WONDERFUL WALLFLOWER

I just love camellias and thought how beautiful these were against a painted brick house found here

SPRING FEVER

I don't know about you, but I am a nursery/gardening addict. Something about roaming a round a nursery with the pea gravel crunching under my feet puts me in a great mood. Here in Florida, we have a year-round growing season, but that still doesn't diminish my fervor for planting, even though the thrill of seasonal change might heighten other folks' enjoyment of gardening in colder climes. I have a real weakness for braided or plaited trees and plants.

Bougainvillea is de rigueur here in Florida and I simply cannot get enough of it. Maintenance, schmaintenance. Sometimes beauty requires work!

Standards and......

Climbers

This place has a particularly good pot selection and I am partial to these deep blue glazed numbers.

Now, as for this creation, I can't say I found it beautiful, but I bet my nephews would love it. Nothing like a gator head half submerged in a forboding-looking black caldron with smoke rising off the surface. Looks like something perfect for a redneck outpost in the Everglades or a Goth-themed residence belonging to a person who sports black nail polish and lipstick.

This espalier style potted plant was right up my alley. Plants with architectural interest. Very cool.

Some more tropical plants and smallish bougainvillea standards with wispy woven trunks.

Loved this gorgeous yellow bloom. Too bad I was remiss and didn't check the name of it!

Tons of orchids - a staple fave of mine. These were very pricey, though and no better than the great picks at Trader Joe's!

I just looked down and spied some color inspiration for a new painting!

Do you get the fever for gardening as Spring approaches?

Have a terrific weekend, all!

MY PLANT OBSESSION

My Desert Rose in the pink pot (currently on hiatus from blooming)

My Collection of miniature braided ficus trees and a few succulents/cacti

My heirloom tomato plant at over 6 ft tall now - unfortunately, the tomatoes on it are still so small that they don't show up in the photo (we're talking half of a thimble here)

When I was a kid, my parents used to plant a garden in our backyard in the city. I relished the experience of planting seeds, watching them grow and, the best part, harvesting fresh tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, etc. This was supplemented with regular marathon trips to all of the local nurseries where my 2 brothers and I roamed freely amongst the damp, gravely pathways, practically bathed in every fountain we could find and got into plenty of mischief. I am sure the nursery employees cringed when they saw us emerging from our Country Squire station wagon. Chasing each other with garden carts while we laughed until we wheezed was the part we enjoyed the most. A trip to the nursery wasn't complete without one of us sustaining some sort of minor injury. Lesson learned : it's always a good idea to wear some sort of steel-toed footwear when you are riding rusty old shopping carts with lame wheels through gravel paths at breakneck speeds.

Somewhere along the way, perhaps by sheer osmosis, I caught the gardening bug and am now obsessed with plants of all sorts and growing roses and anything edible. I am a full-blown gardening nerd and have even been know to talk to my little green friends - Prince Charles and I would probably have a lot in common.

 I have limited space, so I must choose my plants carefully, but that doesn't stop me from my indulging my passion. Recently, I decided to add a few succulents to my small ficus collection.  I found some great (and CHEAP!) textured white pots at IKEA along with a braided Desert Rose that caught my eye. I know the pink pot is the one "off" piece, but I couldn't resist, since the color really grabbed me. It reminds me of that feature on Sesame Street where they used to sing "one of these kids is doing their own thing" and you would look to see which kid in the square didn't "fit". Remember that? Maybe not? Anyway, I digress, as usual.....

what do you like to grow?