Longing for some Green...

If you are visiting on the Grow Your Blog Party, click here for my GYB post and Giveaway. Only one more week to enter!!
Brrr, I'm cold. I've just come in from wading through thigh-deep snowdrifts, almost waist deep in places, to take some photos... hopefully you'll see them in a new header this coming week. We have a LOT of snow. I've lost track of how many storms we've had in a two week period.. six,  I think? Doesn't matter... but please, let me know if you'd like some snow... I'd be happy to send you some. We have lots to spare.

It's only February and I'm already tired of winter; tired of its endless white cover, its icy sidewalks and driveways, its treacherous driving, its bitter cold days and even colder nights. I long for the greens of summer and my gardens of colourful blooms. (I think my inner gardener is screaming to get out! ha!)
I need some Vitamin G!! (If you don't remember my post explaining Vitamin G, read it here.)
So, for all of you who feel the same (Who am I kidding, I'm really doing this for my own pleasure) here is some green, and some colourful blossoms to go with it. My recent visit to Florida was balm for my gardener's soul; I tried to "stock up" on both Vitamins D and G! Sadly, I feel my "reserves" are now waning...








Hibiscus, bougainvillea, jasmine,
plumbago, bird of paradise, passionflower, and many others I cannot name.. what's not to love when you can enjoy such beauty in mid-winter?















One day we were out for a drive and saw this magnificent tree, all in bloom. I asked Sandi what it was but she didn't know. At the time, I said "the blooms look like orchids." I have since seen photos on someone's blog (can't remember who/where) showing this same tree, and it was referred to as an "orchid tree." So that's what I'm calling it. I don't know if that's a nickname or a proper name. Maybe one of my southern readers can tell me...

Bougainvillea is a common plant in the tropics. If you have ever traveled in South America, the Caribbean or the Mediterranean you have no doubt seen it. It blooms in a variety of colors. Did you know that the colored petals are actually leaves? The bloom is the tiny white flower in the center of the colored bracts. In the collage below, the bougainvillea is on the top right and bottom left. On the top left is Plumbago, I cannot identify the plant on the bottom right- we called it "Q-tip flower." lol

Passionflower is another plant common in the tropics.I first saw it in Venezuela years ago, then had luck growing it in my garden one year (one season only.) It has a very exotic looking blossom. Below is one bud, and one red bloom. The white flower is spiral jasmine.

You can't get a much more exotic looking blossom than Bird of Paradise, can you? Isn't it beautiful? The peach coloured bloom on bottom left is a double hibiscus, and I've no idea what the other one is.

I hope you've enjoyed this dash of green, this "dose of Vitamin G."  For all my friends and followers "down south"- Florida, Arizona, California, "down under" in Oz and NZ and anywhere else where you ARE warm... I'll have some COLD snowy pics for you soon!

I am joining Judith of Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday. Be sure to stop by her blog and see what lovely mosaics others have done this week. Judith is currently down south, and I see she is enjoying some of the same beauty in the gardens that I saw... Sigh.....

Peace,
Linda

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful. They are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul." ~   Luther Burbank