Time for SOS again. To join in, visit Jon at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for instructions and check out the comments from other gardeners around the world.
South Florida, being true to its tropical spirit, heated back up this week and the garden responded. It was 85 F/29.4 C here yesterday. The locals were pronouncing spring had arrived.
Above is what I call my Jurassic Begonia, it started sending up flowers this week, the stems are almost five feet long! This is actually called a Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbifolia) seemingly a roadside weed in parts of Central America – this is difficult for me to imagine.
A closer view of the flower.
The flower of a pink ornamental pineapple. The foliage is green and burgundy striped and the pineapple is miniature and will remain pink. These are too small to eat, but can be juiced if you are so inclined. I usually cut them and use them in flower arrangements. They dry well as tiny brown pineapples.
The Hard Cane Dendrobium Orchid I mounted in the Gumbo Limbo tree has produced a bud. The anticipation is building. I covered this during the cold snap.
Flowers on a Dracaena reflexa just starting to open. They have a wonderful scent. The buds are burgundy and the flowers are white.
I have finally grown some Cilantro! Now I hate to eat it, it took forever.
That is it for this week.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Jurassic begonia, love it! Looking forward to the orchid’s progress. 🙂
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I go out every morning and stand there, the sprays of flowers are supposed to be six feet long. The bud is getting longer.
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Don’t you like fresh cilantro? dried seeds? or both ? Fresh cilantro has a strong taste but I love it. It makes me want to start them but it’s a little early. Already tomatoes, eggplants and chillies on the way.
Very nice choice, especially this stunning jurassic begonia and this ornamental pineapple
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I like both and thank you. For some reason it is difficult for me to grow cilantro. That’s why I don’t want to eat it. My peppers are not turning red and I want to eat one.
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Eat them green! 😂 I’m sure they’re hot enough. About cilantro I didn’t understand, excuse me, now I know why you don’t want to eat them because you have trouble growing them. (Me : Fresh seeds in a large planter sprinkled on moist potting soil, very lightly covered and I put a cling film on them to keep moist: 80% germination)
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Well, I am growing heirloom peppers from Central America used in Ecudoran cuisine – which I have never had. There are a lot of these peppers, they are like bell peppers, so I picked one green! We are trying fresh tomato. pepper and bean sauce over pasta for dinner. I will try the cling film next time on the cilantro.
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Fred..the unripe peppers are awful!! bitter. Will be interested to see if the red ones are better. I have never grown a good pepper.
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Sorry to give you the idea to try…😅
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It was a good experiment, these peppers are wrinkled like raisins and thin walled…I have never grown a good pepper.
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I am looking forward to seeing your orchid bloom. I have a similar begonia which is just a pile of mush right now from being frozen. The smell of cilantro just sends me out to eat Mexican.
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Me, too…cilantro and orchid, though I think my favorite cilantro thing is mango salsa. Does the Begonia come back every year?
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It is called a hardy begonia and that is about all I know about it. The plant looks like yours. It came back after last year’s epic freeze.
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Really hardy!?
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Seems to be.
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If it made it through last winter it is definitely hardy.
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The lotusleaf begonia is incredible. I love that you can grow orchids and other epiphytic plants on your trees there. I look forward to seeing the blossom.
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Thank you for your Florida garden it makes for peaceful reading after all the storm devastation that we have had this week in the UK.
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Lovely peace and quiet from Florida, wait til summer.
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The begonia has some very nice foliage: the whole plant is striking.
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Wonderful to hear that you grow pineapples in your back yard! It’s very pretty. Do you grow larger, edible ones too? I fail with coriander all the time. It’s either slugs and snails or thrips that seem to get the leaves before me.
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Thank you. I have a pineapple patch in my fruit garden, I rarely get a pineapple but they are really good when I do. It is weird to me I have no trouble with parsley but the cilantro eludes me…
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Some of those dracaenas have alluring fragrance; and it sometimes comes as a surprise if the bloom is concealed by the foliage. They so rarely bloom as houseplants that the fragrance may be something of a mystery for a while. Strangely, the Cordyline species and cultivars, which we consider to be dracaenas, generate a rather unpleasant aroma that is likely intended to attract flies to pollinate.
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The fragrance is alluring. I have some Cordylines, haven’t noticed flowers or fragrance.
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Hopefully you will either not notice them, or if you do, you will not find them to be too objectionable. I notice that some are only minimally fragrant for much of the time. Also, among the larger and more objectionable fragrant sorts, the flowers are too high up to be a bother.
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Hmm keeping an eye out.
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Oh, wow, the Lotusleaf Begonia caught my eye. Just beautiful. I don’t have any luck with cilantro (or herbs in general), but I like to eat it.
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Thank you, it is huge and makes you stop and wonder. I have to grow herbs in pots..the only way.
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The Begonia leaves are lovely and I must admit I prefer Begonia foliage to the flowers. The tiny pineapples are cute! Funny, but I have problems with Cilantro (Coriander as we say here) as it tends to bolt before producing enough leaves to harvest! I will try even harder this year as we love it in my peanut and aubergine curry! I have never seen a Dracaena flower (knowingly) before, so look forward to a glimpse once they open. 😃
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