This is an In A Vase on Monday story. Every Monday morning, Cathy from ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com invites us to share a vase of flowers from our gardens. The meme is called In A Vase on Monday and gardeners from around the world share flowers from their gardens. I have learned so much from fellow ‘vasers’ and the contents of this vase bear witness to my affinity for IAVOM.
Sometime last summer, Chloris from thebloominggarden.wordpress.com shared photos of the Petunia exserta she had grown in her garden. I had never seen or heard of this plant and looked it up. To my surprise, this Petunia was rare, from Brazil and grew in cracks on the sides of sandstone towers and is pollinated by Hummingbirds. Sounds perfect for my incredibly well drained sugar sand garden with a bonus of attracting Hummingbirds. I live on the east coast of Florida, where Hummers are not as prolific (I see 3 or 4 a year) I bought a packet of seed (oddly from the US Pacific Northwest)
Not being native to South Florida and really more a plant buyer than propagator, I decided to plant seeds the first of September for winter flowers. They promptly sprouted and were planted in the ground, in pots and gifted to my neighbor to see what happened. They flowered a bit all winter, but as soon as the temperature hit 80 – off they went. I needed to cut them back and they landed in my vase this Monday. Clearly, something has been pollinating them, although I have not seen a Hummer nearby. Here is a close up of the vase, a candle holder from Pier One.
The Petunia exserta, the red star shaped flowers, the grey plants are Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima), viny grey plants are Helichryseum petiolaris; red spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); foliage Boston Fern (Neophrolepis extalta) and a Red Banana Leaf (Musa ensente).
Here is the Petunia exserta in my garden, placed next to a rock to make it feel at home.
The Shrub Queen 
It does look like a great flower and it is well traveled. It probably would not like my gumbo.
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Thanks, I don’t think it would like your gumbo. It is doing well in a pot.
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Gosh, and all of that since sowing last September! What an exciting processs to watch (which it is even for things that don’t grow as speedily!) and you can afford to be generous in a vase. The boston fern always makes a great backdrop for other things, doesn’t it? Thanks for sharing both your vase and your story today
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There is quite a bit of Petunia left, it might turn out to be a filler plant for vases or roll over and die when it gets hot, the mystery continues. I will post a picture of my Boston Fern, you will laugh when you see it.
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I look forward to your humorous fern as well as progress on the petunia 😉
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It certainly does look at home in your garden and pretty in your vase. Thanks also for the entertaining story .
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Thank you, Peter. I think someone in your neck of the woods grew it first.
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Wow—that is an especially nice one! Love the dusty dusky fuzzy semi-muted colors
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Hey George, thanks, I love grey foliage…it’s another ‘little black dress’ for the garden goes with everything.
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Looks like they are a great success! I like the ‘native’ look of the species vs hybrids. I wonder if they will self-sow for you?
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I think they will, I have been deadheading and fertilizing. They are really going now.
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This vase is wispy and delicate looking.
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That’s a great success story! I can’t remember seeing that Petunia but it’d be interested to give it a try, although, while I share your sandy soil, I don’t get nearly as much precipitation as you do. Still, I like to do what I can to support our local hummingbirds. Some of ours are permanent residents, not that you’d know it by the number of photos I manage to post.
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I am not sure how available this petunia is, I had to search for it. I hope there are hummingbirds out there and I just haven’t seen them.
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It looks a very happy petunia!
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Gee, I would have dismissed them as flowering tobacco, Nicotiana alata.
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It does look like Nicotiana.
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. . . but not quite.
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Oh how lovely to see your Petunia exserta Amy. I am so glad that it has been such a success for you. And it is good to keep this plant going as it is getting so rare in the wild. I love it and have some seedlings coming on for this year from seed that I saved. I only hope that the bees hadn’t found any petunias in neighbours’ gardens because it hybridises easily and I don’t want that, I love the simplicity of the little red flowers. I love your arrangement.
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Thanks, have never seen a petunia nearby..Hope yours are a success.
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Actually research tells me this is bird, not bee pollinated.
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They look great and that is a nice sharing story. Liz is always a source of inspiration. Your vase and arrangement are eye-catching. Hope you get to see more hummingbirds.
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Well done on growing this from seed. Hope the hummingbirds start to visit.
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Thank you, waiting for the hummers..
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A great story and a lovely plant! It is clearly at home in your garden, so hope it sets seed and keeps on flowering for you. The silvery foliage looks good with it in a vase. 🙂
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Thanks, it will be interesting to see what happens.
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How wonderful – what success! The bright flowers are just right for the intense light in your garden. Beautiful vase too, love the pinks and greys.
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Thanks, the never ending experiment goes on.
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Isn’t it wonderful the way we all learn from each other or are inspired. Chlorine always has such interesting plants, I’m going to be in Puglia with her next month looking at wild flowers, I’m sure I’ll learn a huge amount! But I digress, your vase is magnificent, love the way the flowers and foliage work together.
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It is wonderful, and wildflowers with LZ in Puglia sounds wonderful as well. Thanks, have just planted Lime Queen Zinnias in the ground,will be interested to see what happens.
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