A Garden Stroll...

Welcome to my "Florida Cottage Garden", at least that's the way I feel about it.  I'd love for you to grab a cup of coffee or tea and take a stroll with me.  Come and see all the glorious colorful flowers that God has so graciously blessed us with!

Just after waving to my husband the other morning, as he left for work, this is what I saw from my front door...

Cosmos, Lavendar, Blue Salvia and Pink Angelonia...

Potted on, and around, the front porch are purple Penta...

This Purple Heart vine weaves it's way up the tall railing on the front porch.  I love the way the little purple "hearts" open and out pops a bright red flower!

This plant is new to me, so I don't know the name off the top of my head, but it's full of bright purple blooms...

This is one of my newer roses, Belinda's Dream.  The scent is sweet and beautiful and the bush is absolutely covered in buds right now...

If you are able to click and ENLARGE this photo, do it!  I took several shots of this butterfly on this sherbert Lantana, and realized after looking at them closely that I could see the nectar on his "feeding tube"...very cool!

These Don Juan roses were a Valentines gift almost 10 years ago!  Talk about the gift that keeps on giving!!!!  They trail up the rail on the opposite side of the front porch...

Just yesterday, I had two visitors to my garden.  A pair of Sandhill Cranes wandered through and nibbled at bugs as they made their way down the street.  I took this shot through my front window...

Let's go out to the backyard...

Outside my back porch is my potting bench and kitchen herb garden.  The boxes contain lettuces as well as several herbs I use for cooking.  The frame of the overhang is completely draped in the heavenly fragrance of Confederate Jasmine.  It only blooms for a month, but SO worth it!

At the back of the yard is my little "Veggie Patch".  This is a small stand of Snow Peas...

Newly planted "wide row" of green beans...

Spaghetti Sauce in the making...Roma Tomatoes...

Purple Cabbage...I am getting 5 new little cabbages from the one I cut off a couple of weeks ago!

Looking past the climbing tomato trellises and through the bell pepper patch, there are sugar peas on the vine...

Looking from the back of the Veggie Patch to the other side of the yard, you can see the Gazebo and swing under the Pecan Tree...

That looks inviting on the hot spring day....let's go rest for a bit in the Hammock...

From here I can hear the birds chirping and the squirrells chasing eachother up the tree.  Bees are buzzing around doing their thing and butterflies are fluttering by...

From the hammock, this is what I see when I look back toward the garden and shed...

Above my feet I hear the sweet tinkling of my "Happy" windchimes...

...and the air is once again filled with the intoxicating scent of Confederate Jasmine...

Surrounding the back of the Gazebo are MANY ferns, pineapple plants and plumeria...how many pineapples do you see "blooming" in this photo?

Plumeria, or as northerners call them, Frangipani, are some of the most beautiful tropical flowers.  The ugly stems are nothing to look at in the winter, but come mid summer the leaves are up to 2 1/2 feet long and rich deep green.  The blooms just keep coming in well over 50 different shades...I only have 3-4 different colors in my collection though...

I love to hear the sound of this fountain trickling while I work in my garden, it's so relaxing and drowns out any nearby street noise.  In the background is a Bouganvilla (bow-gan-vee-yuh) that is about 15 feet high...

Beside the fountain is another smaller potted Bouganvilla in purple where my garden fairy is playing hide n seek... :)

At the edge of the shed, are a bundle of flowers designed to attract both butterflies and people...pink Plumeria, yellow Butterfly weed, Pink Vinca, Cosmos, Gladiola, Blue Plumbago and a pretty orange ground orchid...

Blue Plumbago...

Pink Vinca...these LOVE heat and sunshine!

What a wonderful place to take a nap...

I've had this croton for almost 16 years and it had grown to over 7 feet tall.  I thought after our 3 nights of deep freeze that it was completely gone, but I was soooo happy to see new growth!  A new life for my colorful croton!

Lantana grows like a weed here in Florida, I have actually never purchased one for my backyard gardens, yet  I have 4!

Why would this be included in my garden tour?  Someday this ugly thing will make a breathtaking Orchid flower...

VACANCY ~ VACANCY ~ VACANCY

Hmmm....not sure how Stormie got her toy in the gutter...?

I thought it would be fun to take a photo of the overhang that I have my potting bench under...

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE???

Yup...that's what I thought.  I saw the underbelly of this black snake...what a nice warm place for her to sun herself...

I love the way our large Pecan Tree casts cool shade across the lawn at just the right time of day...

There she stands in all her glory, wearing the latest in spring fashion,  soft green...

These little "fronds" will become pecans in the Fall...

Underneath that tree is a swing that is calling your name...are you sure you can't stop by today?

Oh well, that's fine...I'll head to the back porch where I'm busy collecting seeds to plant in the Fall...for another burst of color!

Cosmos stems and seeds...

Snapdragon seeds...it's amazing to me how many tiny seeds come from one plant.

WOW! Our God is amaznig!!!

Have a beautiful, colorful, flower-filled day!