Despite living in South Florida for a decade, I am still surprised by what grows where and flowers when. Today is no exception. Flowers on tomatoes and zinnias on the Winter Solstice still bend my mind. I do love the clear light this time of year. The tilt of the earth softens the strength of the sun. This effect renders nicely in photos.
It is Saturday and I have been slacking off on my SOS posts, but am back. To see other solstice posts, visit Jim at GardenRuminations.
The cactus zinnias just started to flower. I planted these in the ground rather than pots and will be interested in how they fare. So far, so good.
There seem to be several of these. I am wondering if I planted a batch of Envy zinnias. The rain washed away the labels..
Heirloom Pentas (Penta lanceolata). These are big Pentas – they can reach four feet. I have not seen these anywhere else. Sold here for butterfly gardens.
First flowers on the cherry tomatoes. It seems to take much longer this time of year to get fruit.
Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosa) in full color. These are my favorites from my garden further north. I am surprised I have managed to get it to grow here. A very pampered pot on my front porch. Doused twice daily with dog bowl water.
Rangpur limes nearing ripeness. I baked a pie this week. Ginger snap crust with toasted coconut and Rangpur lime filling. It is gone.
Happy Holidays to all and Cheers to longer days.
Thanks to Jim for hosting.
The Shrub Queen 
Oh wow, that pie sounds delicious! Enjoy your warm winter days 🙂
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Thank you, we are.
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ah ah for once I have the cherry tomatoes before you! You will see in my Six that it is very rare. I already have some fruits formed, but they are on the plant of last summer which has grown back. The Rangpur lime pie looks fantastic to me! 😋😋😀
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That’s great! Did you move the tomatoes into the greenhouse?
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They are in the greenhouse 😅
7° tonight inside , it’s limit but 🤞
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And Merry Christmas to you and yours ! 🎊🎄🎁
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Merci, Fred et bonnes fetes. I hope that’s right!
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Yes, it is surprising to see blooms in the winter. My zinnias are done as I did not get around to planting more. My pentas still have some flowers. I used to grow the big ones, until I discovered the smaller ones. Have a good Holiday week!
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Thanks, I don’t know how I missed the Heirlooms. Happy Holidays!!
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What a warm and cuddly post. Lovely to see the zinnia doing so well and the penta is beautiful. Have the best Christmas and a wonderful New Year x
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Thank you, Gill. Happy Christmas.
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Pentas somehow seem to be uncommon nowadays. Perhaps I should get out more, and actually see what nurseries are selling.
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It’s more dwarf named cultivars now. They are pretty common here.
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Lovely to see ‘summer’ flowers on the winter solstice. 🙂 That pie sounds delicious!
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It’s weird, the Beach Sunflowers and Rain Lilies are blooming. too. I made Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies today. I got at least half in the freezer quickly!
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That’s a nice bright zinnia – hope you get lots more nice colours. And favulous to see so much green and so many flowers at the darkest time of the year. The pie sounds absolutely delicious. 😃 We have an apple strudel in the oven right now, with some of the last apples in it…. they don’t keep as long as I had hoped, so we may manage one more strudel before the year is out!
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Thanks. Fingers crossed for the zinnias. Strudel sounds delicious!
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The pentas sounds promising! I’m not so fond of the short squatty ones which show up here in Pa, they’re reliable and functional, but other than that, not as graceful as the heirloom types. Crazy that the fern survives there yet can also make it just fine through our cold up here!
Have a wonderful holiday season, it looks like you’re ready 🙂
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