Mid-July Blooms….

This morning was cool,as July Florida mornings go.

It motivated me to get to work on getting the gardens back into shape(after the contractors made a mess).

It’s been awhile since I took an early morning stroll,camera in hand,through the garden.

Orchids in bloom…

took this one up to the lanai,to enjoy the blooms

this one,too

Ground orchids…

Bromeliads…

Jamaican Wild Coffee…

Casearia sylvestris - Flacourtiaceae

Simpson Stopper/Twinberry  (Myrcianthes fragrans) blooms….

and berries….

the birds are having a field day with the berries….

Blue Butterfly Bush

clerodendrum ugandense

and the Plumeria are still going strong….

What’s blooming in your mid-July garden?

Road Trip!!!

I’m starting to feel like such a slacker….

But when a good friend suddenly announced they were moving from Sanibel Island to San Diego…

…What?!…

Why would anyone wanna do that?….I guess a girl has to do what a girl has to do…

So,slacker that I am,I said goodbye-just for the weekend- to TheGreatWall,packed up the new Tacoma,and headed south,to stay with a good friend…

and say goodbye to one of the classiest ladies I know….

After meeting up at the Sanibel Grill,for drinks,we retired to the Sanibel Café

…thanks Bonnie and Richard…

to say goodbye to this classy lady…

…Gonna miss you,Nancy…

But….

Figuring I needed to deal with my depression,what better way than to go a native plant nursery?

…retail therapy is always a help in dealing with depression,no?

Sooo,off good friend and I go….

To here….

where I bought these…

The Wild Coffee to go under the Norfolk Island Pines-semi-shady and tending to damp(but well drained)-and the Meyer Lemon will go into a large container,in the Roadside Garden.

…and two Tropical Sage plants…

….not planted,yet.But they are in place,under the largest Angel’s Trumpet.

and then…

good friend and I went here…

and ooooo…..

the treasures we saw….

female wild boar…

tillsandia…..id anyone?…Bueller?…

I need an ID here…It looks like a cotton ball….Button Snake Root?

and which Tillsandia is this?

…Lee County only has a few registered (9,I believe).

2 of which are Spanish Moss and Ball Moss.

Eliminating those two,what is this?

Hey!…….Maybe,I’m not such a slacker,after all….