Summer is an interesting time in the tropical (subtropical, really) garden. It makes me appreciate how smart plants are. The really nasty weeds make seed at the start of the rainy season (June 1) and have a long period of time to start new plants with the advantage of rain. I have been gleefully decapitating the five (yes, five and year round) varieties of crabgrass that grow in Florida in hopes of keeping the crabgrass down.
There are some more attractive budding plants in the garden. This is a Labyrinth Dahlia I have high hopes for, although I am not certain if I planted it early enough. The tubers planted earlier have already flowered and burned out in the heat.
Bromeliads poised to climb the trunks of an Adonidia Palm. This is my first trunk climbing adventure with plants, so I am looking forward to seeing what happens. These are Jill Neoregelia Bromeliads, the red centered one is the oldest, and therefore the mother plant, soon to meet its demise. Women hate this aspect of Bromeliads, the mother always dies.
Another tree climber, the Schomburgkia Orchid, is growing and has new stems coming along. I was interested to read that this orchid is native to Mangrove trees growing on the edge of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. These are usually higher elevation orchids, it is unusual to see this type of orchid in Florida.
The bud of a Desert Rose (Adenium obesum). A Lubber Grasshopper ate all of the foliage last week.
One of my favorite summer Bromeliads and a reliable July flower, the Aechmea Miniata. In full bloom these always remind me of Red Hots candies.
That is all from here this Saturday, I am luxuriating in air conditioned space today, looking forward to future flowers and hoping for rain. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.
Happy Gardening.
The Shrub Queen 
Loved the Labyrinth Dahlia, never seen one of those before
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I hope I get to see one.
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I don’t know Red Hots candies. But on the other hand these flowers of Aechmea Miniata are amazing! It’s hard to know what color this Labyrinth dahlia will be, one or two-tone? Either way, I guess you must be impatient.
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Red Hots are red cinnamon hard candies small and round. It may be an American thing. The Labyrinth is a cactus Dahlia, I thought it was pink and cream colored though I think it will be a surprise and I am getting impatient!
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I love the photo of the orchids on the tree – it looks like it’s coming straight out of the trunk! How the the bromeliad grow up a tree?
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Thanks, Chris, the orchids haven’t quite rooted into the trunk but they are really close. Bromeliads spread by sending out pups on long stems (stolons- I am not sure what they are?) the pups root into the trunk of the tree. Broms are watered via the cup of foliage. It is common practice to mount Bromeliads in trees.
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Wow…I’ve always wondered how orchids etc hang onto trees…
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They are tied to the tree with pantyhose, you can probably see it. We had some big wind that knocked them down but the roots are growing in.
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Love seeing your orchids growing in the trees. Thank you.
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Enjoy your hot tropical garden in AC comfort! Can’t wait to see your ‘Labyrinth’.
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Thanks, Susie, looking out the window now! I can’t wait either…
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Oh, those weeds. I’m sure your climate is like mine and weeds come all year round.
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The weeds are smart, so smart. Argh.
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I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your dahlia blooms. I really love that Aechmea miniata. It’s beautiful!
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Thanks, Eliza. I really want to see that Dahlia.
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Very excited to see your plants climbing tree trunks! I would love to have some plants growing in the crevices in our trees.
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Our most prominent Agave bloomed only about a year after we installed it. People are impressed by the huge floral stalk, but bummed when I explain that the original plant is monocarpic (so will die after bloom). However, I am not totally convinced that it really is monocarpic, since it started to replace itself with a huge litter of pups almost immediately after it was installed. The pups are copies of the original, so the original does not really die. I only need to put one of the pups that I removed earlier back in to replace the original plant. (Unfortunately, because I did not believe that the original plant could bloom so soon, I gave almost all of the pups away.)
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I hope you saved one. A Blue Agave here was in flower – 20 feet tall, amazing.
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We saved a few, but of course, I gave the best pups away, and kept the smallest. They grow fast though while young. Some of those agave blooms are difficult to remove when they finish. It is like cutting down small but wickedly thorny small trees.
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Yes, I had the Blue agave in my front yard pulled out with a bobcat, nobody wanted to touch it.
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People try to give them away on Facebook and Craigslist, but they are just too prolific, and too difficult to accommodate.
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