We are deeply entrenched in the dog days of summer in my garden. Some Saharan dust meandered in and shut down our cooling clouds and showers. Every time I look at the weather it says “feels like 108 F” Surprisingly, it is much warmer further north. I feel fortunate to live close enough to the Atlantic Ocean to catch a breeze. The breezes make it less hot, not cooler!
The dog star, Sirius, rises during the hottest part of the summer. Modern definitions of the dog days of summer have them occurring from July 11-August 3. The scope must be greatly expanded for South Florida! In ancient times the dog days lasted longer. I agree with the ancient philosophers. It is hot in my garden well past the first of September.
The flowers in this vase are Sirius or even serious survivors. Thriving in sun and heat and going with or without hand watering by the fickle gardener they still shine.
The fittest:
Some tried and true summer favorites, Gardenias and Zinnias. Gardenias are the Tropical variety that is deciduous here, Tabernaemontana diviricata. Zinnias are grown from seed I saved last year hoping for pink and orange flowers.
The tropical part:
Orange flowers are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum Choconiana) Red flowers are Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana). Dark ferny foliage is Copper Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Maybe that is not so tropical.
I inherited the vase from my mother and have enjoyed using it for years.
Visit Cathy at the link RamblingintheGarden to visit more gardens via vase.
For those wondering about Gopher Tortoises mentioned in last week’s vase post, here is one ambling up the walk to my front porch. Once he or she arrives near the potted herbs any basil hanging over the edge of the pot will be trimmed to turtle height. This turtle also enjoys charteuse Coleus and melons. A bit of an odd salad!
The Shrub Queen 
Lovely bright colours. How satisfying growing your own zinnias from saved seed. I am fascinated by your Gopher tortoise as I has never heard of such a thing before. I have seen Hermann’s tortoises in Greece and years ago in the south of France but I didn’t know there are other kinds.
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Thank you, Liz. I love to see what zinnia I get next, always a surprise. I was taken aback by the tortoises at first. They are endangered due to habitat loss and locals are protective of them. They live in Florida and a bit further north.
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Amazing that you have wild tortoises! They are occasionally kept as pets here, but I believe they hibernate in winter. Do your gopher tortoises also hibernate? The vase is lovely – great zinnias and the gardenias are lovely too. Our dog days came and went in June, early July. Thankfully! I think the worst heat is over for the summer here, although September sometimes surprises us. Hope you get plenty of those breezes coming through!
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Our tortoise is active year round. It is a common sight to see them meandering down the street. People move them out of the way frequently. I haven’t managed to get a good look at the one in the new burrow. I keep thinking 60 or so days til October!
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I always associate Zinnias with summer. I think it is because of their bright colors.
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I grow them year round for cutting.
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A Cereus flower might have been a nice addition (if only such a flower had a stem and stayed open during the day).
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It is Cereus season, though that would be a challenge!
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Do Cereus dislike the humidity there?
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No, there is one that grows wild here. I am not sure if it is native. I just found one creeping through my garden. They grow along the ground until they find something to climb.These are commonly grown in groups up the trunks of palm trees and admired very early in the morning.
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Epiphyllum hookeri? That is different from Cereus.
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What I see in the trees is Hylocereus. C. hexagonus may be what’s running around things. A lot of these are escaped pass alongs.
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Cereus repandus is naturalized in parts of Florida, so could be the culprit. Hylocereus includes some of the dragon fruit.
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We feed birds, you feed tortoises! 😀 What a cutie. 🥰
The 🥵 weather has been so hot EVERYWHERE! Saturday we had terrible smoke from Canada’s wildfires as well. Fortunately, yesterday’s rain helped clear the air. 90s and humid still til Wed. Other than a quick check on the garden early in the day, I’m staying inside for the duration.
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I am in a similar mode here. Does it seem like there are a lot more wildfires or is it just me? I just put some grapes in the compost, hope tortoises can eat them! Getting terrible grapes lately for some reason.
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I suppose there has always been wildfires, but with warmer temps, there’s a disruption in the jet stream and water events, leading to dry conditions and then summer lightning strikes are leading to more fires. I don’t ever recall smoke being an issue here until the last 10 years. Now it happens a few times a summer… not happy about that!
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‘The breezes make it less hot, not cooler!’ is such a telling distinction, Amelia 👍I can certainly imagine that the heat will soon sort out the plants that can cope and those that can’t. Your zinnias are gorgeous, so bright and cheerful, and I am pleased to say I have a partial handful of similarly cheerful zinnias which I must try to get in a vase soon. Your heliconia do a great job of drawing the eye up and away from the zinnias to the rest of the contents, which are always a delight. Thanks so much for the Gopher Tortoise photo – much appreciated 👍We learn so much from our blogs!
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July is what separates the survivors . Sometimes I laugh at what growers claim will take full sun here. Congratulations on the zinnias!
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The downside of my zinnias are that they were mixed and there are not enough to use together in a vase, so it might be a matter of using the odd one here and there
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Odd as it may seem, I appreciated the inclusion of the dark fennel foliage in the background, which set off the bright flower colors perfectly. Thanks for introducing us to the gopher tortoise too – he’s more photogenic than the lizards in my garden
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/ 😉
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People from Florida always said their hot days were better than Texas because of the breezes. Love the turtle pictures. Hope the new homeowners are kind to my turtle.
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That is absolutely gorgeous! I love the shape, colours and combination of textures. I also love the tortoise. I had one as a pet in my childhood and can visualise him slowly munching his way through your herbs but Coleus – yes odd!! should try it!!
https://zonethreegardenlife.blog/2025/07/28/in-a-vase-monday-july-28-2025/
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