Greetings from Sunny Central Florida!
While I don't have a card share today, I do have glimpses of my "back yard". We live rurally in central Florida. Ordinarily it does freeze here, but we experienced fewer freezes than normal, and warmer than usual temperatures most of the Winter.
Hence, my Geraniums did pretty well, despite being covered during frosty nights.
The photos are befores-and-afters. The before photos are during an overcast rainy day.
The after photos are the same flowers the day after, when the sun was shining his brightest!
Does anyone know the name of the pink flowering shrub? It is huge, despite the fact that I prune it often. The leaves fall off in May, and return the same week. They are a dark-green-to-burgundy color once in June until the first freeze when they return to a drab green.
Now the important stuff - our WINNER! The prize is a Limited Edition clear stamp set from Papertrey ink, featuring 24 images. It is called "The Round and Round" stamp set.
This month, participating commenters had more than one opportunity to play, giving them more chances to win (so some of your names were entered multiple times):
Silvis Kreativstube
Carol (Gingerbeary8)
Shona Erlenborn
Dawn
Wendy H
Ivana Camdzic
Sian Ridley
Glenda Atkins
Leslie Miller
Glo
Sandy Cimbaro
Karen - Stamping in Pink
Amy#8546
Julie Z
Cammy404
Patricia Davis
Berni Cuttino
Anne-Marie
Sue from Oregon
Stampsnob (Lis)
Leslie Miller
Cheryl
Verna Angerhofer
NanaConnie
Sandye (scg)
Dawn Lancaster
Sandye (scg)
Dawn Lancaster
And the winner is...
Julie Z of
Congratulations, Julie!
I hope you will enjoy this beautiful stamp set.
Thanks to all of you, followers and non-followers.
May's blog candy will soon be revealed.
Stamping Hugs,
32 comments:
Such beautiful pictures of the lovely spring and summer blooms Donna,sadly we are a long way off here in the UK still. That said it has been sunny today so very welcome.
Thanks for sharing.
B x
Donna
I am moving in with you ha ha ha
such a lovely garden i can see us sitting sitting there having a glass or two of wine ummmmmm
The shrub looks like an Acer Family to me of what i can see ,but please let us no when you find out .
Big Hugs M xxxx
A wonderful burst of colour Donna.
Thank you for sharing such gorgeous photos.
Well done to your candy winner
hugs Sue xx
wow what a great back yard Donna with gorgeous flowers.
greetings karin
Your flowers are spectacular. I wish I had just a small part of your green thumb!
What a gorgeous view outside your window to see all those lovely colors. We have a long ways to go before we see any flowers. Not even shooting leaves on the trees yet here.
Thanks for sharing your gorgeous photos Donna - that will be here in NJ before I know it. I think you may have a Chinese Fringe Flower (Loropetalum) on your hands! Whatever it is it's beautiful and I want a cutting!
Congratulations to the lucky winner.
I'm currently in Central Florida myself and we've driven from Sarasota east to Davenport (on the 64) and through TORRENTIAL rain - hope the weather will soon return to the lovely weather as shown in your beautiful photos
You heading to the Gaylord on Friday/ Saturday for the scrap and stamp expo?
Kathyk
Congratulations to the lucky winner.
I'm currently in Central Florida myself and we've driven from Sarasota east to Davenport (on the 64) and through TORRENTIAL rain - hope the weather will soon return to the lovely weather as shown in your beautiful photos
You heading to the Gaylord on Friday/ Saturday for the scrap and stamp expo?
Kathyk
Spring finally happened while I was away in Virfginia! I came back to a blaze of glory! Your flowers are beautiful!
Wow, what a beautiful view, so perfect to enjoy with your breakfast.
Hugs
The flowers are all so beautiful Donna, I love the Geraniums
Kevin xx
Congratz to Julia! Love your flowery back yard, Donna, and I wish I knew the name of your pink flowering bush. I'd order one from my local nursery! :-D
Donna, your flowers are stunning! it will be June here in NY before ours will look that beautiful. The bush is really gorgeous. And that it continues to bloom, WOW!
Congrats to your winner. As a previous winner I can tell them they are in for a gorgeous gift!
Thanks for your visit tonight and peek in tomorrow, I used one of the butterfly stamps you sent me on a card and it turned out lovely.
Thanks for sharing a touch of Spring!
Hugs
Sue
Oh my! What a wonderful surprise~ Thank you so much Donna!!
