Yeah, I liked the dark Oleanders more. I've seen the lighter pink ones and white ones at the coast, and at Home Depot, but I like the dark pink/red color since it's more vibrant.
Most of these do die with the frost, except for the Rose of Sharons and Memosaes which just drop their leaves like most trees during the winter do. The others still come back every year, though.
Some more from last season.
One of our lavender Rose of Sharons. We actually have 7 of these in the front and backyard.
You can't go wrong with sun flowers. Tall, green, leafy plants. 3 to 5 inch yellow flowers that can be seen from far away and best of all, they're just about free. This one is with a batch of sun flowers at the end of the driveway by the curb. I didn't plant these. Our neighbor across the street volunteers at the
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center so she brings home all kinds of neat plants and flowers. Anyway, we have a 25 foot Mexican fan palm standing over that flower bed, and the birds have their own special way of planting the seeds.
One of our Boganvias. These are bushy tropical plants. Our's grow to about 6 feet wide and up to 7 or 8 feet feet tall. During the spring and summer months it'll be covered in blooms from top to bottom. They come in a few colors, like this and a deeper almost purple color. These freeze back every winter, but always come back. They have inch long thorns on them, though, so it's best to not plant them near walkways and when trimming them you've got to make sure to not leave any branches laying around in the street or driveway.
And this is quite possibly my favorite in the yard. Our amaryllis. These are tropical of course. I believe they're part of the lilly family of plants. When these bloom they have such a good smell, a rich sweet smell. They flowers come in a few colors, white and lavender. Our's are all white. The flowers are bell shaped. They put on a stalk that blooms for a few weeks off and on the flowers die back, then put on more through Spring to the early summer months. Even when they aren't blooming they're nice since they have these long green leaves. They're nice in the ground, and they actually do ok in the winter time. Even with temperatures here hitting 20F sometimes in the winter they go dormant, but don't die. They're good in the ground, but also make good potted plants since they hang out over the pot and drape down.
Our palm tree. This tree is actually about 45 years old. All the houses in this neighborhood had atleast one palm planted in the frontyard. Our neighbor nextdoor has two just like this.
Our small one. My mom bought this one for my dad for Father's Day about 15 years ago. It'll eventually get as big as the other one.
Thanks for looking.