Friday, May 19, 2017

A new plant nursery to me–Johnny Mangos

Good morning Folks ~ Thank you all for your kind comments, especially about my BIL helping me with the a.c. I will pass along what you have said about him, I know he’ll appreciate it.

Before I forget, the winner for the garden book of ideas was Jo from My Grandma’s Soul.  Congrats Jo.

I was just outside working and decided I’d had enough already and it’s not even 9 a.m. EST yet.  It is 79 and real feel is 82.  Later as the temperature rises, it is supposed to feel like it is in the low 90’s. Right now the humidity level is at 75%. My clothes soon became wet from all of the ‘glowing’ I was doing. The sun was starting to blast the area I was working in.

I’ve been working on my ‘secret butterfly garden’, and the screen enclosed space behind my cottage. It has been predicted that we are going to have history making hot temps down here in s.e. FL this year. So I’m grouping plants together for easier watering and I’m even thinking of putting up shade cloth, I just haven’t figured out how yet.

A couple of weeks ago, my dear friends, Nanci & John, invited me out to lunch.  It was a Sunday afternoon and we went to Johnny G’s, a famous place that used to be up on the beach but has now moved. They are only open untl 3 p.m. It was a perfectly gorgeous day, still cool, breezy, just wonderful, what we wish all of our days were like. We got a table outside and their dog Wally sat with us and people/dog watched. The three of us humans had fish and chips, delicious!!!! Nanci and I had Arnold Palmers, if you’ve never had these, give them a try. They are addicting. It is iced tea and lemonade. Great for summer!

After lunch, John suggested going to Johnny Mangos. I’d not heard of it, so off we went. It is a Key West/artsy style, garden nursery and I just LOVED it. 

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John told Nanci and I to pick out a plant. I had gone in before Nanci and told John I wanted what is pictured below. When Nanci came in, she told John the exact same thing.  It is a faux rock and decaying tree waterfall with the beautiful plants. There is just something so soothing about the sound of flowing water.

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Below is the plant I picked out, Blue Lips, Mazabuka, origin Africa. You can read more about this plant from Top Tropicals. The color and unusual flower is what drew me to it. I saw it pretty much at the beginning of my walk around the place and it stayed in my mind as the one I wanted from this visit with my dear friends. It is not widely known by most gardeners and has great horticultural value. Of course, I didn’t know this until I googled it when I got home. It grows in shade or semi-shaded areas. What was a real surprise to me and not mentioned anywhere, is that it has a nice, sweet scent. Plus, I read it can be propogated from cuttings. I love it and am very happy with it.

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After that visit to Johnny Mangos, we went to a great little ice cream place and I had a dish of pistachio ice cream, John had peanut butter with chocolate chunks, and Nanci had rum raisin.

It was a very pleasant day with perfect weather and being with loving, long-time friends. John gifted me with another monetary gift from them, which is always a treat. My dear husband would like that they have loved on me so much since he’s been gone, dinners/lunches out too.

I didn’t take any photos on Sunday because I only had my phone. So, with my money gift in hand and Canon PowerShot camera too, and a bottle of water, I headed down south on my adventure. Being a homebody, I’m not familiar with driving distances or places I’ve not been before. I googled a route to this nursery and was so pleasantly surprised with the route I had chosen. All because of one section of road that was two lane and trees covering the road from both sides. I felt like I was in another place, like I was on vacation. I was oh so thankful to God for this little treat on my journey. The day before, we had taken the scenic ocean drive. That made me feel like being on vacation.

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Now for some views of a sampling of the wonderful plants and other goodies for sale too.

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Colorful bougainvilleas.

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Look at this purple building. A little more purple than Plum Cottage, but very striking and looks great with the plants.

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When you walk over this bridge, the fish come out with mouths open. Winking smile

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Some garden art and pottery.

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This is the cashier’s booth.

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Here are the plants I bought and one little piece of art, art was pretty expensive.

Brugmansia, or Angel’s Trumpet.

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Blue Sky Vine

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This little orchid was in a tray of orchids for $5 each. Sign said tree orchids. This one spoke to me. It is a tiny but beautiful bloom.

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I did a wall arrangement on the east wall of the work shop, over an antique bench, cobbler’s bench ?, given to me by my BIL & SIL when they recently moved. They bought this bench over 25 years ago at an antique auction. No one knew what it was. Two different people have suggested a cobbler’s bench. Do any of you know what this may be?

