I have been dreaming of a stumpery garden for years. I was inspired last week by the Orchids I posted on Wordless Wednesday and realized the booted Sabal Palm in my garden offered the perfect opportunity to add some orchids and ferns to its trunk during the summer for establishment during the rainy season.
The orchids:
The booted Sabal Palm (as I remember it)
The current state of the palm:
These are our native Muscadine Grapes (Vitis rotundafolia) grown up the palm from my neighbor’s fence in a period of six months or so. This happened while I wasn’t looking. Welcome to Florida. My only excuse is I am not as tall as the vines and didn’t look up. Sigh.
The wrath of grapes. The grapes are pretty, but inedible (big seeds with bitter flesh). I decide to cut some for an arrangement.
The brown pods and green ferny leaves are from Senna ligustrina, a native butterfly plant; the chartreuse foliage is from ‘Alabama Sunset’ Coleus; white flowers are Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana diviricata) and with the yellow eye, Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica). I can’t resist the fragrance, especially with the sour grapes.
The Shrub Queen 
the grapes a nice touch…looks like an artist’s still-life painting
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Thanks, George.
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Very nice arrangement, Amy! As George mentioned, it does have a painterly look about it.
That grape vine looks like an odious chore to strip out of that palm. So is that where the new orchids are going? An improvement, but you’ll have to keep an eye on those aggressive grapevines! They are ruthless. I cut mine back this spring so hard I thought I killed it, but to look at it now, you’d never know it had been trimmed. At least, these are somewhat edible Concord grapes, which I seldom use, alas. How much grape jelly can one eat really?
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Thanks Eliza. I am thinking of cutting them back to nearly the ground an putting black plastic bags over the stubs. This works on other things. I have some Cattleya Orchids I think would be better off in the palm. The grapes are ruthless! And no good for jelly.
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I love the look of those sour grapes! Lovely colours. And I can imagine the smell of that immaculate frangipani! They always remind me of my eldest son’s wedding – for which we had to travel to Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territories! Not a local affair as we live in Scotland, but to experience such exotics as the frangipani made it an even more special trip! Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/07/three-vases-on-monday.html
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Thank you, their appearance makes up for their flavor! I imagine Frangipani flowers are few and far between in Scotland. A nice olfactory memory?
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Great title, Amelia, and the grapes complement the different shades of the other contents of your vase perfectly – such a successful combo!
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Thanks, Cathy. I was feeling some wrath towards the grapes!
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🙂
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A very different style from your usual, I love it. The grapes look very interesting, hardly real.
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It’s the fruit style! I was thinking kind of autumnal. You wouldn’t believe how bad those grapes taste. They are pretty, though.
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Gorgeous! The grapes were an inspired addition and I can’t help admiring the pristine Plumeria blooms. I picked up a Plumeria at my local garden center’s fall sale last year, sticking it in a large pot, where it’s done precisely nothing. My fault I’m sure – not enough water or sun exposure. I guess I should just be happy I haven’t killed it (yet).
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Thank you, I think the Plumerias really take a couple of years to get going –
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I love the smell of frangipani, having it as a background when I was little….smelt like ombre soleil.
Your vase is so poised…thinking of Cleopatra reclining, Peel me a grape…..
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Thank you, you grew up in Madagascar? We have Poinciana and Bismarck Palms here, I can only imagine the fantastic landscape in Madagascar.
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I was so taken with the witty title of this post, I should have sympathized with you more – sorry. The Wrath of Grapes is wonderfully clever.
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Thank you, Cynthia. It is too bad the grapes are so sour! It made me understand the saying.
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Muscadines and Scuppernongs are very different from Concord! The cultivar is a big deal as well, rooted cuttings are best
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