In a Vase on Monday – Strange Brew

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Behold my all time favorite coffee mug. The handle broke some years ago and I cannot bring myself to throw it away. It lurks around the house holding one thing or another. Today it is a vase holding an unusual array of flowers.

Not quite all of them are flowers. I like to throw in a succulent from time to time and January is a really good time as cutting flowers are few and far between. I planted seeds for zinnias and rudbeckias in November or so and they were consumed by something. Whatever ate the flowers did not eat the herbs. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around that and come up with Plan B..

What’s the strange brew in my coffee mug?

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The pink flower is a Bromeliad, Quesnelia testudo, sometimes referred to as the tulip of South Florida. Grey rosettes are Graptosedum, a succulent. The green foliage and flower is another succulent, Senecio barbertonicus. The Senecio flowers open for a short time and then make fuzzy seedheads. This plant is terribly poisonous, so brewing it would be a very bad idea!

That is all from my garden this Monday. Doing a rain dance here, showers are possible. Our rain totals are down about 10 inches from normal.

Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit our host, Cathy and follow links to vases from other gardens.

Happy Monday!

Six on Saturday – Winter Gardening / So Fla Style

Hello all and Happy 2026! I haven’t joined SOS in a while as it seemed there wasn’t very much of interest going on in the garden. Winter gardening in South Florida brings what everyone else knows as summer vegetables and cool season herbs. This is also the time of year for dividing bromeliad pups and moving orchids around. So, I have been doing all of that.

Winter is the dry season, so it has not rained in weeks. I am fortunate to have a lot of bromeliads and they only need to have their cups filled about every 10 days. Amazingly resilient plants. High temperatures are running 78F / 25C, the humidity is low and skies are deep blue with a magnificent range of clouds. The migratory birds are passing through, so it is wonderful spending time outdoors.

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Winter also provides tropical fruit. This is the first hermaphrodite flower on the Nemesis Papaya I planted a couple of months ago. I am hoping for some fruit this year. Papayas produce male, female and hermaphrodite flowers that are self pollinating. Nemesis is a selected variety for that and I think the name reflects its resistance to nematodes. We have bad nematodes in Florida.

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Billbergia bromeliads flower in winter. I think these are Billbergia amoena. Above are the rather impressive buds, I cut one of the flowers, they last a week in a vase and open with tiny cobalt blue flowers are the tips that look like curling ribbon.

Here is some of the wildlife passing through. This is a juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk. Hopefully looking for invasive lizards.

I have been harvesting Rangpur limes. These may not look like limes, but they are ripe. They are a cross between lemons and mandarin oranges. A sour orange, really, and used in cooking and baking. They make a delicious key lime pie.

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More bromeliads in flower. These are ‘Candy’ Porteas. I think they are named after Good and Plenty licorice candy.

I use these as cut flowers, here is a closer view.

I believe I am over six pictures, so I will stop. Visit our host, Jim, at this link GardenRuminations to see more SOS posts.

In a Vase on Monday – Winter Eye Candy

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Bromeliad flowers are some serious eye candy in the garden. Sometimes the flowers are seriously weird. This one is Portea “Candy”. They started flowering in November and should be around for another month or so. I suppose they are named for the licorice candy that looks like pills. They qualify for somewhat weird! Fat pink stems with purple flowers that produce white seedpods, I could not have dreamed that combination up!

The rest of the vase:

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The big purple flower is the “Candy” Portea. Green foliage is from Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa). I have always thought of these as persnickety house plants. Not so much in this environment they are nearly indestructible if sited properly and watered occasionally. Purple leaves are from Aechmea “Burgundy” Bromeliad and the purple leafy foliage is Purple Queen (Transcandentia pallida). I was amused to learn the French call this misery. Blue flowers are Plumbago (Plumago auriculata)

We are coming out of a cold snap here. I broke out a sweatshirt but have yet to give up sandals for shoes. It was 53 F/ 12 C. Gasp! Tomato plants are still coming along and my Arugula and Spinach are very happy as are the cool season herbs.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. Follow this link to her blog for more vases. RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Have a Blast in 2026!

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It seems as if 2025 rocketed right on by. Here we are at the end of the year once again. I cut these flowers in anticipation of a fantastic New Year. As usual, there is a little tropical madness and a few fireworks in the components.

