Georgia has Florida on it's Mind

Another vacation! Yes, it is exhausting being unemployed. You just need to take a break now and then. Pace yourself and all.

Easter weekend was spent in Georgia with relatives. We totally took up their spare bedroom and drank all their wine. Perhaps to get us out of their house, we all took a trip to Callaway Gardens, a huge piece of property in the Atlanta area.

While veterans of the Gardens have since come to the conclusion that April may not be the most flowery month to visit, the Florida contingent of the delegation thought the gardens were breathtaking.
Atlanta's had a lot of rain lately so everything was very lush. Everywhere you looked, the last bastions of the cool season plantings were showing off; pansies, cabbages, tulips and a daffodil or two. Hydrangeas were also strutting their stuff, with the first snowballs of spring popping open.

So it was a suprise when - during a stop at the butterfly hothouse garden - we saw our front yard. Florida plants abounded in a little glassed-in oasis of warmth and tropical humidity. Porters Weed, Pentas, Shrimp Plants were everywhere.

Check out this species of vine we found! Its thick leaves and foliage reached up about 20 feet and were densely covered in these elegant flowers. It's called Skyflower Vine (Left).

I also found out the name of this plant on the lower right, I've always liked the look of it, but never found it in a garden center. Maybe now I'll be able to get one online. It's a Chenille Plant.

The difference between how the GA gardeners fill their flower beds and how FL gardeners do the same was striking. GA feels safe filling them with huge amounts of delicate, flowering annuals. I'm not sure how many last through the summer. There aren't any watering restrictions there either, so perhaps that helps.

Shrubs are mostly boring, with little leaves and are usually pruned into some shape resembling a fat muffin. Gardens now have just been filled with warmer season annuals, colorful and very tidy. Too tidy, I spent a lot of time longing to throw a Monstera into the mix, but they'd probably just mulch around it nicely, set a tasteful birdbath next to it and call it a yard.

But the hothouse makes me think that those GA gardeners have a wild side!