Six on Saturday – South Florida Weirdness

Despite the fact that I have been gardening in South Florida for over a decade – I still find many things in the garden that I think are weird! I was (sort of) overseeing some tree pruning..Sea Grapes get out of hand on an annual basis..and looked up to see this after noticing some buzzing.

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Possibly a better image..

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It’s not a termite infested mattress, it’s a dragonfly swarm. These are quite impressive in real life and the mosquitoes are decimated. And very difficult to photograph.

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Soon after seeing the swarm, I looked down and spied pups – on the miniature pineapple!

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A garden stroll revealed what I thought was a deceased mango – coming back from the ground. The bronze foliage is normal. I fear this might be a Turpentine Mango. Not known for their flavor, but their incredibly hardy rootstock that is used to graft more palatable varieties of fruit on top. I have never tasted one, but the name gives me pause. The more timid, but delicious condo mango, Pickering, that was grafted on top clearly is deceased. The Turpentine Mango is known for its long, narrow foliage..

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The Abyssinian Red Banana has at least tripled in size since I planted it. It is still not very red, but looks more tropical by the day.

For those who follow IAVOM, here is my swallowtail caterpillar rescue update. They are getting bigger and I would say the population has reduced by half (.#$@ lizards) Here is Monday’s photo for reference.

I started some Roselles (Hibiscus sabdariffa) from seed and planted eight in a bed. The varmints left them alone, until they didn’t. Roselles are grown for their edible calyx, the bottom of the flower. These taste like cranberry and I was planning on making Roselle granola in the fall. Here is the rabbit proofing!

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The rabbits used the purple cups in the background to climb up and eat the plants. I had put them around the stems. Fingers crossed for Roselle granola!

That’s my dose of Florida weirdness! Visit Jim at GardenRuminations to see more SOS

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Summer Transplants

Suddenly it’s 90 degrees! 32 Celsius sounds so much cooler. However you take your temperature, it’s hot. The garden is responding in kind and producing hot colors.

I performed a swallowtail butterfly caterpillar rescue while cutting flowers for the vase. The dill has been going to seed and I witnessed a beautiful lady swallowtail butterfly laying eggs on the dill. So did several lizards lurking nearby. The tiny caterpillars had hatched and were just starting to devour the dill when I cut the flowers. The cats were relocated to a parsley far away from the lurking lizards. I’m enjoying the dill flowers and I hope the caterpillars are enjoying the parsley. I did not realize how much parsley I had planted and it all came up! Happy to share with the swallowtails and I hope I see a few more.

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Success! The caterpillars have easily doubled in size from when I moved them. I am wondering how much parsley they can eat.

A closer view of the vase:

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There are two kinds of orange tubular flowers. The lower flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens). The upper are Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera). Long red flowers are Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreum, depending on who you ask) Red spikes are Salvia coccinea. Dill flowers, of course and the creamy spikes are from Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa)

Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly meme. Visit her blog at MoreVases to see more vases!

In a Vase on Monday – Zinnias, Actually

After several false starts in 2026, I am pleased to post my first zinnias of the year! I usually have zinnias much earlier than this, nearly year round. I think they were worth the wait. The longest stemmed flowers I have ever grown. As usual, no clue why!

The first batch of seeds I planted – frozen. The second – eaten by unknown varmints. The third time was the charm. I have planted so many zinnia seeds, I am not sure what these are. ZinMaster, I think. I really wanted Cactus Zinnias, but I think I have gone through all those seeds

The closer view:

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The vase is a jar that held specialty tea. The small green flowers at the base are seed heads from Pentas, an annual flower, I am not sure what kind. Creamy white flowers are from Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). Ferns are from the invasive Asian Sword Fern.

Simple pleasures from the garden.

Thank you to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to visit her garden and see more vases.

Six on Saturday – May Garden Happiness

I am joining SOS this week with my latest crop of unusual. Even in South Florida, April showers bring May flowers. Generally, they are not the same flowers everyone else grows, but I am happy. My cutting flowers are not quite ready for viewing, but their friends are. Visit our host, Jim at GardenRuminations to see more May happiness.

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I do love these miniature pineapples. I have a few around the garden. The fruits are reportedly good for juicing. However, I cannot resist cutting them for flower arrangements or drying them for the holidays. And painting them gold!

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Intense rain showers inspired the Rain Lilies!

