Garden Bloggers Bloom Day~December 2015~Central Florida

Central Florida is having absolutely, magical weather.  It was 84 degrees yesterday, perfect for lazing  about outside, enjoying a glass of iced tea.  There's no lack of blooms for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day,  so I'll begin with some of the roses that are flowering...

Belinda's Dream Rose

Clair Matin Rose

Queen Elizabeth Rose 

Red Cascade Climbing Rose

My smallest Sasanqua Camellia shrubs have an abundance of blooms...

'Cotton Candy'

'Stephanie Golden'

'Snow-on-the-Mountain'

This beauty is from a larger Sasanqua.

The Black Eyed Susan Vine has been in bloom for months.  Some of our neighbors have gathered  seeds from her, so perhaps there will be offspring to enjoy next year in our vicinity.  

I bought this ginger in spring, unlabeled.  Turned out to be a Costus spicatus, common name, Indian Head Ginger.

Cheerful hibiscus.

Clerodendrum Vine

A Tibouchina in the midst of the shade garden.

I cut these plants down to the ground, at the end of summer.  They were a ragged mess, but they've returned beautifully.  Salvia guaranitica, 'Black and Blue'.

While I was taking the photo above, a couple of our resident Sandhill Cranes came strolling down the road...

There's always a lot blooming here, and I never get around to sharing the Impatiens that are roaming around the shade garden, but they're important too.

Plants like the New Zealand Tea Tree, with their tiny rose-like blooms, are also overlooked.

Then there's begonias, often ignored too, but deserving of recognition.  This large potful has returned faithfully, year after year.  She gets moved about, brightening up whatever corner of the garden I place her in.

Turks cap

Gardenia

Pagoda Flower

Gloriosa Lily

I hope everyone is having a great week, whether gardening or planning next years garden.  Happy GBBD.  Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see blooms from around the world.

Ramblings, from my Central Florida garden...

I went out early this morning, intending to garden for just a few hours.  As it turned out, I worked until noon, lunched on the back deck, then continued to work a few more hours.  What the heck, I was already dirty anyway.  At my house, sometimes it's good to be dirty.  My Honey and I have an unwritten rule that whoever's cleanest, goes inside to prepare lunch.  I had planted some new curcumas and hostas and put out a couple yards of mulch.  Yes, I was filthy.  I did find a new bloom in the garden today, a Disney ginger.

Gingers have become a favorite of mine, they're so easy.  They return faithfully every year,  need  little water.  My Pine Cone gingers are located in a spot that is not covered by our irrigation system, they survive just on rainfall.

The cones will be all pretty and red next month.

The vegetable garden is a different story, the beans and cucumbers are still demanding water.  The tomato bushes look terrible.   I threatened to pull them a couple weeks ago, but somehow they keep producing a few good tomatoes, and I keep giving them a reprieve.  

The Cow Horn okra is over my head and producing like crazy.  Why I started a new stand of  Clemson Spineless okra, I don't know.  I just couldn't stand seeing a bare spot, after we pulled the corn.  I have so enjoyed gardening in my new raised beds this year,  the composted beds have made such a difference.  Just a few short weeks ago, this is what my vegetable garden looked like. 

Beans, and more beans.  While we're here in the veggies,  I'll show you where my garden is situated on the property.  Our lot is 100' x 320', and our house is just about in the middle.  Our home is facing south and we are bordered in the back by a canal, leading out to a small lake.  Our irrigation pump is fed by the lake, a very big blessing.  This is looking out my vegetable garden gate, toward the house. 

The veggie garden is in the very back corner and the canal is right behind it.

Canal, looking over the back garden fence.

Gazebo at the end of the dock.

Looking south again, toward my garden shop and house.

The water, as it always does, brings all kinds of wildlife around.  In May of this year, I  saw something that I had not seen in the 19 years that we've lived here.  Sandhill Cranes are common around our neighborhood, in and out of yards, up and down the cul-de-sac, but I had never seen them in the water.  I'm probably the only person in the world that didn't know they swim...

A beautiful family.

Once we saw them, they came by every afternoon for awhile, and I always intended to get some better photos.


Since this post has been such a mixed bag, I'll end with the random gifts my garden so graciously gives to me.  Beauty, that I could not design...

A small coleus seeded in a beautiful mossy rock.

Beautiful ferns, freely given.

Another 'lovely', self-seeded.

Random acts of kindness.

 

 Pot, decorated by nature.  Hope you are all having a great week!