Washington Oaks Gardens ~ A Little Piece of Paradise

I really enjoyed my walk through this park, but would recommend going in the spring, fall, or a nice winter day. NOT in the middle of a hot humid Florida summer! At least the gardens area...there was a nice breeze on the beach, and there's enough beach to set up a canopy. I will take one of my sun shades next time.

I'm only going to give you a glimpse of the gardens, as I didn't take photos of every copse of trees, or every grouping of plants....or the rose garden.

The entrance and property was once the private winter residence of The Young's, and was along the original A1A.

I love when natural elements are used in landscaping and building(s).

These came from the nearby beach.

Unfortunately I cut off some of the words.

One of my favorite things was this staghorn fern.

It was ENORMOUS!

There were several around the park just like this!

These are the feet. This plant propagates by growing a new one, called a pup. I would love to have a big staghorn!

Another thing that made me say WOW, was this palm growing in an old oak tree.

Nature!

The Koi Pond was another favorite~

These fish are big! There were a few big catfish in here, too.

Bamboo, many types of ferns & palms, tropical plants, and flowers are everywhere.

  Bananas!

This is Plumbago in front, and some type of Ginger or Canna's behind. Guess I need to go back and see for sure lol.

When you reach the end of the pathway, you are at the river/inlet.

I wanted to get down there, but it was blocked off. There were rocks covered with shells!

Probably would have hurt myself anyway, rofl!

Down the other side, people were fishing, and boats would go by.

We left from here, and made a beeline to the beach!

Paradise Cove

Welcome to Paradise Cove, my little inland hide away :)

We got rid of the azaleas and replaced them with tropical plants. We have Red Sister Tai Marginella's, Crotons, and Umbrella plants. That tomato plant is still going nuts around the mermaid by the front door!

My asparagus ferns made it through the winter! Sorry for the blur..don't know what's up with this pic.

I cut down this side of it...it was spilling all over the walkway, and this thing has thorns!

That rusty thing is part of an old torpedo from the Navy in Washington DC. I had a friend whose dad worked there. I've been packing this thing around for nearly 30 years! I love it!

Hubby built this lighthouse many years ago out of buckets, chicken wire, and concrete mix. It could use a new paint job.

This mixture of variegated and colorful plants has made such a nice change!

We had to buy a new Palm to replace the one by the pond. Notice how much smaller it is?

I have my 'children playing & shelling' statues around the palm and pond.

Love his little dive mask and bucket of shells at his feet! Sweet!

Here they are together playing on an innertube...you can barely see it for all my shells lol.
These were a Mother's Day gift years ago.

The more weathered this gets the more I like it :)

If I don't like you, I'll tie this anchor to your ankle and toss you in the sea! LOL just kidding...
but if I like you I'll toss you a life preserver! hahahaha Not that it would help hehehehe it's wood.

You've seen this area from a close up view. Remember the gargoyle around Halloween?

I really like pretty things, and especially tropical blooming plants. This pink Mandevilla is going to be gorgeous climbing up the rope ladder I'm hanging here! This driftwood log came from Daytona after Sandy went by last year. I found a bunch of coconuts, too. They're in the house :)

One more thing we added to the front yard!

I have been trying to grow a palm tree in this spot for 10 years :(
This year I went with a beautiful Peach Hibiscus Twisted Topiary :D

This is a better picture of it.

It is LOADED with buds!!!!!!!

The grass will be green soon :) I can't wait!

And that is just the front yard. We worked on three sides of the house, and I did a little out back....and did some new stuff out in the screenroom (All of that in 2 days!) And I did do SOME playing will shells while I was sick....I just didn't make jewelry with them!

So, I still have pics of our new tomato garden, and Fern Gully. When everything is all filled in and growing well in a couple of months we will do the tour again....if it's as lovely as I am dreaming of, then I will have to share it :D

So stay tuned! I have a few more things to plant, and I'll finish knocking my photos down to size and be back as soon as I can!

Today I'm going to continue my search for replacement cushions for my wicker set. I have looked nearly everywhere...I just may be making them :( but I don't want to. I have a bone to pick with Martha Stewart for not continuing her line of cushions that go with her line of wicker furniture....unless I am mistaken and you know where I can get them????!!!!

It's so good to be back :) I missed ya'll!!!

Red & Green

Yesterday while taking a break, I decided to stretch my legs and take a walk around the yard. Not the WHOLE yard, just the front/side yards.

A few weeks ago, maybe 3, I noticed a TOMATO plant growing by the front door next to the mermaid and the pond! A little volunteer!

I decided to leave it and just see what happens. It has had blooms on it for a week or so, and yesterday I noticed it has some lil' maters on it :)

It looks like we have some Roma's! About the only time I use Roma's is for fresh salsa, so someone, maybe me, spit a seed out walking by the pond. I just may start spitting all kinds of seeds all over the place! (That extension cord is not plugged into the outlet...it was for my pumpkins) I should have tomatoes by Christmas, or maybe even Thanksgiving :D

What drew me outside in the first place was gazing at my poinsettia for most of the day from my craft room. It is getting more colorful.

This is the one I see from my chair! It leans and sways and is perfectly in my line of vision.

The leaves are looking a bit raggedy though from all the wind we had from Sandy.

So tall!

I sure hope it makes it to full bloom!

The other side doesn't get much sun since the maple tree got so huge, so isn't even showing red yet. Did you know that a poinsettia starts changing and getting red when the days are shorter and nights are longer? To get them to the beautiful specimens you see in the stores, they force the blooms by cutting their daylight and forcing darkness upon them early. It takes bright sunlight, and 12 hours of darkness at least 5 days in a row to turn them colors. I would love to have one of each color growing alongside the house!

It's time to put my photographer hat on. I am waaaaaaaaay behind on listings! I would also have somethings to post about if I would just take some pics! I still have to set up my lightbox and lights every time I do a photo session. I would love a permanent set up! If I could just find the space....near an outlet.

Goofing Off

Okay, so I really should be working on my barrette display., and double checking my list, right?
yes I should!  But I really just want a few minutes to chill, and say hi to you all....and show ya some things.

Like...Danni asked to see one of my shell barrettes in my hair...and I'm pretty sure Kim asked me a long time ago. Last Friday or Saturday when hubby was getting the boat ready, I was outside trying (failing) to take a pic of the back of my head. He came over and took it for me :)

I'll try to get a pic each time I wear one of them, or do a different style with my shell barrettes. I'll see if we can get one of the full length, too. It's getting pretty long!

While outside, I noticed some plants blooming.

This is a type of Ginger Lily, called a Pinecone Lily. It's also called a shampoo lily, or shampoo plant. This is where awapuhi comes from! You know, that amazing smelling Paul Mitchel shampoo. I haven't bought it for years, but I used to.

This is what they look like when they first start to bloom, before they turn red.

Such a pretty little flower!

One day last week, it must have been Saturday morning...maybe? Hubby had me come out and see the mushrooms growing in the front flower bed by the pond.

When Shae changed her room, her gargoyles went in the flower bed. I think they look cool here...

especially with those mushrooms making it look all medieval forest-y.

We've had some good rains this year, and my poinsettia is about as high as an elephants eye!

Maybe THIS year will be the year I get my family picture in front of it in full bloom. (I say this every year!) Fingers crossed for NO FREEZES before then. It still has a couple of months to grow, too!

Okay, it's back to work! The more I do BEFORE Friday, the less I have to do ON Friday to be ready Saturday!

It's nice to take a breather once in a while :D