The garden is coming back slowly from its first brush with Jack Frost. A hummingbird was sighted sipping nectar from basil flowers I had not gotten around to trimming. I left the flowers after seeing that and a few butterflies scouting for food. My simple, small vase was put together in the spirit of leaving flowers for the pollinators.
These sensuous, red flowers are from a Turk’s Cap Hibiscus (Malvaviscus penduliflorus). These are also called Sleeping or Nodding Hibiscus. I like those names better. These tend to pop up in the shady areas of the garden and flower prolifically in the winter. They are a sort of raggedy looking shrub, but difficult to get rid of, so I enjoy the flowers and prune them – a lot!
That’s all from South Florida this Monday. It has finally rained, so I am looking forward to more progress in the garden. Thank you to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting this weekly meme. Follow the link to see more vases.
The Shrub Queen 
I love those big flowers. I only had the small ones. We just got fresh snow, about 8 inches.
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No hibiscus there?
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On the path of recovery! I honor your leaving your flowers for the pollinators at this crucial time. 💖
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Thanks, Eliza! hope you are warm.
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Do Turk’s cap hibiscus bloom exclusively red? That is the only color I have ever seen them in.
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I have seen pink varieties.
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That is indeed an unusually simple vase from you, but no less elegant. I could say ‘how lovely’ to have such bright and cheery blooms throughout the winter, but with their thuggish tendencies you may not be as grateful for them as we might think. Good to know you have had some rain and that things are warming up
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That last comment was from me – sorry, it might not have been attributed
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I saw it. Thank you.
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I am totally with you regarding enjoying watching pollinators visiting scarce flowers. What an amazing combo of green and red, they are lovely.
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Thank you!
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Your poor pollinators must have been left in shock by frost conditions! I hope they (and the frozen iguanas) get back to normal quickly. The turk’s cap certainly shine like beacons promising that things have changed for the better.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
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I think so. The dog found another flattened lizard. We had another cold snap, hopefully the last!
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Glad your pollinators at least have some flowers to enjoy. These big fat red flowers are quite wonderful and it is a wonder they survived the cold so well.
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Well, a bee was chasing me earlier. I use botanical stuff in my hair, so they are still hungry. The Nodding Hibiscus are definitely hardy.
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