Redbuds, Front garden.

 Redbuds are an oddity to me. I have never seen a tree produce flowers in the same way. In early Spring little purple flowers appear along seemingly smooth bark and cover the branches. When the leaves start to come the flowers drop. Janie got our two trees at a Nature Conservancy sapling giveaway. They were tiny slips that I put in the ground with little hope of success. They are both healthy and tall, twelve years on.

Camellia blossom, west of house

Camellias make our winters more bearable from a gardening point of view. Just when all flowers give up and disappear, camellias burst into bloom around Christmas and continue for two months.

Clyde's garden

My neighbor, Clyde, is an avid gardener and those beds are his winter vegetables, now passed. He gave us a bunch of collards and I made stuffed collard leaves, wonderful. Collards are so good fresh from the ground. Much less bitter.

Bottle brush tree, in full bloom.

Camellias and Squidward, West garden

Hydrangeas, back garden.

Fading gardenias, May 2012

Pot arrangement, front dooryard

These just came together after a visit to Rockaway Gardens in Jax Beach. The New Guinea impatiens on top, are sun tolerant, the dahlias in the big pot just keep blooming and the coleus keeps growing, it is already twice this size.

Clematis, dock garden

This clematis, Jackmanii, has persisted on our dock , under a rose, for ten years. It seems to love the hot, sunny, windy location, not what I thought they liked.

Jasmine flowers, large arch, back garden