Florida Garden White Gazebo

We've seen some beautiful gardens in Orlando, Florida. Not only are the plants wonderful, but the hardscapes have our attention as well.

Florida Gardens and travels

The roses here in Florida are loving life and prove you can grow roses in sandy soil! The one pictured above is Frankly Scarlet from Jackson and Perkins. The gardens left on the tags so we didn't have to guess. A wonderful floribunda that blooms and blooms and the flowers have a rich red color. The nights here are chilly, but it warms up in the day quite nice. I had on my jacket when I took these pictures. (I believe I might be the only one in Florida wearing a down jacket at night.)





Our favorite place to buy vegetables and fruit along the road. The prices are wonderful. The grapefruits are delicious, oranges are dirt cheap and so sweet. They have to load most of the produce back up at night and store it safely away from the frosts.




The bismarck palms are the shabbiest grey color. I love how the threads from the palm leaves stand out in the sunshine. These can take a frost which they've had here the past few nights.




Santa was spotted in a store carrying a surfboard and sunglasses. His shirt said, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Dude." His beard had a frost or two. I'll post more pictures when I can download and resize easily.

Kailua Beach Canoeing/Kayaking Hawaii

Kailua Beach has lots of white sand and calmer waters because it is protected by a living barrier reef. Now the fun part is that you can kayak out to some small islands, Mokulua Islands and Flat Island, that are bird sanctuaries to snorkel and enjoy the privacy of your own little island. Your companions will be a few swimming sea turtles, fish and birds.

There is also a canal where you can test out your kayaking ability if you are new at it.

Hawaiian Flowers-Tropical Bouquets

Floral designers are so inventive. This bouquet has a palm frond woven to look like a sail to me it looked like the Hokulea outrigger. At the tip of the frond it is tied with rafia. I thought this was beautiful and to me the palm fronds lying flat rather depicted the ocean.

I talked a bit to the florist that provides the flowers and she said that the arrangements are changed once a week. Believe me they still look good after a week. She had the flowers and leaves from the previous week in her basket and I was thinking, "She is not going to throw those away: Is she?"

Bamboo is used sparingly in each arrangement in most bouquets. Below is our favorite purple (burgundy, maroon) foliage in the form of ti leaves. There are so many different types of heliconias. I found a tropical flower blog in North Queensland (maybe I can find a Hawaiian heliconia blog soon) and it has many pictures depicting the different varieties and colors. Scroll to the bottom of the first page and there is a fast slide show of many rare ones with their proper names. I found it very helpful.

The reds of the anthuriums and heliconias are a rich red and look striking against the ti leaves. I saw orange bird of paradise flowers against the red (purple) ti leaves at one place.

Pussy willows in Waikiki? Yes, here is proof. This little arrangement made a nice contrast against the dark wood. So simple yet stylish.

Hawaii Red Dirt Shirts

Not everyone gardens with soil or the bad word "dirt". A business was born from soiled shirts from Hurricane Iniki that hit kauai harsh in 1992. A mom and pop had a screen print business whose white shirts were stained red from all the rain and mud. They could not get the red out no matter how hard they tried. A friend suggested they finish them by adding more red mud so they would be evenly colored. The idea was a business success that all started on the beautiful island of Kauai!

There are stores in Arizona and on the islands of Hawaii. We visited their shop in Waikiki on Oahu. If you would like to order a shirt or cap of your own visit their website.

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Breakfast at Mac 24-7 Waikiki Hawaii

Someone suggested we eat breakfast at this sleek, modern, minimalist restaurant called
Mac 24-7 located in the lobby of the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel. It is a very clean, stylish restaurant with great service. After being in restaurants where the walls are covered with trinkets,etc. this one was refreshing. We were impressed before we ordered.

Sometimes menus are worded in such a way that you are disappointed when you get your plate, but not so here! Can you believe these pancakes with macadamia nuts, pineapple and banana? For a moment I thought we were in Texas where things are bigger, or so they say. (Maybe just the stories are bigger?) The pancake order came with 3 pancakes that each measured 1 1/2-inches by 14-inches! Pancake pies. One order of these could have fed all of us.

We also ordered the candied pecan french toast which was delicious and the serving size fit more one's eating capacity.

The breakfast fruit plate was beautiful and each morsel at it's peak ripeness! Yay!

It doesn't matter what time of day or night you are hungry. Mac 24-7 is true to it's name and is open around the clock. Which ever clock you are on. We were still on east coast time which is 6 hours ahead of Hawaii so we were the early birds every morning wherever we went.

Hawaii Billabong Surfboards Slippers

Have custom made slippers at this surf shop. Just pick out the color and height of sole you want. Then choose the color of straps. The clerk has this tool like a screwdriver that cuts a hole out. The screwdriver tool divides at the top and he then puts in a strap and pushes the tool through the sole with the strap. A very simple tool, and patented I'm sure.

The whole time the surfboards above us are whirling about on a conveyer belt like a candy factory. We sometimes use the phrase "It caught my eye." These surfboards did many times. It's a great marketing idea and also saves on storage space.

Hula Girl Lessons for Westie

There are lots of beautiful hula girls in Hawaii. Here little westie gets some help during westie's hula lesson on the golden beaches. This is an small ACEO painting that I listed for sale on ebay. With the heavenly scent of flowers and the rolling surf it is hard to concentrate on the lesson!

Link to view auction.

Royal Hawaiian Waikiki Hawaii

We are in Hawaii and loving it. We are here for a special occasion. It was 82 degrees the day we arrived and it has been about that every day! Woo-hoo! No one is worried about bringing in plants inside here in October. The scent of tuberoses wafting through the air is heavenly. The fresh fruit, the food, (the smell of barbeque everywhere we go) the beaches..and our family make it wonderful, too.

The royal hawaiian hotel is an old pink landmark hotel on waikiki beach with some neat shops inside. I love how the pink contrasts with the deep blue sky and the green palm trees. They have planters on the very top of the roof with variegated agave type plants. Large ones, I might add. No need to water them by hand.

I have taken lots of pictures to share with you. I have not seen one westie dog yet. I did see little yorkies in Waikiki being carried about.