End of the Camellias Season

 

 

Camellias are popular, long-lived, evergreen shrubs (or small trees) renowned for their glossy foliage and stunning, rose-like blooms that appear from fall to spring. As staples of Southern gardens, they bloom in white, pink, and red, thriving in acidic, well-draining soil and partial shade in zones 6-10. Here at the condo, the bush in the center garden finished blooming last week. The bush by the walkway from parking to the condo building has been blooming steadily. It is slowing down, and I believe the end of the camellia season is almost here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tulips at Publix Supermarket

 

I’ve been driving around and enjoying scenes here in my home of Lakeland, Florida. The days are mostly beautiful with blue skies.

 

 

Of course, I love to visit the flower department at my local Publix Supermarket. Some things never change no matter where I am in Florida. Floridians love the seasonal flowers that grow up north.  Spring flowers, like tulips, are very popular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the visit. I’m wishing you blue skies and tulips wherever you are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Stuffed Peppers, A Classic Comfort Food

 

 

I wanted to share a couple of photos I took yesterday of two camellias from the bush on the walkway. A cold front is moving in, the sky is filled with dark clouds, and the wind is strong.  I know there won't be a blossom left tomorrow. Let's share this moment of nature's gift, and then I'll share a recipe.

 

 

Classics are something that stand the test of time. A great example is stuffed peppers filled with ground beef and rice, topped with a seasoned tomato sauce. This comforting meal is great for company. No one will ever know this flavorful and hearty dish took about forty minutes to make. It’s a traditional favorite in many homes, and it is extremely versatile.

 

Stuffed Peppers

Use organic when available, serves 6

Ingredients

• 6 bell peppers any color
• 1 lb lean ground beef, turkey, chicken
• Optional vegetarian use mushrooms instead of meat 
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 onion chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp fresh basil
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano
• 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 cup cooked brown rice (white rice, quinoa, cauliflower rice)
• 1 tbsp  Worcestershire sauce
•  salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp optional crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or cheese of choice  

Instructions

•  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Cut off top of peppers and set aside
• Cut thin slice from bottom to keep upright
• Remove ribs and seeds with spoon
• Rinse out peppers and lightly salt inside
• Place peppers in baking dish with cut side up and water in bottom
• Cover with aluminum foil
• Bake for about 10 minutes
• While pre-cooking the peppers, combine meat, garlic, and onion in skillet
• Cook over medium heat until beef is browned
• Drain any fat
• Remove peppers from oven and drain water
• In bowl, mix beef, rice, parsley, basil, oregano, half a can of tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper
• Spoon mixture evenly into peppers
• Spoon the rest of the tomato sauce on top of peppers
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Sprinkle grated cheese on top before last 5 minutes of baking or when pull from oven
• Serve hot with salad and baked potato  

   

   

   

   

   

  

  
  

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A Visit to Bok Tower Garden, Lake Wales, Florida

Bok Tower Gardens is a 250-acre contemplative garden and bird sanctuary located atop Iron Mountain, north of Lake Wales, Florida. It was created by Edward Bok in the 1920s. It's a National Historic Landmark in Florida, known for its stunning 205-foot Art Deco/Neo-Gothic Singing Tower with a 60-bell carillon. The beautiful Olmsted-designed gardens are a peaceful bird sanctuary, all created by philanthropist Edward Bok as a gift to the American people, with its dedication attended by President Calvin Coolidge in 1929.

There are many types of plants in the gardens that include flowers, but it is not really a flower garden. In winter, the camellias are wonderful. In spring, the azaleas provide a magnificent display. Throughout the year, the garden is a quiet place to view green vistas and relax.

Let's start with a quiet moment with a view worth lingering over. Sometimes the most beautiful experiences are the simplest ones. A beautiful view with a trusted companion is hard to beat. I hope your day includes a moment like this.

 

Japanese camellias aren’t just gorgeous — they can bloom in winter and early spring when most other flowers are taking a break. Let's look at some camellias in bloom at BoK Tower Gardens in January and February.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owls and hawks are often more active and easier to spot in cooler months, making January and February a great time to keep an eye out for our nocturnal friends. Below is a Great Horned Owl, a powerful raptor with a huge range across North America, and they don’t migrate.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 I'm wishing you a beautiful view and the time to sit and enjoy it.

