trick or treat? OMG! I've been nominated!

Say what? I discovered I was nominated for the beautiful blog award by a blogger I admire who calls himself the "Nitty Gritty Dirt Man" Check him out at http://nittygrittydirtman.wordpress.com/. Thank you Kevin.

So the first thing I wondered is... i Just what happens next?......I  learned that the nod from my benefactor was indeed the honor and I was one of 14 others.

Then I learned of my new responsibility!  Oh yes, and that was to  list 7 things about myself  (could  I be possibly interesting enough?)  and to pick of all my favorite bloggers to nominate!...

What makes a great blog?? Large beautiful pictures, interesting thoughts (insights,  experiences, poetry, humor, a good layout, maybe some artwork by the poster and varied types of posts.(ie tours of other gardens). I have a low attention span so I don't read wordy blogs with a lot of technical information (all worthwhile to be sure). To me,the best bloggers are those who give of themselves and are open and I really like the ones who comment!

First up ,about me

1. I love Thai food and have been to Thailand during the Water Festival
2. I love elephants, been "kissed" by a baby and bathed the adults at the Elephant Nature Park.
3. I raised a squirrel named Freddie and racoons named Fred and Ethel
4. I caught a "wrist strong band" on the Stephen Colbert show taping and went to :the Rally to   Restore Sanity/Keep  Fear Alive
5. I swam on the barrier reef with Wally the Maori Wasse (a huge friendly fish)
6. I saw the latest Pope in a car after we did the Scavi tour under the Vatican
7.Once sat next to James Carville  in business class from Heathrow.
extra....I played the french horn

PICKING IS HARD!

Now to nominate.....

1.Through the Sapphire Sky..... http://through-the-sapphire-sky.blogspot.com/
2.A Tidewater Gardener....http://atidewatergardener.blogspot.com/..great photos
3.The Anxious Gardener....http://theanxiousgardener.com
4.Tales from my Garden...http://talesfrommygarden.blogspot.com/..just beautiful
5 My Weeds are Very Sorry!.....http://laurries.blogspot.com/....very clever indeed!
6.The Iris and the Lily..   ...http://theirisandthelily.wordpress.com/...stunning photos
7.Gatsys Gardens.....http://gatsbysgardens.blogspot.com/
8.The British Gardener......http://www.thebritishgardener.com/
9. Three Dogs in a Garden....http://threedogsinagarden.blogspot.com/
10 Amateur Bot-ann-ist....http://seedcollector.blogspot.com/
11 Fortrum Gardens   .....http://deanneart.blogspot.com/
12.A Southern Eden......http://asoutherneden.blogspot.com/
13.A Plant Fanatic in Hawaii..... http://aplantfanatic.blogspot.com/
14 A Gardener in Progress....http://agardenerinprogress.blogspot.com/


Well I am sure I have overlooked a real favorite... and some great site. but some gardeners are award free and others maybe awarded enough already...I just really just got tired of agonizing... hahaha   There you have it!

restoring fear with my  ?

Award winning carving!

 

                                          Happy Halloween !!!

Boktoberfest

   Bok Tower Gardens is a botanical garden and bird sanctuary, located in Lake Wales,Central Florida. It consists of a 250 acre garden,a 205-foot Singing Tower with its carillon bells, and a visitor center. The tower is built upon Iron Mountain, a high point in Florida at 295 feet above sea level. It is a National Historic Landmark.

   In 1921, Dutch immigrant Edward  Bok, editor of the Ladys Home Journal, and his wife were spending winters in the Lake Wales area and decided to create a bird sanctuary on its highest hill. Bok commissioned noted landscape architect Frederick L. Olmsted, Jr. to transform what was then the sand hill into an amazing garden. The first year was spent digging trenches and laying pipes for irrigation. After which,soil was brought to the site by the truck loads and the plantings began. The plan included the planting of 1,000 large live oaks, 10,000 azaleas,100 Sabal palms,300 magnolias, and 500 gordonias (camelias etc,), as well as hundreds of shrubs including blueberry and holly. And currently includes perennials,orchids and bromiliads and many other tropicals.  And annually they hold an event called Boktoberfest.
There is the  plant sale with vendors and wholesalers from all over the region. And that makes me happy!

ooohhhhlala!

