I love planting in groups of three and decided try the same in this Monday’s vase. I think the result is a balanced arrangement. Maybe I am getting in touch with my inner accountant (there is not one); or maybe it is the late November heat baking my delicate brain. High temperatures have been in the mid 80’s (F) complete with humidity and the stray thunderstorm. Florida is known for the Endless Summer, this year they are not kidding. The 10 day forecast keeps insinuating cooler weather that never materializes. I shall persevere and plant some vegetables, summer, of course – it is time to plant tomatoes and green beans here and the first sweet corn of the season has just appeared at our local farmer’s market. The citrus harvest is in full swing so I am looking forward to local Orri tangerines.
The vase contents:
The flowers, three of each, of course. In red and yellow, ‘Lady Di’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum); in orange, ‘Chocociana’ Heliconia (H. psittacorum ‘Chocociana’); white spikes lending fragrance to the vase, Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata); grey flower stalks are Flapjack Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe luciae); Boston Ferns (Nephrolepis exaltata) are in the background again; green leafy foliage is from the Heliconias.
The Flapjack Kalanchoe flowers are the most unusual of the lot this week. Here they are in the garden. Actually they are in a container, growing under a Desert Rose.
Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly meme. Follow the link to see more vases. I found the Classic Editor on WordPress again, thanks to Cathy and Cathy from Words and Herbs, thank you both. Classic Editor is much less annoying than the Block Editor. We’ll see how everything works out!
Happy Gardening!
The Shrub Queen 
Very nice! I love the kalanchoe, what a lovely bloom… and as you know, heliconia is a long time favorite. CC is being felt here as well, with temps running about 10º above average. Which means the difference between freezing and not. I’m sure the plants are confused. 😦
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Thanks, Eliza. The Heliconias are running up under the shrubs for some reason and difficult to get to. Seems an indictment of CC we are too warm in so many different places.
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Oh your heliconias are most eye-catching indeed Amelia and looks so exotic. I imagine that it must be a plant that is a perennial in your climate. It made me chuckle to read that you are about to plant your tomatoes 😂 When will they be ready for eating?
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Thank you, Anna. Heliconias are short-lived perennials here, they do hang around for a while. Tomatoes take 8-10 weeks from seed, I may buy some plants for a quicker crop.
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How tall is that vase/glass, Amelia? It’s a useful dimension for this sort of arrangement, full of all sorts of Floridian (is that the word?) goodies – not to mention this talk of fresh sweetcorn and tangerines! Still, it is at least milder here than Novembers can be, and like all true gardeners I take the weather as it comes…😁
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The vase is 10 inches tall, the arrangement almost 2 feet. Floridian is a commonly used term here. I like your take on true gardeners and weather. It is what it is.
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Gosh, so your arrangement was BIG!!
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Flapjack kalanchoe lives within one of the gardens at work. It took a while to identify it. Now that I know it is there, I sort of think that I would like to grow a bit more of it, where it would be more visually appealing. It gets rather thrashed where it is now.
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It is relatively common here. I have had it for at least 10 years.
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It is neither rare nor common. It seems to be prettier on the coast, as if aridity is uncomfortable for it.
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I have never – ever – seen a flapjack Kalanchoe in bloom. Your climate may to unseasonably warm but it does produce some great flowers. We had temperatures reaching into the low 70s last week but we’re colder now (not even 60F yet at midday) and there’s a good chance of rain in the forecast for later this week.
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These flapjacks are probably 10 years old, so maybe it is an age thing. They flower every December and I have a lot of them. I hope you get some rain.
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What beautiful flowers this week Amelia. The orange Heliconia is really pretty, and I had no idea the plant had such lovely leaves. In fact I have never seen one growing, but occasionally the flower stems are sold at florists.
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Thank you, Cathy. The Heliconia is a common perennial here and can take over a bed if happy. Mine are kind of happy. They are sold potted as summer annuals further north.
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