I noted a lot of interesting things in the works in the garden this morning. Time to share with other gardeners around the world this Saturday. Visit Jim at GardenRuminations for a worldwide garden tour.
First up, fruits and vegetables. Really just fruits, since the first tomato of the year has ripened.
The first tomato this year is a Sweet 100. I have Yellow Pear and Brad’s Atomic Grape on the way. I gave up growing anything bigger than a cherry tomato years ago.
Nam Doc Mai Mango. Now I start leering at the mangoes every morning for three months until they are ripe.
Winter flowering bromeliads are doing their thing. This is a McWilliamsii Neoregelia just starting to flower. Its cup is full of water from overnight showers.
x Androlaechmea ‘O’Rourke bromeliad starting to flower. This is a big bromeliad, probably four feet tall. I would like to move it …but I don’t really want to touch it. Very sharp spines.
This is some kind of Dendrobium orchid. I have a friend who gives me orchids, she calls this the dead orchid. Because it looks dead and then flowers beautifully. The buds are just forming.
Another gift from a neighbor. Seedlings of Tweedia (Oxypetalum coeruleum) Has anyone tried this? A blue flowering pollinator plant is sometimes called Blue Milkweed. I planted these in the butterfly garden.
That’s all from my garden this Saturday..
The Shrub Queen 
The fruits look delicious, and the plants are healthy and lush. Happy Six!
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Thanks, Beth. Stay warm
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Oxypetalum coeruleum, tweedia is something that I have not heard about or even seen since the summer of 1986, when we grew it as a minor cut flower crop. I do not remember how popular it was back then, or how long it was grown, but I do not remember seeing it anywhere else, not even in florist shops or finished floral design. If I remember correctly, we recut and plunged their stems in hot water immediately after harvest. Apparently, they were more perishable otherwise. That would be a good reason for them to not be popular with florists.
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So far you are the only one who has ever seen this. It looks like milkweed to me, which I have killed a lot of. Another experiment.
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It has been so long since I encountered it that I would not have recognized it if you did not mention the name.
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That tomato!! Have a great week.
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Thanks, I am going to eat it!
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Oh you are really well on your way into the warmer weather! I’m always excited to see your mangoes 🙂
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Yes, it was 85F one day this week. I am excited about the mangoes too!
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I am really lacking in my knowledge of Bromeliads. That one grows 4 feet tall? I always thought they were small short things, at least that is all that I have seen. Now I’m thinking about tomatoes. I used to grow the small ones and especially liked the yellow pear.
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I was astonished to see the variety in sizes of bromeliads when I first moved to FL. And the colors, orange, red and purple foliage with different colored flowers and four feet tall! yep. I love yellow pear too and am anticipating eating some soon. I started them from seed, it’s hard to find plants here.
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I always had a fantasy of being the person that finds these plants in the wild, like a 4 foot bromeliad.
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Look up Puya bromeliad
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I love those blue flowers. I’ll be they would grow well west of here where it is drier.
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Lovely to see a touch of sun behind your photos.
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It’s a beautiful, sunny day here.
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This first tomato is fabulous! I also grew Yellow pear and a variety named Sweet 1000: is it a copy? A mistake on the label? Could mine be Sweet 100? That’s weird. I didn’t know the Tweedia variety but after searching on Google, it has a very beautiful flowering.
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I ate it and it was fabulous. I have been growing Sweet 100 for about 20 years. Here there are Sweet 100, Supersweet 100 and Sweet Million. No thousand, but it could be a translation issue? I will update the Tweedia situation. It reads like a good fit here..
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Looks so warm and pleasant in your garden right now, a welcoming contrast to my garden and yard!
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Well, think about your summer vs mine! And the Peonies.
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Thank you for the reminder, you’re right! 🙂
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What an interesting six! Look forward to seeing the orchid when it flowers. I feel for you checking your mangoes over such a long period. Best wishes for a great crop!
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Thanks, I am looking forward to that orchid as well.
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Ooh, a ripe tomato! Yay! Aren’t orchids weird plants? I would have though it was a bit of dead plant material! Good luck with the mangoes. 😃
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Orchids are weird, I just was out throwing water at that one and can see the buds.
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