I have taken a long hiatus from gardening and blogging, as life hit me a hard blow in 2011. I am not capable of writing about my tragedy/nightmare yet. Who knows? I might not ever be. I never thought I'd be in a position where I could not write and write and write. I would've thought writing would help me in a crisis. Everyone told me I should be writing. But I could not and still can not. I have not been able to make enough sense of things and organize my thoughts. Or maybe it's just too painful. And, wow, I never thought I'd lose interest in gardening and other passions. That one threw me for a loop! I always thought my love of God's beautiful world would be enough to comfort me through anything. But sometimes a period of recovery/grieving is necessary, and sometimes it is unnaturally prolonged.
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Amazingly, here in 2012, my garden thrives. I went out sometime in March and began to peel away the weedy jungle, and, yes, my plant babies live! Gradually, I've begun to feel the passion again. I've been mulching, weeding, acquiring new specimens, and swingin' on that old swing. Yep, I think some of the old Floridagirl yet remains.
So, anyway, we had a gloriously mild winter here in my neck of the woods. Wish I had enjoyed it more and gloated and bragged properly on my blog. We've not had such a winter since 2008.
USF Plant Sale
Today, I just want to share a few new acquisitions I brought home from the USF plant sale in Tampa:
I could've spent all my $$$ at the Amaryllis booth...well, if I had one of those single-purposed brains anyway. But, wow, so many temptations smacked me in the face. I did buy a few glorious specimens, though I now find myself regretting not coming home with that red with white picotee...I think it was called 'Surprise.' Decisions, choices...they've always been tough for me. Above is one that did make the cut: 'Maguire's Envy' with an unusual greenish tint. (clueless as to why this photo is sideways)
This is 'Twilight Melody'--a beautiful name for a striking, enormous amaryllis bloom. The size of the bloom alone was reason enough to buy it.
Oh, yeah, so many ridiculous temptations abounded for this bromeliad-obsessed gardener. Coming home with this Neoregelia 'Johannis de Rolf' was a no-brainer.
I also picked among the ginger rhizomes, found a red cereus, and finally acquired a native Encyclia tampensis (which I'm super excited about!). All in all, a very good shopping adventure!
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I really hope life has treated all of my blogging friends well these past few months. I'll be catching up on your blogs soon.
All text and images in this post were created for a blog called
"Peace in the Valley" @ www.gardeninpeace.blogspot.com and are copyright protected.
All material on this website belongs to Floridagirl, unless otherwise noted.
Hi FloridaGirl...I'm so sorry to hear that life has dealt you a harsh blow and I do hope that you are feeling stronger and that life is improving day by day.
ReplyDeleteI was delighted when I noticed a comment from you on my blog and even happier when your blog topped my blogroll with a new post.
I often check your blog for new posts and have wondered what happened to you, so I'm so happy to see that you are blogging again and I hope that it will help as you heal.
Your new brom is gorgeous! I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful pics of your garden in the coming months. This past winter was a blessing. So good to see you back!
Thanks, Susan...I popped into other blogs on a rare occasion throughout these months, trying to inspire myself to get back, wondering if life really does just go on. It's been a rough journey.
DeleteThought of you when I stopped by Peterson's the other day...never even knew that was there until you blogged about it a couple years back. I'm lovin' the nursery hopping again, so that's a good sign. Went to the Tree House on South Florida too. Love that place!
It's oh so fabulous to see your blog post again. I've often looked out for your posts and wondered how you've been. Sorry to hear you've had a hard road recently. It does sound like things are slowly turning a corner though, and it's great to hear that some of your gardening passion has returned. Hopefully a little gardening will restore your spirits even more. Love your Amaryllis choices. They are both gorgeous, and the Neoregelia is fab too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bernie. It is soooo good to get the garden growing in my soul again...
DeleteSo glad to see you're back.Life can be hard.I know.Having recently lost my dad,my gardening guru and mentor,and all of the other crap life has dealt me this past year.But the one thing that has seen me thru is my garden.It has brought me such solace.
ReplyDeleteI missed the USF plant sale this year.Great buys you scored!
I wish I could've found solace anywhere during the dark days, but my garden is bringing me a lot of comfort right now. It's good to be back diggin' the dirt!
DeleteHonestly - I don't know what made me read my google reader today - I never read blogs from it but today I just realised that you were blogging again. I searched for ways to contact you last year to no avail as I was really concerned at how your blogging just stopped......just as you had got that new camera and were having such fun with it.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to read FG that it was tragedy that made you cease your blogging and gardening - I missed you so much (((hugs))) but can totally understand that grieving affects us all so differently and maybe now gardening and blogging can help you in the next phase of your journey.
You sure look as if you came home armed with plenty of delights and I can't wait to see that Encyclia.
Rosie
www.leavesnbloom.com/
Thanks, Rosie. It is strange how you never know who you are until you are faced with a nightmare. I was not as strong as I thought and did not handle it as I would've predicted. : (
Delete...That encyclia is pretty small right now, but they grow into enormous colonies over time...I can't wait to see it in full glory!
Yay! Glad to see your blogpost! Hope the future becomes much brighter for you. Love seeing the purchases you made. Those amaryllis are gorgeous. I've never bought any that were accurately labeled. I usually take pot luck after Christmas at the big box stores. But I can see that those are not anything you can get there.
ReplyDeleteThanks, NanaK, I am glad to be back! You would've just died at that amaryllis booth!!! Oh, the temptations! I regret not buying more.
DeleteDear Floridagirl: When I saw your comment on my recent post on my Iphone I had a feeling you were back. I planned to check back to confirm, but I was too busy with kids' weekend activities until now. I am so happy to see you are back to the blogging world, and I missed your posts and comments when you were not around! Welcome back! Your first paragraph really made me feel the choke on my throat. I am so sorry to hear that. I wish the blogging and gardening can give you some sort of comfort, and gradually bring back the peace and balance to your life.
ReplyDeleteYour new plants look so beautiful. I won't be able resist the temptation too if I were there. The new Amaryllis and bromeliads are just gorgeous. Great choices!
Again, welcome back, Floridagirl!
Thanks so much, Ami. Ya know, I will never, ever be the same inside, and life is different, but I am just happy to find joy on this earth again. I noticed I was coming back the day I walked outside back in March, saw a couple of bloom spikes on the Nun's Orchid, and started jumping up and down with delight. That was the old me....peeking through again.
DeleteI am so sorry to read you've been suffering all this time. It sounds like you are starting to heal and find some joy in life again. Your new plants look wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sweetbay, and yes, I am feeling pretty joyful today. Still have my ups and downs, but this is a beautiful day!
DeleteHello Floridagirl :-) sorry to say I had to miss this plant sale, but I love your new plant babies ... thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment, I am also always on the lookout for FL bloggers, and here you are, just like me, obsessed with bromeliads and Hippeastrums :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I enjoyed your blog...don't know how I missed it before...I've added it to my blogroll. Yeah, we're obsessed with broms and amaryllis 'round here...
DeleteFG, I am just now reading this as I have very little time to blog anymore. I just happened to be browsing through my blog roll and noticed your post. I'm so happy to see you blogging again, but so sorry to hear that you've experienced difficult times. Hope things are going much better for you these days and wounds have healed with time and God's love. Hugs!
ReplyDelete