I am joining the SOS gang once again this Saturday. My morning discoveries on my garden tour are mostly green. No vegetables, although the tomatoes I grew from seed are ready to be transplanted. Follow this link gardenruminations.co.uk to visit Jim and connect with more gardeners worldwide in the comments zone.
South Florida’s gardening season is the flip side of most of the Northern Hemisphere. We grow summer vegetables in winter and many summer perennials thrive here during the cooler weather that would wilt in the heat during their “normal” flowering season. I am thrilled to find my first Dahlia tuber emerging from the ground. Nine tubers were planted in the garden, three in pots, I know one was eaten, so the rest???? I bought the tubers at an end of season sale, then wrapped and refrigerated them until October, planting time here. All Dahlias were red, for what reason I have no clue.
It is strange to me that Rudbeckias are difficult to grow here. The summer humidity molds them, quite literally. These are Goldstrum Rudbeckias taking hold in the garden.
Another garden stalwart further north, Moonbeam Coreopsis, is bravely making a stand.
The ultimate experiment, a mass of Ice Plants (Delospermum cooperii). I am fairly certain these will melt next summer, though I have run across gardeners who have success with them in South Florida.
Another experiment, seemingly successful. I decided to try the Chelsea chop on Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) – a reseeding annual. It seems to have worked.
I have not tried any of these plants in winter previously. In the great words of Tom Petty “the waiting is the hardest part”
Will they flower??? Time will tell.
A more typical green from me. The greys are Aechmea fasciata Bromeliads, the dark one is ‘Luca’ Neoregelia. Smaller red broms are ‘Fireball’ Neoregelia. Bromeliad moving and propagating season runs November through March. There is usually movement in the garden this time of year.
Happy Gardening!
The Shrub Queen 
Your gardening season ahead looks promising!
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Thanks, Eliza. Fingers crossed.
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it’s hard to believe that rudbeckias and dahlias have trouble growing in your area…I would have thought that everything grows there! I’m looking forward to seeing the remaining dahlias in bloom.
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It is strange what will and won’t grow here. When I first moved here a gardener I met told me to throw the books away. Which was good advice. I am looking forward to the Dahlias too.
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What we can’t imagine is your humidity levels… which explains why plants don’t grow well there.
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yes, and other things thrive in it. It may be the duration of the heat as well. August is what kills things.
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Lovely to see what is growing in such a different part of the world.
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Whoohoo for the Dahlia. I just lifted all my corms this afternoon, ready to dry and store them.
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Yes, yay! I think Dahlias are native to Mexico and just becoming popular in Florida.
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Much of what you grow is similar to what I was seeing in gardens around Brisbane in Australia when we went out there. It can be very hot and humid in summer there too, but not consistently so. Depends which way the winds blowing. It’s taken our family out there a very long time to get the measure of it. Summer veg in winter is a thing for them too.
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Australia fascinates me. I would love to see the plants there. Proteas are a favorite, but it is too humid here for them. It takes a long time to figure the plants out. Still working on it..
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Love reading your garden experiments! So interesting your observations are & gardening in the northeast makes me think about pushing the envelope more!
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Thank you, sometimes the envelope bites you back!
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Wow, you do have a topsy turvy growing season. So when will your dahlias bloom?
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It is strange even after all this time. I think they will bloom in January.
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Good luck with your winter growing season experiments. It sounds like you can have two completely different sorts of garden. What fun!
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Thank you, it is true.
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It is hard to navigate the seasons in a warm climate. Those salvias can take a lot. Mine get frozen occasionally and some always come back.
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It is. I am not sure what the salvias don’t like.
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It must be a difficult to grow things as well as you do, but being a good gardener, I see you are rising to the challenge.
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I have killed a lot of plants, too. Keeping at it!
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The salvias seem to love your garden and take pruning in their stride! I grow that Coreopsis in my garden, so I wonder if it will just go dormant in your summer and come back next autumn… Good luck with the dahlias. Do you have earwigs?
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Salvias are easy to grow here – I have had good luck with the exception of Black and Bloom. It turned yellow and died. Oh well. I am not aware of earwigs, but will look them up.
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My dahlias started only about a month ago, but not because this is the best season. It was when they were sent. It is a long story about a bulbs supplier that I will never buy from again. We do not get much winter here, but it is more than there, and sufficient to initiate dormancy for dahlias. I was pleased that the dahlias started to grow, even though I know that they will not get to do much. The growth recharges their tubers for next year, which should be ‘normal’ for them.
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Dahlias are interesting. When I was in school it was thought they couldn’t be grown in the south and now they are everywhere. Go figure. I think something ate most of the tubers.
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Yes, they are interesting! They seem to perform better in the Pacific Northwest than they do here, which makes no sense. They should prefer the warmer climate here. I can not argue with them though. They must know what they are doing.
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That is weird and native to Mexico.. they must know.
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I love seeing all these things coming up in your garden 😀 I hope that they do well over the winter. I think what you heard about throwing out the book definitely is smart advice for warmer climates. I made so many mistakes when I started back in SoCal because I was trying to follow books and couldn’t figure out why plants were frying to a crisp! If only I had known about winter gardening then…
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Thank you, Angela. I have fried a few things..
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