It seems as if 2025 rocketed right on by. Here we are at the end of the year once again. I cut these flowers in anticipation of a fantastic New Year. As usual, there is a little tropical madness and a few fireworks in the components.
I live a bit south of Cape Canaveral in Florida. This is where the space program started in the US in the 1960’s; it is still a center of rockets blasting off in the US. We can see the launches from our backyard. My husband loves it. The truth is there is not much to see – a squiggle of clouds on the horizon 90 miles away, but people (mostly men) love it. The tourist designation for this area is the Space Coast.
Back to the plants. Here is a closer view:
The red, white and blue flower is from a bromeliad, Billbergia vittata. I am not sure which cultivar or even where it came from at this point. I enjoy this plant for the sheer funkiness of its appearance (picture below) Varigated leaves behind the brom are from Piecrust Croton (Codieum varigatum). Green foliage is from Asparagus Fern. Red bell shaped flowers are from the seasonally appropriate Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetifolium). White flowers are Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata ‘Alba’)
The buds on the Bromeliad vittata. The plant is purple and grey striped and produces red, white and blue flowers! Tropical madness.
As always, thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden to see more vases.
Happy New Year to Everyone!!!
The Shrub Queen 
You got me at Cape Canaveral. I begrudgingly took my kids to Disney many years ago, but a man came up to us in Houston (Space City) and gave us tickets to see a shuttle launch. It was a highlight of my life! I wanted to be a teacher in space, but never did apply which turned out to be a good decision I would love to watch rockets go up all the time. A certain somebody launches them in south Texas, but they blow up a lot and drop debris all over and disturb the wildlife.
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Splendid, as always. Billbergias are remarkably diverse. Prior to seeing your vases, I was aware of only two species, the common Billbergia nutans, and another that I can not remember the name of that looks like a big Billbergia nutans. Is that Asparagus invasive?
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Wowza Queen!
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