It is Saturday again and I am sharing what is happening in my garden with the SOS gang that meets weekly at Jim’s blog. Follow the link to find other garden tours in the comments section.
My garden revealed some interesting moth related events this Saturday. Some moths I am happy to see, others. Not so much. The tropical plants seem to be revving up for the coming spring season. It’s good to see some different flowers coming along.
This is the result of a Sphinx moth laying eggs on a papaya leaf. These moths produce caterpillars called papaya hornworms, a relative of tomato hornworms and just as destructive. A caterpillar was born and started chowing on the foliage, then a braconid wasp happened by and laid eggs inside the caterpillar. The wasp larvae proceeds to eat the caterpillar. These wasps are beneficial and I am happy to see them in the garden as I get to have papayas instead of the caterpillars.
I posted a photo of Miss Alice Bougainvillea a couple of weeks ago looking puny. She got worse and I could not figure out what was going on. Any little bit of foliage was promptly eaten, but I couldn’t see any bugs. A little research revealed there is something called Bougainvillea loopers, caterpillars from another moth that are the culprit. It seems these moths fly at night and lay their eggs on unsuspecting plants. And they like light. I had an uplight on the vine to show if off at night. Oops. One dose of Neem spray, removal of the offending light fixture and some fertilizer with iron and Miss Alice is looking much happier.
A few tropical flowers are coming out. The Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) is not quite in full bloom. I usually have these in February, so they are a little late.
Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbifolia) is starting to flower again. These can get 2 or 3 feet tall and I love them for their tropical texture. They reportedly grow in roadside ditches in Mexico, so they are pretty tough.
Succulents are also flowering. This is the mystery graptosedum.
This is Senecio barbertonicus, it has all kinds of weird common names. The flowers in this photo represent the full spectrum – buds to a little bit of yellow to sort of dandelions. I have propagated several of these and have been planting them in the garden – this is not recommended by the succulent continuum as they might get too much rain. So far, so good is all I can say and they don’t miss irrigation at all. Our well died about two years ago and I have been going irrigation free since. The St Augustine lawn is gone and I have been concentrating on drought tolerant plants.
That is all from South Florida this Saturday. Happy Early Spring!
The Shrub Queen 
Great close-up of the flowers of your alpinia! What dosage do you use for Neem oil for spray? I use 15 ml for 1 liter of water. What works well for all caterpillars and butterflies is Bacillus thurigiensis: sprayed once every 2 months in summer here
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Thanks, Fred. I have a premixed bottle of neem, I rarely spray anything and plant things for the butterflies to eat! I do use the Bt bits in the bromeliads for mosquitoes sometimes though they really create their own ecosystem with spiders and lizards eating most of the bugs.
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I think BT is harmless (?). maybe I’m wrong. The only thing I spray are Bt for caterpillars, soapy water/vinegar to kill aphids and Neem oil for spidermites.
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yes, bT is a stomach poison for caterpillars. Otherwise, non toxic. I like it for stopping mosquitoes.
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Your Shell Ginger looks so luscious. I have a Begonia that looks similar to yours and was marked Hardy Begonia which it’s living up to its name. As I have mentioned all my plants froze back, but the the Hardy Begonia is starting to grow and the Shell Gingers have put up a leaf or two.
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I’ve read about other wasp species that lay eggs and cannibalise the first creature. It all sounds a bit gruesome, but in this case it benefits your plant by saving it. I’m sure that nature has a grand plan for things. Or it makes a good story for a movie!
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If you had seen the caterpillars you would be grateful for the wasps, they have horns and are a couple of inches long – ugh.
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Love that Graptosedum bloom, so dainty with delicate markings.
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I love Shell Ginger but never had any luck with it blooming.
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Do you have green or variegated? The variegated rarely flowers.. this is green and can flower 3 times a year.
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I’ve had the variegated ones and naturally no one said the seldom bloom.
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I think its every 10 years or something silly like that.
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‘Miss Alice’ bougainvillea looks bad. I am fortunately unfamiliar with bougainvillea loopers. I am determined to grow a pair of white bougainvilleas at work, but the first pair frosted last winter, and the new pair is a dinky shrubby cultivar ‘White Stripe’ (or something like that). They are pretty enough to stay, but I may add a larger unvariegated cultivar behind them later. (It is a long story.) I looked for unvariegated shell ginger while in Los Angeles last year, but returned without it. I am unimpressed with the variegated cultivar. It is pretty, but now as vigorous as it is in Los Angeles.
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Miss Alice looks surprisingly better today. I think a little more food and she will bounce back. I don’t recall seeing unvarigated shell ginger before moving here. I think someone gave it to me, it is kind of a passalong. This one is six feet tall now.
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Unvariegated shell ginger was the first shell ginger that I ever noticed in Southern California. At least one large bed of it lived somewhere near that famous statue of John Wayne, but is gone now. (I think the plaza was renovated, since I can not see where it had been.) I should have ‘borrowed’ a few pieces of it. I can not find it now. The variegated shell ginger lives here, but does not bloom.
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As popular as ginger is, it seems kind of strange these would disappear like that. I am not sure I have ever seen one in a nursery.
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Yet, we can find hellebore and peony, which do not perform well here.
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You wouldn’t believe what they sell here. Makes me laugh.
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While in Portland, I noticed lime trees and bougainvillea at big box stores.
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That succulent is stunning Amelia! Glad you could figure out why the bougainvillea was looking sick. Hope she recovers rapidly now!
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Thanks, Cathy. I like that flower, too. I think it finally got enough sun. Finger crossed for Miss Alice.
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