Flowers!

It finally rained last night. We got quite a lot too. Boy did we ever need it! So this morning when I got up, all the flowers in the yard were very happy. I grabbed the camera and started snapping pictures.

First is a "Black Trumpet Vine". I don't know why they call it black because it's purple. And it's one of my favorite blooms! My bank manager saved me some seeds after I raved over pictures of her vines. These are about 3 years old.



Next is my beautiful Bougainveilla. They grow wild here and this one was HUGE before Hurricane Wilma nearly destroyed it. I was very happy to see it come back.


I absolutely LOVE orchids of all kinds. This is one of my smaller ones in a pot on my front porch.


Did you know that Hibiscus is the Chinese word for rose? And did you also know that the blooms only last one day? AND if you cut them off the branch they die very quickly! This one's in my back yard.


This is a bloom on a tree. It was here when we moved in and I've never figured out what it is. I know it's not a magnolia, but that's about all I know. The flowers sure are pretty though!


Plumeria is used a lot of places here as a hedge. This one's in our front yard around the Black Olive tree.


Another plant used here for landscaping. They grow tall and thin, but I love the purple flowers!


This is a Shamrock. A client gave Steve a cutting many years ago and I put it in a little pot and sat it on my kitchen windowsill. The lady told him that if you put it in a yard, it's like a weed and will take over. But it's done fine in my little pot all these years!


Another of my fav flowers in my yard. The Trumpet Vine. Supposedly people roll them up and smoke the flowers, but they can be quite posionous. I dunno. I just love their ethereal beauty!


This is one of my first Orchids. I bought a couple of plants for $10 at Home Depot about 10 years ago for our little apartment. When we moved here 8 years ago I put them in a big pot on the front porch and they've really grown a LOT! You can't see this one very well because it's growing around the new white posts, but it's still pretty!


Hope you've enjoyed my little photo show! If you know what any of these are, let me know! I'm a pretty challenged gardener - if I can't just plop it in the ground and water it once in awhile, it's in trouble! :)