I live a bit south of Cape Canaveral in Florida. This is where the space program started in the US in the 1960’s; it is still a center of rockets blasting off in the US. We can see the launches from our backyard. My husband loves it. The truth is there is not much to see – a squiggle of clouds on the horizon 90 miles away, but people (mostly men) love it. The tourist designation for this area is the Space Coast.

Back to the plants. Here is a closer view:

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The red, white and blue flower is from a bromeliad, Billbergia vittata. I am not sure which cultivar or even where it came from at this point. I enjoy this plant for the sheer funkiness of its appearance (picture below) Varigated leaves behind the brom are from Piecrust Croton (Codieum varigatum). Green foliage is from Asparagus Fern. Red bell shaped flowers are from the seasonally appropriate Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetifolium). White flowers are Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata ‘Alba’)

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The buds on the Bromeliad vittata. The plant is purple and grey striped and produces red, white and blue flowers! Tropical madness.

As always, thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden to see more vases.

Happy New Year to Everyone!!!

In a Vase on Monday – Gilded Lobsterclaws?!

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And now for something completely different! I had my fill of red and green and looked around to find something a little unusual. I’m not sure I have ever seen gilded Lobsterclaw Heliconia, so I got in touch with my inner Martha Stewart and painted these dried Heliconias gold. The gilded flowers called for a simple backdrop that needed no water. I found a few more palm fronds to trim and voila! (There is truly an endless supply of palm seedlings in my garden as they are difficult to get rid of.) I think the palm fronds will dry naturally so they may get gilded next!

A closer view:

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The gilded flowers are Lobsterclaw Heliconias (Heliconia rostrata). I dried them during the summer – just to see if it was possible. They retained some of their coloration but are mostly brown. A paint brush and a little gold paint gave them their sparkle back. I had planned to hang them sideways from the bottom of a wreath and just never got around to it. Maybe a New Years wreath is in order? The trimmed fronds are from Cabbage Palms (Palmetto Sabal) which are sometimes called Sabal Palms and are native to Florida.

Many thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden who oversees this wonderful garden meme.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas to all.

In a Vase on Monday – Celebrating Garden Mystery

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The holiday mood usually kicks in for me around December 15. True to form, I reached for the big red vase and went in search of some ‘Christmasy’ flowers. This vase presents a challenge. It is very tall and has a very narrow opening.

The hunt was on for holiday mood flowers with skinny stems. In South Florida! A challenge, to say the least. My garden provided several selections. Not one of them was planted by me. Where did they come from?? An unanswerable question.

I suppose the birds have been planning to provide me with holiday vase clippings! Every December I remember how many birds pass through. The numbers are truly astounding as well as the variety and lengths of the commutes.

A closer view:

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The red berries are Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia) – a dreadful invasive plant in my garden. I am certain these were planted for their lovely berries and frighteningly quick growth habit. There are now untold zillions of these growing wild while we try to get rid of them. I may have saved the planet from 60 with this vase. Sigh. The purple foliage is ‘Purple Prince’ Alternanthera – planted as an annual color some years ago these appear intermittently growing from crevices in paving stones. Red flowers are Shrimp Plants (Justicia brandegeana) – my neighbor gave me one about ten years ago and it keeps going on. The trimmed palm frond, another seedling Cabbage Palm (Palmetto Sabal). Cream colored flower spikes are Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa), a gift from an unknown benefactor I have been diligently trying to propagate (no results). Long grey foliage at the neck of the bottle is a native air plant (Tillandsia spp). This is a relative of Spanish Moss and just appears. No idea why.

The ending of another year is always a good time for reflection. The unanswerable questions are a bit troublesome. I plan to enjoy whatever gifts the universe has to offer.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Sticks from the Sticks

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I often tell people I live in the sticks. Coming from a city of five million, that is what it seems like to me. I like sticks of all types – where I live and in vases for texture. We have had another dry spell that has slowed down the flowers (leaving some looking like sticks!) Oddly, the varmints ate all my zinnia and Rudbeckia seedlings (no sticks left) and eschewed the parsley – literally. I am not sure if the varmints are gourmets or anti-snobs as they turned up their noses at my fancy favorite parsley. Varmints are tiresome.

This vase, unlike the garden, requires no water. It did require a bit of a balancing act. The cuttings are balanced along the edge of the vase, I took the pictures quickly.

A closer view.

