This is a familiar sight in my garden, the Nodding Hibiscus (Hibiscus malvaviscus). These flower during the cool season here, so I am happy to see them again. The shrub is gangly and virtually impossible to prune into a nice shape – but I love the flowers and keep them around. Another plus, they grow happily with little water or care.
Another cool season beauty is the Yellow Elder or Tecoma stans. I planted this last year as an 18 inch shrub – it is now at least eight feet tall. I am planning to tree form it. They don’t grow much more than ten feet and make a nice multi stem shrub. I am already getting seed pods.
I love these little reminders of pumpkins. They are the fruit of the Surinam Cherry (Eugenia uviflora). I won’t eat these (the taste reminds me of the scent of turpentine) – so they are left for wildlife.
New to the garden this year, a Blue Pea Vine (Clitoria ternatea). This has finally flowered after suffering a double bout of rabbit ravages – the vine was eaten to the ground twice and has bounced back. I think this is a double flower. I gave my neighbor seeds, hers has been flowering all summer and she has been making blue tea from the flowers.
I am in the process of baking a Keitt Mango and Blackberry pie. This is not from my garden, but grown in South Florida. A jumbo green skinned mango, this one is quite ripe and next to a cherry tomato. I am making a mini pie with vegan crust and used about half of the mango. They are very tasty and have a short season, I will be on the lookout for Keitt Mangos next year.
That’s my Six for this Saturday. Check out http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for more posts from other gardens.
Happy Fall, Ya’ll!!
The Shrub Queen 
The nodding hibiscus is lovely!
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Lots of exotics this week. I’m thinking about that blue tea.
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Love all your flowers today. Mango and blackberry sounds an odd combination, but I am sure it is delicious!
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Thanks, It’s one of our favorite pies. Mango, lime and blackberry or blueberry.
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The Surinam cherry does look inviting, pity about the taste. I love the colour of the Blue Pea Vine, but blue tea is hard to imagine!
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Wow! Tecoma stans is SO RAD! Did I already ask if you are familiar with flame vine, Pyrostegia venusta? It is rad also, but not so pretty through its summer dormancy. Also, it gets aggressive. Is Campsis radicans also native there.
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Yes, I am liking the Tecoma. Yes, the flame vine is considered invasive here. Campsis radicans is native here, one came up in the woodsy part of my yard and hasn’t really done anything. I am a bit afraid of them getting away from me.
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I saw the Campsis radicans in Oklahoma, and assumed it to be naturalized. It did not occur to me that it must be native ‘somewhere’.
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Lovely trumpets of Tecoma stans. They look like the Yellow trumpet vine ‘ Flava’ that we can see see here.
I do like the shiny red fruit of the Surinam cherry and would like to smell the turpentine (only to see what it smells like)
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Thanks, they do resemble trumpet vine. Turpentine is made from pine resin. The cherries have a resinous piney flavor. A friend makes jam from them and says the sugar cures the resin flavor and the jam is good.
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Beautiful flowers this week! Like others, I’m curious about the blue tea, specifically, what does it taste like?
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Thanks. We will all have to wait for more flowers to find out..if you squeeze a lemon it turns the tea purple.
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Lovely. As they say who plants a garden plants happiness.
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Thank you, I agree.
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