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The blue pot will be changed for an orange one, I think. Blue and orange are complimentary colors, but in this instance, it doesn’t work with what I am doing.

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Ok, this is a long enough post. I hope you enjoyed a visit to Johnny Mangos, via the web. I probably won’t go back until the fall, when the weather is much cooler. I’ll be sure to take my camera again to capture more of the tropical beauties displayed for sale here.

Here is a sign they had near the cashier’s booth.

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I will close with the following quote. Not sure where I got it, maybe Terry Hershey.

“A beautiful garden is like a big hug.

It can heal the heart and bring joy to those in need.”

Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are, whatever your plans are. Live in the moment and be thankful for all of your blessings small or large and everything in between.

FlowerLady

32 comments:

Susan said...

What an awesome nursery, and even more important - what awesome friends! You are truly blessed, loved and cared for. So happy you had a fun day and return trip.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

What great friends you have and what a gorgeous garden nursery... Glad you found the way to go back down there and take pictures and find more beauties for your garden.

We were in Tampa (May 12-14) ---and it was HOT HOT HOT there... We went to a wedding which was gorgeous (my hubby's son's wedding)....

Hugs,
Betsy

Stacey said...

Lorraine, I sure enjoyed reading this. Your friends sound pretty special! That nursery is stunning especially with all of the tropical goodness. I loved it when you thanked God for the little gift of the tree shaded road. It's the little things that make life so sweet. :)

Ellen D. said...

Thank you for the inspiration! I will garden and plant some flowers this weekend! Enjoyable reading and sweet pictures! Thanks again!

klaraau01 said...

I am glad you had wonderful time with your friends and thank you for showing this beautiful nursery and plants and it's great that one orchid found it's way to your home

Nancy J said...

What a wonderful day out, and garden goodies as well. True friends are a golden glow in our lives.

Sally said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful Sunday! No outing is complete without stopping for ice cream.

What a wonderful, whimsical place the nursery is....Your plants are usually so different than what we are planting here in zone 6B, MA. It's really fun to see them. Love the Angel Trumpet!

When you spoke about the trees over the road you reminded me of sunny summer days with the dappled shade of the trees along the road I lived on....

I sometimes wonder how Eden could have been more beautiful than what we see around us!

Ruth Hiebert said...

That garden centre is beautiful and so full of interesting things.

Rebecca said...

Thanks for those photos! Gary and I used to wander in our local nursery frequently during the summer. Then it suddenly went bankrupt and we've not found one to replace the pleasure we had in our visits...

I really like the arrangement you're assembling. Can't wait to see the final (is ANYthing final) product!

After a few almost-perfect days (weather-wise), the temps dropped yesterday and it's only 49 degrees this morning! Rain in forecast so our much-needed mulching is postponed again. It's almost too late since many of our plants are grown enough to cover the exposed spots. Oh, well.

Looking forward to dinner out with my hubby this noon as my father will be attending a birthday party for one of his great-grandchildren. Hope you have a fine weekend, Lorraine. ♥

Cheryl said...

That certainly is an amazing nursery. I am sure that you were in your glory! You chose a lovely plant for your gift. What a special time spent together with friends.

Stay cool!

NanaDiana said...

The nurseries in the south are so much more LUSH than the ones we have here. Of course, our outdoor nurseries are only open about 4 months out of the year because of the cold and danger of freezing.

I think it is just wonderful that you have friends like that to include you and make you feel like family now that your hubby is gone. That is really special and I know that you are blessed by that relationship.

I think it is funny that you both told him you wanted that same thing- the fountain area!

Blessings to you and I hope you have a wonderful, enjoyable weekend. xo Diana

lil red hen said...

I'm so glad you have friends like Nanci and John to include you on their adventures. Your purchases are lovely, but with so many beautiful plants to choose from, how do you do it? :)

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

oh you had me early on at the 'blue lips' but what a fun post altogether:)

BeachGypsy said...

I loved visiting this amazing garden center with you!!-- thanks for sharing it! I love all the vibrant color pottery and the pond with the fish, and of course, all the beautiful plants and flowers. That tree-canopy drive there was indeed so pretty!! We have quite a few of those here, and I just love driving under them! did you get the lizard/salamander?? I really liked that! Looks like I see one hanging up over the bench, but is it one you had or is it the new one? So glad you had these outings, and yes it sure is GETTING HOT HERE too! Glad your air is fixed, and hope you have it on...we have had to turn ours on at last!

