Disney Character Topiaries

To clip the foliage and twigs of shrubs and trees in order to create a defined shape such as the Disney Characters takes time, skills and creativity. It does take a real talent to do all these art works. This spring season, Disney World's EPCOT theme park celebrates the International Flower and Garden Festival presented by HGTV. Now on it's 21st year, this yearly event has drawn millions of Disney guests all over the world. Throughout the EPCOT theme park, amazing floral displays of breath-taking blooms, colorful gardens and beautiful topiaries welcomes the guests.

Find this topiary in Future World.

Find this wonderful topiary at the entrance.

You will find the topiary of goofy in the Future World.

You will find this topiary near the Electric Umbrella in Future World.

You will see this topiary in Future World.

You will see this right at the entrance.

Find this topiary at the Future World.

located at the Future World

at the entrance

Nearby the Electric Umbrella

The International Flower and Garden Festival is a special event scheduled from March to May. These are just few of more than a 100 topiaries in Disney. Most of the amazing topiaries are located in the World showcase and that's where we will be going anytime next week. Anyway, thanks for stopping by. See you all tomorrow.

Who Makes the Fairy Houses ?

Awww! Who makes fairy houses? I bet your child will be happy to answer that. In the world of Neverland and the characters of Tinker Bell and Peter Pan brings a wonderful smile on a child's innocent face. Well, not only for them but, for us gown-up as well. Such a magical imaginary place which full of beauty. Just like Tinker Bell's Butterfly Garden in Epcot, Disney World.

EPCOT Theme Park

One of the 4 popular Disney World's theme parks is called Epcot. This place is all about human achievement, culture and innovation. The Spaceship Earth is the icon of Epcot and is also one of the popular attractions. EPCOT is an acronym which means Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Popular areas are Future World where Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space,Test Track and Soarin' attractions are located; and World Showcase where guests enjoy the pavilions which showcase selected countries in the world. Right now, Spring has sprung in EPCOT!

The International Flower and Garden Festival

Annually, EPCOT have special events and one of the popular festivities that I love is the International Flower and Garden Festival. Yesterday, hubby and I went to Epcot to see the blooming flowers as well as take photos of the Topiary Sculptures of Disney Characters and other creatures. This festival started in 1993 so; it just turned 21 this year, how amazing is that?

Tinker Bell's Butterfly Garden

For now, I am sharing these photos of fairy houses inside Tinker Bell's Butterfly Garden. This is not a permanent attraction because I didn't see this in the last years. The butterfly garden is inside a huge canopy slightly covered so; butterflies are free to fly inside and out of this area. The flowers are blooming and so gorgeous. Hundreds of varieties and blooms in different colors. There's yellow, pink, red, orange, white and so on.

Cute Fairy Houses

The moment I walked inside the butterfly garden, the blooming flowers are just everywhere. The area is landscaped well, a good size to enjoy blooms in every corner, and no one surely did not missed the fairy houses. They are made skillfully and artistically out of ordinary things which can be found in your place. Check out the photos here:

The Fairies make the fairy house but, in Tinker Bell's Butterfly Garden, the humans Vikki and Ronda made the fairy houses hehehe. They are great artist and I admire their creative works of art. Have you ever seen fairies? I never saw a fairy yet but; I would love too (wink). Tinker Bell is one of my favorite #Disney characters and please comeback tomorrow to see the topiary sculpture of tinker bell. I will be posting few topiary characters as well. Thanks for stopping by. You should visit #Epcot, now!

Blooming with Flowers

I went out to check my plants and my gardenia is blooming perfectly despite the scorching heat. Some leaves of my other plants withered but, my grapes are looking good.  Grapes starting to get bigger and i hope I can eat them before insects harvest them. So far, I am happy with my gardenia. Looking pretty in the summer.

Here are some of the buds and I can't wait to see the white fragrant flower in bloom.

Early Spring and Beautiful Blooms

There is indeed beauty in weeds. This is called Virginia Spiderwort or Tradescantia Virginiana which is commonly grown in gardens. It can grow from 1 to 3 feet tall and mostly has purple, blue and white flowers. According to some experts in Horticulture, this is not a weed but, a native plant.

As for the rest of these beautiful flowers below, I have no idea what their names are.

I am no expert in flowers but, when I saw these plants in my yard today, though they are beautiful, I still consider them as weeds.

 
Check out the photo below, I even caught a bee trying to sipped a nectar out of it ... just my wild guess :-) or helping for pollination (wink).
 
This plant is really pretty, check out the flowers, I might cultivate it because the leaves are pretty.
 
Now, this for sure is my least favorite occupant in my garden, the flowers withered easily.
 
This is the only variety in the entire yard, looks like a tiny sunflower.
 
