I am joining SOS this Christmas weekend with a grateful heart. I take so much pleasure in interacting with my fellow garden bloggers weekly and thank Jim for his stewardship of SOS. To see more SOS posts, visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk.
Winter in a South Florida garden always brings enjoyable gifts. Some expected, some not so much. But all make me appreciate what is possible and how much I have learned. A little touch of Christmas color is appreciated in the tropical setting.
Meet Neoreglia McWilliamsii, a member of a group sometimes called Blushing Bromeliads. These show color in winter and are green in summer. This one colored up just in time.
Bromeliad Alcanterea odorata finally showing its grey stripes. This one produces grass pups rather than offsets. A friend sent me several pups a few years ago. They are somewhat difficult to grow and start out plain grey green and finally develop variation and then a nearly powdery grey coloration. Grown primarily for a foliage accent they last about 5 years, get about 3 feet wide, have a spectacular flower and die.
Another pup success, the ‘Purple Haze’ Billbergia, from the rock n’ roll series. There is one called ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ I must get. These flower in winter, but are not old enough.
Bay leaf, finally recovering from near defoliation by me in pursuit of soups and pasta sauces. I love fresh bay leaves a little too much.
Another favorite herb, always in a pot on the front porch. In my opinion, Giant of Italy parsley has the best flavor and I eat it nearly daily with fresh vegetables in vinaigrette.
A surprise and wonderful gift – two more dahlias are coming up. I planted the tubers in October and now have seen 3 out of 9 emerge. I am not sure what inspired the emergence, cooler weather and rain, the solstice?? I suspect removing the spotty leaves would be a good idea.
That is all of my surprises for this week.
Happy Holidays to all!
The Shrub Queen 
Love the Blushing Bromeliads!! Merry Christmas to you and yours.
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Thank you and Merry Christmas.
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Aren’t we rich with our gardens! Wishing you a happy Christmas 🙂
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Yes, Annette, rich indeed. Happy Christmas to you.
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Nice bromeliads! I miss the fresh herbs of summer!
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Thank you – love fresh herbs!
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The pine needles around the dahlia are there to prevent slugs I suppose? On the other hand, it acidifies the soil, and that is perhaps not very good for the growth?…
It seems to me that you consume a lot of bay leaves. Here I have a huge bush and I don’t know what to do with it other than dry the leaves and add them to dishes from time to time.
I wish you a Merry Christmas, over in Florida, certainly where the weather is better than us (it’s mild but it’s still windy)
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The pine needles are mulch, the soil (sand) is basically neutral or a bit alkaline and I have never seen a slug here. I make a lot of soup and pasta, but my old bay passed away and the new one that was 6 inches tall did not make many leaves! I left it alone since early summer. Merry Christmas to you, Fred – stay warm!
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Enjoy your holiday, tuck in! 🙂
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Thanks, Eliza! thank you for the card and Merry Christmas.
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Hello Neoreglia McWilliamsii, lovely to meet you! (What an unpronounceable name you have!) Merry Christmas Amelia.
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I am guessing the McWilliams have a fabulous tropical garden! Merry Christmas to you!
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Native bay trees grow annoying well here, and get too big for the weird places they get into, but the culinary bay is surprisingly rare. Most people do not distinguish between them, so may believe that culinary bay is just as problematic as the native. Also, people who use bay for culinary application sometimes use the native bay, so do not bother growing the real thing. Yuck!
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Does the native bay taste bad?
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It does not necessarily taste bad, but has a very different flavor, and is MUCH more pungent. I sometimes use it because I am familiar with it (and because I never learned how to cook). However, it can be icky if used in the same quantity as real bay. It should be used much more sparingly.
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I think I know what you are talking about. It is sold as wreaths sometimes?
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Yes, or mixed with wreathes of other evergreen foliage.
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I also mulch with pine straw. It is free, light in weight and seems to keep fungus down. Merry
Christmas and enjoy the warm weather.
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That makes sense about fungus and never occurred to me. We have been having a persistent overcast that I am tiring of…Merry Christmas Eve.
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I’m not sure how I started using it, but really noticed my Azaleas did not have as much fungus on them.
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Some lovely choices this week Amelia, not least the parsley and bay leaves. 😃 I am hoping my parsley still tastes good after its multiple freezes as it is a key ingredient in my nut roast tomorrow! Happy Christmas!
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Happy Christmas, Cathy!! Here’s hoping for great parsley! I did roasted nuts with rosemary.
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Brilliant timing from your blushing bromeliad. You certainly have some nice healthy looking herbs. I’ll be picking some Italian parsley for tomorrow’s meal too. Good luck with your dahlias. You are so lucky not to see slugs around.
Happy Christmas Amelia!
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Thank you, Allison (?) the comment came up as someone. I may not have slugs but I do have something that dug up and hauled off some dahlia tubers! Merry Christmas to you!
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Thank you for the push to start some new fresh herbs, I agree so good! Happy Holidays!
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Happy Holidays to you!
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