It’s that time of year, and for some reason many of my neighbors are decorating their front yards with dead pirates a la the movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. Weird, a bit startling and my dog is usually spooked by these odd things hanging from trees.
I prefer the odd things that appear in my garden. The growing season is year round here in South Florida, to the point sometimes I think I hear things growing at night. Bump…must be another Avocado, Mango or Grapefruit falling outside. Or the raccoons that are eating well, everything dropped something.
Three out of four ingredients in this vase just appeared in the garden. The blue flowers, Porterweed (Stachytarpheta) I bought. The rest are gratis from the Garden Fairy. The red flowers, Turks Cap Hibiscus (Malvaviscus penduliflorus); the foliage hanging over the sides, seedlings from Sabal Palms (Palmetto sabal); ferns are native Boston Ferns (Nephrolepis exaltata).
Here is a close up of the Turks Cap Hibiscus,one of my favorite gifts from the Garden Fairy. These flower nearly year round and require nothing. Spooky.
Happy Halloween from Florida.
The Shrub Queen 
Your Garden Fairy leaves you good stuff. After Hurricane Ike blew through, I had many new arrivals, but nothing worth keeping.
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Yes, we got some really nasty weeds from the Hurricanes..my garden fairy has pretty good taste.
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I love the look of that Hibiscus, yet again you have something completely new to me.
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Thank you, I find a lot of things new!
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The hibiscus is pretty with its pendulous blooms, I can see why it is a favorite. It’s great that you can garden year round, but I must admit that despite the cold, I enjoy the break the frost brings, lazy gardener that I am. 😉 Your jack-o-lantern looks mischievous! I am disappointed in the horror show that Halloween has become, all creepy and gory. I prefer the lighter side of candy and fun, give me bumblebees and princesses!
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Thanks, Eliza, I take a gardening break in summer but the weeds don’t so I have to reclaim the garden (currently in reclamation) I agree about Halloween, too much creepy,yucky and not enough princesses and bumblebees.
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Your garden fairy brings wonderful gifts! I can’t imagine the fun of growing avocados, grapefruit, and mangos but we do have racoons making other things go bump in the night. A wonderful arrangement as always and I love the color and weeping form of hibiscus! Happy Halloween!
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Thanks, Peter. I love my fairy and wish she or he would materialize one day…Happy Halloween.
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Happy Halloween…..your garden fairy is so generous with these lovely blooms and foliage in your vase. The big decoration around here besides the blow up pumpkins and monsters are skeletons of animals. They creep me out.
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Yes, the skeletons are creepy and the zombie stuff? Ugh.
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Like the swirling skirts of dancers…and what a beautiful red: the hibiscus is delightful. Your description of plants brought by garden fairies and racoons making sounds are fantastic. Are the fairies your explanation of how plants you really want end up being in the garden, that is you bought them, and planted them…or are they seedlings brought in with insects, the wind, animals etc?
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The oddest things just appear in my garden, sometimes in just the right place. I haven’t bought them,more likely birds. Lately, Corkystem Passionflower, a host plant for Monarch Butterflies, one just showed up followed by a Monarch!? Fairies, I think.
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Dead pirates? Weird. What an amazingly generous garden fairy you have. I wish mine would bring me that fabulous hibiscus, I love it. Lovely arrangement.
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Yes, I was just about to comment about the dead pirates. It really is weird.
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Yes, I agree.
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Thank you, the whole pirate thing is weird. The Hibiscus is a weed here. I enjoy many of the weeds.
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Dead pirates at halloween and then come Christmas you have Santa’s sleigh pulled by flamingos. It all sounds a bit hallucinogenic. Perhaps everyone in your neck of the woods enjoys weed.
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It is the same person. Although there are a lot of pirates in the area, only a few sleighs with flamingos – weed?! or weird?
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I have always been a great fan of the flower fairies! You have a very exotic tribe in your garden – fabulous! My offering this week is very modest but I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying yours! I am going to do a Halloween offering on the day – just to celebrate orange, if for other reason! https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-tiny-vase-on-monday.html Amanda
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I have always been a great fan of the flower fairies! You have a very exotic tribe in your garden – fabulous! My offering this week is very modest but I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying yours! I am going to do a Halloween offering on the day – just to celebrate orange, if for no other reason! https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-tiny-vase-on-monday.html Amanda
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Thank you, the fairy must be a sight to behold, if her gifts do her justice.
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What a generous Garden Fairy you have, and I like the way your vase is mostly created from her gifts. The hibiscus is especially pretty
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Does Turk’s cap hibiscus get cut back annually, or is it a shrub like other hibiscus?
The ‘blue willow’ saucer ads a bit of refinement, even though not consistent with the simple glass vase. Mine is the ‘red willow’ which is quite rare.
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It is like other Hibiscus.
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Even though I usually shy away from red flowers, I love that Hibiscus, nicely accented with the delicate blue porterweed. If only all weeds were as pretty. And you went to town carving that pumpkin I see with its heart-shaped nose. Enjoy the holiday!
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Thanks, the errant Hibiscus has grown on me, kind of a weedy shrub.
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Lovely hibiscus
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Your post made me smile. Lovely flowers and I like your pumpkin sculpture too.
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I love those Hibiscus flowers. I missed Halloween, so Happy November instead! 🙂
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The garden fairy does leave nice things in the garden…sometimes here in Florida, a little too many. 🙂 I like the hibiscus.
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Sometimes a lot too !many
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