Green Thumb Sunday

Hibiscus in my favorite shade of pink

My one and only tomato in my Topsy Turvy

Spider plant is doing awsome - making lots of little plants

Border is filling in with bromeliads & heliconias

Bromeliad with baby brome

One of the new broms from Green Thumb Festival and this one has been having trouble getting rooted and I've knocked it out of the ground a couple times :(

This is popping up in my brom garden and I can only assume it is a brome

Staghorn ferm suffering a little from the heat

Anthirium blooms look good but the plant is showing a little stress due to heat

Shrimp plant could care less about the heat

Dendrobium bloom in the key lime tree

And another

Remember the pool garden border I cut back a few weeks ago - it's back

Never got these vincas planted but they seem happy anyway!

Green Thumb Sunday

Angraecum Sesquipedale
Star of Bethleham Orchid

Blc.

Cattleya

Vanda

Cattelya

Brassia Maculata

Neighbor's lovely vine

Orchid corner on screen porch

Hibiscus

Bromeliad

Green Thumb Sunday

Can't have a garden shot without orchids because they are about the only thing blooming this time of year in my yard and I do not vegtable garden.

My pool garden is out of control. I would love to clean it up before my Dad comes for Christmas because I am always afraid he will fall in trying to walk around the pool. I need WiCKED's help!

Daisey and dendrobiens on the screen porch in that fancy-dance plant stand hubby bought me a few years ago. I LOVE it because it is on wheels.


One of my favorite things about Florida is the unique flora. This is a shrimp plant bloom. I also had a red one too but Conan the gardener removed them. Busche Garden, Disney, and Universal Studios are all fabulous plant displays in their parks. There is a lot to learn from the professionals! My fav, for foliage, is Busche Gardens. Plus it is right here in Tampa!

You can pretty much find Hibiscus blooming anytime of year here in Florida.

A rouge bloom on my Passion Flower vine. I thought it was finished for the year.

And finally, it is Key Lime season I guess because they are everywhere in my little backyard.

I know, they are going to waste but a few years ago I picked them and used them and got bad burns on my hands from them so I avoid them now. My DH wanted to cut downt he tree after that but, as you know if you read my blog, I use the tree as an orchid stand, LOL.

Green Thumb Sunday - Fall Colors

OK, so it is still summer here but since it is ofically fall I went outside this morning and took photos of plants with fall colors. It's overcast so it kinda looks like fall if you use your imagination and turn the AC way up! (Click on photos to enlarge a bit)

I forget the name of this shrub. I planted it last year in the spring after Conan the Landscaper clear cut me. I thought it was going to be a mid-height shrub from reading the instructions on the pot but it is way big and that's with a couple prunings. Hummingbirds like it so it stays.

Although I take the risk of making northern gardeners groan when I say this, I can always depend on the orchids for a bloom. This vanda is a bright orange.

My mystery plant. When I boughtit I thought it was in the cacti/succulnet family because that is where the lady hadit placed on her table but now I am thinking it acts more like a bromeliad and Isaw a brom page on the internet with a plant lookinging exactly the same. Beautiful color if it doesn't get too much sun - and it jumps back quickly when moved to lesser sun.

One lone Hibicus but in a beautiful fall color.

And finally bouganvilla, apricot is close enough to orange for a Florida gardener!

Green Thumb Sunday

This was my Sunday surprise today. I've been really good at staying off my foot all morning and rewarded myself 5 minutes of digicamera in the garden. I heard a bang agaisnt the screen porch door as I came around the corner and was greeted by a Black Racer. Scared the heck outta me! I think I screamed and then Eddie took off after it. Luckily he didn't catch it. I wasn't quick enough to photo it so I borrowed the photo from: oops, I lost the link.

The most colorful hybiscus in my yard. It is a real survivor. conan chopped it down once, a frost got it a couple years ago, and jerry broke/damaged it pulling out a rouge vine. It may be a weak shrub but the flowers are gorgeous.

My staghorn ferm. I am thinking if we remove the propane tank, which we do not use because we don't heat our pool, then I may cosolidate all my ferns creating a fern garden! When I bought this one a couple years ago it only had two leaves - or was that last year?? I purchased the most unusual items from this lady who lives near my friend Christina. She has an awsome yard and sells plants she has propegated. Her sale was probably yesterday because it usually coincides with Green Thumb Festival :(

My Christmas cactus which is actually an Easter cactus but blooms more like a Mother's Day cactus. Let's just call it a holiday cactus and be done with it!

This plant was delivered to my Dad's house when my step mother died. You just wouldn't believe how many plants were delivered to the house on top of everthing at the funera home. No kidding, there were probably 50 plants. Most were what one would think of as houseplants but in my climate they are lkiving outside. Dad is still keeping a dozen or so alive. Since we drove to Arkansas we were able to bring a few back and I created a Bessie garden. A cold night took out a couple of them and I moved the bromeliad to my new bromeliad border but I still have two "Bessie" plants in a corner by the pool - it's a reflective area of my garden.

Sunday Gardening part 3 - Hibiscus

Pink one is my neighbor's HUGE bush/tree that hangs over my fence. The double, ruffled peach one is mine, all mine! LOL (How did that rose and passion flower sneak their photos in there?)