The Passion Flower is Blooming

The season is Lent and fittingly, my Passion Flower is blooming!  In fact, it is prolific in blooms.  I hope you are familiar with this beautiful plant and flower.  If not, let me explain it to you.

I grew up with a Passion Flower blooming in the dining room bay window and then it was transplanted into the outside"Rabatt" or raised bed next to our brick home in the spring.  It was always a beautiful  memory of my childhood and when I found this plant in Florida, I knew I had to have it.

The legend of the Passion Flower is this:  Five petals and five sepals are ten apostles leaving out Judas and Peter because he denied knowing Jesus.  The purple corolla had seventy-two filaments, the number of thorns in Jesus's crown.  The three pistil stigmas are nails.  The five stamens are the number of wounds, so that to this day, Catholics in South and Central America call it "The Flower of the Five Wounds."

The leaf represents the spear that placed the wound in Jesus's side.  The dark spots under the leaves are the 33 pieces of silver paid to Judas.  When the flowers are spent after a single day (the time Jesus spent on the cross), the petals do not drop from the vine but re-close over the ovary.  This symbolizes the Hidden Wisdom that constitutes the Mysteries of the Cross, and is like Jesus enclosed in the tomb.

It is a beautiful, climbing vine.  If you have never seen it or not familiar with it, I hope you will research it.  It gives off a delicate fragrance.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

The flowering shrub, Brunfelsia, is commonly known by the name "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow."  It grows well in zones 9, 10 and 11.  Most commonly at about 3 feet tall, without pruning, it can get to 10 feet in height.

What makes this plant so lovely and unusual is that the color of the flower changes during the day.  It will open in a soft purple, change to pastel lilac and then finish near-white.  With all three colors on the plant at one time, it is outstandingly beautiful.  It is a favorite of mine, though I understand the plant is poisonous to animals. 

It's planting time

We went to the downtown farmer's market today and found beautiful replacements for the hibiscus plants we lost this past January in a hard frost.  We have bought from this gentleman before and his plants are very reasonable and hardy.

This is a beautiful yellow hibiscus, while the photo above shows a brilliant orange. 

Though this is white, it is as beautiful white with a double flower.  What is amazing about these gorgeous plants is that they are in 12 inch pots, almost 3 feet tall, profusely blooming and they cost....$10 each. 



And then we stopped at our favorite hyponic lettuce grower's stand.  He has many different types of lettuce and these were harvested this morning.  The long-leaved lettuce on the bottom, middle, he called deer tongue.  New to me, but we are willing to try them all.  They are so crisp and fresh and because the roots are attached, they can stay in the refrigerator for quite a long time. In this photo we have 4 different kinds including a red romaine.  We can get at least 3 or 4 good sized salads out of this collection and a total of $5.  Another bargain in my eyes. 

Now to get the tomato plant, cucumbers, radishes and pepper planted.  Very, very small garden, but it is nice to just run outside to harvest during our winter season.

The time is coming quickly

An old photo postcard from 1910, wishing old fashioned Christmas greetings to all.


My poinsettias from last year now growing outside. I have two more to add to the grouping after Christmas.

The hydrangeas

Our neighbor has some beautiful hydrangeas in her yard. These flowers are so amazing to me. The color depends on how much acid there is in the soil. I have a friend in Texas, who says her daughter has beautiful blue hydrangeas in her Texas garden.

These two pictures are from the same plant here in Florida. I think this is the most beautiful flower.

On the other hand, we decided when we had to cut our hibiscus hedge way back because of frost damage this winter, that we would throw in a package of cucumber seeds under the hibiscus came back. Well, the cukes have gone crazy and they really taste good. There will be plenty more.

Traveling on

We have had some good traveling and have now landed in Ohio at our daughter's home. Kippy is hanging in there, even though she was taken advantage of because of her small size. My brother has two Gordon setters which are beautiful dogs, but large compared to a Bichon.

Kippy's traveling pancake snacks, her Puperoni snacks and her glucosamine tablets were all devoured quickly upon arrival in North Carolina. I wonder why those Gordon's liked me so well. I guess because I brought unexpected treats!

So, had to make a trip to PetSmart this morning to stock up on what was no longer. Kippy is smiling again.

Our guest room at my brother's was beautiful. And this was the view out of our window onto the lake they live on. The Trout went fishing in the boat with my brother and we had a lovely, relaxing time, talking about childhood memories. I also told him about my genealogy research.

Now at daughter's house and loving those grandboys. Angie has beautiful snowball hydrangeas in her back yard. We are enjoying the upper Midwest plants and trees which we do not have in Florida. Need to catch up on reading all my favorite blogs that all of you write.

Happy May Day!!

The magnolias are blooming!!

Gardenias

The velvety touch of the petals, the brilliant green of the leaves and the fragrance...that unbelievable fragrance. My gardenias are blooming and I am enjoying every moment of it.

This beautiful flower is being displayed in one of a pair of champagne glasses given to us for our wedding in 1966.

The Passion Flower

Last weekend we stopped at the local flea market and visited the 'plant guy'. Standing there in a pot was a very tall Passion Flower vine with lots of buds. I knew I had to have it. I remember as a child that my mother always had one in the east dining room window. It was so beautiful and she had it trained to vine around the large double window with large sill. We had a trellis at home ready for it, so this beautiful plant went home.

If you are not familiar with the story behind the Passion Flower, I searched the information so that I would not tell it wrong.

"Early explorers and missionaries to this hemisphere, specifically to South America, named these dramatic vines Passiflora or passion flower to help in their conversion of the native Americans to Christianity. They saw and used the beautiful intricate flower parts to tell the story of the death of Jesus, making the story more memorable to listeners. The legend they told is that the passion flower's ten petals and sepals represent the ten apostles present at the crucifixion. The filaments portrayed the crown of thorns, or the halo about Jesus' head.

The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance. The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ. The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or Holy Grail. The stigmata represents 3 nails and 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (4 by nails, 1 by lance). The blue and white colors of many species' flowers represent heaven and purity. The hybrid plants no longer produce the passion fruit, which is edible."

It is such a thrill for me to have my new Passion Flower bloom during Easter Week.

Azaleas at home

I believe I told you that we had two hard frosts in Florida this winter and things are very slowly coming back to normal. I am missing my hibiscus which were hurt. They'll eventually be back. I frequently pick the blossoms and arrange them with some of my rosemary to make a lovely centerpiece. Will have to wait on that and right now, the very fragrant rosemary still looks lovely.

We have a hedge of azaleas along side the garage. They also survived nicely. They are so fragile and yet so beautiful. God really did an extraordinary job on flowers.