Color of the Week: Red

It's been really hard to enjoy our Florida gardens this month.  We have to search out the little color still left.  It certainly doesn't scream at us like it used to.  Last week, I chose pink and white as the colors of the week, and those colors are still going strong.  But this week, I chose red as the feature color.  I love the color red, and there is still a little of it popping in the garden this week.

Colors of the Week: White and Pink

The grass is turning green again. Yessss! There are green blades pushing their way through the straw-colored St. Augustine turf that currently surrounds my house. We had a very heavy rain on Friday that I'm sure will help my garden spring back to life. Things are greening up here in this winter wasteland! But the real color stars in my garden this past week have been white and pink. Not the usual riot of color in this tropical garden, but color nonetheless! Oh, and, yes, I do consider white a color!

Spring is here!  The Amazon lilies are blooming!  (Don't they remind you of daffodils?)  These do bloom on and off year-round, but it is still so exciting every time it happens.  They were in bud during the "Arctic Blast," and I was so afraid we would see no blooms.  As I feared, there was cold damage to these beauties.  But it was spotty, hitting leaves and bud scapes randomly, and leaving some intact for me to enjoy.

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The Peace Lilies were also hit by the Arctic Blast, killing all the flowers of this everblooming plant, and damaging the leaves.  But new leaves are already pushing their way up, and today, I saw the first new inflorescence just starting to open up! 

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The Sadankwa Viburnums are just starting to bloom!  These are great "backbone" plants in a Florida garden...evergreen, frostproof, and easy to shape.

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Rosebuds on the wonderful, ever-blooming, frost-resistant Florida Cracker Rose (Rosa 'Louis Philippe').

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Winter Wonders:  The Camellias are all still in full bloom!  And the scent on these flowers is heavenly!

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My 'Ruby' Lorapetalum (Chinese Fringe) is still in full bloom as well!

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