A Few Of My Favorite Things...

The gardens were completely refreshed by the beautiful deluge from the skies yesterday.  I took this photo of a Hyacinth Bean flower with storm clouds as a background.  I planted the inside of my vegetable garden with a variety of summer vines this spring and some are just beginning to show color...

Besides a quite pretty bloom, this vine will produce attractive purple beans later on.

Morning Glory vines are in the mix, and this is the first bloom.  I'm still waiting on Cardinal Climber and Moonflower vines to bloom.

It was a great day to get a photo of the 'Iceberg' rose out front as white  pops when it's nearly dark outside.

'Louis Philippe' rose in the background.

Gaura lindheimeri,  daylilies and agapanthus...my three favorite plants for my full sun gardens.

Other daylilies earlier in the day...

This 'Red Hot' Hibiscus, which is grown more for the foliage than the flower, is blooming.

Another first bloom for this season, a wild hibiscus...

Just some pretty out front, then I've got a couple things to share in the shade garden.

My 3 favorite plants for my full sun garden...daylilies, agapanthus, and gaura lindheimeri.

The agapanthus are providing a lot of blue for the garden, even though very few of the flowers have actually opened completely.  They have a long way to go, so I'll just enjoy.

Back in the shade gardens my 'Gold Dust' ginger is blooming...without leaves, but that's not unusual for some gingers.

The other surprise is 'Silver Diamonds' Ginger is doing the same thing...probably the closest I'll get to having an orchid.

Shade garden...

I have 3 Tibouchinas...they all came off the clearance rack at Lowe's the same day, a couple years ago.  One gets full sun, the other half day sun, and this one gets only a whisper of sun, but they all bloom.  You can't complain about a shrub that performs like that.

Thanks for visiting...have a great day.

April Garden

The garden is most lovely this time of year!  Lots of blooms, and what's not blooming is full of buds, assuring us of more beauty to come.  My Amaryllis are blooming a little late this year, but I prefer this, rather than them blooming early, all alone...

On the other hand, my Agapanthus will bloom early.  This one is already showing color...  

Agapanthus are one of my favorite summer blooms, and they're so easy to grow here in Central Florida.  I have them everywhere in my full sun gardens.

Another great plant for zone 9 gardens is Gaura lindheimeri.  It's just begun to bloom, and it's another plant that I use extensively in my full sun gardens.  It's available in pink or white, but I prefer the white because it returns more faithfully than the pink...for me, anyway.  

Zinnias do well in full sun also, and these have only just begun to bloom.  They're the kind of flower that makes me smile, when I see their cheerful faces.

I bought this Red Yucca off the clearance rack last year, but it didn't bloom at all.  Finally...

Two more photos out in my full sun garden...

Around back by the gazebo, the clematis and gardenia are both blooming.

My shade gardens are also a tad slow this year, but it may be because I buried everything under many inches of good oak leaves.  Everything will soon push it's way out.  There's plenty of pretty for right now...

Sinningia sellorii, Hardy Red Gloxinia

It's bloom...

English Dogwood

I planted this Mexican Flame Vine behind my fenced vegetable garden. so it could cover up a stack of old wood.  So far, so good.

We've been working all week on the chicken coop, off and on.  It's almost done and I'll be posting photos soon.  The chicks are growing  fast, and yes, I will be happy to move them out of my house and into theirs.  

Happy Gardening!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day~April 2016~Central Florida

Central Florida is still experiencing spring like weather, which is not always our norm in April.  We often go straight from winter, to summer heat and humidity, in a blink of an eye.  I'm enjoying it while it lasts!  It's bloom day, so here's what's blooming...

'Night Beacon', Daylily.

Another early blooming Daylily, 'Challenger'.

This is an old, hardy Amaryllis...I've always known it as 'Johnson's' Amaryllis, but some refer to it as 'St. Joseph's Lily'.  This is one of the South's pass-along plants.

Another pass-along plant, this pink Crinum has been blooming awhile, and will continue for a few more weeks.  This plant has become hard to find, with the loss of our small, local nurseries.

Roses and Salvia

 Clematis are just beginning to bloom...

This one, a little ahead of the rest...

Serissa foetida, with it's diminutive flower and leaves is a dainty shrub.

Passion Flower

A common succulent, Ghost Plant.

Black-Eyed Susan Vine is making it's return.

 Confederate Jasmine blooms have begun to perfume the air with their lovely scent.

Many plants in my gardens are just beginning to show color...like these French Hydrangeas.

'Red Cascade' Rose is also just beginning...

First blooms in 'Black and Blue' Sage

Also the first of many Zinnias to bloom...

Gaura lindheimeri, pink, which I haven't planted in three years!  I have about a dozen white ones, which return each year, but the pinks never over wintered for me.  Well, one finally returned...

English Dogwood, or Mock Orange.  I've had these nearly thirty years, but over time they've become too shaded.  Next winter, I'll dig some clumps out and relocate them to a sunnier area.

Just a bud, but one I look forward to every spring, Agapanthus, Lily-Of-The-Nile, by any name...beautiful.

Happy GBBD to all...enjoy spring, and if you'd like to see more blooms visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.