Easter Flowers at Publix

Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida. My favorite supermarket is a Publix close to my home. Every holiday there are displays of flowers appropriate to the season. Today I’m sharing photos from my visit this last Thursday before Easter. Happy Easter everyone!

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Blue Skies & Spring Blossoms

Last year in my neighborhood I discovered a beautiful small tree with spring white blossoms. I shared it in a post on March 7th.  I talked to the home owner, and he didn’t know the name of the tree.  It  was a gift from his uncle a few years ago.  I studied the size, shape, and blossoms of the tree and I believe it is a large azalea grown as a tree.

 

Spectacular flower masses and colors, plant form, and evergreen foliage are among the reasons for the popularity of azaleas. Florida azaleas bloom from late February to early April, depending on cultivar and seasonal variation. Many azalea cultivars grow well in north and central Florida.

University of Florida 

 

This last week I’ve gone to see the tree’s blossoms 3 times. The skies are blue and the white blossoms are beautiful against the sky.

 

 

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Rhododendrons

Rhododendrons

North American native rhododendrons typically thrive in filtered sunlight and acidic soil, but modern varieties can tolerate a wider range of conditions.  It does best when planted in dappled shade on the north side of a building. Growing rhododendrons are happiest in a location protected from the wind and not under eves of a building. They thrive in growing zones 4 to 8.

 

 

 

I’ve wanted to have rhododendrons for several years but have never found them in local garden shops.  Here in central Florida, I know a few people who have planted azaleas which is in the rhododendron family, but my attempts to raise azaleas have failed.  These pretty photos are from a friend further north.  I thank you Carole for sharing them.

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