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. 

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.

                                

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.

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.

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

Colorful bougainvilleas.

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

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

Some garden art and pottery.

This is the cashier’s booth.

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

Brugmansia, or Angel’s Trumpet.

Blue Sky Vine

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.

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?

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.

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.

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