This time of year gives me an odd sort of garden Limbo. If I still lived further north, the garden season would be mostly over. Here in South Florida, I am watching tomato and zinnia seedlings come up – soon to be transplanted into the winter garden. Planting tomatoes in November may never feel normal.
All of the plants in this vase are Florida natives. Two (Bidens and Juba) are in the garden due to Limbo being induced by not knowing what to do with them. I now cut and enjoy them. The balance I planted, the green fruit is from the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba) tree. Perhaps it is celebrating my garden Limbo?
Closer views:
Two of my favorite wispies are in flower right now. The pinks are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) and the off white is Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa)
Green fruit is from the Gumbo Limbo tree (that word again?!); white flowers are Bidens alba; purple berries are from Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana). The crystal vase was a gift from my dearly departed brother, it always makes me smile to remember him. Today is his birthday.
Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.
The Shrub Queen 
An interesting group of flowers most cannot grow. My Beauty Berries were stripped as soon as they ripened. It is hard to get your mind around winter gardening, especially like me, coming from a snowy place.
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Thank you. The birds don’t eat these. Maybe because they are beside the AC condenser? It is strange.
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Wow, that arrangement is really something! I LOVE it! Something about the peppery Muhly Grass framing the berries and the blooms. Gorgeous.
Beth @ PlantPostings.com
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Thanks, Beth.
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I love those purple berries and the background created by the muhly grass, Amelia. I’m glad you have the vase to prompt remembrances of your brother too.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
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Thank you, Kris.
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Oh I love this, Amelia! I am always enamoured with the calliocarpa when I see it, but I love the curious green fruit from the Gumbo Lumbo (sounds like something from an Edward Lear poem!). Together with the wispies it makes a wonderful vase – you should be really chuffed with it!!
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Thank you, Cathy. I love a little fruit with the flowers. The Gumbo Limbo fruit goes red and bronze as it ripens.
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Sounds really pretty
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Beautyberry is RAD! Okay, perhaps I should refrain from using that word so redundantly. Anyway, the seedlings that Woodland Gnome of Our Forest Garden sent to me a few years ago are quite large now. I have not cut them back yet, and they produced more berries this year than last year. I want to cut them back to get them to fluff out more, but I am not convinced that they are big enough yet.
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They are RAD. For sure. I have had difficulties getting fluff out of the beautyberries, think they are naturally rangy shrubs.
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That is how they look in pictures, but not as scrawny as mine still are. They were confined for too long, and were in partial shade.
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The muhly seed heads pick up the pink/purple of the beautyberry, a very pretty combo and a lovely tribute to your brother. 💜
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Thanks, Eliza.
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I immediately thought how lovely the crystal vase is. 😃 Beautiful balance and the Muhly grass is lovely. I cannot imagine gardening all year round, so can understand how strange it must be after living and gardening in the north. I look forward to the lull and the regeneration of wintertime, taking time off for other interests. ( And catching up on housework! LOL!)
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Thanks Cathy. I’m vacuuming a lot waiting for the seeds to come up.
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A beautiful tribute to your brother Amelia. I love your wispies especially the muhly grass. Funnily enough I had a pot containing callicarpa in my hands today at a garden centre. I couldn’t remember what they look like for the rest of the year so need to do some more research. Funny to think of you watching tomato and zinnia seedlings come up – something that won’t happen here for a few months.
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Thank you, Anna. The Calliocarpa is pretty unremarkable the rest of the year. When I lived further north the foliage turned yellow in the fall.
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It’s a treasure to have your special vase. The Muhly Grass is a show-stopper. It’s worth having Gumbo Limbo just to be able to say it.
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Thanks, Susie. I do enjoy saying it – people always say ‘what?’ so Caribbean..Boy was I wrong about yesterday! arghh.
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