And thanks for sharing your beautiful flowers!! Not only did enjoy your gorgeous photos, but I love it when bloggers share a little bit of their everyday life. Brings us all a little closer ;-)!
Thanks again for the wonderful prize. Hugs!
Gorgeous pics De, will come visit you one day on our journey into the future....must have missed this candy too...:( luv annie
Donna, you have such a beautiful garden. So gorgeous flowers you have. Thank you for sharing. Trees in here are still naked so it's so nice to see at least some part of the world they are green :)
Hugs
Eret
Congrats to the lucky winner.
And Donna, thanks for sharing these brilliant pics. Oh how beautiful are these flowers. Just so lovely... How blessed you are to live in Florida. I have been there twice some years ago. We had taken my older one to Disney.
By the way, strawberries do grow in Indonesia - the small natural looking variety with no GMO (I hope). But sadly they are not always at their freshest best because of the poor distribution system. We do get imported ones which are very expensive and I have heard that much chemical goes into them to keep them fresh.
Much love,
Monica
Wow, that looks gorgeous, Donna. Is that a pool as well? The plants look fantastic. I'll have to show them to my other half. He'll be green with envy too11 LOL! Wendy xx
Beautiful! Unfortunately, I have black thumb LOL.... Florida really helped me out with that - it's easy to grow stuff there with all the humidity and rain.... your pool looks inviting - miss mine :(
Donna your flowers look gorgeous. Wow I love the pink geraniums. I was looking at your backyard pictures and it reminded me of our friend's house in Ocala Florida. I love living in the South as everything grows so lush. Thanks for sharing a piece of your home with us.
Bear Hugs,
Carol
I am so jealous! Everything is so green and your flowers are so pretty. The last remnants of snow finally vanished from our backyard yesterday and only a few trees and shrubs have any signs of little buds starting. The grass is starting to come back to life in patches and I wouldn't dare plant anything for at least a couple more weeks for fear the overnight frost would claim it. But it is warmer, so I'm very happy for that! :)
Congratulations to Julie!
Hugs, Dawn
Hi Donna, Thanks for sharing your beautiful photography. I'm envious of the flowers & greenery around you, enjoy ! The mystery shrub is gorgeous. Take good care, Shirleyxx
Your flowers are gorgeous. I always think of my Mom when I see geraniums-she grows so many! We used to be able to buy these gorgeous double plants a long time ago...miss our plant nursery sniff sniff. Living in a small town the choices are limited now. The pink bush is sooo pretty, looks like Bleeding Heart, but I did not know them to get that big...thanks for the garden tour this morning!
Your geraniums look beautiful! I've seen them grow quite large when they overwinter a few years. Funny to think that plants that are annuals in one place are perennials in another. The pink flowering bush looks something like Witch Hazel, also called Fringe Flower. I'm not certain, though. Spring sure made its presence known here on the Oregon coast this weekend. It was gorgeous!
Wow.... Beautiful photos. All those flowers are Gorgeous. I am so glad everything is finally starting to bloom. I love spring and all the beauty it has for us. Congratulations To Julie Z too. I am sure she is excited and will enjoy playing with the stamp set.
HUGS
Oh my DE, outstanding header so perfect for Spring. Your photography is eye catching and beautiful. Simply gorgeous. Can you send of your beautiful garden my way to enjoy too.
Hugs
Ahhhh what can I say...... gorgeous garden!.... I can't wait for the summer, I just love to see my garden full of flowers, I just hope that mine will look as beautiful as yours :)
You must spend so much time on yours x
Thank you for sharing :)
Nikki x
Oh My Goodness Donna, your garden is heaven sent!! You are truly blessed in many ways my friend - it must be amazing looking out at that every day. thank you for sharing with us.
Hugs!
Audrey
Ohhh my wow sweetie.... Your backyard is OFF THE CHARTS! You lucky girl!! Thanks for the delightful message you just left on my blog sweets.... your a peach!!!
Rina
Just had to comment on your gorgeous blooms in this post! Beautiful!
Donna, I haven't read all of the responses, but your pink flowering shrub is a Lorepetalum, more commonly known as Chinese Fringe Flower. Some cultivars have red foliage, others have green. I have several of my own and LOVE their red foliage and bright pink spring blooms, though the shrubs that are in sun tend to fade to green when the weather gets too hot as they like at least some shade during the day. They are durable, tough customers and such an asset to any landscape. You have a fabulous backyard!
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