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"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

good fences make good neighbors


fences? i’m glad my immediate neighbors don’t have them. i like my neighbors and we tend to share more than conversation across our patches of green grass.



my sweet neighbor (across the street) moved here from south florida about 18 years ago. her almost-acre yard is all plant life- she has no grass- she is almost 80 and still takes care of her entire house and yard alone. helen brings me a clipping of this and a root of that from time to time- cuttings from her yard.









at first, i felt obligated to transplant them and make them grow. so I would stick them somewhere (out of the way) just to tell her i had. eventually i realized what valuable treasures she was giving me. some of the things she’s given me, i don’t even know the names; some are more often seen in south florida. most are divinely tropical. not only are some of these very plants my favorites now, but i think of her every time i see them. the photos shown are only a few selections out of the offerings i've collected from her.
the pink begonia in the bottom photos was one of those that i literally poked into the ground next to a clump of oak trees. one day i saw it lying over some other plants but it had bloomed. i staked it up at that point and lo and behold it got beautiful. from that one i made another cutting and poked it in the soil of a potted plant and now … well, i have it in several places… all of them producing these fun, fluffy pink, upside down, prolific hanging blooms.

10 comments:

  1. aren't those pink upside down fluffy things geraniums? :o)

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  2. Bet the butterflies and hummers love that beautiful firespike! Your begonias are gorgeous, as well! I really have to work at remembering to not neglect my potted begonia. It's hung in fairly nicely since I got it about 4-5 years ago, in spite of my efforts to kill it. 8-}

    I don't know a whole lot about hydrangeas, but you can find everything you ever wanted to know about them at
    http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/hydra/

    Have a JESUS-filled day! ^i^

    ReplyDelete
  3. mlm: you are too funny!

    sophie: the butterflies are fond of that orange plant that i now know the name of thanks to you. i think you are better at this than you give yourself credit for. :-)

    i look forward to checking out your hydrangea resource. thanks.

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  4. "Firespike"? Love that! I think Anne Tyler needs to write a novel featuring a character who loves to garden. So many life lessons, and the names of the plants could weave into the story just beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
  5. mlm:
    anne tyler needs to write a novel about anything - she is due! but you are right, she would be the one for your idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey! I think your butterflies from 30 June are Spicebush Swallowtails, Papilio troilus, and the one on the 4th is a Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes. When ds and I can't get a really good look at a black one, we say it's a black swallowtail that may or may not be a Black Swallowtail. 8-}

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  7. It's nice to have neighbors that like to garden and share plants. I have one of those begonias that I got from a friend and just stuck in the ground too. It's blooming now and I just love the way it looks like earrings dangling in the wind.

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  8. sophie: thanks for the help on the butterfly species. i have googled them and i'm in awe at the slight differences in characteristics.

    susan: i like your description of the begonia... "like earrings dangling in the wind".

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  9. I'm here via PureFLorida, and I just wanted to say I really loved the photos of your yard!
    I live over in the TampaBay area and have many of the same plants as you do, but I love the way you've arrange them, the landscaping is beautiful!

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  10. laura: we are neighbors...we are also in the Tampa area. thanks for the kudos and especially thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete

Have a blessed day,
Meems


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