September brings all types of flowers to my garden. I cut several varieties and slipped (plonked) them into a mason jar. A crazy quilt is the most apt description I could come up with for this array of very different flowers. This jar reflects late summer in my South Florida garden. The selection runs from very tropical bromeliad flowers to the more familiar cottage garden stalwarts, the Salvias.
Bromeliads flower year round in the tropics, but I think summer is the peak; some lasting for months. I have at least five in flower, mostly Aechmeas from Brazil. The odd man out is in the vase, Billbergia pyramidalis, common name Flaming Torch or Hurricane Flower. Last week was the peak of hurricane season (which has been blessedly quiet) So I think either name is appropriate.
The close up:
The patchwork of colors include: Hurricane Flower (Billbergia pyramidalis) in pink. ‘Mystic Blue’ Salvia, the blue spike. The final pink zinnia of the summer. Yellow spikey flower is a side shoot of a much larger flower from ‘Pinot Noir’ Aechmea Bromeliad. White Sweet Begonias (B. odorata) hang over the edge of the jar. The yellow flower in the center is a side shoot from ‘Little Harv’ Aechmea Bromeliad. A few white Salvia (S. coccinea) are in the back with Asian Sword Ferns and Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) in pink.
That’s all from my garden this Monday. Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Visit her blog http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.
It’s funny how each area has a hurricane flower. I am close enough to the Atlantic that if a hurricane came, I would get some of it. Irene closed Philly down, and I was trapped on the mountain, 4 hours inland from the coast. I guess I need to look for a hurricane plant for here.
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There are several hurricane flowers here. Hmm, a Philly version would be interesting. Is it pansy season there?
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I think pansies are early spring. I’ll have to check around and see if there is a plant. Hurricanes are rare here, but usually pricey. I heard that with global warming, more would be coming up the coast. What is your opinion of global warming? I’m not going political, but the Earth has warmed and cooled many times. I remember in the late 60’s and early 70’s summers were cool to cold in the PA mountains and lots of snow in the winter. I don’t disagree that it is warmer.
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I guess the cold winter would do the pansies in. My father was a science guy (phD Johns Hopkins) he thought global warming was BS. I am not so sure I understand the large scope of this though from working in Landscape Architecture for decades I can tell we have pretty well ruined our water supply and I think that affects things further up the chain. My concern is running out of potable water and sustainable living.
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That is a concern. I know they were hatching a proposal to send water from Houston to West Texas. Corpus Christie is almost out of water. I just think if you live long enough, you start to see it all. I have hope things will work out.
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Oh that’s definitely reminiscent of a crazy quilt – it’s such a good analogy and I could have lent you one as a prop! I hope its brightness and cheeriness is helping you in your recovery
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Thanks, Cathy. I am better!
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Hurrah! 😊
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I wish I had such a patchwork of flowers to work with! Your bromeliad flowers never fail to please, Amelia.
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Thanks, Kris, I enjoy their funkiness!!
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Billbergia is more variable than I was aware. I know of only the two common species Billbergia nuttans and the one that looks like a larger version of it. I realize that there are other species, but some of them look nothing like the two that I know.
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Billbergias are very varied. The B. vittata is an especially weird one I have in the garden. Purple foliage and red,white and blue flowers – who dreamed that up!?
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Oh, that is weird. (I just looked it up.) I sort of like it, though, at least the flowers.
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It is..I didn’t know that it flowered and it was a bit of a shock
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You mean you thought it was just a foliage plant, and then it did ‘that’? That would be a surprise.
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Yes I thought it was purple haze
Not!
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Oh gosh, it may be a crazy quilt, but it’s so gorgeous. You’re fortunate to have so many Bromeliads that bloom so long. It’s enough to attract a cold-climate person to a warm locale for a midwinter vacation. My parents had some nifty tropicals on their property when they spent winters in Florida. It’s tempting…
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Thanks, Beth, the bromeliads still boggle my mind. Winter is the best here!
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I love all the bright colors, vibrant and cheering (what we come to expect of the tropics). So glad your hurricane season has been quiet so far, may it continue to be so! 👍🏼
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Thanks, Eliza quiet tropics are good tropics!
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Fabulous! I know I can rely on your vase every week for some bright colour and amazing foliage. And such a great mix of flowers too. I really do love that coral vine…. and the salvias!
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Thanks, Cathy. I’ll have to post a Salvia picture..it has rained a lot and they have reseeded everywhere some are five feet tall.
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Love that crazy quilt of vibrancy!
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Thank you!
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