My Awaken Garden

With weather's warming up, my semi-dormant garden is finally awaken!  There are quite some plants in blooming right now.  I will only show you a few of them today so that I don't bore you with a long post :)

Various Pentas Lanceolata (繁星花) are very attractive to butterflies.  They got severe frost bites during the unsual freeze weather we experienced in January. Now they all recovered quite well.  Wish the butterflies can get the messages and come to visit them very soon.

 

Weeping (trailing) lantana lavender is nicely trailing down from the container.  I also have the yellow color of this type in my garden, but it has not started blooming yet.

 Lantana camara (马缨丹) is also recovering from the frost bites and starting their blooming season.  This is another butterfiles' favorite.   I love the fact that its flower head shows different colors of red, yellow, organge and purple.

Geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum, 洋葵/天竺葵) are proven to be cold-hardy in my south florida garden.  They went through the freeze weather just fine.  Only the leaves got some dark purple marks, but it never stopped blooming.  I love the spetacular display of the large flower clusters (across 4 to 5 inches) that rise above the leaves one after another.  They really added lots of brightness to my garden.  I think they are perfect border flowers.

 

This week there are two kinds of roses blooming: Rosa 'Perfume Delight' and Queen Elizabeth Grandiflora.  

Rosa 'Perfume Delight'

Queen Elizabeth Grandiflora (3/16/2010)

Queen Elizabeth Grandiflora (same flower two days later on 3/18/2010)

They are not located in my "Rose Corner". Since these were the very first two rose bushes I planted in my garden, I did what everybook told me to do: planted in a full sun area. I soon realized that south florida "full sun" in the summer is just too much, even for "sun-loving" roses! In the summer, the flower would soon wilt right after opening the bud, and the edge of the flower would be scorched. 

They are definitely more beautiful and hold much longer in this cool early spring (around 60 to 70 Fahrenheit) of Florida.  Check the change of the same Queen Elizabeth Grandiflora flower in two days range above.

 I hope my newly planted six rose bushes will find the "Rose Corner" a happier place to live in the summer since they do get several hours of afternoon shade.

That is all for today.   Have a relaxing weekend!

I will use this as my second entry to the Blooming Friday. For other bloomings all over the world, please check out Katrarina's site at http://rosorochris.blogspot.com/.