Perfect Days of June

"And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days."

~James Russell Lowell

Frogs, Frustrations, a Few Flowers, and One Fantastic Fern!

We've been so busy lately, both in the garden and in that other place...the real world.  Anyway, this weekend, we happily got out in the garden again to finish trimming away winter's wrath.  Most of our burned foliage was cut back in February, but we never got around to some of the bigger stuff.  This weekend was time to cut back dead leaves from the giant birds of paradise, the bananas, and the starburst clerodendrum.

Sunny Weekend + Evil Foreboding

So here it is....  It's official. My little spot o' Florida is under a freeze watch for Monday and Tuesday nights.  I am truly almost speechless.  With five full winters under our belt, I can honestly say this garden has ne'er seen a December freeze.  What does this mean for the rest of winter?

November Stars

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  In this little piece of Florida in which I live, November is prime garden time!  So is December.  I understand from weather records, that it has frosted this time of the year before, but I've yet to witness it (knock on wood!).  The great thing about year's end is that all of the tropicals have been rebounding from last winter's frost all year, and are at their biggest, fullest, and bloomiest right now.  : )   So here it is, my recap of November faves:

A Little Fall Fanfare

Here in my piece of Florida, we don't have the flaming foliage seen in so many gardens around the Northern Hemisphere this time of year.  However, there were a few fantastic, colorful things that caught my eye on this foggy fall morning:

Glimpses of Glory in a Garden

"...the whole earth is full of his glory." 

~Isaiah 6:3

This weekend, I witnessed glimpses of glory in my garden.  It has thrown me into a fitful state of rhyme this afternoon, so please, please, pardon the poetry.  Some days, I just can't help myself.

Weekend Review

The Festival's a Bust...

Well, my plans for a special weekend morphed into something different.  My goal for the weekend was to attend my first ever Caladium Festival in Lake Placid, Florida.  I'd always wanted to go, and it's not so very far away, but somehow in its 20 years of existence, I've never actually been.  I've read tales of glorious fields of caladiums "that can only be compared to the tulip fields of Holland"...verbiage that certainly has tempted me. 

Summer Superlatives

This morning, as I walked through the garden, my thoughts kept running to those "Senior Superlatives" in high school yearbooks.  I don't know why; guess it's all the graduations of late.  Or maybe it's that very significant high school anniversary that occurred this year.  Anyway, it was a big deal to make that section of the yearbook, wasn't it?  Didn't we all long to be voted "Most Likely to Succeed" or "Most Athletic" or "Best Dressed"? 

summer scene stealers

Like every other garden in the world, mine is dominated by the color green...green grass, green shrubs, green leaves on perennials...even green weeds.  But all around the garden, here and there, can be found pops of brilliant color bursting out of that green sea.  If you're not careful, you just might get smacked in the face by one of these as you round the corner.

Hot, Loud, and Solemnly Proud

How fun it is to walk through the garden searching for the hottest, loudest, and proudest!  Here's what I found this morning:

My Favorites...This Month (May 2010)

I'm joining in with Susan of Simply Susan! to post My Favorites...This Month.  Pop on over if you'd like to join in.  May was a really hard month to narrow down favorites, but here are a few.  Click on the collage to enlarge.

Blaze of Glory

Check out the newest bloom to hit my May garden!

Red Touch Yellow...Thrill a Fellow!

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red touch yellow...

thrill a fellow!

(No, this is not about snakes!)  I am so struck by the everblooming blanketflowers in my garden right now that I took a million photos of them today.  What a thrilling, exciting color combo red and yellow make!  Actually, I just realized that many of my all-time favorite flowers share this combo.  Here are some photos of today's gaillardias along with some older photos taken in my garden.