 

 

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Camellias In Bloom In Our Central Florida Garden

 

 Camellias are popular, long-lived, evergreen shrubs (or small trees) renowned for their glossy foliage and stunning, rose-like blooms that appear from fall to spring. As staples of Southern gardens, they bloom in white, pink, and red, thriving in acidic, well-draining soil and partial shade in zones 6-10. 

 

If you visited me before on my old blog, you probably know how much I love flowers.  I've updated my header with a floral graphic similar to part of my old blog's header. What do you think?

Here in central Florida, we are in zone 9B which is semi-tropical.  Our two camellia bushes get buds in December and bloom late January, February, and into March. I look forward to the short time of flowers in winter. The freezes we had two weeks ago, made the buds brown and the flowers too.  Now we are back to beautiful white flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It irritated me when I lost a week of flowers, but all is well now. Hopefully, we don't get more freezes coming south.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My New Spring Photos For My Roku TV Backdrops

 

                                                    Photo by Gary Bendig
 

No, this is a new post and not a replay from my old blog.  Surprise!  My Roku large screen TV has a backdrops function. If you're not familiar with that, it's a photo shown on the screen when the TV is on but you're not actively watching.  You know, these smart TVs will ask you if you're still watching when you're in the middle of a long movie. You haven't touched the remote or made a change.  If you don't reply, you can be bounced.  This happens to me on streaming TV, which I watch a lot. I run to the bathroom or kitchen and sometimes come back to a backdrop photo.  Oh, well.  

 

                                                 Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash                                                     My favorite backdrop year round! 

 

I take time each season to select new photos appropriate for the time. (You can tell I'm not overworked in my retirement.)  I went through holiday winter photos and then just winter photos.  I know that we're still in the midst of a cold winter. Boy, do I know.  It went to 28 degrees F last night. I'm sitting here in sweatpants, sweat shirt, fuzzy socks, plus a cover on my legs.  Yes, I'm fine and cozy. You couldn't blast me out of my place today.  There were light snow flurries on the Gulf coast of central Florida in the early hours of this morning!

  

 

 

                                   Photos via Facebook, creator unknown
 

 

 

                                                    Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash

 

For fun, I need some spring inspiration. Enough of the beautiful snow scenes, elk photos, white owl close-ups, arctic fox in the snow portraits. I need pretty spring to get me through  the current winter weather.  I didn't move to Florida in the 1970s for snow. I choose spring photos from the selection offered by Roku. They tell you the name of each photographer. I did an online search for them, and every one of them has an account at Unsplash! That's where Roku got them for free, and you can too.  Therefore, I will credit photographer and you can find them on Unsplash.  The nice thing about Unsplash, like Pixabay and Pexels, it is free to join and is a community of creative people who like to photograph the world.

 

Here are my favorite choices as of today, Sunday, February 1st for the coming few months:

 

                                                                Photo by Andy He

 

 
 

 I must admit, flowering tree blossoms are my favorite photos for spring, especially cherry blossoms in  all that pink loveliness.

 

                                                    Photo by Crystal Kay
 

 

                                                        Photo by Mark Tegethoff

 

Let's not forget the beautiful spring flowers pushing up from the ground. 

 

                                                  Photo by Christiana Bohorquez

 

 

                                                Photo by Marivi Pazos

 

 

I just love the idea of folks around the world taking photos and sharing them with us.

 

 

                                                         Photo by Sam Carter

 

She has a sweet face, doesn't she (he?).

 

 

                                                            Photo by Pedro Sanz

 

 

                                                     Photo by Yusheng Deng

 

 

Lambs and other baby animals are cute.

 

 

                                             Photo by Erik Jan Leusink

 

 

                                             Photo by Svetozar Cenisev

 

 

 Isn't he cute with his rump in the air on the budding tree?

 

 

                                                            Photo by Peter Muscutt

 

The last photo of the day takes us back to green grass and trees with leaves.  This photo is the only one that isn't on Unsplash.  Peter Muscutt has an Unsplash account but the photo is not included in it.  I found it on his Pexel account, go figure. I hope you have a good week no matter the weather.  

Until we talk again, I'm your friend Carol, living on a lake in central Florida.

 

 

 

 

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