Garden Growth Joys for Lance!

Hi Lance,! this one is for you.....

I wanted to share some pics and little tidbits of what is happening here. Lots of pics, and I'm happy about some things, like the new Gazebo! it looks so cute, like in a magazine too....

I love this picture below, the natural sunlight created a prism.....welcome to the morning!

 


Florida is hot and humid but we have some perks if you are a smart gardener. I live by a house that has 2 huge Gardenia bushes, and she allows me to pick them. I keep them during their season in bowls of water especially in the computer room so I smell them all the time. Of course one goes in my hair too. The other is Jasmine, which is in bloom right now too. I have a major geomagnetic storm headache which woke me from sleep and I went out side and it was gently raining, but the smell of the jasmine permeates the air, and I felt like I lived in a Beautiful Garden. If one takes care to make life in Florida enjoyable, it will be. I planted several Jasmines when I moved in. Night blooming Jasmine is another intoxicating one I have out front.........when all three are in bloom, there is no place for talk......one is enraptured!

 




First, John has sat out there in the chair for so long, the birds think he's part of the scenery LOL....they have become very friendly with him and he feeds them, and they even eat out of his hand. Some newer friends are a bit skittish but still come around to let us know they're hungry. This is their shell with seeds, they love the black ones!

 Here is the picture of the Gazebo he got, I took a picture of the picture LOL....I love this picture beause of the blue sky and the green grass....this dusk is my favorite time of day.
Its an octagon shape which is so much nicer than the usual square or rectangles. And this has a few features I love, like the higher to lower slant of the top which makes the rains fall nicer rather than collecting, and the places it has to hang lanterns or flower baskets. I'm making flower baskets for those hooks. :D:D:D

But my papa san I could not get rid of, and I knew if I could figure out how to repair this and finagle some pillows and such it would be a joy and comfort for the season again, and I did......I fixed it. It needed some nails and glue, and I tied it for good measure. Then the whole thing got painted my fav!....white!

 

 Here it is now.......sweet!



 I got 3 new king size pillows and went to the thrift for a fabric to cover them and found this lovely blue and white from Ralph Lauren! sooooo pretty!....AND !!! I also wanted to cover the wood and lo and behold they happened to have the perfect round table cloth with lace, and that was snatched so fast you wouldn't believe it! LOL.....it also came with 8 napkins, all for a whopping two dollars. :D:D:D....I got a few lovelies from the thrift that day, washed them, rinsed in salt water, and onto the papa san it went!


 


The inside ground was given a straw covering......soft on the feet and no dirt.

Here is our gazebo.....a storm tore apart our last one. In this new one we keep the curtains zipped to keep mosquitoes out and it works like a charm!! sooooo very relieving to go in there and know I can sit and not be so bothered.....on my sweet chair. :D

The Lotus in the pond is coming up, and soon she will have magnificent flowers.......

I hung my petite tea light chandelier in there.....looks soo pretty.

The table got a rectangle tablecloth also picked up at the thrift that day, and with lace edging too! they were not sold together so this was a great ''coincidence''......I topped the table with 3 small planters of fresh ivy.

Buddha still meditates in this place.

 John saw ''bare spots'' and got some flowers to put in those 2 areas with gate by the gazebo...good job!

 




In my world. every rocker and bench needs a potted planter with some red flowers in it. I don't know why, but thats the rule! :D:D:D

 These are pentas........

Lots of duckweed on the pond....the large leaves are the Lotus coming up......

We repotted and planted all the water lilies in the pond including the lotus. They really needed it! They need repotting just as much as soil plants! Now the pond is looking beautiful again even though no blooms are out yet. The tadpoles are prolific and I've leaned to love them. See them??



 


 here's a close up......they're HALF the size of my pinky nail.
the lotus leaves are like continents to them LOLOL.....and these are looking beautiful!






ok....I dont' think you saw the before of this Lampost Square patch from April 25th a month ago?
so here is the before

 


and now.......

the lemongrass in pots on either side has been wonderful made into my new and now ''Famous Lemongrass Limade" ! which I am going to have to keep making for the summer here and even for my new neighbor friends....the lady loved it! She said the smell of it before you drink it, and then how it tastes was beautiful....I will make some today to fill our large dispenser and give her a carafe for her enjoyment LOL love to share!!
Will make a separate post on that if I can remember :D

These are tomatos in the back and eggplant in the front.....marigolds for fun and color and insect repellent.

This is the "Official Tomatoe Garden"......a month ago.....

 



and now......they've gotten quite tall, and I pinch off the tops so they dont' get too tall and bush out more, but they do have lots of flowers,......soon the tomatoes!

 


 


In the front I removed the aloe planters and put them in the back. This area is now all about color and flowers too. I added another lotus when I found an extra one from repotting the main one in the Pond.....THAT was a lesson! So grateful for youtube to learn how to do things ! We separated them and planted it in this pot and Quan Yin presides. Peoples eyes gravitate towards this and feel calm.

A few days later this large Lotus leaf rose and opened up! just 3 days!






The poor bouganvillea in the front got cut back alot, dramatically actually, but I didn't worry, I knew how it would grow, and in one month it grew quite a bit!
Here is the poor thing with a severe crew cut........just sticks......lol






and now it has several feet of new branches. Wonder how long before it blooms??

This Circle Patch I was watching every single morning I now skip days LOLOL because the flowers are just not popping up as fast as I'd like them too....but I was watering this area every morning and it was like a meditation like we talked about, and even John likes to water for its meditative quality. Takes about an hour to do this front area. 

I'M STILL WAITING FOR FLOWERS TO BLOOM  on these gladiolas and for nasturtiums to come up! 

This is my new little greenhouse from Lowe's......it took literally 10 minutes to put together and no tools, but it is quite flimsy!.....however, I am grateful because this will now house all the seedlings I'm going to be planting because I NEVER EVER NEVER want to be without flowering plants again, and waiting for my seeds to produce flowers is sheer torture, so now that they're coming up as greens now, no flowers yet, I will learn how to plants seeds every 2 weeks or so to keep plants growing and flowers blooming. This greenhouse is now on the front porch.

Some of the seeds I'm planting soon.......


































in the kitchen.....table top is kept with cookies or some sweet....John's thing! and my little Marie Antoinette card from the bubbly Palomasea which still graces my table.....so in love with her gifts still!!

 The water fountain got a few lettuce plants......water plants.....love them.....but they multiply like crazy.
 

 I will always keep White Scented Lilies on my console, lit with candles.....this is pure serenity and bliss.

 
Ok Lance and everybody in blogland, hope you enjoyed those. I will post soon about the Lemongrass Limade.....its beautiful!  

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