My old school, The University of Georgia, is currently topping the US college football rankings and has been for the past 19 weeks. I decided it was time to do a vase in the team colors, red and black. My husband describes the level of dedication to the sport at UGA as “Football as Religion” It is quite an experience to be in a stadium filled with 92,000 barking fans decked out in school colors. Despite being married to me for over 30 years, my husband has not yet learned to bark properly.

The reason for all the barking? Bulldogs are the team mascot, there is always a white bulldog on the sidelines (he has his own air conditioned dog house) The current one is named ‘Boom’ and they are named in order. Boom is UGA XI, when I was in school UGA IV was in charge. Follow the link for more bulldog mascot info https://georgiadogs.com/sports/2017/6/16/uga Note the vase disguises the year on the diploma.

There are probably few gardens in temperate areas that have plants with red and black foliage, but I do! The foliage is from the Piecrust Croton (Codieum varigatum), other leaves have yellows, greens and pink splashes, it is quite a colorful plant. The white flowers are ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea; larger red flowers are Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreus); bell shaped red flowers are Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetafolium).

Another view. The black vase was a thrift store find and is one of my favorites for its versatility and contrast to the flowers it holds…and it is perfect for this “Go Dawgs” vase.

That is all from South Florida this Monday. I guess everyone now knows what I have been doing on Saturday afternoons (if we can conquer the where it is streaming on TV challenge) Visit Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.