Florida Flowers in Texas Gardens

Florida was discovered by Ponce de Leon. When he first arrived he saw nothing but gorgeous flowers everywhere. Hence he named the state “Florida” which is the Spanish word for flowers.

Everybody has a memory of their elementary school teacher teaching them the history of the state they lived in. Just shared one of mine. 2nd or 3rd grade (7 or 8 years old). Can't remember. Remember the lesson though! Had a good teacher huh?

Fast forward to 1998. Married with children and we have just relocated to Austin, Texas. Shopping in one of the home improvement stores and overhear this lady talking with another lady saying she had just come back from her vacation in Florida. Not eavesdropping but she was within earshot and speaking loud and clear. She's raving about this wonderful flower! She just had to bring this flower back and plant it her garden. She wanted to show the flower to her friend. Being from Florida, my curiosity is peaked. Want to know what Florida flower she's so impressed with. It could have been a periwinkle, bougainvillea … what??

It was a hibiscus.

The things you take for granted. Hibiscus grew in the front yard of my childhood home. They were so commonplace, it never occurred to me anybody would be totally captivated by their beauty!

Finally, here's my personal pitch. Must recommend because public television is the only real television . Need to learn about gardening? CreateTV is a valuable resource. Their programs air on TV but you can also find them on the Internet.

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Florida ♦ PoncedeLeon ♦ flowers ♦ Spanish ♦ elementaryschool ♦ education ♦ statehistory ♦ Austin ♦ Texas ♦ AustinTX ♦ shopping ♦ homeimprovement ♦ vacation ♦ garden ♦ homeandgarden ♦ television ♦ publictelevision

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