This Saturday morning my tour brought up a few things in the garden I have mixed feelings about and a few love/hate relationships. I’m starting with love going to mixed and ending with hate. For more, likely less emotional SOS garden tours, follow this link GardenRuminations to visit our host, Jim.
I love Cattleya orchids peeking out of a tree trunk.
I love the new Dendrobium orchids establishing in my Gumbo Limbo tree. These produce flowers in spring.
Loving the ever expanding group of Rain Lilies (Zephyrantes rosea)
It’s safe to say I have mixed feelings about vines, especially this one. Meet Yellow Allamanda (Allamanda cathartica). Sure, it’s pretty, but also a rampant thug. It forms tubers like potatoes (very toxic). I may pull it out with my SUV this winter. I say that every year.
Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria) is a nice architectural plant that grows a little too well and needs to be thinned. It’s oh, so sharp. Hmmm.
Yes, I hate these. Yellow Agama lizards. There is also a rainbow version running around the garden, red and blue. These are African lizards introduced by the exotic pet trade and they have become invasive. Up to a foot long, they eat native lizards and stake out my butterfly plants for fine dining. There are sometimes packs of them, they scuttle away on the path as I walk through the garden – like a horror movie. EEk!
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Love those orchids!. Those rain lilies can really take the heat. Mine are done by hot weather. I do believe the Allamanda also takes off here too. I cut back on vines as the they out of control and the neighbors don’t appreciate it.
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Thanks, interesting about the rain lilies, it seems the main summer weather difference is it cools off at night here?
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I love your orchids too and thankfully the Yellow Agama lizards haven’t travelled to our neighborhood.
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Thank you, it’s probably a matter of time for the lizards, unfortunately.
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What a shame about the invasive lizards, does nothing eat them?
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our native snakes eat the eggs, but once they get big I’m not sure…my neighbor shoots them! a little nerve wracking.
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Not good news about those lizards but the orchids are beautiful.
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thanks, making meyers lemon pie with NZ lemons!
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Sounds good!
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I guess I should feel lucky that invasive lizards will need a lot more global warming before they can survive our winters. I have a dendrobium that I nearly killed and it is now sulking and threatening never to flower again.
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I hope the orchid recovers, I never could grow them indoors.
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GADS! Godzilla X 2 is the worst!
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🤣 yep x 20 is worse.
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OH! That is a good reason to avoid Florida!
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It’s not hot enough I think to see these lizards on the other side of the ocean, maybe in Spain? Luckily so…
I love Cattleya of course and regarding the allamanda I grew a plant in a pot years ago but I only kept it for 2 seasons, then it died. I loved the simplicity and color of the flowers.
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The lizards are from Egypt
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Absolutely beautiful orchids! How lovely, and eeek at those lizards!
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Thanks
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Imagine having such beautiful orchids. My rain lilies are still in the package. The chore list is out the door. I have only recently made peace with the litte green anoles here. The lizards would undo me.
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I have difficulty with the lizards horror movie aspect, I guess the orchids are my reward.
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Do the lizards go into the house too? That would really freak me out! Hopefully some large bird will discover they taste good and start eating them – that happened with the box moth caterpillars here and the invasive moths are slowly getting controllable. Shame the vine is such a thug as it is rather pretty.
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Not so far I’m careful about keeping the door closed. I would freak too.
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