Happy Monday GPODers!
While February is the shortest month, for many of us in colder climates it can feel like the month that never ends. The excitement of the New Year has waned, and snow fall after snow fall becomes less like festive weather and more like tedious work. We feel spring slowly approaching, but that approach can feel like a torturous crawl. However, here on Garden Photo of the Day, the long final stretch of winter can still be filled with excitement and intrigue. There is always interest to be found, whether we’re reminiscing on past color, highlighting the beauty of quiet winter landscapes, or getting a taste of lusher gardens from warmer climates. Today, we have the latter, with Anne Eshelman showing off the color and life that can be found in her garden in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. With just two years in Florida after relocating from Michigan, Anne has learned a lot about gardening in this new climate and is enjoying the fruits of this learning process.
Good morning!
I love Fine Gardening and have subscribed to print and digital for many years. This time of year there are winter shots and retrospectives. So I wanted to send in some pictures of what is growing now in northeast Florida.
After more than 30 years of gardening in suburban Michigan in zone 6a, we relocated to Ponte Vedra Beach in coastal Jacksonville which is zone 9b. I miss my lush peonies, lilacs, daylilies, irises and lilies of the valley (Convallaria majalis, Zones 3–7). And I have had a lot to learn in the past 2 years here.
But here’s what is blooming in my garden in January! Some came with the house and were planted 20 years ago, so I don’t have details. These include purple Princess flower (Tibouchina urvilleana, Zones 9–11), white camellias, and many azaleas.
The ones I planted include pink camellia (Camellia japonica ‘Early Autumn’, Zones 7–9) (a lavender rose, formal double) blue plumbago (Plumbago auriculata, Zones 9–11), roses (True Bloom® True Sincerity landscape rose [Rosa ‘True Sincerity’, Zones 5–10] and Chrysler Imperial everblooming hybrid tea rose [R. ‘Chrysler Imperial’, Zones 6–10]) and blue salvia.
I included butterfly pictures on lantana I planted even though they have left town. We had monarchs for about 6 months, until after thanksgiving! It was fun for my grandchildren to see the real “Very Hungry Caterpillar”!
I’m eager to see what will grow this year and if I can attract more species of butterflies!
First, a close up of the wonderful pink camellias that Anne planted. From her description of “lavender rose, formal double blooms”, I’m guessing this is the variety Early Wonder® (C. japonica ‘Early Autumn’, Zones 7–9). If I’m correct, these beautiful blooms have been appearing in Anne’s garden since fall, a rare occurrence for Japanese camellias.
Next up is a plant that Anna inherited with her new home, the tropical Princess flower (Tibouchina urvilleana, Zones 9–11). Northern gardeners might have enjoyed this plant as an annual, or overwinter a potted specimen as a houseplant (it’s particularly lovely trained and pruned into a tree form). But in warmer locations it can be grown as a shrub where the evergreen foliage provides interest year-round.
Lastly, the photos Anne mentioned of a Gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) butterfly visiting her lantana plant. Gulf fritillary are also called the ‘Passion butterfly’ because the passionflower is a vital host plant for the species. However, it looks like Anne’s bright yellow lantana has caught its attention—meaning it may be a gold lantana (Lantana depressa, Zones 9–11), which is native to Florida and much loved by butterflies and other pollinators.
Another look at that beautiful butterfly enjoying the Florida sunshine and the bounty Anne has provided. A milkweed might be awaiting them in the background as well!
Thank you so much for this taste of color and warmth from your garden, Anne! As I look at a weather forecast heavy with snow this week in Connecticut, it is such a treat to see what is growing on the opposite end of the east coast, and it’s a lovely reminder of the color that awaits us in the months to come.
Do you garden in a warm or completely frost-free climate? Let’s trade snow snaps for flower photos! I’ll brave the inclement weather to take some photos of the quiet beauty in a fresh snowfall, and hope some of you will take a walk outside and capture some of the plants that are thriving right now. Then we’ll all be able to enjoy a taste of the many wonderful facets of nature. Follow the directions below to submit your photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
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To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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