A Special Garden Stroll

I had planned on posting these photos last week, but when I received photos from my nephew of some our troops Christmas celebration in Kuwait, they took priority. I'm sure you'll agree with me on that decision. If you don't mind, I would still like to take you for a stroll through the Florida Botanical Gardens; the decorations are most likely not what you saw in your hometown.

For those who have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love the Gardens, I did several posts on them over the summer. I live only a couple of minutes away and they are one of my favorite places to while away a few hours. The Gardens are full of unusual tropical plants that you don't typically find in other states and our Christmas decorations are no different.

The first thing you see as you follow the sidewalk from the parking lot is this sign:

Now tell me, did you see that on your Christmas walk?

This is not the alligator they were referring to on the sign

Of course you would expect to see our palm trees all lit up

The walkway was like a tropical winter wonderland

Honey Bees adorned the wall covered with Creeping Fig

Dragonflies

The white bougainvillea under the bottle brush was stunning

Bamboo hideaway

Our tropical birds are a major attraction here in Florida
and they made a grand display at the Gardens

The trees in the courtyard were spectacular

The pavilion was decked out in holiday splendor

The reflections in the water from the lights on
the bridge were a sight to behold

Let's not forget the butterflies,

a garden must have butterflies

We love our water turtles in Florida

This photo of me and Sister is actually from last year.
Last year we were wearing shorts,
this year warm jackets!

The common name of Dombeya wallichii is
Christmas Ornament Tree.
You can see it was in full bloom!

The rose garden only had a few blooms left,
so this bright and cheery rose was a welcome addition

Top of the gazebo

And of course we had to have a special Santa!
This is Green Santa from the book,
When Santa Turned Green

The kids amazed me as they answered Santa's questions on what they could do to be environmentally-friendly. They thoroughly enjoyed this Santa, as you can tell by the look on my great-nephews face. Santa answered all their questions and then stayed until the last child and some adults had their picture taken with him and told him what they wanted for Christmas. It was nice to see there was no charge for this! At the mall this year the cheapest package was $27 and no digital cameras were allowed. I like this Santa!

Hope you enjoyed my Florida Christmas Stroll. Now I can put Christmas away until next year and store my fond memories of another tropical holiday.

I'm linking this with all the other Outdoor Wednesday participants with Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer. Have a wonderful day!