Choice Morsels

I saw yesterday that one of my Azalea's had blooms along the bottom---a sure sign spring is on the way! They all bloom along the bottom first.    The temps hovering close to 20F for 3 days in December froze the leaves off my Winter Jasmine shrub---which actually proved helpful! With the leaves gone, I could see more easily exactly where to trim it back. 

My Gerber Daisies were going strong up until Christmas---when we had a hard freeze for 3 days. So this photo is from Dec, sometime before Christmas.  It's not uncommon to have a hard freeze or two on the Florida Panhandle, but rarely does the thermometer dip much below 28 or 29F--which generally just kills the various annual flowers. But over Christmas, it was around 22F for 3 days and frost-burnt all the Mexican Heather, the Amaryllis leaves, my Plumbago shrub, my Butterfly Bush--even my Winter Jasmine shrub---all things I haven't seen get frost-bit, had their leaves all turned brown. Even so, they are still alive, since roots weren't frozen and most, if not all, should regenerate. I was able to save my clumps of Calendula daisies & bachelor buttons only because I covered them with plastic and a double layer of towels. So those are fine. Other things weathered the extra cold without issue: the sorrel, the green onions, the parsley, the thyme, the lettuce in the vegg...

"What famous people have I met?" is the Mama Kat prompt question of the day.       Actually, I've met a few. The most well-known famous Hollywood person I've met is George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on the Original Star Trek series and a few subsequent films.        It was 1989, the year Star Trek V came out. There was a Trek Convention in Tampa. I  happened to be in a local Star Trek Club at the time and one of the members knew someone who knew someone willing to let us bunk at their home for the Con weekend. So 4 of us packed up our Trek costumes and we drove down.        I was 33 at the time and the Trek Club was run by a  guy and his wife who lived in Eglin Base Housing. My husband and I also lived in the same Base Housing, a few blocks away. We joined the Club together. Since I could sew, I ended up making several original series shirts for club members. I wore a gold shirt with the emblem, like pictured, with black p...

  I wish you all a Merry Christmas & Very Happy New Year with this, the best rendition of "You're A Mean One, Mr Grinch," I've ever heard--by Small Town Titans!  Turn up the volume, sit back & enjoy! See you in 2023!

Today's centerpiece garden photo is my flowering Holly Tree! It's always bloomed a little, but this year the bloom is massive! Every branch thick with white flowers1 Those will turn into green berries (you can see some) that will turn red. If I keep watch, maybe I can get a good shot of lots of it full of red berries! (they're edible for birds, so we'll see.) Here's a closer view of one branch loaded with blossoms! Even more interesting is the sheer number of Lady Bugs, flies, Bumbles, wasps and assorted other sorts of bees it's attracting! I've never seen so many Lady Bugs!  (Yellow with black spots) Here's two on one branch. I've always wanted a way to attract them to my garden as they are considered a beneficial insects as they eat other insects. Both the red and yellow Lady Bugs are common in Florida.

 Instead of outside today, I'm going to show you my inside Christmas decorations. For the glow of Christmas lights, I have this wreath I bought and decorated some years ago with M&M lights and decorations.  I still like to put out my "Penguin Village," I call it.  I arrange white batting as "drifts of snow" and arrange my penguin ornaments in the folds. I arranged a couple Penguins with this Holiday card as well.

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! I ordered a grocery store turkey & sides, but was disappointed in most of the sides. Just one Garden Pic today: Chinese Forget-Me-Knots They are such a pretty blue! I have two plants that grew from the Dollar Tree pack of Butterfly Flower Seed I randomly planted back in August. I had one before and they don't mind the Florida winter. I hope these with leave seed behind, so more will come up in spring!