Happy Valentine’s Day to all

 

Hello Folks ~ The weather down here has been perfectly gorgeous today. I basically puttered. Put the stuffed steak rolls in the crockpot early, they are smelling really yummy right now.  I steamed some fresh asparagus and made a vinaigrette sauce for them. Will fix ‘instant’ Idaho mashed potatoes.  We’ll probably have coffee ice cream for a bit of dessert.

Yesterday we went to HD and I visited the garden dept. while DH was in the electrical dept.  At first I was just going to buy a couple of inexpensive things to add to my garden, then I spied  a nice selection of roses. Uh oh. They had some knock outs, I bent over and smelled several of them and was totally disappointed in their lack of scent, at least to me I didn’t notice any.  Then, I started getting a waft on the breezes of a heavy rose scent.  I walked around the selection and finally found them.  I ended up getting Fragrant Cloud. After we got home,  I picked the lone bud and brought it in and have been enjoying that heavenly scent all day.  I did a google search after I got home and saw that this particular rose might have a bit of BS. Oh bummer.  I’ll keep my eye on it, keep it in full sun, with plenty of air circulation. Lots of wonderful reports on how wonderful the scent is and how beautiful the blooms are. A few people even wrote (some from FL) that they don’t have much of a problem with it having bs, so I hope that is true. 

The first two pics of Fragrant Cloud are from yesterday, the last one is from this morning.

Chrysler Imperial

Next two, Cocktail

Bon Silene

Bon Silene

Borderer

Dainty Bess

Homere

Louis Philippe

George Tabor azalea, my first bloom for this season.

I woke up this morning to see this opened.  What a beauty.

That’s it for now. 

Thank you all for visiting.

FlowerLady

Rain laden blooms

Good morning everyone ~ I hope you are enjoying the start of your weekend. I'll be working again today, so my weekend hasn't started just yet. It is a chilly 47 right now right around 7:30 but is supposed to get up to around 72 later today. That will feel good.

Below are some blooms taken the morning after we got a good soaking rain from a thunderstorm that blew over bringing this little cold front.

Click on pictures for a larger view.

This is a sweet little rose called Borderer.

I think this is Bon Silene.

A Dainty Bess bud with an open blossom in the background.

I love the delicateness of George Tabor's petals.

A Louis Philippe bud against a frangipani trunk.

The next three pictures are of Louis Philippe growing up in front of and over the top of my shed.



More Old Blush.



Spiderwort, a real favorite of mine. There will be lots of blooms of this pretty soon.

Not a rain laden bloom, but a blossom anyway, sweet Tork, in my main garden. She had caught the scent of something and jumped up onto this column's top. She did not find what she was looking for. What an intense look she has.

****

There is no spot of ground,

however arid,

bare or ugly,

that cannot be tamed

into such a state

as may give an impression

of beauty and delight.

Gertrude Jekyll

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Aaahhh, a nice day.

Good evening Folks ~ It was chilly this morning, but turned out to be a perfectly gorgeous winter day here in s.e. FL. After working all week, it was a welcome relief to be puttering around home and gardens today.

I did some trimming and clean up in and around the various garden areas. We took down some lattice that was serving as a roof in our grotto area, we're going to put some corrugated white plastic roofing there instead and I look forward to that.

Tork, our feline outside girl, came up to me while I was gardening and wanted attention. When she does that out of the clear blue, I know it's time for me to take a break, and it's always nice to sit, petting her, as she purrs. We comfort one another, I relax and she relaxes. I read somewhere that cats purring is healing. I need to do a posting on that one day.

Below are some pictures I took today.

Click on pictures for a larger view.

Ducher, a nice white rose. I have another picture of this to post, but for some reason the add image button isn't working right.This is the close up. Maybe that's all that's needed.

The following pictures are of the azalea George Tabor.

Here we have a sweet little rose called Phyllis Bide.

***

Whatever we are waiting for

peace of mind,

contentment,

grace,

~ the inner awareness of simple abundance ~

it will surely come to us,

but only when we are ready to receive it

with an open and grateful heart.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

***

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

More blooms, more painted tile work

Good morning everyone. Hope you have a great day today wherever you are.

I took some more bloom photos and a couple of pix of the 'faux' tile work that DH did yesterday, which turned out to be an all day project. He has one more section to work on today, after he does drainage improvement, as this area does sometimes get rain. We have drainage now but he's improving on it.

The steps into the house are about 60 years old, and have a lot of shell rock in them, that's why they look different than the newer concrete.





George Tabor azalea


Borderer


I keep forgetting what this is because I've been calling it Flame Vine, but I believe someone told me it is Cape something or other.


Firecracker plant


Louis Philippe


Mm. Laurette Messimy


Hibiscus



Lord, make us mindful of the little things

that grow and blossom

in these days

to make the world beautiful for us.

W.E.B. du Bois

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL