The official time for the Fall Equinox is 1:19 PM today. I am waiting for the axial shift to cool our temperatures. I can already tell the sun is lower in the sky and the shadows on the north side of our house are deepening. The sun angles in South Florida are so different from winter to summer it still throws me off. On a due north exposure, the garden goes from full sun in summer to full shade in winter. Selecting plants is a conundrum. I have gone to pots in these areas.
The garden is celebrating the equinox with coral flowers sprinkled through the beds. I also have coral rocks used as accents as I like local stone incorporated into gardens. Coral rocks are limestone boulders with deposits of shells and other sea life visible on the surface.
The flowers:
Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) is showing up in shades of Coral this week. White daisies are Bidens alba.
Yellow flowers are Thyrallis (Galpinia glauca). The inspiration plant, hanging over the side, is Coral Vine (Antigogon leptopus). The vase was made by the Ute people in the Southwestern US.
And here are the rocks.
I enjoy my rock collection in the garden. I have some heirloom rocks from my Father the Geologist and other interesting stones rocking the garden with the coral.
Follow this link to visit Cathy’s blog RamblingintheGarden to see what she and other gardeners are rocking in their vases.
Rock on, gardeners. (I couldn’t resist)
The Shrub Queen 
Is that little bit of white salvia also tropical red salvia?
LikeLike
I had forgotten it was the equinox today – here, sunrise/sunset is around 7.00 am/pm, so would that make the exact point around 1.00 lunchtimish? What a charming and refreshing vase this is, Amelia! I think it’s the airiness as well as the colour range that does it, and of course it very different from your usual vases which tend to have bigger blocks of colour. Not surpisingly I love all those rocks – how wonderful to have them in situ. We have a number of blocks of sandstone in the garden which probably came from a medieval priory that fell into ruin many years ago and which would have been plundered by the locals over the years!
LikeLike
That’s a very happy color combination to welcome the equinox, Amelia! Your rocks are interesting a nice addition to your landscape too.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
LikeLike
Your vase has so much variety today and I stopped and stared for some time, trying to remember the names of your plants. I failed, except for the Salvia and Bidens. ☺️ The rocks are interesting. We have granite where we live now, and at our last garden it was sand stone. Fascinating to think how it varies within such a short distance (about 25 miles). The autumn equinox rang in autumn bang on time here and we felt the chill today.
LikeLike
Some cooler weather would be nice, but send a little warmth up here in October when the first frosts try making a go at winter! Love the coral vine. I used to think it was the coolest thing and actually looked into how much it would cost to try one here as an annual… but it sounded like a losing prospect with our short season.
We have a few coral stones here as well. I could never resist the ones with the holes drilled through.
LikeLike
Love the bright, candy colors in your arrangement today, Amy. And the coral definitely rocks! 🙂
LikeLike
Your vase looks like a cottage garden.
LikeLike
In London Monday was the first evening where sunset was before 7pm. Your choice of flowers and the vase is fabulous, such vibrant colours as we head into autumn. Thanks for sharing 😊
LikeLike
Yes, candy colours! I’m very taken with the Coral Vine. Will admire from our less tropical clime!!
LikeLike