Great idea Theresa! I especially love your Dicentra Alba.
I'm not an official OBF yet, but hope to be accepted soon :) Here's a link to some flower pics I took this past summer. I just created lasagna beds from scratch at my new home this past summer, so it's mostly only pics of annuals. Enjoy the vibrant colors in this dreary grey season!
-Elizabeth

Here is a link that might be useful: Elizabeth's Flowers

Ohhhh. I love this.. It gives me so many ideas, when I look at others color combo's.. I am currently clearing out a space that is mostly shade. I am cutting down some trees (mind you it's winter here) that are 1-2 inch diameter to get those darn things out. Then in the spring I will clear out the wild ivey and try to compost in some good dirt and plant some things that I think will grow there. I don't have my winter pictures posted yet, so make sure to check back. I love advice so if you have any for any part of my gardens, they are a work in progress.
Laura

Here is a link that might be useful: Laura's garden's

Laura-
It looks like you have a great yard with so many different garden opportunities! I especially love your little pond, that's something I've always wanted, but can't fit on my 1/3 of an acre parcel. Someday maybe!
Thanks for sharing!
-Elizabeth

Hey, what happened to our logo?!! (I liked the water-color look of the previous version)

Theresa, nice idea! Your pictures are gorgeous. I was wondering what is the name of the bush looking plant with purple flowers on your 1st page? #100_0398.

Elizabeth, thanks for sharing! I know I've got seeds from you in a round robin lately...

Laura, I like the compost bin idea, I am going to look around for pallets this week...

I can't wait until I start taking photos this year with my new camera!!!

Theresa,
I love the photos. I wish some of this year's were labeled though! I do the "ooh that's pretty...what is it?" thing, lol. At least tell me the roses names pretty please. : )

Zabecca,
I love the poppy, and the blue morning glory. I've got a bunch of poppy and morning glory seeds for the upcoming year, I can't wait.

Laura,
You have done lots of garden construction, and you have lots of great plants! I think patience is the key now. As those areas mature, they will look great. And if something doesn't look right after things grow in and up, you can always move them.

Here's a pic of the Clematis 'Star of India' that I think I posted awhile back on the Cottage Garden forum, but not here.

Girls you ALL have wonderful pics of your gardens! Thanks so much for posting this Theresa. Nothing in the world better than looking at beautiful flowers & gardens in the winter. Laura don't worry dear, I find we're never finished, and now I have an entire yard to start, is it ok to dread it & be excited at the same time? lol

I'll post a link to some of my soon to be old yard soon.

Sassy

Hi Gals! I know I should label the pics but I'm usually happy to just get them uploaded.

Giverny, 100_0398 is a Spanish Lavender.

Remy, the roses are:
100_0446 James Galway (austin)
100_0779 Spirit of Freedom (austin)
The one growing up against the fence was labeled climbing Queen Elizabeth but I don't think it is. It has more of an ogr form.

Okay OBF, keep thos websites coming!

Theresa

Remy- Talk to me about that Clematis...never grew them before...Is it growing out of that TC pot? Is it in sun or shade? It's lovely!

Zabecc (Elizabeth) -- oh could you please tell me what type of camera you used to take your pictures? Anytime I've tried to take even close to a closeup of my plants the picture comes out all blurry. Even the regular pictures don't look right. Either it's her camera or the settings or she and I just don't know how to take a picture. I want to get a better camera before spring so I can share too.

What kind of camera and what settings do people use if you don't mind my asking?

I get good pix with my cheapo Kodak Easyshare C310. It was $88 at Target. There was a gal on here with an AWESOME shot of a butterfly one day...wish I could find it...she had a great camera with a higher digital zoom...if I ever find it, I'll come back & post...

Although I can't find the actual thread with the picture, I found another gal using the same camera, and her pix are equally as gorgeous. The camera is a Panasonic Lumix.
As I recall, the thread *I* was looking at the gal had one with either a 5x or a 6x Zoom...not sure of the model number.
Unless I find something better, my 'next' camera will be the PL...the pix are awesome.

If you do a search on all forums for the word 'camera' you'll get many hits of discussions with various models.

I use my digital camera which is a Nikon Coolpix 5600 model. I don't usually use my zoom, but it does have a "nature" setting which I use sometimes. I've found with my digital, that if I want to get a crisp close-up, I actually shoot the picture with more than I want in the frame (ie. a teeny bit further away) then, in photoshop, or whatever program you have, you can crop to just the head of the flower, and it will most of the time turn out nice and crisp. Of course, the more megapixels your digital camera has, the better quality picture you're gonna get.

I hope that helped and wasn't *too* confusing :)

Thanks for the advice!

Thanks Theresa! I should of guessed they were Austins. They are varieties I've never seen before.

T2,
The Clematis is growing in the ground. The pic does sort of look like it could be coming out of the pot. The pot is full of herbs.
It is facing East. I put coral rocks from my father's in Key Largo at the base of them. It helps keep the roots cool and clematis like lime. Here's a couple pics of the opposite end of the porch with a really big clematis growing.
Earnest Markham clematis is also growing up the middle pole, but I think it is hard to tell with the shade.
{{gwi:648444}}
I don't know why that came out so big!