hi everyone i live i wirral uk its cold and wet all winter, but i love looking at all your fantastic plants and photos highest summer temp 20c-24c and thats a really good temp any way ive grown all these plants hope you like the pictures i like begonia canes and rex never be as big as your plants but its the fun of growing plants in a much cooler climate
ps ive got whitefly in my veranda have to use a chemical spray seems it the same problem everywhere
1st picture is my hanging basket 3ft long and very heavy on the veranda, cane snowcap all these plants are 1st year

Hi Janet, Wow ... it looks like you grow some really beautiful tropical type plants!

Wonderful, Janet. You've created yourself a tiny slice of Florida over there in Jolly Olde England, haven't you!

Interestingly enough, our winter temperatures here are often fairly close to what you have there in summer. Ask me how I know this (I am originally from Vancouver, BC Canada, very similar climate to UK).

Janet, love your photos

Hey, Florida folks! I'm up in Silver Springs for the Florida Wildflower Symposium. I'm posting my pictures here if you want to check them out: The thread "Melanie Goes to Silver Springs!" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

hi thanks for the posts, you have such lovely photos, but i dont think i could not cope with all the wildlife especially alligators and even bull sharks we only have foxes, adders and grass snakes. i have never been to usa or florida but it looks so nice, what a vast place it is
england has a strange climate you can get sun,rain, cold, and sun again same day
the wirral a peninsula 15 miles by 9 miles long most of tthe people live near the coast
at the top is where is live town of wallasey its looks onto the irish sea, right side is the river mersey and opposite liverpool (yes the beatles city) and the left side is the river dee looks across to north wales
theres a pretty village on this side called parkgate lord nelson used to meet his ladylove lady hamilton there
anyway its really pretty penisula 3rd richest county in england , plenty of very rich people(i am not on that list)
more photos for you all janet

It sounds so very charming and the old mill is over the top quaint. I think all Americans fell in love with England watching Downton Abbey on TV. More recently I have been watching a TV show about the Shetland Islands in Scotland. Always interesting to learn about other parts of the world.

hi the water wheel is fully working, turns and pumps water over the beach and makes a waterfall
my husband made the wheel, its made out of fibre glass, the wall ,the pond and everything surrounding the area and the veranda i must say ive never seen another waterwheel in anyone else garden
the room in the picture is our summerhouse, and the room on the right leads to our hot tub we listen to the rain and soak in bubbling hot water (got arthritis)
tv series shetlands is very good we watch it ourselves, never been would take maybe 12 hours to get there even if you flew.

Wow, the water wheel looks like it has been there forever. I thought it was an old mill.

hi glad you like it does look like a old mill, its about 10years old but we like it
Its midnight here so time for my bed, the cat asleep already photos enclosed she likes the garden to runs up the palm tree on to summer house roof
the palm tree grown in uk, hardy down to -10c and we had one winter we hit -6c that was really cold, but normally is about -1 or -2c , but global warming changed the weather, it now rains most of the winter, flooding in many places and very stormy

Janet, you and your husband have created a beautiful tropical setting with your garden and the pond. Great job on that water wheel too, as well as the rest of the decor!

Oh, and lovely kitties too!

hi thanks im so glad you like my photos only my friend and 2 neighbours have ever seen the back garden, i think you call your gardens yard is that correct. we have very high gates that stop people looking in to the garden
brian planned it all himself and I chose all the plants each section is different
since ive been retired 5 years im out there every day, we close the garden up in november wish i had your temperature in winter, you must be able to work outside all year, photo of us in the hot tub janet

It's lovely Janet. I do envy you your hot tub, as I have arthritis too. We call our gardens "gardens" here as well. Some people have yards, but I have no yard, it is all garden. (In my mind, a "yard" needs to have some lawn) Mine has a 6ft. fence all the way around for wonderful privacy.

Here in Florida we *can* work outside all year 'round, but in fall, winter and spring it's much more pleasant than in summer, when I barely keep the pathways open in 10 minute dashes of gardening. It's too darned hot and humid to do much physical activity, so I follow the shade around the yard, and then do a lot of "gardening" right here in front of my computer.

Same here in the SC Lowcountry. I always say summer here is like February in Wisconsin.

Lord its hot. Trying to do some work in yard, it will take me till Christmas 2018 if I start now

Picked up a blue ginger this week, I realize they are not a true ginger, but it was something different than I had. Do those of you have one, have better luck than with the swallowtail plant. Altho my swallowtail is doing great still, I have deemed it an annual.

Really fine photo Pam!

Yep, that heron is laughing at us all suffering in the heat. Don't over-do it in this weather, Pam. It's a killer! It will get cooler, pretty soon!

We had a little rain yesterday, and it was supposed to be cloudy today, but the sun is blazing down now and the humidity is off the charts. Arg. It's also supposed to be stormy on Wednesday so let's hope it cools off a bit then! I have a ton of mulch to spread around, both here at home and at the school garden. Right now I can work in the evenings for a little while, since the breeze is usually up by then to make it tolerable.

http://www.sweetwaterwetlands....

This was out at sweetwater. Gainesville cant pave a road, but they are good with this type of thing. Doesnt hurt to have the prarie to work with.
Cant repave a road in gainesville without adding a bike lane. If a bike lane wont fit, no new paving. . Altho, and nobody will understand this rant but Molly. Why does a city that wont let a homeowner cut down a big tree, let a church ( yes I know, its a church, but...) put up a big metal warehouse of looking thing, right in the middle of things. There is a church there already, that fits right in. I sure wish they could have stayed true to that building they are in. I guess this is majorly cheaper....and looks it. Hate to complain about a church, but it is what it is. Hope they are planning MAJOR landscaping, I fear tho, they are going to pave paradise, and put up a parking lot.......

Pam, I agree that is a wonderful close up of the Blue Heron!

I haven't heard of Blue Ginger so I had to look it up. Blue Ginger (Dichorisandra thyrsiflora) Oh my, those blooms sure are gorgeous and I see in the database comment section that it's a member of the same family as Spiderwort. I like it a lot!

I grew blue ginger for a while. I had an area that was shady and a little wetter than the rest of the yard. It spread and did well, but ultimately I replaced it with native plants. But if it's your thing, I found it pretty easy to grow.