Happy Fourth of July

Wishing you a wonderful Independence Day holiday weekend without storms, yummy BBQ and many beautiful moments to save in your happy heart... :)
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Photo "Fourth of July old glory flag water drops" - courtesy of Steve took it

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More related stories on American Independence Day or Fourth of July:

• Meaning of Fourth of July
• Independence Day around the world

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After the rain

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New kid on the block

The first thing I've seen this morning when opening my bedroom window - such a pretty blooms, another Florida native plant I don't know the name of.

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More Hibiscus Magic

Yellow and red hibiscus in front of my house with all of their numerous, beautiful blooms never cease to fascinate me (it's pretty obvious from all of the photos I've been taking, isn't it?).

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Wildflower

Another wildflower that I don't know the name of - but it looks very pretty in my backyard!





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Dayflower

Ever since the rainy season started on June 1, we get some rain almost every single day. That's obviously what Dayflowers (Commelina erecta), also called Widow's Tears, like a lot. Because last year I was hardly able to catch a few throughout the growing season and this year they grow and bloom in abundance.

Every morning when I open the window in one of the rooms, facing north, I notice new blooms that simply glow through all the greenery and are simply impossible to miss since they excell in such an unusual tone of blue.

I have to say that because of that unusual color, dayflowers are quite tricky to photograph. In the sun, they look almost white or very pale so it's very important to catch them early in the morning, in the shade. They are simply enchanting. I hope you can feel that from some of my best photos, posted here.

Learn more about dayflower: description, propagation and landscape uses - and see more pictures.




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Purple Echinacea

I bought a tiny echinacea seedling last spring at the flea market. It didn't grow much and then it died back during the coldest part of the winter.

This spring, however, it reappeared and developed into an impressive plant (photo above) with several buds. Its foliage is perfect in every way.

And this is the first bloom (photo below), starting the show that I'm really looking forward to see and share with you! :)

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Florida Sunflower

On the photo below is one of more than twenty species of sunflowers (daisy family), native to Florida. This one was a gift from Linda and it just started blooming. It has amazingly pretty foliage and it grows like a groundcover plant. I can't wait to see how tall and wide it grows and I'm really looking forward to collect the seeds and plant more of these hardy beauties for the next season.





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Fairy Magic

Ever since this Fairy moved into our front yard, this red hibiscus is blooming even more profoundly than before. There's nothing like magic, is there? :)





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Eight-petal Hibiscus

Today, my blossoming yellow hibiscus plant looks especially spectacular! :)
Instead of the usual five-petal bloom (which is already beautiful beyond descriptions), today's flower has eight petals and that has never happened before! It looks like double bloom and I Love it!





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Prickly Pear

Only two days ago I noticed that there are a few buds on my prickly pear behind the house. I can't wait to see the blooms - last year ones were spectacular! :)

Check them out for yourself on clickable photos below.

See a completely different kind of prickly pear cactus at Hydroponics - Soil-less gardening blog.***