MJ, I planted it 15 years ago. It was just a little stick about 5 feet tall. The only thing growing on this property when I bought it was the laurel oak down by the lake.

Jim

Well, I bet all your neighbors are envious. It's beautiful !

Waterlily Begonia escaped freezing back this winter.



Salvia leucantha



Still some clean up work that needs to be done in this corner,
Variegated shell ginger in the middle, Red Firespike off to the right, Brug and Xanthosoma Lime Zinger are off to the left but you really can't see them in the photo.

I love the Begonia right there in the ground!!

That begonia is just lovely. Jealous of your Salvia too. I've never managed to get that one going.

Elaine,
That salvia thrives on benign neglect. Other than when first planted I rarely ever gets watered, other than when it rains unless we go for a very long time without.
Comes back from freezes reliably also. I've got lots of others also, Salvia Purple Majesty is at least 5 ft tall already, it is a drop dead favorite of the hummers.
I stick to the "tropical sages" as they can handle our heat/humidty.

Yep, I have a few others that do OK. But that leucantha has died off twice, probably I was being too kind . . .

Home tomorrow night, can't wait to see my garden! Oh, and cat and husband too

I took a walk around the yard today, snapping some pics of things you might not have seen. That all came to an end when I discovered the pvc pipe at the top of my well had sprung a leak and was shooting water everywhere. I managed to shut the electric circuit, thereby killing the pump and stopping the spray. The pump guys will be here tomorrow morning. It's always something.

Here are some blooms you might not have seen, at least for a while. I just love some of the bromeliad blooms.


We don't grow many hostas here but this hanging basket under an oak is doing well and blooming.


Stromanthe is a shade plant grown for its colorful leaves. Here is one with a flower.


Yellow elder, aka yellow bells:


Nandina, aka heavenly bamboo in bloom:


This is golden cestrum, a large bush known to be good for cut flowers as well as hummers.


New resident to the garden. I found him at the grocery store this morning.


Warm winters make for lots of hibiscus.


Crinum lilies:


Finally, this Florida native is called the necklace plant.


Jim

Wonderful blooms, Jim!
The Hoya is tremendous!! Love the Stromanthe!
And that cute Frog is right down my alley!

Wow, lovely Jim. Be sure to show a pic of the necklace plant once it puts on its jewellery (necklaces)!

I do love the crinums but the flowers are too fleeting, I've found. So I'll enjoy your pictures, and sniff the ones in the city landscapes.

Have not yet made it around the yard with my camera, but will head out there now. I not only brought my major fatigue home from Utah, a friend came along, looking for a house here with horse property. She is "done with winter" like I was a few years back, and is ready to start a new life in FL. So she is staying with me for a week or so, and looking around here for a place! So much fun.

I was just out in the yard and noticed huge bumblebees working the necklace plant flowers. Everything is looking great after the big rains of last weekend.

Jim

Not quite in our garden, but we took a walk this afternoon in nearby Ramapo State Park and the Cypripedium acaule were up and budding!! Looks like a very good year for acaule this year, there were many plants popping up in different locations.

I was in charge of the twins ( would you believe the girls are seven already!!) after school today, so I took the opportunity to check out the Cyp acaule situation right near their house on the bike path. This was the best ever in that location, which is South of the Driscoll bridge/ South Jersey.
The whole small slope was peppered was upcoming plants, some were in bud and one was flowering already! This should be a record year for them. I think even the girls were impressed, I think....
This one was bit drippy from this morning's rain

Oh good news!

Time to visit their habitat, Kathy!

They are just lovely. I never visit Vancouver (where my family lives) in the spring any more, so I don't get to see them there.

Also I looked at planting some in my mother's garden there, as she would have just loved them, but even 10 years ago they were beyond my price range!

Got a few pics this morning, before the wind kicked up


Ipomea cairica, Noid Epiphyllum, Chamaeocereus sylvesteri,

This was a cutting from Kathy. Epi. X Hybridus ackermannii was the name she gave me. This 5" bloom as compared a rose colored center which show in her photo, so it must be a result of either weather or cameras. I really like it!

Oooo, Carol, I really like that too!!!!

Ooooh, me to! gorgeous!

Very pretty flower.

Jim

I just had to show you this tremendous bougainvillea that is growing in my yard. The pictures don't begin to capture the grandeur of this plant.


Also, I just cut this stock of bananas and hung it in the OC to ripen. Looks like the squirrels have already taken a bite out of a couple of the top ones.


Jim