Six on Saturday – 3-9-2019

I uploaded a blog post earlier this week as I was leaving my Florida vacation and heading home to Oklahoma. Brad and I spent a week on the Florida coast. He was craving some heat and sunshine, and quite frankly, I just went along for the ride.  I didn’t really realize how much I needed the chance to relax and restore myself. We had slow days of nothingness. We ate. We drank. We read. We slept. We talked. We soaked up the sun. And we walked on the beach.  For the vast majority of time, we were disconnected from the internet and television. In reality, it was just what I needed.

From the gardening perspective, I’m craving spring. I didn’t post a Six on Saturday in all of February – mainly because I was thinking about spring and not taking the time to notice what’s happening in my yard right now. Florida’s landscape gave me just the motivational push I needed.  Flowers everywhere. Palm trees, of course. And a few unique plants you don’t readily find in Oklahoma. Please note that I am not even close to being a plant expert. I’m proud of myself for attempting to identify these items. If I got something wrong, I will graciously accept your corrections. And if you have a phone app that you recommend for plant identification – please share!

With that introduction, here are my Six on Saturday. Six things. In a garden. On a Saturday. Courtesy of Cocoa Beach, Florida.

  

1 – Seagrape. This plant stretches for yards and yards at a time. It provides a barrier to separate the beach from the road. And I would also imagine that it is helping prevent erosion by stabilizing the sand dunes.

2 – Beach Sunflower. It was difficult to get a photo of these flowers because of their location within the middle of a sand dune. I wanted to be respectful of the native environment, so I remained on the worn beach path and did the best I could to capture a photo.

3 – Mexican Petunia. I am always a sucker for purple flowers.

  

4 – Bougainvillea. We had these in red in our backyard in Arizona. I think the purple are nice as well.

5 – Crown of Thorns. I loved these miniature flowers and waxy leaves. But those thorny stems are definitely dangerous.

6 – Buttercup. I’m really least sure about this identification. Don’t those leaves look like they could be in the mint family?

Bonus Pics:

Birds of Paradise. Always a fan favorite.

Hibiscus. I couldn’t get a great shot as most were viewed as we were driving. I saw lots of beautiful colors. Red. Pink. Yellow. Orange. Gorgeous!

Cardboard Palm. This was basically growing as a shrub. I was surprised to see it identified as a palm.

Palm. I’m not sure what type, but it was standing at the hotel entrance in all its glory and I felt the need to include it here.

To see what other gardeners are highlighting this week, go to Six on Saturday and find the various links listed in the ‘comments’ section.

Enjoy your Saturday!