Last week several icy blog posts crossed my Reader, so I thought a blast of tropical flowers might warm things up. The tropical flowers are starting to flower again in my garden after a coolish winter. The coral Amaryllis I cut last week has been remarkably slow to open, in fact, it is still not open – despite my efforts to move it further and further into the sun. When I finally put it outside, in the sun, it dropped a bud in protest.
Research has finally identified this Amaryllis as a Barbados Lily (Amaryllis striatum) – definitely from my neighborhood and not a family bulb from my father in law. I see this Amaryllis everywhere in gardens around here, the ones nearby produce a huge amount of seed. I suspect this is another gift from my fine feathered friends. Thank you, birds. The bulb in my garden had two stalks, I cut one – the other is still in bud. Some Amaryllis like this in gardens closer to the water have already flowered and gone to seed.
The other flowers in the arrangement include, in purple, Hong Kong Orchids (Bauhinia purpurea, I think, not realizing how many types of these exist!) The pink flowers are Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet). The pods are beans from the Hong Kong Orchid, my attempt to use something other that ferns for a green foliage accent.
The beans are in all the vases, this one displays them in a heart shape with Shell Ginger.
I love In A Vase on Monday, don’t you?
Thanks to Cathy at ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this every Monday!
The Shrub Queen 
Those are rad! I have not seen a bauhinia in years! While we were in school, there was a shrubby bauhinia with small brick red flowers, Bauhinia punctata. I have not seen it since the late 1980s. It was not as pretty as Bauhinia purpurea anyway.
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Thanks, Tony.It is difficult to discern all the Bauhinias. I may learn.
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Oh, that is not one you need to learn. I have not seen it since school. We sort of wondered what ever happened to it, although it was not very impressive. Western redbud, even though it does not last very long, is prettier and more colorful. Many years ago, white Bauhinia purpurea were planted as street trees on Burton Way through Beverly Hills (in the Los Angeles region). That is another one you probably do not need to learn. I am a sucker for white flowers, and the foliage actually seemed to be fuller, but without the patterned color, the white flowers look like litter that got caught in the branches. I hate to say that about white flowers, but in this case, the colors win.
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I esp. like the heart shape with the shell ginger – it makes me think of an arrangement one would find in a resort as a sign of welcome – along with those animal-shaped folded towels spread across your bed!
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Thanks, Eliza.I am terrible with origami and spa food. Lentils with sausage tonight and cornbread. Maybe a rustic inn.
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🙂
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I’m so pleased you shared some more exotic blooms; I am so fed up with winter this year. I love the shape of the shell ginger and I agree with Eliza that it is the kind of welcome one gets in a good resort hotel.
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Thank you, Christina. It looks so cold further north I like to send out some warmth. Welcome to my resort, I am making Lentil Soup per Marcella Hazan today. No spa food!
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I would prefer the Lentil Soup!
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We are really lagging behind in blooms over here. My shell ginger completely froze and a few are starting to poke out of the ground. I will enjoy your tropicals for now.
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I am amazed you can grow Shell Ginger – thought Orlando was the limit. Enjoy yours – I haven’t figured out what they do yet!
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I think we try to stretch our zone, which works until a freeze hits. All the split leaf philodendrons are leafless.
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But they come back! I think I am too far north for some Heliconias ..they seem to be coming back.
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It is always difficult for me to imagine things like your flowers just growing in the neighborhood gardens. Amazing the different climates we live in. And yes, I certainly do love this meme. I always made a fair number of vases but it is so much more fun to share them.
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I know, I still feel as if I am landscaping with houseplants sometimes and the plants that just appear are amazing.
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I’ve always enjoyed tropical blooms as they add such vibrant color to our landscape. With that said, I love the pale pink of the shell ginger.
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I agree and need some red gingers!
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Thank you for some tropical heat! The colours and shapes in your vases are lovely.
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Thanks, a bit different from where you are?
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Yes indeed!
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That’s a nice tropical lineup. I like that Shell Ginger.
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Thank you, I enjoy the Shell Ginger.
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What lovely blooms, Amy, and how intriguing to see the beans from the orchids, certainly something I would not have expected. The heart is such a subtle touch, one that you just sneaked in. Thanks for giving us a taste of the tropics when it is anything but here.
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Thank you, Cathy. The beans are quite pretty now and later I will be cursing them as they are big and dry into curlicues and are sharp.
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But still pretty in vases, albeit in a different way?
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Now those blooms definitely warmed me as we still have winter!
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How wonderful to have seed-planted Amaryllis! I love the shell ginger. If only I had sufficient water to keep a plant like that alive.
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If it’s Amaryllis in S FL must be March. Here is the great grand daddy of FL Amaryllis Theodore Mead in his Amaryllis patch up near Orlando…1920s?
http://lib.rollins.edu/olin/oldsite/archives/meadgallery.htm
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That’s fabulous, thank you George.
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A lovely blast of colour 🧡
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Aah, that heart is sweet! Thanks for the tropical blast – I needed that! 😉 If our weather doesn’t warm up soon I might resort to tropical drinks…. 😉
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Laughing! it is 90 degrees here today and the wind is blowing – like being in a hair dryer..I need a tropical drink over ice.
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