Saturday, May 29, 2010

The weekend is here

Good morning everyone. I hope you all have a nice long weekend. This holiday is one to remember those who have given their lives for our freedoms that we hold dear in this country. May this country continue to stay free.

Below are some pictures from the last couple of days. I'm still waiting for the Bridal Vine flowers to open.

Here we have a Zebra Longwing, our state butterfly, sipping nectar from Hamelia patens or Firebush blossoms. There are LOTS of bees here too and other butterflies. Hummingbirds also visit this shrub occasionally.



Inside our screened room, we have the yellow blooms of
Dwarf Poinciana, Caesalpinia lutea, or Barbados Pride or Peacock Flower,
in the foreground, ficus in the background along with something else I can't remember the name of right this minute. :-)



This is an unknown to me.
Is a creeper of sorts, horizontally and vertically,
plus it spits seeds everywhere.



This is trumpet vine, Campsis radicans.



Here are two baby gardenia bushes,
compliments of Tom from Seventh Street Cottage.
He rooted these in his great clone machine.
They are very healthy looking,
have wonderful root systems,
and I hope they grow well and give me lots of blooms.
Gardenias are one of my earliest girlhood memories of FL.
They will be living in our screened room for awhile
so that I can keep an eye on them.
I'll keep you all posted on their progress.
Thanks again Tom.




This is a Ti plant.
I just love the way the sunlight was hitting the leaves.



Here are the first buds on our Queen Crepe.



These are buds from another crepe myrtle in the main garden,
which also has purple blooms.



Here we have Phyllis Bide,
which is growing over my little lattice covered resting spot
at the northwest corner of the main garden.



Penelope



Love



Kathleen



This is a Sulphur butterfly,
hard to get as they flit all over the place,
hardly stopping at all.



This is a Gulf Fritillary.



First Mexican palo verde
blooms.



Even if something is left undone,
everyone must take time to sit still
and watch the leaves turn.

Elizabeth Lawrence



Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

13 comments:

Jean Campbell said...

Beautiful, all of them.

I haven't seen a Zebra Longwing here in years, yet we have plenty of native passion vine and Gulf Frits. I guess we just aren't tropical enough for them, but I used to see them.

Mama grew Stephanotis once, she was so proud of it.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Nell ~ You may not have the zebra longwing, but you have other beautiful 'flying flowers'.

I am thrilled about the Stephanotis. I don't remember how long ago I bought it, but it's been years. I can hardly wait for these to open so I can take in their wonderful scent again.

Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

Antique ART Garden said...

I love everyone's great pictures of butterflies and birds as I look like a complete idiot chasing them , or trying to stand still long enough to photograph them ( while my mosquitoes make a meal of me ). Pretty flowers ! Gina

Miss Gracie's House said...

Yes, may we always remember!
Love the pics...esp. the one with the butterfly!
Have a great weekend,
Rene

Nina Suria said...

Love the Zebra Longwing. I wish I could sit in ur beautiful garden.. enjoying magnificent view.

have a wonderful weekend

Anonymous said...

Can I come visit you? I wouldnt ask for anything except to sit in that glorious garden and maybe a for cup of tea.
Ahhh. Thanks to wonderful blogland I can sit here in your garden from my kitchen with a cup of tea. Thanks for sharing, it's so beautiful. I seriously think you could sell tickets for seating in you garden!
I love the way you captured that rose peeking through the lattice.

Lona said...

Oh my, I just love that Zebra Longwing Butterfly. They are just so beautifully marked.
Your roses are so pretty. That is a lovely picture of Phyliss Bide peeking through. The contrasts on the Love rose is beautiful. How great of Tom to root some Gardenias for you.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Lona

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Thank you all for visiting and leaving your kind comments.

Gina ~ Butterflies are sometimes hard to photograph, you just have to keep on taking pictures, hoping for the best.

Rene ~ Glad you liked. I hope things are going well for you and your family.

Nina ~ The butterflies bring me joy.

Merrie ~ I take 'selective' pictures of my gardens. What you don't see are all the areas that you wouldn't want to sit and look at. :-) It is all a work in progress, something I enjoy daily. I also loved the way Phyllis Bide was showing through the lattice. It pays to look up once in awhile.

Lona ~ I love the zebra longwing also. There are so many back there now each day sipping nectar from the Firebush. They make me feel happy. Tom didn't root those gardenias especially for me, he had already rooted them and thought to send them to me, after reading something I said about them in a post. His gardens, his knowledge, his energy inspire me to keep working in my own gardens. I just hope I don't kill these gardenias. I've not had luck in the past, but he said these are from old healthy stock up there where he lives.

Happy Gardening and have a great weekend.

FlowerLady

Ami said...

Flowerlady: Your garden sure looks so lovely with so many beautiful flowers and butterflies! I love Zebra Longwing and the Gulf Fritillary. I only see white peacock butterfly in my garden so far, got to keep eyes open for any new visitors!

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

You're very welcome. I hope they add another bit of intimacy to your garden over the years. Mine from a previous year are just beginning to bud. I think. I hope they bloom this year. Next year they should really take off.

Hope you get the rain you need. I'd share some of mine if I could. It's so moist and humid here today. Beautiful and exotic blooms you have, as always.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Your stationary and flying blooms are all lovely! Your buds are, too. One day of the weekend is gone already, I hope your Sunday and Monday go well.

sweetbay said...

Your bees and butterflies are beautiful. I love the picture of Phyllis Bide framed with the lattice square. How nice that you have 2 starts of gardenias from Tom.

Sandra said...

First, I love your pictures, as always.

Second, I'm sure this has been asked before and if not, what kind of camera do you have? Because you take the most amazing shots :)