The title of this post sounds like a Harry Potter book with wizards and witches – but it is just a combination of the names of the plants in the vase. I admit to wondering where plant breeders come up with these names sometimes..oh, magic.
Only a little magic in the garden this week, though I am enjoying the late spring weather and some rain showers keeping the plants happy. I am (as usual) almost (key word) finished for the season, waiting for the heat to set in and gardening to slow down. I have less than 10 tomatoes left on my plants and the plants are lurching into decrepitude just in time to be tossed out. Almost all the spring flowers have burned out – a few dianthus left, the snapdragons are toast and ranunculus a distant memory. Oddly, my latest batch of zinnias is really sluggish, despite what seemingly should be good zinnia weather. This gardener needs a little zinnia magic.
The Mystic Flame and Fire:
The Mystic is Mystic Spires Salvia in blue, this one has been flowering since March 2021 and has given me one new plant (from six cuttings, one survived). The Flame is White Flame Salvia, the flowers are a lot smaller since the plants were put in the ground and look more like Salvia farinacea now – it is a cross between S. farinacea and longispicata. The Fire is the Firebush (Hamelia patens), an orange flowering native shrub that will flower until cold weather comes back, usually January. Asian Sword Ferns add some greenery.
The other white flower in the vase is from the White Geiger tree (Cordia boissieri). I like the crinkled flowers and so do the Sulphur butterflies.
That is all from slow simmering South Florida this Monday. Thank you to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this garden meme. Follow the link for a visit with more gardeners and vases.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Oh salvia….so much herby smelling goodness with those purply flowers….love the combo of flowers!
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Thank you, I like the herby smell as well.
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I like your color selections. My firebush is still making its way up from the roots. No flowers.
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Thank you. The Firebush just started flowering in earnest. I am enjoying it..
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That’s a perfect title for your fetching arrangement, Amelia! I “need” a firebush. I’ve got Salvia ‘Mystic Spires’ but mine is only just starting to bloom. I always think summer starts early here but your summer beats out ours by yards.
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Thanks, Kris. I think you need a Firebush.
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Love the salvias – especially the blue one! 😉 Hope you get some zinnia magic soon. Mine are just germinating, and as you pull your tomato plants I may be planting mine out. 😃 The White Geiger tree flower is pretty. It looks like paper that has been crumpled up and then flattened again.
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Thanks, Cathy. I think Mystic Spires is my all time favorite. We are definitely on the reverse tomato cycle. I will start seed again in September or so. ugh, the zinnias…
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I love the contrasting colors of orange and blue/purple, and the silvery gray tones of the white salvia buds add a nice cooling effect. Beautiful!
I don’t envy you the summer heat and humidity– you must dread it like I do the cold weather!
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Thanks, Eliza. I dread August and September more than anything.
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Can’t say I blame you!
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White Geiger tree is something that I really should look for while in Southern California. I really like it. I may have met it before, and might have actually met it in San Jose. I never identified the mysterious tree that bloomed like this. It seemed to be too healthy to be something that prefers milder climates though.
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I like the tree, too. It is oddly shaped and fairly common in Houston, TX as a native there. The orange geiger is more common here and native.
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Oh, that is pretty. (I googled it.) I still prefer the white geiger tree, at least in pictures.
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Great combinations Amy. Hope your zinnias treat you well and get down to business.
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Thanks, Susie. Have you ever heard of bad zinnia seed?? I haven’t. Time for osmocote.
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