I am joining the SOS crowd this morning, celebrating a very recent rain shower in my garden. The weather guessers predicted a much wetter September (usually our rainiest month). On this third day of the month, they are right.
I have been attempting to watch the Artemis 1 rocket launch this week; depending on weather the launches are visible from my backyard. If we see them my husband is usually squealing “this is so cool!!!!” This is NASA’s run up to another manned trip to the moon in a couple of years. The first attempt was scrubbed on Tuesday and the second is scheduled for this afternoon. Currently it is overcast, so time will tell. If the weather clears and the launch happens I may see a rocket fly by this afternoon.
On to plants:
Esperanza (Tecoma stans). Sometimes called Yellow Elder. This plant amazes me. It had virtually no water and a very dry summer and it just keeps going.
The base of Travelers Palm (Ravenala madagascarensis). Another survivor with very little watering. I love the base of these. This is a member of the Strelitzia family related to Bird of Paradise.
Aechmea rubens in the final stages of flowering. I have never heard a common name for this. This bromeliad started flowering at the end of May, lasting all summer. I am wondering if the black tips are seeds?
These bromeliads are just starting to flower. They are Billbergia pyramidalis and have many common names – Flaming Torch, Hurricane, Foolproof Plant, Summer Torch. They are foolproof if planted in the right spot. I enjoy these every fall.
A mystery bromeliad in full bloom. This has lasted most of the summer.
Dancing Ladies Ginger (Globba winitii). My garden is too dry to support these, so I grow them in a pot. The plant is dormant during the dry season, then pops up mid June and flowers late summer. A neighbor gave me this plant. I think I will upsize the pot to see the plant will spread.
That’s it from South Florida. To see more SOS posts, visit Jon at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.
Happy Gardening!!!
The Shrub Queen 
There is nothing like raindrops. My Dancing Ladies will multiply and I try to get their corms to put them where I want. The launch has been scrubbed since you posted. Very cool that you can see it from your house. We were flying to Orlando with our kids about 20 years ago and a gentleman from NASA approached us and offered us passes to see a shuttle launch. It was one of the highlights of my life.
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I thought you had Dancing Ladies – you leave them out year round? These look like Dahlia tubers and haven’t multiplied. How cool to have attended a launch. We are about 100 miles south and can see the rocket and plume going up. Waiting til Monday now, hope they get the coolant working.
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Yes, I do grow them and let them out all year. They go down for the winter.
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I have just learned that the Artemis rocket launch has unfortunately been postponed again. Here we only have internet to see it live! That must be awesome…
A Twitter friend who lives in North Carolina posted pictures of her Globba ( she has 2 different apparently ) today and it really is a beautiful flower! https://twitter.com/ilenagm/status/1566016876626546689?s=20&t=i8dBx1JT96XQDm9cMXkncQ
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Oh well, we will wait til Monday and try again. The Globbas are interesting, one kind get bulbils and reseeds everywhere, the other just gets bigger. I was hoping for bulbils!
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Such lovely photos – and I like all your tropical flowers!
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Thank you!
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A plant that flowers all summer is a treasure in my book. You have a nice variety of bromeliads to fill the bill. Good luck with seeing the rocket launch, whenever it happens! Space exploration IS pretty amazing, even though nearly everyone has become ho-hum about it.
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It is a treasure..and you are right about space exploration. It is supposedly a madhouse in Cocoa Beach, a lot of people came to watch. Monday hopefully.
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Love the rains drops on your flowers. Hope you got to see the rocket.
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The first esperanza that I ever met, and the only one that I ever met until only a few years ago, survived for a few years within the garden of an abandoned home on the Alameda in San Jose. It had no problem with the chaparral climate there, although I do not know how happy it would have been if it had been neglected for any longer. It certainly bloomed spectacularly. Of course, many plants bloom best when stressed.
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What a curious plant the Dancing ladies ginger is! Lovely six and, as usual, nearly all new to me.
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It is and disappears for months.
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I agree with your husband and would likely react the same way! I just read the mechanical problems are too complex to fix in time for tomorrow’s launch window… So sad! And the end of the month, the next window, conflicts with the Space X launch! Whoever would have thought there would be too many rockets to the moon! Every science fiction novel I’ve ever read had them blasting off willy nilly whenever and from wherever…
Right the plants… Happy you had rain! They’re gorgeous!!
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Thank you.
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