Today is Memorial Day in the US, marking the official start of summer. It certainly feels like summer and the garden has started serving up tropical flowers in celebration. The humidity kicked into high gear last week and I am betting it won’t go back down until fall, though there is a nice breeze and it fortunately started raining. The garden is much happier now and I am enjoying the air conditioning indoors. Rob the dog is so peacefully asleep at my feet I want to take a nap, too.
Closer views:
The goddess stone. These are coral stones worn down by the ocean over time. They break from offshore reefs then wash up on our beach and are imbued with mystical powers from the sea. The locals call them goddess stones. I have seen them called hag stones, but prefer the former.
The Heliconias. The bigger flower is Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata). Smaller flowers are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum). There is some Asparagus Fern tangled through the vases that came with the flowers and a trimmed palm frond. The vases are bottles that did not quite make it to recycling.
Thanks to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday. I enjoy creating a Vase every week while sorting through whatever is in my garden. To see more sorts of vases follow this link to Cathy’s blog.
Happy Summer!
The Shrub Queen 
Happy you’re getting a nice rain shower. Sweet Rob is a cutie. I’d want to collect those goddess stones, are you close to a beach?
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Me, too. Rob is such a good boy. Always with me. We are about three miles from the Atlantic Ocean just north of West Palm.
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Now ‘that’ is the Heliconia that I was talking about! The primary cultivar in my garden is unidentified, but blooms with slender simple yellow flowers. I actually prefer it to the secondary cultivar, which is ‘Fire and Ice’. Both are more foliar than floral here.
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I wish I had the Lobsterclaw with the really long flowers. No idea what kind it is. It’s surprising how many there are.
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Is that the sort that looks like huge firecrackers?
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The flowers are like these lobster claws but about 3 times the size. I like the firecracker ones too.
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Very nice. I love the Heliconias! Have a blessed and meaningful Memorial Day.
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Thank you. We did. I’m enjoying a thundershower currently.
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Ow wow, your amazing heliconas, how can you bear to pick them? I always pick up stones wherever I go. Your goddess stone is wonderful.
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Thanks, Liz. The Lobsterclaws are planted framing a window. I cut the ones I can’t see from inside and really enjoy them. The others flower more if you cut them and will probably flower into January.
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I’m loving today’s selection, A., such great flowers! 🤩 👏🏼
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Thank you.
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The Lobsterclaw is stunning. It is that time of year for humidity.
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Thank you. Yep, humidity is here..steaming.
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That lobsterclaw Heliconia is so dramatic it nearly eclipses its cousin. Rob is adorable.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
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Indeed. I love a little garden drama.
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You have such a good eye for both contents and arrangement of your vase, Amelia – and have you trimmed the foliage in the one on the right, or is that how it grows? The Goddess stone is intriguing, and certainly a more appealing name than hag stone!! Hope you enjoy the benefit of the rain for a little longer
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Thank you, Cathy. The palm foliage is trimmed and a bit dried out on the ends as it had been cut a while ago. It just started raining again, the Mango trees are putting out new growth madly. Wonderful bronze colors.
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Lovely arrangements in your pretty (and recycled in another sense of the word) bottles. The lobsterclaw heliconias are amazing, but I think I prefer the smaller parrot flowers. And your stone is also intriguing. I have a ‘hagstone’ with a hole in it that my niece gave me from the North Norfolk coast in the UK… they say only good luck passes through the hole. 😃 Happy summer Amelia!
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Thanks, Cathy. I like the hagstone concept. I love all Heliconias…so weird and tropical.
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Your colours are always so bright and vibrant. I guess it comes with the tropics! Beautiful……as is the sleeping Bob?
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Thank you, there are a lot of happy orange plants here.
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Dramatic and lovely. Hope just the right amount of rain comes your way.
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Thanks, the showers have been quenching and not too much so far.
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