Is there anything better than a quiet, peaceful (and fairly cool) Florida morning? Sure, lots of things, but today I enjoyed the cloud cover as I checked on my gardens this morning and took some photos with my iPhone.
The hibiscus is blooming profusely and I noticed today that some of the flowers are a lighter color than others. They look pink here, for some reason, but they are really light orange. I was too lazy to use my graphics program to fix the color – look at the photo below to see a more true version. …….Still, the beauty is apparent.
In New Hampshire I always had sunflowers growing in my garden during the summer. They sprang up on their own, known as “volunteers”. I just let them grow where they were and planted my vegetables around them. In the Fall, little goldfinches and chickadees would land on the big heads and eat the seeds.
Because I don’t feed the birds in Florida, no sunflower seeds will voluntarily grow after being buried under the winter snow, so this one I had to plant. In fact I planted a lot of seeds, but this one the only one growing. Animals (squirrels) probably ate the other seeds.
My rose bush is doing fine so far. I am seeing roses bloom continuously. Their color is stunning, but the flowers don’t last long.
I’ve never been able to grow my own watermelon, but I am trying again. This one seems to be doing well enough.
The Desert Rose, which at first was thought to be a Plumeria, is planted in the ground and doing well. Lots of bright pink flowers have bloomed and I am seldom watering it, as required.
The Persian Lime tree is blooming like mad and little limes have formed. Many of them will end up falling off, I assume, but I’m hopeful that some will grow to be edible size.
Other happenings in my small yard: I saw two black snakes (black racers) yesterday within the span of about 3 minutes. They are “good” snakes and not poisonous, but still creep me out as I watch them slither through the grass. Now I’m back to watching where I walk.
Later today I will pick the one zucchini growing on my single zucchini plant. The potatoes have been dug, and the carrots pulled. Time to plant some new things that may, or may not, be able to take the Florida summer heat. At this point, it’s all an experiment.
Have a wonderful day!
Thank you for sharing!
Hydrangeas Blue 
I’m in central Florida where it seldom gets below freezing, but it can overnight for a few winter months, and things outside must be covered or brought in. I’m in Zone 9b.
Thanks for the info.
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Your hibiscus are lovely. I’ve considered buying hardy hibiscus for my newbie (less than 2 years old) garden, but actually, they aren’t so easy to come by here in the town I live in. I’ve also always loved the Desert Rose but have never personally grown one. Great photos of all!
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Thank you HTG, I will probably dig up the Desert Rose and bring it inside before the weather gets too wet or too cold. If I’d known more about it before I planted it outside I may never have put it there. But it does love the sunny spot. Does it get cold where you live in Texas?
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Yes, I’m in zone 8a, which means it can get down to between 10 & 15 degrees. Of course this doesn’t happen every year. In December 2016 it got down to 17 degrees for 3 consecutive days and that was all the freeze we got. The year before, it hit maybe 30 degrees once or twice.
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