We actually experienced some temperatures in the 70s (21C) without rain. So refreshing and a prelude to fall in South Florida. It wasn’t 70 for very long! I decided on an autumnal color palette for this week’s vase and set out into the garden, pruners in hand. I have already made one batch of pumpkin maple cupcakes (Pumpkin is a favorite ingredient in fall cooking in the US) The cupcakes were devoured but they didn’t inspire fall to arrive sooner!
The vase ingredients:
Yellow flowers are from the shrub, Thyrallis (Galphimia glauca) Bell shaped red flowers are a Firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis) Red and yellow flowers are “Lady Di” Heliconia (H. psittacorum) Orange tubular flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens)
The temperatures are back up in the 90s…time for more cupcakes!
Thanks to Cathy of RamblingintheGarden for hosting IAVOM. Follow the link to visit.
I keep thinking the last summer zinnia has been cut and then more materialized. The fat lady did not sing, just yet. I am wondering if this is an American saying meaning, more or less, not quite finished or if it is used elsewhere. I thought it came from Yogi Berra, an American icon and baseball coach, who also said “it ain’t over til it’s over”. Then, I read about a Wagnerian opera where Brunnhilde (apparently a large woman) sings at the end. I suppose opera is a bit more cultural than baseball and the latter is the most likely source.
More things to ponder while weeding.
The vase details:
Repeat offenders from last week in pink, ZinMaster Zinnias and Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus). White flowers are “Miss Alice” Bougainvillea, a few Sweet Begonias (B. odorata “Alba”) and Salvia coccinea. The foliage is Turkeytangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) it has little white flowers as well. Yellow flowers are Golden Thyrallis (Galphimia glauca) The vase is a cobalt blue bowl.
It’s still raining here and slowly cooling off. Slowly is the operative word. I have tiny papayas in the garden and the tomato seedlings are up. Winter is forecast as cooler and wetter. It’s usually our dry season, so it should be interesting to see how gardening goes.
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.
This has been a glorious summer for zinnias. Heat, humidity and generous downpours have provided a bouquet of pink zinnias weekly. The plants seem to know (the weather doesn’t) this is the last official weekend of summer and the flowers are getting smaller by the day. I am getting a bit tired of pink and just planted some Green ‘Envy’ and ‘Aurora’ zinnia seeds. We shall see what colors fall brings when the plants get going.
One of many bouquets from the garden this summer. The plants are easily four feet tall with 1/2 inch thick stems.
This weeks mix. The yellow leaves and spikey flowers are from ‘Java White’ Copperleaf (Acalphya wilkesiana ‘Java White – a large tropical shrub that has returned with a vengeance from our February freeze. Pink viney flowers are from Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) currently growing in the very thorny lime tree, causing a pruning dilemma. Zin Master Zinnias in pink. Coral and white Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) and a few invasive ferns for foliage. The container is from an orchid gift from a neighbor. I think I killed the orchid…oops.
Happy Labor Day to those celebrating and a big thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Follow this link to see more vases http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com
For reasons that elude me, the miniature pineapples are having a stellar year. I usually get one fruit once in a while and this year I have three and one has pups (the one on the left). I am not exactly sure what to do with a multi pupped miniature pineapple? I guess I will figure it out, suggestions are encouraged.
A friend gave me this pineapple years ago. I think it’s a “Lava Burst” Miniature Pineapple.
Why unplonked? I dropped one on the trip inside from the garden. The pineapple popped off and was eyed suspiciously by Handsome Rob, the Greyhound, who would eat it in a heartbeat. Consequences of that I do not want to contemplate. The leather gloves came out – the baby pineapples are as sharp as they are cute, and the pineapples were secured into a dog proof arrangement. A fruit loving dog? Weird, but true. This dog eats oranges and adores pineapple. More Greyhound weirdness, but we love him.
Here’s Rob wondering what happened to that delicious pineapple.
What else is in there?
Note the pups on the left. I added some foliage from the “Lava Burst” Pineapple. The big tropical leaf is from Split Leaf Philodendron (Philodendron selloum). Creamy spikes flowers are Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa)
As always, visit Cathy to see more vases. Here’s the link RamblinginthGarden
This is a hot color special in honor of the summer solstice. I must have some Three Bears issues about day length. I don’t like them too long like they are now – but I especially dislike them too short, like they are at the winter solstice. The question is what is just right? I need to find Goldilocks..
It had not crossed my mind until today that the Lobsterclaw Heliconia are usually in sync with the solstice, the flowers always start appearing after mid June. I think they like the day length.
It is blistering hot here as predicted by the purveyors of the El Nino weather phenomenon. High temperatures in the low 90s (33 C) feels like 101 (38C). We have been getting extensive evening thunderstorms so the plants are thriving. I have been moving orchids around in the trees, they are loving the heat and humidity and rooting into the bark quickly. It’s interesting to watch. I installed 2 types of orchids in a mango tree this week – it doesn’t get more tropical than that!
