This morning our temperatures were in the low 70’s with a nice breeze from Hurricane Maria passing by (a long way off). The humidity was down a bit as well, so I worked in the garden getting my vegetable garden going. South Florida’s gardening season is opposite most of the Northern Hemisphere. Summer vegetables are planted in September and October, so I will have tomatoes in the winter. Hopefully. Corn is not even grown in the summer here as it is too hot for the plant to pollinate.
The anchor flower in this vase is a Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria) which is supposed to be a soothing shampoo ingredient until you read up on it, seems more people are irritated by it than soothed. Stick to the Aloe Vera for relief. The Soap Aloe is the apricot and green candelabra shaped flower. The red flowers are our native Hibiscus, Turk’s Cap Mallow (Hibiscus malvaviscus). The mad funky flowers that look like Lobster Claws are Blanchetiana Bromeliad flowers – Hurricane Irma was not kind to these and I have trimmed the prettier parts for use in this vase. I have been channeling my Southern mother lately and am thinking of drying the rest and spray painting them gold for a holiday wreath. Although, that might be too funky.
The vase is a big crystal affair that was a wedding gift – oh, many years ago from a dear friend who called the day before Hurricane Irma hit “just to hear my voice”, a truly lovely man. The components of the vase are of such a large scale (2 to 3 feet tall) I thought it called for the addition of some big tropical foliage. The smaller leaves in the arrangement are from Frangipani (Plumeria), the long reddish leaves from the Blanchetiana Bromeliad and the ferns are the ever present Asian Sword Ferns.
The vegetable garden under construction. Hard to believe anything will grow in this ‘soil’.
The Shrub Queen 
This looks like a concoction I would mix up when I was a concrete artist. Do you have to add organic matter?
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I took the concrete concoction out (12″) and replaced it with something called EcoSoil -, composted organic vegetable something. I tried raised beds with amended soil – got 2 dwarf radishes! Isn’t it amazing I can grow anything?
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I was trying to figure out what the Soap Aloe flowers were. Now I see it. Another creative arrangement. Maybe someday I will go out and cut some flowers. I am going to start my lettuce about mid October.
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Thanks, I have never grown lettuce that was edible, do you grow it in potting soil?
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I do now. Because of all the rabbits I grow the lettuce in a 3 foot high bed on wheels. I can move the planter in the garage for heavy rains or freezes. I grow kinds like Red Sails, Black Seeded Simpson, Arugula, Spinach, Oak Leaf Blend, etc. I am hoping to get several plantings before next summer.
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Sounds like a good plan, too early here for greens!
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Love that Aloe and the way it lightens everything. Did not know you could not grow corn.
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Thank you the Aloe blooms 4 times a year! We can grow corn spring fall and winter, just not summer.
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Gosh, I wouldn’t have guessed it was 2-3 ft tall if you hadn’t said! As always, it is interesting to read about the different blooms you use and how they are affected by your climate – and the way you have to grow your veg. Thanks for sharing all this alien information!!
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Alien? Giggling now, Florida is filled with weird people..
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Alien in terms of species that we in the UK are not accustomed to have in our gardens…!
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A lovely arrangement, it looks like fireworks. I love the Soap Aloe it looks like a classy kniphofia.
Yuck, I don’t like the look of your soil.
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Thanks. Liz. It does look like a Kniphofia – in a candelabra.The soil is terrifying, I actually removed it to grow vegetables.
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As our weather cools this weekend finally I will pull the rest of the veg garden as you start…love the aloe flower in the vase!
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Thanks, Florida gardening is a bit of a brain twister sometimes.
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I love the soft color of the soap aloe flowers. I have to hunt down that plant to add to my growing aloe collection. Best wishes with the vegetable garden. I’m glad Maria gave you a pass.
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Tomatoes in winter sounds odd to me, but then our store-bought tomatoes in winter are mostly shipped from Spain, also in the northern hemisphere, so maybe not so odd. Lovely creative vase again. The soap aloe is quite pretty, even if it isn’t as soothing as it sounds.
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Tomatoes in the winter are odd, but odder still no tomatoes in summer. Too hot. Thanks, I do enjoy the soap aloe flowers.
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Your plants all have such interesting textures–really cool. My aunt used to live in Florida and I remember her using a pick ax to plant things, but she was able to get things to grow. We thought “Frangipani” was the funniest flower name when we were little.
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Agreed! maybe I need a pick ax.
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I admire your resolve to garden despite the odds! Truly inspiring. But then you have winters when it’s quite pleasant to garden, I imagine. Your arrangement is monumental, I would really have to work at finding things to fit a vase that size and you seem to do it with aplomb– astonishing!
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Thank you, when I got the vase I thought the same thing -then Alstromerias overran the garden. It also looks good with Forsythia. The gardening season runs October to June here.
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Looking forward to seeing what the season brings!
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Me, too!
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I do look forward to your exotic vases! Love this one.
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Thank you Christina, I think I prefer the term exotic to alien!
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Thanks, Kris I think you need a Soap Aloe, they bloom quarterly. I am glad about Maria, sad about PR.
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Your climate sounds like that ‘down under’ at this time of year! Our friends in Australia, New Zealand and S. Africa are now enjoying spring and getting ready to plant veggies too.
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Sydney comes up with similar plants.
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so beautiful pics 😘😘😍👍
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