This weekend was a bit of a trial. The coldest weather South Florida has seen in a decade blew in Friday night and lingered through Sunday morning. Freezing temperatures threatened; our normal lows are 40 degrees F. I spent the weekend covering and uncovering plants and making sure the vulnerable were hydrated. I fear the only casualty will be the watermelon vines, they wilted despite being covered.
I was quite surprised to find the pink Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) on Sunday morning. I added a few leaves from the varigated ‘Bossa Nova’ Neoregelia Bromeliad, then set off to find a few more vase ingredients from the garden.
The purple ‘flowers’ are actually seedheads from the Portea ‘Candy’ Bromeliad. These eventually turn a creamy white if left on the plant. The green foliage, baby palm fronds from a seedling Sabal Palm (Palmetto sabal) – the state tree of Florida. Grey tendrils in front of the flowers are from the edges of the palm fronds. The heavy crystal vase, a gift from my late brother.
I am ready for some normal Florida winter sunshine this week with no travails.
Happy gardening and thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.
The Shrub Queen 
Glad your cold spell wasn’t too bad after all, but a shame about the melons. I love the use of the palm fronds in this vase Amy. They set off the pretty pinks nicely. I was wondering what the splash of orange was, and then realised it is the inside of the ginger flower. 😃
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Thanks, Cathy. I think two melon vines may be OK.
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I read about iguanas falling out of trees down there, poor things! I wonder about the manatees, too. They are challenged, even without it being cold. Hope it warms up soon for y’all.
Here, well, we are used to subzero temps and work around it. (minus 7 this am!) 🙂
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I am, fortunately too far north for iguanas, the big invasive lizards are nasty and eat the good smaller native lizards, we are hoping they went south. The manatees move into shallow, warmer residential canals en mass, it is a sight. Minus 7! Argghhh.
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I had to convert it into celsius first, not that bad, maybe the melons will recover? Love your tropical vase, lovely combination of foliage and flowers. Where about in Florida are you?
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thank you, very cold for here. I am in Jensen Beach about 50 miles north of West Palm on the Atlantic side.
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Certainly a pop of tropical colour there, almost needed my sunglasses.
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Pow!
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The ‘Candy’ bromeliad seedheads are really striking, ably supported by the shell ginger and foliage. I hope you have some milder days this week
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Thank you, Cathy..it is warming nicely.
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It is a pain to cover plants and move pots, but you have some nice flowers in your vase.
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Agreed, nothing in the vase was covered? hard to tell what is really necessary.
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We had a couple of freezes that were harder than I thought and plants got burned. We are heading down to 29 on Thursday.
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ugh! I am finding it weird the couple of things that got burned..the wind? I just interplanted the Balsam with Chinese Forget Me nots? Should be interesting, supposedly deer and rabbit resistant?
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The Balsam should be fine with the deer, but there is always one deer that can’t follow the rules. I plant mine out front where the deer roam our back is fenced in. I never had many problems with the rabbits either. All my rabbits have disappeared 2 years ago.
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so far, so good..only the dog looking at both.
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Goodness! I saw that weather in the news.
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As always, I love the shell ginger. I thought of you when I heard about the low temperatures hitting Florida. I’m glad you – and your garden – came through the experience relatively unscathed. The weather here has been odd too – dreary but dry with no sign whatsoever of rain on the horizon.
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Thanks, Kris. It is finally warming up, very little rain on the horizon here,
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Amy, hope your plants made it through safely. I like your arrangement and the special vase you chose is lovely. It’s been cold here but more normal for us than for you in Florida. We’re heading into a warmup this week so I’m excited.
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yay for warmth. 78 here on Friday!
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