Esperanza means hope in Spanish. The yellow flowers in this vase are Tecoma stans, one of its common names is Esperanza. It is springing forth with great vigor in my garden and I am very pleased about that. Finding that common name also made me stop and think about what I am hopeful about as 2021 winds down.
I am hopeful the pandemic will abate and the politicizing of public health issues will cease. I am hopeful for my husband’s increasingly good health. I am also hopeful for a bounteous winter garden. So many things to be hopeful for based on the common name of a smiling yellow flowering shrub in my garden.
The vase is a gift from a dear old friend and my college roommate. It is actually a candleholder, so there is a beer glass with water holding the flowers as I was not sure how long a crackled glass candleholder would remain watertight.
Smiling for its close up.
Yellow flowers are Esperanza, also called Yellow Elder, Yellow Bells and a couple of other things. Tecoma stans is the latin and the jury is out on if the plant is native to Florida. It was noted growing in Key West in the 1800s and that is good enough for me. The Florida Native Plant Society does not recognize the plant and I think they are missing out on a good one. Purple flowers are Mona Lavendar Plectranthus. I am guessing the latin is that backwards. Purple and silver foliage is Wandering Jew or Inch Plant (Transcandentia zebrina) I call it Zebrina as I like that name better. White flowers and deep green foliage are from Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviracata). The Esperanza has a light, fresh floral fragrance that mixes well with the heavier, sweeter Gardenia scent.
The other side, the last plant on the list, in grey, Barometer Bush (Luecophyllum frutescens). My husband said this looked like a bridal bouquet. I am not so sure..though, I would love the scent carrying this down the aisle and suppose I could wrap the beer glass in white lace.
Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this week. To see more vases, follow the link.
Happy Gardening!!!
The Shrub Queen 
Your Esperanza looks really great. Mine has given up on making flowers years ago. I also hope for this pandemic to be over soon, but everyone has to do their part for the greater good.
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Thank you, I am not getting this vaccine hesitance stuff, at all. I think if people just sucked it up and did the right thing it could have been over shortly..yet, I am wearing a mask in the grocery surrounded by unmasked tourists. UGH.
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Hope is a good focus. and there is always much to be hopeful for, for our garden, ourselves and the common good. I was amused at the thought of a committee deciding what was native or not – do they have a cut off date in mind. or is it just guesswork, I wonder. Somehow your vase today has an Easter look about it – perhaps it is the eggy colours as well as the shape…!
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I agree, The native plants business is just tiresome and I bailed out a few years ago. It gets to the point of foolishness as who can really answer the question of when a plant came up in Florida, the crossroads of many things.Sometimes they change their mind and un native things?! It does look Easter like..egg shapeish? colors, can’t put my finger on it.
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The white and yellow just made me think of eggs – and because they were particularly vibrant, possibly Cadbury’s Creme Eggs! 😁
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Yes, and the foil wrappers?!
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Oh yes, of course, and the shiny vase helps too!
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I’m hopeful that all your wishes are realized, Amelia. The fact that I didn’t know that “Esperanza” means hope shows just how much of my high school Spanish has been lost over the decades. Based on its common name, my love of yellow flowers, and the fact that I can actually grow Tecoma stans in my climate, I think I need to plant some Esperanza in my garden too.
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Thanks, Kris. I think you need a Tecoma.
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Beautiful, contrasting color combination and I really like the strong foliage that doesn’t take a back seat to the flowers.
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Hey Eliza, thanks. I am a foliage lover.
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Lovely yellow and the foliage at the back is pretty too. 😃
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Thank you, Cathy..
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Amy, this is a beautiful arrangement. The vase is eye-catching against the yellow, all the colors are rich but what stands out most to me is just perfection in the proportion, rhythm and balance. You’ve placed everything nicely. I agree with Eliza how important the foliage is here, lifting the eyes. Thanks for your message of hope. Sending you good wishes of hope and strength.
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Thank you, Susie. That is wonderful to hear, especially from you! I love the rich green of the gardenia foliage.
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Esperanza! That is SO rad! I was not aware that its status as a native was controversial. That sounds like a Californian dilemma. Some here want blue gum eucalyptus to be classified as a native, just because it is naturalized here.
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I get tired of the natives propaganda..a lot of them are very difficult to grow.
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or they are difficult to grow within a synthetic landscape situation, or do not adapt to landscape applications. They are sillier in California, since there are so many different regions here. Technically, Joshua tree is native to California, but can not survive on the coast of Crescent City (close to Oregon). Coastal redwoods that are quite happy here can not survive in the Mojave Desert.
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Exactly.. synthetic landscape, I love it.
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