I've been shopping!

I've been dragging the boys around this week during spring break, getting some new pretties for the garden.  I wanted to go to USF's Botanical Gardens, but we didn't get there yet, and tomorrow's a beach day! There's always summer break.

I bought plants at two places this week - Keep It Green and Elsberry Nursery Farm, both in Apollo Beach at the same intersection. 

Elsberry doesn't have a website, just a facebook page.  They are small but so awesome.  They have really cool plants and remember me every time I go back (once every few months).  They even ask how specific plants I've bought are doing and offer lots of advice and tips. 

Keep It Green is much larger and has pretty much anything I could be looking for.  This was my first time going there, and I was very happy with the service.  They even threw in a free tub of ladybugs since my boys found them so interesting. :-)

 My flower beds along the fenceline at the back of our property are very narrow - I know this.  I wanted to leave as much of the long part of the yard free for soccer games.  :-)  My goal here is to just fill it up with beautiful flowering plants that make me happy.  I planted a bunch of bulbs in the stretch above.  Many are doing well, but there was a big patch where nothing came up, and that's where I planted the lavender Foxglove above.  I see now that this plant is actually quite toxic. Oops.  My boys have zero interest in chewing on flowers, though, so I'm not worried. They're much more interested in checking out the edible things we've planted.

 My boys are always very excited to break out the big shovels for the big plants.  They got hot very quickly, though, and mom was left to dig the hole for this bush.  I'm not sure what it's called.  The Lady at Elsberry told me what it is, but I forget and now see that the tag with the name is faded.

This is a passion vine with fruit.  I have a red passion vine, but this is my first with frut, and the flowers are purple, I'm told.  I still haven't planted this.

This is my little avacado tree I couldnt resist!  Hubs LOVES his guacamole, and I'm planning to make lots this summer with fresh tomatoes and avacados.  If only I'd planted red onions!

 Look at the sweet little baby avacado.  My boys are loving watching the food grow.  We have some little oranges about this size also.