BeachGypsy said...

PS... you did great with your camera!!

Dewena said...

I love that blue sky vine! I loved the visit to the garden center. I think I would have been happier in FL if there had been little places like this around that I could have visited. It just takes me back to my young married days when my father was in that business. Later on my husband and his brother bought the garden center and those years were such a special time. It was like a magical place. I hope you can figure out a way to put up shade cloth. That's another thing I loved about our garden center, the shade cloth made it kind of a mysterious place to garden under. Anything to help keep you and your plants out of summer's blistering heat that will be there soon!

Kit said...

What a great adventure and what an incredible nursery! Wow. And I love Arnold Palmers! Whenever I can, I pick one up at Starbucks. In fact I am sipping one now. Enjoy your new plants. And keep cool. :) Kit

sweetbay said...

Your wall arrangement is beautiful!

The nursery trip sounded like a great day out. I am glad you have such wonderful friends.

Pam's English Garden said...

Johnny Mangos was definitely worth returning to, Lorraine. I enjoyed visiting the nursery with you. I love your plant pics, especially the Mazabuka -- such a pretty blue. P. x

Melanie said...

What an awesome garden center! I'm so glad you had such a nice day out with your friends.

Darcie said...

What a wonderful outing with your friends! We certainly do need friends to be along side us on this journey, don't we? Yay for your adventure too! Sometimes it amazes me, when we find new hidden treasures near us...it feels like we are on vacation. Happy for all your joys in this post!

outlawgardener said...

What a special day with dear friends. What a treat it would be to visit nurseries in your area and see all of the exotic plants that you can grow in the ground. I've often wondered if people who already live in paradise even desire to go on vacation.

Marilyn @ MountainTopSpice said...

What precious friends you have to spend this time with you! I love the plant you chose to bring home with you, it is beautiful! And how wonderful that you can propagate it too! Good for you to get out and do some exploring, just loved the drive with the trees overhanging the road, so pretty! What an amazing nursery to visit too! So much to see and look at. I love plants so much, I just want them all, lol! Enjoyed my visit with you today :)

Judy at GoldCountryCottage said...

Lorraine, that is a wonderful nursery. I love visiting places like that and "seeing" all the different flowers in my garden. Isn't it special to have such nice friends? Love the pretty flower you picked out and I have never heard of an Arnold Palmer. I wonder if they would know what they are around here. I will have to try as it sounds very refreshing..Happy Thursday..Judy

Deb J. in Utah said...

What a fun place! I would love to spend an afternoon there browsing and shopping. Hope you have had a good Memorial Day. See you again soon!

jerilanders said...

Now that is a very unique and special plant world to visit. A surprise around every corner it seems. I bet you walk around the place with a smile; how could a person not feel jolly with all those bright colors and fanciful creatures?!

M.K. said...

FL, what an absolutely lovely post! I'm thrilled you had such a grand day with your friends, doing and seeing things that make you feel loved, happy, content. The tree-lined drive looks so peaceful. I like the lizard wall art -- he's cute! Stay cool down there, gal!

Terra said...

You have a treasure in your friends, and that Johnny Mango place is fabulous. You came home with some real treats for your gardens.

Rue said...

You have such beautiful gardening centers there! I can't imagine how hard it is to make a choice. And how sweet of your dear friends to love on you so much :)

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, my friend.

hugs and much love,
rue

tina said...

You have the best outings! That nursery looks like so much fun and lush and colorful!

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

Hello, dear Lorraine! Oh, so good to hear that you were spoiled for a day by your wonderful friends. I'm sure your dear one was looking down and smiling! I absolutely love plant nurseries and could spend all day in them! You have the best ones there - such amazing plants and wonderful garden things. I just love those colorful painted pots. You found some truly unusual and beautiful plants to bring home. I love your cobbler's bench corner with your new garden art. I spied the wind-chime, too...I love wind chimes and that is a real pretty one! Love the little sign and the garden quote. Sending hugs and blessings for your week. xo Karen

A Joyful Cottage said...

This post made me smile, Rainey. I'm so glad you have such loving friends. Your new flowers are beautiful, and will make great additions to your garden. That bench is really cool. Love it and your new art. :) Hugs, Nancy