Miniature Table Setting - Blue Ribbon

I won a blue ribbon for my miniature table setting at the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Shrunken Treasures, Petite Advanced Standard Flower Show.  Here's the writeup, my friend Christine did about it.

It is one thing to create a beautiful table top design, but quite another to create one that you actually want to sit down and enjoy. This is what Susan Hillson did in her 5" Blue Ribbon Winning Petite "Golf Tournament" Table Top Design. Cleverly using a miniature pewter Golf Bag tooth-pick-holder for fresh flowers Susan placed the golf club picks to create her line. She continued the flow of texture throughout the predominating pink color design which included mugs, plates, and napkins with silver bead napkin rings. You could not help but smile. Congratulations!

Happy Birthday Emily!

Emily is 10 years old today.  She's got a white face but is still so cute... here she is in her tropical garden.

Life is good...she had a hard summer last year, but nothing like a winter in Florida to make all the aches and pains go away!

My Spring Garden in Florida

My cassia trees have been blooming for about 3 months now.  It is so beautiful to look out the window and see yellow flowers.  .  The leaves are so delicate, they remind me of spring up north.  I underplanted them with purple lantana. But, they are still small.  Red crown of thorns is in the background.

 I put this orchid on my sable palm last May.  It just bloomed.  Yea!  The yellow allamanda has been blooming for months now - once I got the landscapers to stop trimming it.

Color In The Garden

I am teaching a course at Palm Beach State College in Boca Ratone called 'Color in the Garden'.  Here's some of the pictures I used in the talk. 

Warm Colors - Daylilies and Coreopsis from my garden in Maine.  What a cheerful sight.

Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susan's from my garden in Maine. They go well together because they are a similar shape.  Pink shows up well in front of a grey fence.

Golden dew drop tree has beautiful blue flowers followed by gold berries.  Underplanted with blue lobelia and white osteospermum daisy like flowers and euphorbia 'diamond frost'.  Looks great in a white planter

by a white fence.  Both Mom and I bought the tree here in Florida.  

Yellow allamanda and pink bouganvillea - a surprisingly pleasing color combination.

A monochromatic color scheme - 2 shades of purple petunias

Using primary colors - blue argeratum and yellow zinnias with white.  Even the butterflies like this one!

Happy Easter

Sometimes you just need a bunny...

Pretty in Pink

Pretty Katie in front of the azaleas at Morikami.

The Bag Ladies

My sister Judy made us these beautiful pocketbooks.   My colors certainly 'brighten the day'.