The Learning Garden

After a month of mysterious symptoms and illness in Ron that we feared might even be fatal, we are miraculously back to more or less normal around here.  The weather has been beautiful for the past couple of days, and we've been taking some mini motorcycle rides.  Yesterday we went out to Placida, which is only about 20 miles from our house.  We explored all the interesting roads and developments that are off the beaten track and new to us.  We found this interesting brown park sign:  "Learning Garden" and decided to check it out.

It turned out to be the most interesting garden - all kinds of Florida plants that I see all the time and have wondered what they were.  Here we found a couple of acres on a little lake with neat gardens with cement walkways winding throughout and signs to identify all the plants!

This tree with pretty blossoms is called "Powder Puff"

I was surprised how many I already knew - like Hibiscus

 

Lantana

Agave

Loquat, and some of the palms.

 

This was called "Bleeding Heart" but looked nothing like the ones we have at home.

Who knew Mahogany had a big fruit that was nearly as big as a grapefruit?

I've seen these beautiful lavender blooms covering trees, and wondered what they were.  Now I know:  Orchid tree.

 

Definitely a place to remember if I start wondering about the name of a plant.