Just Because It's a Native . . .

The post was already written. It was titled: "Just Because it's a Native, Doesn't Mean You Can't Kill It" Catchy, huh? It would have been about my beloved Pinxter Azalea. The Pinxter is beloved first because of the name. I seriously considered changing the name of this blog to the Pinxter blog. Don't really know why. Just really like it. Secondly, I loved the unique look of flower. It is a native in this part of Florida that I bought in Dunnellon last year. It looks so different than the run-of-the-mill variety that are so ubiquitous around here. The plant is a big, wild and unruly bush. The stamens on the flowers extend way past the petals making them look a little alien. It was so different it was almost, ironically enough, exotic looking.

The native part was a huge attractor for me. I know I'm supposed to like natives because they don't disrupt the local habitat and all that blah, blah, blah. Really, when I see the word native on a plant, the phrase Hard to Kill almost instantly replaces it. I mean if this plant can supposedly grow out on its own in the wild, with zero human intervention, that should mean it will do just peachy in my garden, with just slightly more attention, right? I thought that until about October. My poor Pinxter started to loose its leaves, way before any frost hit. By the time the frosts did hit, the bush was looking decidedly dead-stick-like. It was in good company. Many of the other plants had seen better days too. But when they started to come back to life, the Pinxter kept up the impression. So I started writing the post about paying attention to even the natives and mentally started figure out what I'd plant in that spot next.

Fortunately, I procrastinate. Er, I mean I am patient. A few days ago I stepped out in to the garden ready to take out the Dead Stick Bush, and look what I found!
A not so dead Pinxter! I will not be charged with criminal plant neglect after all! At least not yet.

Rainbow Springs

Wow. What happened to February? Time seems to be ZOOMING right by. It's almost time to start planting! Since I know the agony of losing plants to a mid-March freeze, I'm being patient and waiting a few more weeks. I have started some seed and have salvia and 4 o'clocks coming up, but more on that later. . .

For right now, I'll post a very belated post on the Rainbow Springs Cracker Fest. (Yeah, I know . . . )

The azaleas were blooming. The rest of the year I'm not such a big fan of azaleas. They tend to look pretty scraggly for my taste. But when everything is all brown and yucky like it is now, and these scraggly bushes turn into huge pink powder puffs, I can't help myself. I want azaleas everywhere!

Rainbow Springs used to be, a long time ago, a natural theme/zoo. It is now a state park. When it was a theme park, they built man-made waterfalls. I'll need to come back when those crinums are in bloom.

For some reason, I didn't know you could make angora yarn straight from the rabbit.

I am very good at taking pictures of random, silly stuff, and completely forgetting the obvious. I'm the one that goes to Disney and takes 20 pictures of a cool planter on the sidewalk and forgets to take one of Cinderella's castle. I realized when I got home that I didn't take any pics of the beautiful, crystal clear, turquoise springs. This was as close as I got.

I just like to say "coontie".

Well, I couldn't leave without an azalea! I really fell for these Pinxter azaleas. They are Florida natives and look so much cooler than the ubiquitous standard azaleas. The plant I came home with is smaller and still in bud, but hopefully in a few years it will look like this one. BTW, if I ever have another blog, I'm naming it the Pinxter. Blog, or cat, either way.