A few days ago I was waiting at my car for Vickie around 9:20 AM. It was a beautiful day. Unlike a few neighbors, none of my spring flowers are blooming yet. The sky was so beautiful and seemed to reach to the heavens. I had to snap a few photos trying to capture it.
Read MoreTag: hibiscus
My Favorite Flowers & Nature Photos From 2021
Monday we looked at the top posts of 2021 in terms of visitors and link party features. At the end of the first year of my little blog, I did a post of my favorite flowers from the year before. I included flowers in the garden or in a bouquet. If you’ve visited me before you probably know flowers are one of my great loves. Several years ago I also included a few nature shots, another great love. Today’s post is some of my favorites photos of flowers and nature from 2021. I hope I included some of yours too.
Peach Double Hibiscus & Periwinkle
I made a little bouquet of some tropical peach double hibiscus and a few white periwinkles from the yard. Remember I live in semi-tropical central Florida where I have flowers almost year round.
Pink Tropical Hibiscus
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, known colloquially as Chinese hibiscus, China rose, Hawaiian hibiscus, rose mallow and shoeblackplant, is a species of tropical hibiscus, a flowering plant in the Hibisceae group of the family Malvaceae. The biggest difference between tropical and hardy hibiscus is that tropical hibiscus is not hardy in zones lower than zone 9. Tropical hibiscus does not tolerate freezing temperatures and cannot survive more than brief periods of cold.
Bowl of Yellow Hibiscus
Tropical Hibiscus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis: Tropical hibiscus grows permanently in the landscape in warmer U.S. Dept of Agriculture zones 9 through 11, unless they are taken indoors in winter. Outdoors, one freeze – below 25 degrees Fahrenheit – will kill them A hibiscus flower usually has five petals (a single hibiscus).
I cut a few yellow hibiscus with leaves and put them in an antique sugar bowl. Even though September isn’t that different than summer here in central Florida, I am doing my own little nod to fall colors with yellow flowers and a beautiful antique container with a pattern in goldish brown with pastels.
Summer Flowers
Most of the plants in my Florida garden are tropical or semi-tropical. Even though our occasional freezes can damage and even kill tropical plants, they flourish much better than more temperature plants in my full sun yard. Most of my plants thrive in the hot sun and are easy to take care of.
New Yellow Tropical Hibiscus
Tropical Hibiscus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis: Tropical hibiscus grows permanently in the landscape in warmer U.S. Dept of Agriculture zones 9 through 11, unless they are taken indoors in winter. Outdoors, one freeze – below 25 degrees Fahrenheit – will kill them A hibiscus flower usually has five petals (a single hibiscus).
Recently I purchased four new tropical hibiscus plants. Two plants have bright, sunny yellow single hibiscus flowers which is a first for me.
Rain Brings Flowers
Late fall through late spring is the dry season here in central Florida. Some years we still have a decent amount of rain, but most years it is not often enough. My yard has some tropical plants, like tropical hibiscus, that with rain will burst into blooms year round. One such hibiscus is my peach double hibiscus. Most hibiscus are single hibiscus with 5 leaves. Thanks to modern cultivation techniques, some varieties can produce flowers with more than five petals – called “double hibiscus” – in a dazzling array of colors, sizes, and shapes. They grow in semi-tropical and tropical growing zones here in the U. S. (zones 9 to 11)