A Little of March before it leaves to let April in..........

The month of March is almost gone and I'm wondering if it seems to you like me, it went so fast it seems like it wasn't even here!  Maybe it is because I have been really busy this month.  Obviously not busy doing blog posts! Trying to play catch up again!

One activity was attending my friend's annual "Spring Fling" which is always a highlight of this time of the year.

I don't always, and it is not a requirement, but this was a year that I managed to put together little gifts to take for everyone.

 

Just before the event I found these little spring-looking birds on sale at Michaels.  Exactly eight, the amount I needed. I regret not taking a picture of the chocolate dipped Oreo in the tiny white bag.  They were found at Home Goods and were decorated cute with a spring theme. I already had the little bags waiting for such a time as this.

 

 

I made little tags with a rubber stamp.  You can see an intricate piece of trim glued across the bottom. I had that in my stash already too and also the ribbon trim at the top.  The pretty clothespins used to clip on the tags were in one of Michael's bins. I already had the tiny pearl to use for the bunny tail.

 

 

This little paper butterfly was a bought-ahead, again from Michaels.

 

 

 

 

When you have eight of a thing all lined up it always seems like more than it really is. But, women are just little girls at heart and I think every one of us likes to receive little surprises.

 

 

Now, to start a new subject.  Anyone that has followed me long knows that I like to do vignettes of three or more things.  This one was on my kitchen island until it was time to get out things a bit more spring looking. I moved them a little closer together to do the photographs.

 

 

 

Now that I am showing this I am thinking I may have already done that. Sorry if that's the case. There are always new people looking so hopefully they will enjoy.

 

 

It's fresh rosemary in the jar.  It lasted a long time and I changed the small amount of water about three times.

 

 

Moving on, this is also a purchase made when I got the birds.  There it sat, just one left at 40% off.  It is a small, perfect for a cupcake-size cake plate. I knew it would not be good to not bring it home with me!  Before I got out of the store, I thought of the perfect use for it.  One of my friends had just fallen and broke her kneecap into two pieces.  I decided to take it to her at the rehabilitation place.

 

 

 I stopped at Fresh Market and got this beautiful cupcake for the plate. I can tell you it was very good because I had to eat this one because I didn't get it delivered in a timely manner!

 

 

I assure you, she got one just as pretty and I hope it was just as tasty!

 

 

Now one more little thing and we will be finished for today.  One day I moved the leaves of my violet plant and noticed several blooms underneath.  I decided to make a "fresh cut" arrangement. 

 

 

 

It looked so cute in the tiny cut glass pitcher.

 

The white flowers are from one of my favorite herbs that I grow - Cilantro.

 

 

The little handle must be about an inch and a fourth long. Sometimes great things come in small packages!! I am aware of the overuse of the word "little" in this post but it is one all about little things so I decided not to go back and delete any of the "littles".

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Spring 2015 Has Officially Sprung.......

..........I have been working so many hours in the garden, trimming, raking, planting, pulling up ground cover, moving things around and more. While there are many things yet to do (isn't there always?) it is past time to show a little of it on here. We do have more spring-like happenings here in central Florida than you might think.

 

In the last few weeks the Bridal Wreath Spirea has gone from bare branches to green leaves and many buds and a few open flowers.  Two weeks from now it will be almost a white bush.

 

 

I love the tiny buds and clusters of small flowers.

 

 

A seldom noticed shooting forth of spring. 

 

 

This Tillandsia (air plant) fell out of a tall tree about two years ago and I put it here in the almond Aloysia tree.  It was much smaller but has grown and recently sent forth the long green shoot. Actually I think they do this at other times of the year too but it has the look of spring.

 

 

This ginger plant looks the same year round but it is here in an area where I recently did many hours of cleaning.  The last post was quite colorless so I am including it here to provide more color.

 

 

It certainly does that.

 

 

 

Just a little to the left a small portion of the much cleaner looking area. The big area had gotten too thick with plants and also lots of leaves and some small debris that had fallen from trees.

 

 

 

 

And, continuing on to the left I uncovered this bromeliad.

 

 

And, this one.

 

 

And, another kind, none of which were visible before.

 

 

One more.  Bromeliads have never been a favorite of mine but they do put some color into shady places.

 

 

I was beginning to wonder if the crepe myrtle that I moved from a pot into the ground in the fall was dead. They are deciduous and this one was a slender trunk about seven feet tall with no leaves. This one low branch became green and then..... 

 

......... the very top two feet started sprouting leaves. 

 

 

This Easter cactus is right on time - should be blooming full by Easter.  It is amazing to me that the Christmas ones bloom for Christmas and this one at Easter. They are all here in pots outside. Treated exactly the same way in the same environment! No buds on the two Christmas ones.

 

 

I happened to look up this week and noticed the aforementioned almond tree is full of blooms.

 

 

They smell so good.

 

 

I have periwinkles, two shades of pink and these white ones, blooming most of the year. I love the white ones best. I let them live wherever they come up.

 

 

And last for this post - a potted basil plant with blooms worthy of a photograph.

 

 

 

 

O. K. one more picture. I have a good bit of moss, green and Spanish, lichen and see a few wild mushrooms from time to time.  I may do another post on just these a little later.

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The Unfurling of Spring.......

   Spring really has unfurled in Florida. Actually it has looked spring-like for awhile now. Our trees leafed out long ago, starting with those bright, light green leaves and other things have followed right along.  My garden escaped without any frost/freeze damage - always so thankful for that.  This post is loaded down with pictures. It's so hard to hold back when I have so many. I am not going to say much more. In fact, this could almost qualify for a Wordless Wednesday post.

 

It is less than two weeks away from Spring officially arriving.  My blue-eyed grass has been blooming for about three weeks. The little yellow sprig is bulbine.

 

 

 

The blossoms are so tiny but I love them.

 

 

A lot of unfurling (literally) has been going on in the thickets of ferns.

 

 

 

These are wild, woods ferns that come up in my yard where they don't have a snowball's chance of looking good through the summer.

 

 

It's neat how the leaves are born.

 

 

This is in the center of my smallest bird's nest fern. A different-looking unfurling.

 

 

 

 

And, the giant Macho ferns.

 

 

These plants are getting about as tall as I am. And, have spread into big areas.  I enjoy the back shady yard more with them here.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh how I wish I could claim this picture but, no, it is a borrowed one. I seldom use other people's photos and will always tell you when I do. Isn't he the cutest!!!

 

 

 

I actually have a lot of plants blooming but will save most of those for other posts since you see them most of the year.  This is larkspur.

 

 

 

 

I am so glad to see Wendy's Wish blooming again.  This is what the hummingbirds like most in my yard.

 

 

 

A patch of Crocosmia. I have patches of these several places in the backyard. Like the Blue-eyed Grass they are tiny but make a big statement.

 

 

 

 

I just finished trimming the rose bushes back but several kinds are already blooming.

 

 

I rarely get a picture of Peggy Martin without having a bit of purple Tibouchina peeping in. This is the rose that develops into big clusters.

 

 

LESS THAN TWO WEEKS TO GO!

I  ended up saying more than planned but I did eliminate a few pictures.

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