I'm just wrapping up a week long stay in the San Diego area.  The primary reason for the trip was to attend the Triathlon America Conference, a conference geared for the business of triathlon. Seeing how I was going to be so close to California's nursery region, I had to tack on a few extra days to my trip to do some plant collecting.  I only made a few acquisitions the first day, but by late morning on the second day, I already had the back seat of my rental car full.After day two I decided ...

It is always great to see the Dogwood trees in bloom because you know that spring has officially arrived.Central Florida is on the southern fringe of the dogwood tree's preferred growing zone.  The colder it is the winter, the better the dogwood trees will bloom in the spring.  After our recent record breaking winter, my dogwood trees are really putting on a great show.They are also loving this great weather as much as I am!

This is my all time favorite spring flowering tree. It is known as the Golden Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia chrysotricha).  I grew the tree pictured below from seed years ago and it is the largest of the 4-5 trees I have planted.  They started blooming last week and should peak in the next few days. They are truly a show-stopper when they bloom, with masses of bright yellow blooms covering the entire tree.This variety of Tabebuia reaches about 20-25 feet tall at maturity.  Here's a photo of ...

When I was out in Southern California last winter I came back home with an assortment Australian plants including Grevilleas, Banksias, Proteas and the like.  Our relentless humidity is the biggest enemy to growing these in Central Florida but I was willing to experiment. I managed to keep most of them alive during our hot muggy summers and now they are starting to reward me with flowers.  I'll be heading out west again this winter and surely bring back more.Here is Grevillea Robin Gordon -

While it may appear the only thing I have blooming right now are Angel Trumpets, that is hardly the case.  Because of my hybridizing efforts I just pay more attention to my brugmansia than other things in my yard.  My favorite late season flowering tree is the Silk Floss tree. It started blooming about 6 weeks ago and will continue on for another 3-4 weeks.  The blooms are large and colorful, and the trunk has giant spikes, making this tree a real eye catcher.