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The grey “flowers” are Graptosedum. These are absurdly easy to grow here. I have pots of them and they drop leaves that grow under the pots. Orange flowers are dried Aechmea rubens bromeliad flowers. White sticks are stems from the flowers of the Adonidia Palm (Veitchii merrilli). Brown sticks are native grapes – Muscadines (Vitis rotundifolia)

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. To view more vases follow the link RamblingintheGarden

Happy Holidays from the sticks!!

In a Vase on Monday – Holiday Cheer?!

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My garden still offers holiday surprises. Gardenias in December? Who would have thought and there it is. Seasonal berries are just turning red in time for the holidays which is somewhat normal. Both of the red flowers bloom off and on year round, so they are just celebrating rain, as am I!

I think of November as a rainy month. This year it was bone dry until last Thursday, Thanksgiving. I added the precipitation to the list of things I was thankful for. Here is our fairly typical American Thanksgiving dinner. I am a Southerner, so we have the side dish cornbread dressing, not stuffing.

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Turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes and cranberry relish. The meat and starch elements are appropriately drenched in gravy.

Followed by, you guessed it, pumpkin pie.

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Back to the vase, the flamingo is a Christmas ornament gifted to me by my mother, celebrating my college mascot.

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The white flowers are Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata); red bell shaped flowers are Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetformis); red, yellow and orange flowers are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum); the berries are from the evil invasive Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia)

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting this garden meme. Follow the link to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Harvest Cobbler

There are still some unresolved seasonal dilemmas I have to cope with living in South Florida. It’s Thanksgiving in the US this week and I need a harvest themed arrangement with berries and fall color. No funky tropicals, just some fall color. The hunt was on!

After rooting around in the garden I realized a little compromise was required. Fall color is not found in deciduous trees here, but other plants – and berries we have. The basket was located and snipping began.

A closer view:

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The fall color compromise is displayed in its full glory. The rusty red Aechmea rubens flower. Yellow flowers are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis). Purple berries are from the Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana).

Another view:

Berries are from the Gumbo Limbo (Bursea simaruba) you can’t get much more tropical than that. The (I use the term loosely) fall leaves are from a Raggedy Ann Copperleaf (Acalphya wilkesiana)

White filler flowers are Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa) my fall favorite.

I think my Thanksgiving arrangement has been cobbled together without tropical vibes. I can go forth and thaw my turkey and make cranberry relish in peace now. Happy Thanksgiving to my American counterparts.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is about expressing gratitude and thanking those who have helped us. Some of you know I have been arguing with Inflammatory Breast Cancer for the past four years and it is truly difficult for me to express my gratitude for having my blog community as an escape from the grind of the process. I detest the warrior/battle ethos. And pink for the most part.

Here is a link for more info. There are groups in the UK, Canada and Australia https://theibcnetwork.org/

So, Thank You.

And thanks to Cathy for hosting this sanity saving meme! (my sanity) Follow the link to her blog to see other vases. RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Turks Caps and Wildflowers

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It’s that time of year – the holidays are approaching and the red flowers and berries are making their annual appearances. This vase is a good reflection of what is going on in the garden – the odd dichotomy of South Florida landscapes. Some plants go to seed in the fall and others celebrate the cooler season with flowers and growth. I realize there are cool season plants in other climates, but these are a little different..a bit more oomph.

South Florida is home to some fantastic native and acquired plants. I let everything come up and edit- a lot. It’s truly amazing what just appears. I am very opposed to lawn chemicals and plant for pollinators. I believe if you think that way birds and butterflies follow and proliferate, a good thing. My older brother, a lifelong gardener, was somewhat mystified by my enchantment with the caterpillars eating my plants. I have countless butterflies to enjoy and I suppose he is still worrying about how to get rid of the caterpillars.

Closer views:

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The hanging red flowers are Turks Cap Hibiscus (Malvaviscus something). The older I get, the less interest I have in botanical name drama. Off white flowers are Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). Both of these plants just appeared in my garden to my delight. I do nothing and they carry on.

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The berries are from a Christmas Palm (Adonidia merrillii), grown from seed by my friend Eddie. My husband refers to this tree as the Eddie Palm. This was planted by me. The ferns in the back are Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) They are native here and just appeared. What they have to do with Boston is a mystery to me.

Follow this link to visit Cathy’s blog and view vases from gardens around the world. RamblingintheGarden