My garden tour this Saturday morning revealed a few new things in the garden. I have been shopping online. It seems safe to say not everything that will grow here has been tried here. Famous last words. Spring brings new things to all gardens. To tour more gardens and see what’s springing elsewhere from many different places, follow this link to Jim’s blog and check out the comments.
One new thing is the Chicken Gizzard plant (Iresine herbstii) There are a few mysteries about this plant. First, why is it called Chicken Gizzard? Second, where to plant it? The pundits disagree on whether it will grow outside here and say full sun. Full sun in Ohio (the plant was grown there) is one thing, in South Florida it’s a whole different thing. A dilemma to be solved.
The miniature pineapples are flowering.
An example of how tough bromeliads are. I was clearing some bromeliads, cutting this pup off early this week, left it on top of the bucket, not feeling decisive about where to replant it, then forgot about it. It just kept on growing. This is a silvery purple brom with pink flowers. I may remember the name…
I hope this is a praying mantis and not an evil plague.
A Dracaena reflexa I am pruning to a multi trunk tree. It is at least 10 feet tall.
Mangoes are looking more like mangoes!
That is all from South Florida. Our crazy warm weather continues – it is forecast to be nearly 90F/32C here today. I am heading back out to plant that bromeliad pup before it gets too hot.
Happy Gardening.
The Shrub Queen 
90! Woah, it’s early to be that hot. I think that is plague :(. I can’t believe how fast your mangoes are growing. The bromeliad doesn’t care, it’s growing. tzgarden.blogspot.com
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It is, fortunately, the humidity is not that high. One of the trees got powdery mildew and most of the mangoes fell off, ACK.
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Gosh that’s hot for March, I believe. What a name! Chicken Gizzard plant! It did make me chuckle. Thanks for including it.
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It is hot for March. The air conditioner is going mad. Thankfully. Still not sure about the name!
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I have the same Iresine plant as you but with red foliage! My sister has been growing one for 3 years (which is about the same size as yours) and took cuttings from hers which she gave to me. They rooted well, grow very slowly in the greenhouse all winter. I can’t wait for summer. On the other hand, they are very thirsty! I have to water often.
Superb dracaena and yum the mangoes.
Last thing, in my opinion, it’s not a praying mantis, but rather a katydid (after googling, it would be Amblycorypha oblongifolia, the oblong-winged katydid which is developed in the eastern US)
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Thanks for the ID, Fred. I got insects of Kuala Lampur when I searched. It is a big bug. We have some big lizards around that love crickets so I am guessing they will eat it. I have a native Iresine here with similar flowers. It loves the heat and has doubled in size since I reported it and put it outside.
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Will do it in a few weeks !
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It is always a dilemma of where to put that new plant that you don’t really need. Been there. The cold north sent us a front and it is 53 degrees right now which you know that in the South that means freezing! I’m cleaning beds and all I can think about is hot chocolate.
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LOL, I bought it for an empty place in the shade. Then I got confused. It just hit 90 here! no hot chocolate necessary. My husband and I decided 70 is too cold in the house, which seems absurd.
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The weather has been crazy, way too hot for this time of the you. The praying mantis will help keep little nasties away. 😊
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I agree and am becoming fearful of summer! Good bugs are a good thing.
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Your mangoes are growing fast! They were wee nubs the last you posted.
Not a praying mantis… a katydid (female) of some kind. Mine hang out on my calendulas, exterior walls and maple trees. They don’t seem to do much damage and I love their mating calls in late summer evenings. Lullaby music!
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Yes, I am already salivating. And that tree is still blooming. I looked up katydids and am listening for them, it was on the lime tree. Citrus hosts giant swallowtail butterflies. I am wondering if katydids eat the caterpillars.
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They are omnivores, leaves and aphids seem to be their favorite choice. And yes, citrus is on their hit list, but I don’t think they wipe out a plant like a large hatch of caterpillars will. Here’s more: https://a-z-animals.com/blog/what-do-katydids-eat-their-diet-explained/
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Awesome thanks Eliza
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Please do let us know if you find out why it’s named “Chicken Gizzard plant”! :) As for sun or shade, I can’t help but think of the big box garden center which always kept signs up warning, “Many of our plants come from S. Calif. Full sun in Calif. is not full sun in AZ.” No indeed!!
That Dracaena is mouth-wateringly beautiful!
I hope you get a cool-down with the weather before it goes full-on summer. Winter has ended early for us here too.
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Thank you, are you Amy? Many friends call me Amy. I am waiting for bigger trunks on that dracaena. I am hoping for a cool down. Summer usually starts in about six weeks…
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Yes, I’m Amy too! :) I would love to be able to grow Dracaenas, but I can’t see how in the world I would keep the humidity high enough for them–indoors or out. Normally we would also have about six weeks before summer really starts, but so far everything is ahead of schedule this spring. But we did just get some cooler weather and a bit of much-needed rain from the tail end of the big storm that’s been battering the west coast. We’ll see…
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I’m flummoxed by lemmoni marigolds.. it’s supposed to be cooler here soon.
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Chicken gizzard was one of the first houseplants that I remember. It grew seemingly wild around the koi pond in the lobby of the old San Jose City Hall. It and a few other flashier foliar plants were likely remnants from when the building was new. (Now that I think of it, the building was less than twenty years old back then.) I thought that the name was funny. Incidentally, as Fred mentioned, the mantis is a katydid.
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Any idea why they are called Chicken Gizzard?
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I have NO idea, although the lobed leaves of some old cultivars are sort of shaped like gizzards, with reddish borders that resemble the color of gizzards. They are also known as beefsteak, with is even stranger.
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They are edible.. maybe served with gizzards. Yuck.
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EW! That is one part of the chicken that should not be salvaged. I do not waste much, but after simmering it in stock, I give that part to a dog. If chickens had teeth, we would not have this problem, . . . but then we would have a problem with biting chickens.
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I agree and will only eat white and dark meat!
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Phew, that is hot! The Dracaena is amazing – only seen as a houseplant here. And the mangoes appear to be doing really well.
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The dracaenas get big here! The trunks will get bigger as I prune off the smaller shoots. That’s about 10 years from a cutting.
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