Happy New Year!

It's the last day of 2011.....To be honest, my garden has spent most of this year in a mess! I started the pond  last February, so I have mounds of dirt just about everywhere you look :(  Policy is:   I can not start a new project until the last one is finished.....which leaves me tormented with dreams of my butterfly balcony, the bunny trail, and new raised veggies plots...but alas...I must finish the pond first! The good news..I'm almost there! So I have great expectations for the garden in 2012...As I walked through the garden this last day of 2011....I must admit even amongst the mess and neglect..the flowers just keep giving...

         Even the birdseed is blooming!

     My Mystery Rose (OGR shrub)

       Bermuda Mystery Rose: Kathleen         

New Dawn

It's been a good year...with the larger pond finally getting started, my oldest graduated from High School, the pool we've been waiting for 9 yrs...was put in....and even with the economy being tough....this family has weathered the storm very well.....modification in life is easy for me.....I always said you can plop me down anywhere and I will make it a home...my needs are small and my desires are pretty simple..Just like this Queen:

          A tranquil place to raise my kids.......                                             

        A little food on the table........                                        

          And I emerge one happy bee...uhhh. butterfly :)                                       

So as the year ends...I must Thank my Jesus for every little thing I have, and the Beautiful World he has placed me in to enjoy!

       First year with Flowers on the DH's Camellia,

     Firecracker Bush

      The towering Butterfly weed with butterfly!

    My favorite Lavender Pentas

 And my faithful morning hello from the spiderwort

I find no greater peace than when I step into the garden alone with God and just converse! May your New Year be happy, full of contentment and prosperity! and Don't forget to spread some seed.......... janine

December Bloomers!

Wow! What fabulous weather Florida is bringing us this month! I have spent every free moment I have had out in the yard! Working and daydreaming. So much so, I forced myself to take out the Christmas decorations. But I did, and they are up! Shew...back to the garden! It's such a good time of the year for clean up...I removed a portion of the old pond, to get things simplified for transition...  We spent the weekend digging the barrels in for the filters on the new pond...that's a load off my mind. Now it's just a matter of putting it all together! 

The garden has been loaded with butterflies and skippers this month. They apparently rest underneath the mass thicket of Wedelia that grows crazy along the fence line.... I believe it will become my new area for a Butterfly Garden too. I was looking for an ideal spot...and I guess they know better than me!! 

 I've decided to keep them in containers and place them amongst the Wedelia, so I can pull them during flooding or freezing! Hope I am faithful in keeping them watered! I'll post pictures as soon as I have them placed! It is a wild area just off the barn balcony...I'll call it my Butterfly Balcony..The view here is from the balcony!

The Powder Puff bush (Calliandra haematocephala)  has finally bloomed. It has been a few years since I've seen it:( 

It dies back so early with the frost that some years it never gets a chance to flower at all...One of my daily rituals is to take a stroll through the garden each morning, to find the surprise the garden has left for me each night! That was mine today! Each day you can usually find one...if you look hard enough! 

One of my most favorite of December bloomers is Louis Philippe Rose, Or "Cracker Rose" as it's known in the South! It is very disease resistant and smells sweet and fruity...reminds me of apples! It grows huge....and I keep it pruned twice a year and it still reaches 7' easily! What a great Old garden rose this is for Florida! Everyone should have one!

Some of the other December Bloomers include........

Knock Out Rose/ and an old garden variety in the back

Princess Flower (Tibouchina) 

Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) 

Blue Daze(Evolvulus glomeratus) 

And a few of the other Old garden Roses

Overall...it has been a great month in the garden! I've already made my plant list for Santa! So many ideas...so little time! Please leave a comment and let me know what surprises you find in your garden in December!  I hope you have a very blessed Christmas.....Janine