The red, yellow and green flower is a Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata). Red hots flower is from the Aechmea miniata bromeliad. Multicolored foliage is Piecrust Croton (Codieum variegatum) Trimmed palm frond is a Cabbage Palm (Palmetto sabal)
That is all from my garden this Monday. Reclining in air conditioned comfort seems like the best plan..though I did manage to plant another batch of zinnia seeds!
Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and follow the links to see more vase creations.
So far, June has been oddly cool. I could cheerfully have tea in the garden. Me being me, I decided to arrange some flowers reflecting the form of the teapot. Design school is a lifelong curse. Where else would these ideas come from?
The teapot is vintage 1950. The year my parents married and one of their wedding gifts. My mother always used it to brew the basis for sweet iced tea, a beverage that is a Southern staple. The tea stained patina on this teapot makes me smile. I remember this teapot as a constant companion to family dinners. I am terrible about not making iced tea, even though I enjoy it.
The closer and more complicated view. While Southern sweet tea is pretty simple water, sugar, tea, and mint and lemon on the side, if you like..there is a lot of stuff in this vase.
The big, pink flower is a ZinMaster zinnia. White flowers are Sweet Begonias (Begonia odorata ‘Alba’). Blue flowers are Plumbago, likely Plumbago auriculata ‘Blue Imperial’, or just darker than usual. Purple flowers are the wonderfully scented Heliotrope. There are a few Mystic Blue Salvia and Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa) above the zinnia and a trimmed palm frond provides a green backdrop. It has a delicious, sweet fragrance from the Heliotrope, Begonias and Juba Bush
Thank you to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting this weekly meme and bringing gardeners together to see what is blooming where. Follow the link to see more vases.
Despite the fact that I have been gardening in South Florida for over a decade – I still find many things in the garden that I think are weird! I was (sort of) overseeing some tree pruning..Sea Grapes get out of hand on an annual basis..and looked up to see this after noticing some buzzing.
Possibly a better image..
It’s not a termite infested mattress, it’s a dragonfly swarm. These are quite impressive in real life and the mosquitoes are decimated. And very difficult to photograph.
Soon after seeing the swarm, I looked down and spied pups – on the miniature pineapple!
A garden stroll revealed what I thought was a deceased mango – coming back from the ground. The bronze foliage is normal. I fear this might be a Turpentine Mango. Not known for their flavor, but their incredibly hardy rootstock that is used to graft more palatable varieties of fruit on top. I have never tasted one, but the name gives me pause. The more timid, but delicious condo mango, Pickering, that was grafted on top clearly is deceased. The Turpentine Mango is known for its long, narrow foliage..
The Abyssinian Red Banana has at least tripled in size since I planted it. It is still not very red, but looks more tropical by the day.
For those who follow IAVOM, here is my swallowtail caterpillar rescue update. They are getting bigger and I would say the population has reduced by half (.#$@ lizards) Here is Monday’s photo for reference.
I started some Roselles (Hibiscus sabdariffa) from seed and planted eight in a bed. The varmints left them alone, until they didn’t. Roselles are grown for their edible calyx, the bottom of the flower. These taste like cranberry and I was planning on making Roselle granola in the fall. Here is the rabbit proofing!
The rabbits used the purple cups in the background to climb up and eat the plants. I had put them around the stems. Fingers crossed for Roselle granola!
That’s my dose of Florida weirdness! Visit Jim at GardenRuminations to see more SOS
Suddenly it’s 90 degrees! 32 Celsius sounds so much cooler. However you take your temperature, it’s hot. The garden is responding in kind and producing hot colors.
I performed a swallowtail butterfly caterpillar rescue while cutting flowers for the vase. The dill has been going to seed and I witnessed a beautiful lady swallowtail butterfly laying eggs on the dill. So did several lizards lurking nearby. The tiny caterpillars had hatched and were just starting to devour the dill when I cut the flowers. The cats were relocated to a parsley far away from the lurking lizards. I’m enjoying the dill flowers and I hope the caterpillars are enjoying the parsley. I did not realize how much parsley I had planted and it all came up! Happy to share with the swallowtails and I hope I see a few more.
Success! The caterpillars have easily doubled in size from when I moved them. I am wondering how much parsley they can eat.
A closer view of the vase:
There are two kinds of orange tubular flowers. The lower flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens). The upper are Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera). Long red flowers are Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreum, depending on who you ask) Red spikes are Salvia coccinea. Dill flowers, of course and the creamy spikes are from Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa)
Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly meme. Visit her blog at MoreVases to see more vases!
After several false starts in 2026, I am pleased to post my first zinnias of the year! I usually have zinnias much earlier than this, nearly year round. I think they were worth the wait. The longest stemmed flowers I have ever grown. As usual, no clue why!
The first batch of seeds I planted – frozen. The second – eaten by unknown varmints. The third time was the charm. I have planted so many zinnia seeds, I am not sure what these are. ZinMaster, I think. I really wanted Cactus Zinnias, but I think I have gone through all those seeds
The closer view:
The vase is a jar that held specialty tea. The small green flowers at the base are seed heads from Pentas, an annual flower, I am not sure what kind. Creamy white flowers are from Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). Ferns are from the invasive Asian Sword Fern.
Simple pleasures from the garden.
Thank you to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to visit her garden and see more vases.