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Flaming Torch Bromeliads (Bilbergia pyramidalis) are appearing early this year.

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The Purple Heliotrope is still hanging in there with the chartreuse Golden Dewdrop (Duranta erecta)

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Mystic Blue Salvia is shining.

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Turkeytangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) “lawn” is flourishing and providing food for butterflies. Note holes in leaves. Happy caterpillars.

That is my six for this Saturday. Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – A Paloma Posey

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More than 30 years ago….my parents went to Mexico. I know this because when they returned, I received this bird, a Paloma, with strict instructions from my mother. It was a dove “a symbol of love and fidelity in Mexican culture”. I had recently married when I received this gift and after the Mexico trip my parents went through a Paloma phase. I had not realized it was also a cocktail!! It is difficult to picture my father drinking tequila with grapefruit soda..but maybe it happened?! There was some parental giggling about tequila. Hmm.

My parents have been gone for over 15 years. This little bird always brings a smile to my face. It resides in my kitchen with the cookbooks, so I see it often. The flowers reflect the colors in the Paloma.

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The orange flowers on top are ‘Dwarf Maui Red’ Ixora, a shrub. The orange tubes are Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) Blue and white spikes are Salvia, White Flame and Mystic Blue. The blue flowers are Plumbago auriculata. The little white vase had a tiny orchid in it that is still floating around the front garden.

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The Paloma. Still standing sentinel over my cook books, decades later. I can only hope my parents are enjoying a grapefruit cocktail in the great beyond.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Sunday Mother’s Day Madness

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It’s Mother’s Day in the US this Sunday. As I collect flowers, my thoughts are always with my mother, the Greatest Generation Southern Belle, Miss Betty, who would have adored In a Vase on Monday. I am certain if she was still with us (she would be 98 years old) I would be printing out blog posts and mailing them to her. Computers were not happening in her world, ever.

My father’s mother, Blanche (yes) was the Blue Willow collector. I suspect there is a gene as I love the pattern and china. The teapot was found on a shopping mission with my mother.

The Sunday Madness? A Food and Travel magazine contacted me a couple of months ago – soon after the historic freeze, and they wanted to photograph food in my garden. I agreed. And am madly putting things right. This week I am baking! I will share more as things progress.

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A closer view. The white flowers spilling down the side are Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata). Orange flowers are Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera). Blue flowers are Plumbago (P. auriculata). White spikes are White Flame Salvia. Scent is added by chartreuse culinary dill flowers.

Foliage is ‘Mammey’ Crotons and Asian Sword Ferns.

Please send me positive vibes for the photo shoot. To see more vases, visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden!!

Six on Saturday – Spring Shift

It’s time for the weekly garden tour hosted by Jim at GardenRuminations Follow the link to see what is going on with gardeners around the world.

In my South Florida garden spring is rapidly shifting into summer. I’m trying to get the garden tucked in for the oncoming blast furnace of heat and humidity. The rainy season officially starts May 15, but the usual May forecast is hot and dry. I’ve decided to try some tropical vegetables. I bought long bean and winged bean seed and have Roselles coming up from seed. I will post pictures when they are coming along. As usual, I have some unusual things going on.

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Desert Roses (Adenium obesum) love the heat. These plants fry is a cast iron pot on my driveway and love it. I rarely water and throw a little liquid fertilizer on them in the spring. A gift from African deserts.

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The last White Bird of Paradise picture, I promise. These are shattering from the heat.

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Some new container plantings and a washed up mermaid were added to my front garden.

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I read up on using Purslane as a summer annual as everything I have ever tried has burned up in the full sun. Charco broiled Begonias are not pretty. My Bronze leaf Begonias will grow anywhere theory was quickly roasted in the SoFla summer. This is a named cultivar (name already lost) of a native Purslane. Despite the propaganda stating these plants do not like rich soil or water – you guessed it. The one planted in the container with rich soil and water is twice as happy as the ones in the supposed perfect gravelly soil! Unless the mermaid has magical purslane powers. Hmmm.

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Several people have asked me about this plant I use in flower arrangements. It’s the ferny thing – it’s called Asparagus Fern (Asparagus setaceus). It’s not the usual thing, it was once grown around here for use in floral arrangements. Native to Africa, it escaped cultivation (have you heard this before??) and is now invasive along with the other types of Asparagus Ferns that are common houseplants. These appeared from who knows where and grow up the stems of the Lobsterclaw Heliconias. They are thorny and pretty enough to use in floral arrangements, so that is how I control them.

