Only in Florida!

 

In My Garden

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Rain is predicted for the next couple of days so I spent some time in my gardens while the sun was still shining and the weather was in the 80s. 

Shooting Star Hydrangea
Shooting Star Hydrangea
Penta
Penta
Beauty Berry
Beauty Berry
Milkweed
Millkweed
Mandevilla
Mandevilla
Lantana
Lantana
Cosmos
Cosmos
Hamelia
Hamelia
Chinese Pagoda
Chinese Pagoda
Jatropha
Jatropha

 

In My Gardens

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African Iris
African Iris after the rain.

I’ve been trying to get my gardens back into some type of order since we got back.  So much rain! 

The garden bed right by the front door was covered with powdery mildew and fungus.  I had to cut everything down to the ground.  I’ve never had anything like that happen and these were mature plants that have been there for years.

Fungus
These plants were huge but I had to cut them all back.  You can even see the black fungus on the sidewalk Yeck!

And it’s just not local, here’s the overlook deck on Lake Kanapaha that we visited on Saturday.  Underwater!  We were really fortunate to get that trip in before the afternoon rains hit.

Lake Kanapaha

Thanks to my trip to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, I think that I’ve identified this mystery fern on my seawall.  There are four of them and they just showed up one season.  I think they look very cool on the rocks.

Bird's Nest Fern
This looks just like the Birds’s Nest Fern at the Gardens.

I especially like the shape the new growth takes.

birds nest fern

 I also identified a bromeliad that was in my yard when we moved here many years ago.  The one on the left is a Fingernail Bromeliad named for the red color on the tips of the leaves.  Michelle gave me the bromeliads on the right. I don’t know what they are but Michelle probably does. They started out as just a few plants but they spread like crazy.  I’ve planted them around several trees.  Love it when they are blooming.

BromeliadsOne more photo of a bloom after the rain…

Plumeria

More rain forecasted for the rest of the week!