That's all for now friends. I will be posting some of my favorite flowers in my garden next time. I have few in blooms. Thanks for stopping by. Oh, if you know the names of the above plants/weeds/flowers, feel free to share it with us. Thanks and hope to see you again.

Calamondin in my Garden

In the Philippines, we call this fruit calamansi. From a citrus family, calamansi is a fruit which is widely cultivated in the Philippines. In our dialect, we call it limonsito. Here in the US, they call it Calamondin and sometimes, they call it golden lime, panama orange, chinese orange, acid orange, calamonding, or calamandarin. It was believed to originate in China and spread throughout Southeast Asia, India as well as Hawaii, the West Indies, Central and North America. the photo below is my calamondin plant which I bought at Wal-Mart for $9 and been producing fruits more so often.

Calamansi has white or purplish flowers. Its fruit has a spongy/leathery rind with a juicy pulp that is divided into sections. When I am making a Filipino dip/sauce,a squeezed of calamansi is a perfect addition to taste.

Tulips in my Garden

When my husband asked what I would like to have for Valentines Day, I told him no chocolates and I only want tulips and other flowering plants. Wish granted and that's what he did. I got tulips because I plan to plant it on the ground once the blooms withered. Pretty isn't it? I got shallow needs and plants/flowers make me happy.

 
Tulips plant is the latest addition in my garden. I have to wait and see if this tulip grows and blooms.

Lime-Green Colored Luna Moth

When we arrived home, I saw this on the front window. It is big and the color is so pretty. This moth is called Actias luna or Luna Moth which has a distinctive lime-green color. It is really big in fact, it has a wingspan of up to 4.5 inches that is why, it is one of the largest moths around.

I just take a picture and leave it there. They have the right to live you know so; I let the moth hang in there.

Lovely and Colorful Mums

Aren't they gorgeous? These type of plants in a nice planter would have cost much here in Florida but, in Missouri, this is only $14. A month ago, hubby and I had a very exciting one week road trip. The farthest we traveled was Kansas Missouri. When we were in the town of Marceline, we stopped by the Dreaming Tree of Walt Disney. Stayed for two nights by this awesome place in Lake Nehai in Keytesville. Nearby these places is Brooksfield  where the Amish Store is located. They have these beautiful mums displayed outside their store. I really wanted to see a real Amish and while we were there, two young and pretty Amish salesladies were there manning the store. Missouri is a gorgeous state with cool weather too since we went there in October, a sweater and boots would be a comfy attire to wear.

I took several photos of these lovely and colorful mums ... such pretty flowers huh? They are such delightful to the eyes. Do you have mums in your garden? I have two and I hope it will survive for next year. Thanks for stopping by.

Significance of Flowers

I got this bouquet of flowers on my birthday and I was happy. Any flowers would turn me on. I don't care if it is expensive or not, if someone so dear and gave me one stalk of flower, I will be delighted for sure.After a week, it's not withered and I am just happy to see these flowers in the living room.

Anyway, I was searching for the meaning of these flowers and got the following information: The red roses implies passion.

White roses suggest virtue and chastity.

The yellow roses stand for friendship or devotion.

The sunflowers would mean respect.

Gerbera (daisy) means innocence or purity.

Anyway, do you like the significance of these flowers? I can tell you more >o< . Come by next time will you?

Spring Blooms

Here are blooms that we once have in our garden in Mississippi. I am pretty sure that I will be having more of gardening activities when we move to our new home this month.

I love to have a flower garden and a vegetable garden as well. We have plenty of rooms to create a garden and landscape the yard.

I can't wait to take out my garden tools back. It is spring time, a good season to make the yard have some trimming.

I will definitely create some flower beds at the front yard and would create one area at the backyard for my vegetable garden.

On our new home, there was 2 bougainvilleas thriving on the side area of the garage but, not as big as this one.

The tulips, it was already in bloom when my father-in-law bought it at Walmart. It died by winter time but, on the next year surprisingly, it thrive and tulips bloom.

Spring Garden

We live in a condo right now which all the amenities are shared by the homeowners. Our community is well-maintained and we have no private yard. That's what I missed! Back in Mississippi, my father-in-law owned this huge property with huge backyard. I love to do gardening every morning and hubby loves to plant vegetables.

We can still have a potted tomato plant in the sunroom this year. We might consider that really!

My husband loves planting tomatoes and this was his produce last year. Both of us miss gardening. In two years, we are planning to buy a house and have this condo rented for property income. We wanted a backyard to have a vegetable and flower garden.

Symbol of Roses

All roses symbolizes LOVE. But, roses have different colors and have different special meanings too. When someone gives you PINK roses, it symbolize happiness, gratitude, appreciation and admiration.