This is a new plant in the garden. I realized when I bought this it was quite possible I had eclipsed horticultural norms by having pineapples and bananas in a foundation planting – is this an American term? Pineapples and now a banana are planted in front of my house. I bought this as a Red Abyssinian Banana. Having never seen one before, it doesn’t look particularly red?? Anyone have thoughts? Thank you! My husband has a near phobia of bananas, so I sought out an ornamental.

Happy Spring Gardening to all. Cheers from South Florida!

In a Vase on Monday – Fall into Spring with a side of weird

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It is still officially spring in South Florida…but we already hit 90 F/ 32 C and the humidity is rising. There is always some point when the heat and humidity hit critical mass and I begin pining for fall. We are definitely not there yet, however, the colors in this vase reminded me of my future fall aspirations early.

There are some strange things going on in the garden. The mango trees that were hit by frost in early February have all come back, seemingly from the dead and are producing flowers. This usually happens in early February followed by fruit in June. We have dead foliage, new foliage and flowers on the same tree. I am puzzled, but think I should fertilize them. So weird. Creatures are eating the buds off the zinnias I planted in tall pots for cutting – giraffe rabbits??

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The closer view. This is mostly flowers from trees and shrubs. I really enjoy cutting from these plants as they are rarely seen in this venue. The white flowers are White Geiger tree (Cordia boisserie). Yellow flowers are Esperanza tree (Tecoma stans). Orange tubular flowers are from the native Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) Red fruit with foliage is Brush Cherry (Syzygium paniculatum), a common hedge here. The bronze foliage is an unnamed coleus bought locally.

I’m adding to the weird by buying obscure tropical vegetable seeds to grow over the summer. I planted edible Hibiscus (Roselles) recently (the calyx is the edible part, tastes like cranberries) Yard long and winged bean seeds go into pots soon..more weird to come…

That is all from South Florida. Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM for all these years. Follow the link to her blog RamblingintheGarden to take the garden tour.

In a Vase on Monday – Beachcombing the Garden

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There is a strange thing that happens when you live near a beach – you don’t go very often after a while and there are a lot of shells around the house and in the garden.

Perhaps your beachcombing capacity reaches critical mass when your environs are full. Hmm. This is something to ponder. I had no trouble finding a few seashells to go with the Shell Ginger flower for my Monday vase. There are many more shells in the garden, however, when I look around I imagine lining the shell walkways with goddess stones (above circular disk) Then I imagine how many it would take!

Here’s a closer view

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This vase has a whirling dervish vibe. The winding Fern is Asparagus Fern, this particular type of Fern used to be grown for floral arrangements around here. It escaped and is now considered an invasive plant. It is oddly thorny, so I like to get rid of it before it gets out of hand. A win win situation as I also like to use it in flower arrangements. The pink flower is a Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet). White flowers are Begonia nelumbiifolia, Lotusleaf Begonia. A pink champagne bottle is a leftover from a visiting friend.

That’s all from my South Florida garden this Monday..hoping the clouds turn into rain! Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden to see the garden tour.

Six on Saturday – Spring Whites

It’s time for my weekly garden tour. I noticed a lot of white in my garden and decided to focus on the different types of white flowers. I realized eventually and unintentionally I like to add white to offset all the high colors in my garden. I have a lot of color – reds, oranges and purples mostly and the white adds a cooling touch to all that color.

The White Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia nicolai) is making another appearance as it is adding on layers of color as it continues opening.

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The native salvia (Salvia coccinea) is showing off in white.

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Another favorite native is Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). These are lightly scented and make a good cut flower.

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Miss Alice Bougainvillea is making a shy return to her former glory. She was knocked back by the cold.

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White Geiger (Cordia boisserei) has been flowering for a couple of weeks. This is sometimes called Texas Olive as it is native there and produces odd, olive like fruit. The fruit is edible but oddly gelatinous and best left for wild life. My greyhound will eat it if left to his own devices.

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White and pink Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) are budding and blooming.

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That is all from South Florida this week. Gardeners here continue to do rain dances. I read it would take almost 2 feet of rain to break the drought here.

Visit Jim at garden ruminations to view more Six on Saturday garden tours.