Our daily dose of JOY!

17 Dec '06 9:06 am

I'm still in an I-Love-Pink mood - so I like the false petunia flower. What a beauty! Could I ask exactly how big - is it exactly a real petunia size? That's a real normal petunia, not those silly little ones where all the flowers get lost in a sea of straggling foliage.

18 Dec '06 11:01 pm

Thanks for responding, dear friends! Very Happy

Liza: We adore orchids, especially these hardy and easy-care non-stop flowering dendrobiums! Smile

We too had these lovely tiny moss roses you mentioned but stopped planting them because they ‘sleep’ too soon before I could get to view them in the evenings when I returned from office (those years before retirement). However, this single-petal white portulaca measuring about 2-2¼ ins., though delicate blooms for a full day, sometimes till the next morning and I love its purity and softness! We have another shade in dark pink and it’s as lovely! These are of course newer when compared with the tiny ones but have been in the market for quite many years now.

Bambi: I know that feeling; Wink

go treat yourself or ask hubby to present you one for Christmas!

Moosey: This lovely false/Mexican petunia flower is about 2-2¼ ins. across, and the plant blooms profusely. They’re great for filling spaces and I love them because they self-propagate, besides adding colour to our garden. Wink

However flowers are very fragile and easily drop and litter on its foliage, so some extra clearing task here! Rolling Eyes

Flowers are good for half a day only. Some plant profile here http://www.floridata.com/ref/R/ruellia.cfm

18 Jan '07 9:23 pm

Sharing here are some more of our garden delights from our front yard, especially for our winter friends. Wink

Enjoy please! Very Happy

19 Jan '07 12:01 am

Why, I had missed your exotic lovelies, Jacqueline! What bright , vivid colours , what really healthy and happy plants! While the noisy, crazy storm is in full action outside, torturing my babies, my heart is tasting my.... daily dose of joy, just to calm down and be happy again! Oh, I am so really grateful, my good friend!

19 Jan '07 3:03 am

I agree with our Liza there: the wind is blowing a gale (I just went down the road to the bank and came back inside-out!!) and it's been pouring with rain virtually all day, but I log on here and what do I see, but a wonderful display of exotic and vibrant plants!! Thank you so much, dear Jaqueline! Very Happy

19 Jan '07 3:34 am

Nice to hear from you again and see your lovely plants. Yesterday Today and Tomorrow is my favourite scented plant. At my apartment in Johannesburg there was a huge central courtyard area from which all the entrances radiated. It was a suntrap and the scent from 6 or 10 large bushes in spring was very uplifting! Unfortunately it gets frosted to the ground each year on the farm, but I have one in a pot now which I keep indoors in winter because I don't want to miss that scent! Hopefully next spring...

Your abutilon is another flower I am very fond of, and which grows beautifully for me without any fuss whatsoever: I have it with "The Prince" (a wine red David Austin rose) and Prunus nigra which has wine red leaves, so the browny reds show up beautifully. Your photo is an excellent one, capturing the delicate charm of the plant beautifully!

Lantana camara is a noxious weed in South Africa and must by law be destroyed - no matter how lovely it is, I hate it, because it is a symbol of decay and neglect here. Even the sterile hybrids in white, yellow or mauve I could never plant because I have such negative associations.

19 Jan '07 4:23 am

What an apt name for this thread. Jaqueline, your beautiful exotic plants did provide that for me today. I am more fortunate than Liza and Bambi in that my garden was spared the horrible ice storm that swept through parts of the mid-west and south this week. We only had a few sleet showers last night which were very short-lived. It was very nice, however, to see your beauties from a warm climate while everything here is very gray today.

19 Jan '07 6:11 am

Thank you Jacqueline - You do look after your plants so well -they are absolutely beautiful - I love them all ,especially the ferns .
In Australia I noticed whole hillsides covered with lantana ,and they told me it was a noxious weed there too.
Dixie.

19 Jan '07 11:36 am

Your plants are gorgeous! Smile

We used to grow Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow at the old place but I must confess that after flowering the plant didn't do much for me.
It probably didn't help where I had it, covered with weeds. Embarassed

19 Jan '07 10:14 pm

My dear friends – Liza, Bambi, Jack, Faith, Dixie and Anna...Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments. Hope all winter friends will get to enjoy better weather soonest! I’m so happy that these tropical beauties delighted you so and brought joy to your day! Very Happy

Likewise your beautiful plants/flowers trigger the same feelings in me. Frankly, sharing all my garden pics here and at Flickr gives me so much pleasure as I get to admire them too Very Happy

over and over again as I crop (or tweak a little Wink

), resize and frame for web viewing!

Dear Jack, I’m sure that lone Y-T-T plant would survive and intoxicate you with its scent next spring...they’re really hardy (can withstand severe pruning) and fast growing, aren’t they! My Abutilon, on the other hand is quite problematic and frequently gets infested with mealy bugs! So, we’ve trimmed down hard on 3 of our 4 plants and daily keep a watch on this last one with the least infestation! Same problem also encountered with the Lantana camara – so it’s an on and off love affair with this plant...get rid of it when infested...then months later when all's forgotten, buy again when charmed by its beauty at the nurseries.... Laughing

Aha...Dixie...I know you have a soft spot for ferns and foliage as seen in your beautiful Fairy garden! That's why I've included them here, especially for you! Wink

Our daily dose of JOY!

Pink False Petunia

More flowers and foliage plants!

Hallo Jacqueline!

Daily dose of joy

Thank you

Thank you all!!