'Egg'citing news!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted anything!  Lately, most of my time in the garden has been spent taming  the wild growth of summer.  Some roses have been removed and some Florida- friendly shrubs have taken their place.  I even downsized some of my gardens - removing a few layers and allowing more lawn to return.  Not to worry, there's still too much!  I'll get to that happy medium one day.  As for now, one of my favorite gingers is blooming...Blue Ginger (Dichorisandra thyrsiflora).  

If you look closely, you'll see that only one of the many flowers has actually opened.  Blue Ginger blooms will last for weeks!

This stand of Heliconia was lost in my tropical border before I began the Fall clean up process a few weeks ago.   Hell-o Heliconia!

A few wild orchids are showing up in the shade gardens for one last show this season...

Night blooming jasmine never gives up!  I have several of these that get pruned nearly to the ground several times a year just to keep them in bounds.  Their lovely fragrance in the evening is worth the effort.

 Farfugium Tractor Seat plant has been a great addition to my shade garden.  Gorgeous in bloom, but great, unique foliage even when not in flower.

Clerodendrum Pagoda Flowers have bloomed all year.  They can be a little scary - meaning they will get away from you if you're not willing to pull up their many offspring.  I do love them though, mainly because Zebra Longwings enjoy them so much.

Now for my most exciting news...my 'girls' began laying eggs a few weeks ago!  They have a couple nesting boxes, but they all use the same one.  They're so silly to watch clambering over each other to get possession of the box.  Here's this mornings offerings...

We get all sizes and colors!  It's a thrill each time we go out to collect eggs.  The 'girls' free range each afternoon - it's become our favorite time of the day to sit together outside and watch their antics.

Until next time...happy gardening!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day~October 2015~Central Florida

GBBD totally slipped my mind, until I turned on the computer this morning.  And what a morning it was...cool, breezy, just a delight.  I'm putting this post together at 3:30 and it's now 89 degrees.  In spite of our cooler mornings,  summer is still very much with us in Central Florida.  Fall has not had much affect on my plants,  just a few yellowing leaves, here and there in the shade gardens.  Here's a few blooms...

Saucer Magnolia

Clair Matin Rose

Pink Pet Rose

Knockout Roses

These are some of the cuttings I took a few months ago from my old garden roses, so happy to see one blooming already...

This is the 'mother plant'.

 A couple other blooms out front, then we'll go to the back...

Aloe, a hummingbird favorite.

Crown of Thorns

Jasmine, in the shade garden.

Blue Ginger, these blooms have lasted for months.

A lowly, but lovely, coleus bloom.

  

Clerodendrum Vine, just beginning to show color.

Another, on the fence, further along.

Sasanqua Camellia

The tree above has a beautiful bloom, a crepe paper look...

Sasanqua Camellia

Just one more camellia...

A couple more plants that seem to bloom all year round in my garden...Gloriosa Lily.

Clematis

Common water hyacinth looks so much like a flower from a hyacinthus bulb.  It seemed as though the whole canal was blooming today, so even though it's not my bloom, I'll share the photo.

Happy gardening!

Central Florida Garden~A Typical Day

We've had a mix of sun and clouds this morning, clouds finally won out.  I was outside early, trying to get a list of things done that I've been working on the last few weeks, but this thing called life, keeps drawing me away.  Thankfully, fall weather is just around the corner, and the gardens will need less of me.  I had just finished thinning the mustard and turnip greens when the sky opened, no more work for today...

I got a nice bowl of greens that I'll mix in with the collards that I thinned yesterday.  I wanted to get some pics of the vegetable garden, but the rain looks like it's set in for a while.

Earlier today, I walked the front yard and found this Autumn Sunset rose full of blooms, in different stages...

She's under planted with Angelonia.

Louis Philippe, on the fence, is a good rose for Florida.  He does get some black spot, but not enough to affect his performance as a beautiful bloomer.

On the other end of this fence, another OGR that was given to me as a small cutting, just two years ago.

Knockout rose.

A Gene Boerner tree rose, by the front porch.

Some more Knockout roses, with Belinda's Dream rose in the background.

The last rose today is an unnamed drift rose.

I recently bought two new Hibiscus shrubs,  $3.88 at Walmart!  I'm trying to incorporate more shrubs into my gardens, for their easy care.  I love a good perennial, and I have a nice variety of Salvias, that I wouldn't give up.  I'm eliminating some other less worthy perennials though, because dead heading has become a dreaded chore during Florida's summer months.

One I've had for several years.

Two other flowering shrubs. the yellow Thryallis and the blue Cleodendrum 'Ugandense'.

My Sasanqua Camellias are just beginning to bloom.  I have two large ones that I pruned into trees, years ago.  I also have about a dozen others, shrub types, full of buds, ready to explode.  They grow beautifully in Florida, some of mine are in full sun...not to be confused with the Japonica Camellia, which needs a shady area.  One of the trees...

It's flower...

Flower from the other Camellia tree.

Down by the vegetable garden, the Mexican Bush Sage and Knockout roses are still in full bloom.

Some Mexican Petunias in the mix.

Blue Ginger not only has a beautiful bloom, but it lasts for weeks.

Lastly, this bee was running around in circles (like me, at times) on my Clematis.

That's all from my garden today... have a wonderful week.