July in South Florida can give any gardener the blues. The temperatures have been in the mid 90s with a similar amount of humidity and it has basically refused to rain here despite the calendar’s insistence this is our rainy season. The tropical plants with big leaves are scorching, actually the weeds anywhere not served by our irrigation system are scorching, withering weeds incite a gleeful response from me and offset the gardening blues to a certain extent.
The summer blooming tropicals I have sited properly (always a good trick) are coping well and flowering, the others are, well, scorching. My blue vases are from the happy tropicals! The tropicals not getting quite enough water are really blue. And scorched.
The big red, green and yellow bud is from Heliconia rostrata, Lobsterclaw Heliconia. I decided to cut this just to see how long it will last. Waiting for the flower to open seems to shorten it’s vase life. It will be interesting to see if it opens as it usually takes a week or so to get this:
The small footed vase holds some Firebush flowers and Parrottflowers (Heliconia psittacorum) The Parrottflowers are having a tough year and seem a bit shrunken. Drought does not defeat Firebush here and they are feeding my butterfly brigade. Here is Zebra Longwing enjoying the nectar.
The blue violin holds a Miniata Bromeliad, the huge tree that shades this ground got a haircut from Hurricane Irma and yes, they are a bit scorched, but have graced me with a flower accompanied by a bit of Asian Sword Fern.
The blue vases are all heirlooms, the violin belonged to my grandmother, the bottle is from my mother and the footed vase belonged to my in laws. No one was scorched.
That I am aware of.
The Shrub Queen 
It has been a hot summer here too. We are anxiously waiting for temps to drop to 96f.
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Sounds as if Scorched is the word of the moment for you!! Overhot here too, but the garden is at least parched rather than scorched. How hot is it for you? What gloriously bright colours you are sg=haring with us today – but of course that is often the case with your vases!
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The blue is so intense paired with your tropical fire blooms. I will try to shoo some rain your way. We have plenty to spare lately.
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The blue vases work wonderfully with your tropical blooms. Here we are parched dry…..we aren’t used to it.
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Thank you, I associate the UK with rain so, it must be a shock to you and your gardens.
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Yikes! No rain? So sorry to hear that your plants are being scorched and your garden is singing the blues. I hope everything survives and you get some precipitation soon. Your tropical vases are, as always, an exotic delight.
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Thank you, Peter, it rained a very little today.
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Love the Miniata’s blue bud tips that match the vase and you know how I love the Heliconia – such a cool plant. Sorry to hear you don’t have the usual rain. I think it got sent up here by mistake – we’ve been having deluges the past two days, like a monsoon! Our thirsty earth is drinking it up, it’s been a tad dry here, too, but normal for July/Aug. This heavy rain, however, is not normal. But what IS normal these days?
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Thanks, Eliza, there is a bromeliad with the color tips reversed called a matchstick. Do you think the concept of normal weather may be fading..
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Yeah, long gone… going to hell in a handbasket. 😉
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Very sorry to hear that Florida is suffering a drought. Not that it is possible to tell from your vases that anything might be wrong. All looking so lush and pert, and wonderful contrast of colours with your heirloom blue vases.
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Thank you, 30 miles either way from my garden too much rain! Go figure.
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The blue vases are just the right contrast for those gorgeous tropical blooms. As to the heat-humidity combination – yuck! We’re heating up again too but our humidity, although running higher than usual this year, is nowhere near than unpleasant. I hope Mother Nature cuts you a break and lets the rain fall soon!
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It actually rained – a little! Thanks, Kris’
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I love your blue vases and the gorgeous tropical blooms look wonderful in them. I hope you get rain soon. We are all doing rain dances now.
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Thank you, Liz. My post seems to have broken the dry spell. It has rained twice since Monday.
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Yippee, well done, you got the rain dance right.
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So you don’t even have your usual humidity, is that right? The blue vases were the perfect choice for your colourful blooms, I love them.
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Scorch was a problem for foliage here, not so much because of the warmth, but because of the lack of humidity. It has not gotten much more than 90 degrees, but our English laurel hedge got cooked!
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How did I miss this? The color combo of the flowers and vases is stunning. And all those marvelously quickly shapes!
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Thank you, marvelously quirky is a delightful and apt description. Sometimes I just shake my head at the mad tropical flowers.
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That is a lovely legacy. And as usual, the flowers and their colours go so well together. Brava, Amy.
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