It is Saturday yet again and time to join the SOS crew in the UK and beyond. My six items of interest this week are flowers and seeds that are new to the garden. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.
My first ever ‘Green Envy’ Zinnia. I started these from seed in September, the plants are quite healthy and I am looking forward to bigger flowers.
Buds on the Dombeya. This is a pink Tropical Hydrangea (Dombeya wallachii) and a sight to behold when in full flower. This is a tree form Hydrangea about 14 feet tall.
Seedheads forming on the Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa). I left several on the plant as someone always want to try these for fun. The seedhead eventually turns brown and may be ground and used as a coffee substitute. Not trying that, but will collect seed for next year. I cut most of the flowers and am getting a second crop of smaller flowers on some of the plants.
A new shoot on the Dragonfruit. The lawn maintenance guys mangle these every time a new shoot appears; this one wised up and went away from weed eater range. Time will tell if I ever actually harvest a Dragonfruit.
Snow Peas (mangetout in Britspeak, a new name to me) and spinach emerging in grow bag.
First green beans harvested, made me wish I had planted more bags!
The Muhly Grass (Muhlbergia caparillis) in full flower. It seemed it was taking a long time for this to get going.
Oops, make that Seven on Saturday. Oh, well.
Happy Gardening to all.
The Shrub Queen 
I am always envious of your Dombeya, how exciting having a bud. The flowers are amazing. And the idea of growing fresh veg in November is fabulous. And Dragon fruit, do you eat it?
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I am waiting (impatiently) for the Dombeya as I did not prune it back this summer and it is huge. I will eat the dragonfruit if it ever flowers and sets fruit. The flip side of fresh winter veg is the veg you can grow here in summer is weird. No tomatoes or corn in summer.
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Ah for the taste of the first green beans of the season! Is it too late to sow some more maybe?
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Yes! it is not too late to plant more and I shall.
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Have you ever harvested dragon fruit in the past? Bravo for the mange-tout, I see that you put side sticks : for the birds? pets?
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Hi Fred, no dragonfruit yet. Everytime they get going the lawn guy gets them. Hope this one will last, though I would be happy with a flower (night blooming cactus are cool) the sticks are to keep squirrel and large burrowing lizards out. working so far.
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Nice to see zinnias again. I miss mine. Did you grow them in the ground or a bag?
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Thanks, Eliza. I am loving the zinnias too – trying to find out if I can grow them year round. These were started in 2 1/2 inch pots and transplanted into the grow bags – the prettiest zinnias I have ever grown, beautiful healthy plants – I have some mixed Cactus Zinnias started the same way that are starting to flower. Question for you – also have Nigella very slowly starting, is it better in full sun?
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Yes, I’d say Nigella are more robust in full sun, but mine self sow and are progressively getting more shaded in the morning. The blooms are less, but they still manage well enough.
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Thanks, I am going to move the bag. It is not really in full sun and the days are short. I am really not sure if they will grow in Florida but they came up!
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They are super easy here, all I do is thin them to a foot apart in spring and there often is a second sowing that blooms late summer. For some reason the blue ones didn’t return, but the white and pink ones are decades old. Such a pretty lacy flower!
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Thanks, I hope to see some and the seedheads..
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I dry the seed pods, they look great in dried arrangements.
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Those beans look good! Interesting that you can grow spinach in your climate, but I suppose your winter is similar to our spring and early summer. Are the light levels much different in winter? Our days are just too short to grow anything, even on the windowsill! Love the zinnia. 😃
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The beans were good. I have grown spinach in the winter for years, arugula and lettuce too. The light levels are dramatically different – makes things a bit more confusing, there is so much light here in summer.
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That’s a drag about the dragon fruit. My neighbor’s so-called ‘gardener’ killed three (!) of my grapevines that were on my side of a fence. I replaced them, but two of the tree replacements were killed in the same manner! I moved the survivor.
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