As for me, I love WHITE roses. According to the color chart of roses, white rose means innocence, purity, secrecy and reverence. So many people loves RED roses which symbolize love, passion, respect and courage.

On YELLOW rose, the meaning is joy, friendship and freedom. So, if your crush gives you a yellow rose, would you be disappointed? CREAM roses mean thoughtfulness, charm and graciousness. While ORANGE roses would mean admiration, fascination, enthusiasm and desire. If you want to give roses to somebody, be careful because they might know the meaning and they might mis-interpret it.

The Symbol of Flowers

How would you react if someone gave you these flowers? Probably, you will be delighted right? Did you know that there is a symbol for every flower that is given to you? I love white roses because it means purity of intention or red roses because it means love. Well, this may be not scientific but, its interesting to know how they symbolize. So, if your husband gave you an Ivy flower, you must be feeling great huh? Enjoy reading.

*Ambrosia: Reciprocated love
Apple Blossom: Better things to come
Azalea: First Love, Temperance

*Baby's Breath: Innocence, pure heart
Bamboo: Strength, Loyalty
Begonia: A fanciful nature
Bird of Paradise: Magnificence
Blue Violet : Faithfulness
Buttercup: Riches, childishness

*Calla Lily: Magnificent Beauty
Camellia: Gratitude
Carnation-red: Alas poor heart
Carnation-pink: I'll never forget you
Carnation-purple: Capriciousness
Carnation-stripped: Sorry I can't be with you
Carnation-white: Innocence
Carnation-yellow: Disdain
Chrysanthemum-red: Love
Chrysanthemum-white: Truth
Chrysanthemum-yellow: Slighted love
Clematis: Mental beauty

*Daffodil: Regard, You are the only one
Dahlia: Dignity, Elegance, Good Taste
Daisy: Gentleness, Innocence, Loyalty and Romance
Delphinium: Flights of Fancy, Ardent Attachment

*Forget-Me-Not: True love, hope, remembrance, memories
Forsythia: Anticipation.
Freesia : Innocence, thoughtfulness.

*Gardenia: Purity and Secret Love
Gladiolus: Strength of character, Sincerity

*Hibiscus: Delicate Beauty
Honeysuckle: Bonds of love.
Hyacinth: : Sport, play, games, rashness, flower dedicated to Apollo.
Hyacinth-blue : Constancy.
Hyacinth-purple : I am sorry, sorrow, please forgive me.
Hyacinth-red or pink : Play.
Hyacinth-white : Loveliness, I'll pray for you.
Hyacinth-yellow : Jealousy.
Hydrangea : frigidity, heartless.

*Iris: Faith, Wisdom, Valour and Promise
Ivy : Fidelity

*Larkspur-pink: Fickleness.
Larkspur-purple: First love.
Lavender: Loyalty
Lemon Blossom : Fidelity
Lilac-purple: First Emotion of Love
Lilac-white: Youthful innocence
Lily-orange: Wealth
Lily-white: Sweetness
Lily-yellow: Gaiety, walking on air
Lily of the Valley: Humility, Sweetness, Return of Happiness
Lotus Flower: Estranged love

*Magnolia: Love of Nature
Marigold: Grief
Mistletoe : Affection
Morning Glory: Affection

*Narcissus: : Egotism, conceit, self love, formality

*Oleander: Caution.
Olive Branch: Peace.
Orange Blossom: Innocence, Eternal Love, Marriage and Fruitfulness
Orchid: Love, Beauty and Magnificence

*Pansy: Thoughtful Reflection
Peony: Happy Marriage and Prosperity
Petunia : Resentment, anger
Polyanthus: Price of riches

*Ranunculus: Radiant, Charming
Rhododendron: Danger
Rose, Pink: Perfect Happiness
Rose, White: Charm and Innocence
Rose, Red: Love and Desire
Rose-single red: I Love You
Rose-Burgundy: Unconscious love
Rose, white and red: Unity
Rose, Orange : Passion
Rose, Yellow: Joy and Gladness
Rosebud: Beauty and youth

*Star of Bethlehem : Purity
Stephanotis: Marital Happiness
Sunflowers: Pride
Sweet Pea: Blissful Pleasure

*Tiger Lily: Prosperity
Tuberose: Dangerous Pleasure
Tulip: Love and Passion
Tulip-yellow : Hopeless love, there's sunshine in your smile.
Tulip-red: Declaration of love

*Violet-blue : Watchfulness, faithfulness, I'll always be true.
Violet-purple : Thoughts of you, blue love.
Violet-white : Let's take a chance, youthful innocence.
Violet-yellow : Love of country.

*Zinnia : Thoughts of absent friends, in memory of an absent friend.
Zinnia-scarlet : Constancy.
Zinnia-white : Goodness.
Zinnia-yellow : Daily remembrance.