A friend of mine who has lived in Florida for a long time claims Mother’s Day is the bitter end of snowbird season. Another friend says the rise in humidity make the tourists skedaddle. I think both are right, the humidity went up this week and Mother’s Day is next Sunday. Another symptom of Summer is the flowers and scent of Frangipani and Gardenias in the air.
I was standing on my back porch Sunday morning, keeping an eye on Zepp the Greyhound, who is tall enought to eat Mangoes off the tree and just might do so. He is a fruit eating dog and has been sniffing and licking the unripe Mangoes. This is our first fruit from this particular tree and I want to eat it! Anyway, while dog watching I noted the wonderful fragrance of a nearby Frangipani. The Gardenia is more fragrant at night.
A closer view: In white, Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana diviricata); in yellow, Frangipani (Plumeria spp.) I have no idea the name of this Frangipani, a friend gave me a cutting and this one is fairly common around town – a small tree with pink buds opening to yellow. The purple flowers are from Mona Lavendar Plectranthus, seemingly a relative of Coleus and Creeping Charlie houseplants. I have been enjoying the flowers for months and am interested to see how they fare as cut flowers and through the summer. The purple striped foliage is from Transcandentia zebrina, one of the groundcovers called Wandering Jew. This plant is so prolific I have been making compost with it. The vase is a thrift store find.
The Mona Lavendar in situ.
Well, I love the color and have enjoyed it even if it fries in the heat shortly. It is sharing a container with Begonias, I had this odd idea Bronzeleaf Begonias made it through anything…except South Florida Summer.
Happy Gardening to all and Thank You to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. To see more vases follow the link to Cathy’s blog..
The Shrub Queen 
Love the balance that the purple flowers and the leaves of the houseplant give to the gardenias and frangipane. Altogether in that pretty stone vase, a perfect arrangement. I love the thought of your dog waiting for the fruit to be ripe enough.
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I wish I could smell your flowers. I’m sure they scent your house. That’s funny about your fruit eating dog, although I had a dog that ate my strawberries. I am also suffering from summer symptoms as we are heading to 90 degrees today. My gardening hours are shorter.
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The foyer smells divine. Dog weirdness is pervasive. I had one who loved frozen lima beans. Batten down, summer is here.
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Your floral designs just get better and better. The textures and shapes in this are interesting, the colors work well and I would love to catch a whiff of the flowers. Good luck with the mangoes.
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The overall effect somehow suggests warmth – perhaps it is the warm yellow of the frangipani that does it? Such a pretty and rounded display, accentuated by the spherical vase – very effective, Amy
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Thank you, oddly tropical with subdued colors?
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Strangely, I was going to say something like that until I realised that several of your contents were growable in the UK and then struggled to put my finger on how to describe it…
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It’s a lovely creation, Amelia, and I’m sure you appreciate the scent it brings into the house. The Transcandentia complements the vase perfectly. I hope ‘Mona Lavender’ does well for you – I’ve had difficulty with that Plectranthus but then it’s drier here than it is in your part of the country. A fruit-eating greyhound sounds like a challenge. I never think of dogs eating fruit but your mention reminded me that my stepfather’s dog loved grapes. My neighbor also informed me yesterday that “our” resident coyote likes fruit as well. Hopefully, he draws a line at citrus.
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Thanks, Kris. It will be interesting to watch the Plectranthus, we certainly are cranking up the humidity here…I thought coyotes liked cats? They do here.
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I love the contrasting colors of yellow and purple – the soft Plumeria plays beautifully off of the Plectranthus.
I do not envy you your hot humid summer. We really wilt in the heat up here!
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Thank you, sort of an odd tropical color combination… I am currently wilting…maybe for a couple of months.
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My sister lived in FL for decades, hating the summers, so once her husband retired they moved north to GA and she’s been much happier. (To me, GA is STILL too hot/humid, but I’m a dyed in the wool New Englander!)
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It is pretty hot in Atlanta…though not up to FL standards…
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The frangipani flower is so very pretty and looks lovely with the purple flower and purply foliage. Our weather should be warming up too for Mother’s Day (the Germans have adopted the same date as yours as it is not an old tradition here.) I had to laugh at your fruit-eating greyhound! Our dogs both loved fruit, but nothing soft like a grape for example which would be carefully rolled around the mouth before being gently spat out! LOL!
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Thank you, dogs are a constant surprise. Wishing you warmth and gentle rain.
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Heaven to have frangipani in bloom, it is one of my favourite flower scents. I have a few plectranthus plants which I keep going with cuttings, but none with such lovely flowers as this one. I had to laugh at the thought of you having to compete with your dog to get to the mango first. My money is on the dog, he has more time on his hands. Sorry, paws.
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The Frangipani is heavenly, the Mona Lavendar is very common around here – oddly underplanted with Giant Arums, I don’t like this. Anyway, you are probably right about the dog, though I have to get the seed out of his mouth if he gets a hold of the mango!
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Lovely colour combination and the frangipani seems so exotic and takes me back to the time when we lived in the Canaries. Wonderful!
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Thank you, I think people have romantic memories of the scent of frangipani.
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Frangipani is earlier than it is in Southern California. It might bloom early in San Diego. My colleague grows more cultivars than I can remember, including a common sort that becomes a small tree that is now wider than the driveway. When I used to go down there every so often, I kept then pruned. The pieces were rooted and used on job sites.
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