The Hurricane or Torch Bromeliad opened this week. This is a Billbergia pyramidalis and very easy to grow, they form colonies in shade. I think there are three in my garden and I gave a friend a pup. A colony may form if I quit sharing them.
The Milkweed finally opened. I believe this is Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) – can’t find the seed packet, This one is controversial among the Monarch butterfly faithful. Some believe it spreads OE, a parasite by never dying back in the winter in frost free areas. Other believe it is fine to plant. Others recommend cutting it back to the ground in late fall. I am on the fence about this as I haven’t seen any Monarchs on it.
The Firebush (Hamelia patens) in full flower. Butterflies of all sorts love this plant for nectar. It is one of my favorites and so easy to grow it gets out of hand quickly.
Guess what this is?? I thought it was a weird eggplant when my neighbor handed it to me. It is a Avocado – probably a Brogden or Oro Negro variety. We were excited to try it for lunch, they have a reportedly lush and buttery flavor. It was very creamy but mainly tasteless. My husband said “either we both have Covid or this tastes like nothing”. Since we could taste the rest of our lunch we concluded it was a Blahvacado.
The Desert Roses (Adenium obesum) are starting to flower. Such a weird succulent, native to deserts in Africa and the Arabian Penisula. This is the rare plant that thrives in the summer heat in South Florida. Here are the buds on a red one.
The Desert Rose has had a lot of work done on it by breeders and now is available in an amazing array of colors, the latest, a deep purple.
That is my Six for this Saturday. To see more posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.
Happy Gardening.
The Shrub Queen 
I see some familiar plants in your post today. That is the same Butterfly Weed I grow and some think it should be cut back. Mine disappeared while on vacation. I have tried other Milkweed, but this is the only one that I could get to grow. My Firebush is full of hummingbirds, which is probably why we call it Hummingbird Bush here. Your avocado story is funny. I had an incidence with a candle months ago. I could not smell it and spent the day smelling everything to make sure I didn’t have COVID.
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That is funny, I am so allergic my sense of smell can be unreliable. I could have Covid and not realize it. I think that is probably the only Milkweed I can grow here. And I had a hard time getting those going, so I think they are going to stay a while. The Fire/Hummingbird Bush is the only thing I have ever seen hummingbirds on – they usually go down the west coast of Florida and are fairly rare here.
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This avocado is amazing! I have never seen one like that. It also looks bigger than what we usually see. Maybe it was too ripe to be tasteless?
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Do you get Hass avocadoes? It was smaller than a Hass. It was hard when I got so I don’t think it was overripe. Avocadoes are not true to seed, so my guess is someone grew this from a Mexican avocado – they have black skin but don’t ship as well as the Hass. When I get a Cuban avocado I will post a picture, they are huge.
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Hass avocado : I know but only in the supermarket. Avocado are only houseplants here. Thanks for the description, you should have eaten it more ripe so.
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A lot of people in Florida grow inedible avocado from seed. You have to buy grafted trees to ensure good fruit.
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Avocados can easily get to be too productive. Neighbors share them because too many ripen at the same time, and they do not last long. I think that when I get around to growing them again, I will keep the tree or trees contained, so that their fruit does not become too overwhelming. You know how they grow though! It can be difficult to keep them down after they get established, and doing so can disfigure them more than they naturally are.
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I am waiting for my first Cuban or Catalina Avocado.
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Beware friends bearing gifts, lol! Blahvocado, ha!
From what I’ve read, because multiple butterflies visit the tropical milkweed plant, if one has OE, it passes to others, so a dormancy (cutting back) sets the bar back to zero. The other thing is that the continuous flowers cause the monarchs to stop their migration, disrupting that evolutionary part. It is a pretty flower!
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Indeed.. well, they don’t bloom year round..NABA thinks it’s okay..I have never seen so many aphids on anything. So they will get cut down regardless..the hairy balls milkweed are the same.
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The avocado does look like eggplant! Love you variety of red blooms. Yesterday I posted spider lilies with you in mind.
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Oh, have to go look!
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It is always a joy to see what grows in your garden! Love them all. Although the avocado looks a little scary.
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It’s a lot of weird stuff, the avocado was a little scary.
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A Blahvocado! You and your husband are funny. I threw out a Blahvocado today too. But how come you didn’t know what it was? Do your avocados look very different?
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We usually get Hass avocadoes.. They are green. My Roselles are topping four feet!
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Wow. Your soil and weather are perfect for them, then.
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Wait til you see Cuban Avocadoes..the size of footballs…next year.
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Okay!
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