 DH wanted this one, too "dangerous"

Wercklea ferox~~Spiny Hibiscus

My heart skipped because I am entranced by ferns I've never seen!!! Does anybody hyperventilate like me??

  With the temperatures at an ideal level,  the shopping commenced. Then, our plants safely in the holding area, we toured the garden and listened to the bells!  A great day for this gardener!

Three colors of peppers on this bush!

           

   The Singing Tower is the centerpiece of the gardens. The tower was built  south of the reflection pool that allows the water to reflect its full image. A 60-bell carillon is set within the 205-foot tall, Gothic Revival/Art Deco tower that includes sculptures set in its sides.  It is built of pink and gray marble, and Florida  coquina stone, from Daytona Beach. The tower is surrounded  moat /Koi pond. The tower's interior contains largest carillon library in the world. Inside the bell chamber is a playing room that houses a clavier, or keyboard, that is used for playing the  bells. Recitals are given daily.

These beauties cam home with me

                                                                                                                                                     

things that fly...(flutterbys and hoverbugs)

The beginning of fall in Florida is barely perceptible. It may be a slight drop in humidity or slightly lower temperatures in the morning.Our maples turn orange later on in the year. But the acorns start falling now and stain our driveways. We may have a few days when we open the windows and turn off the air. We love that! We can go outside and lie in the hammock or sit in the shade....but it still to hot to stand or work in the sun in midday.

I had a new friend over for a garden tour and fed her lunch and ginger tea.She thought the garden was beautiful. Don't you love to share your sanctuary with others! ....I am sprucing up the garden for family that will visit in November. Thinking of you all and your lovely leaves and crisp sweater weather...Enjoy each day and its beauty.

 

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Some things that fly there be - Emily Dickinson

Some things that fly there be --
Birds -- Hours -- the Bumblebee --
Of these no Elegy.

Some things that stay there be --
Grief -- Hills -- Eternity --
Nor this behooveth me.

There are that resting, rise.
Can I expound the skies?
How still the Riddle







This little guy flew into my breezeway and when I caught him he bit me....ouch

 

                                                

Can you see my hummer?

eden lost

Whether you believe in Eden as an allegory or a literal fact, it records the history of mankinds journey from hunter/gathers to to a community of cultivators. Thus civilization was born.  In Eden nature provided the fruits and hopefully the veggies and it was good.  However God  understood the nature of  man was not to be alone. It was essential to form the bonds of love,friendship, and community to insure survival, heath, success and happiness. With the birth of consciousness ( the symbolic "knowledge of good and evil") and language, so became began the story of how plants and animals became changed by our selection and genetic engineering . And so we cultivated larger, disease resistant produce with more yield and sometimes less taste and more beautiful and varied specimens of beauty!!   In doing so we lost our "in the now' innocent nature and became uniquely human..with fear and worry about our future crop,our land or our  lovely orchid! And we became territorial  with all the "human" traits such as envy, lies, selfishness, and hate.  In our fragmented modern world we have lost the  community that came from an agricultural society.  Many are isolated from the intimacies of nature and the emotional benefits of gardening. We have a mobile society and are isolated ,stressed and lonely..The ancients knew about the importance of cultivating the soul as well as the mind. 

In ancient Ireland, the human heart was never complete without the companionship of others.The “Anam Cara” was originally someone to whom you confessed, revealing the hidden intimacies of your life...In Celtic Spiritual tradition, it is believed that the soul radiates all about the physical body what some refer to as an aura. When you connect with another person and become completely open, honest and trusting with that individual, your two souls begin to flow together.  The Celtic Anam Chara cuts across  space, time, matter and even death. With the Anam Cara, you could share your innermost self, without the superficiality of wearing a mask or pretension. Do you have one?   For they can provide seeds and cuttings to enrich your life.

some kind of aloe

Crinum asiaticum-Spider Lily

Coleus

Brugmansia~Angels Trumpet

Clerodendrum quadriloculare--shooting star

Clerodendrum paniculatum~Pagoda plant

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