Category Archives: Bromeliads

In a Vase on Monday – Serpents??

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As I was cutting these flowers I wondered if anyone would recognize them. I think this is weird. At this point, If I think something from my garden is weird that is saying something.

The title is a hint and here is another:

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If your guess was Snake Plant, that is correct! The botanists have decided this is a Dracaena now, so this is D. trifasciata. These are considered invasive here and I throw them away by the wheelbarrow load. I read they flower when under stress and I suppose the dry weather is getting to them.

I see real serpents in the garden from time to time, usually black racers that eat all kinds of bad things. I estimate there are 100 linear feet of Snake Plant about 10 feet wide between me and my neighbor. I was astonished the first time I walked around the house and witnessed the world of Snake Plants – it stopped me in my tracks. House plants run amok.

A closer view:

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This is a pretty flower and it has a nice fragrance. The foliage is from bromeliads, I think it accents the linearity of the flowers. Burgundy foliage is from Aechmea ‘burgundy’. The chartreuse foliage is from Aechmea blanchetiana ‘Lemonade’.

That’s all from my garden this Monday. Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and follow the links to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Strange Brew

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Behold my all time favorite coffee mug. The handle broke some years ago and I cannot bring myself to throw it away. It lurks around the house holding one thing or another. Today it is a vase holding an unusual array of flowers.

Not quite all of them are flowers. I like to throw in a succulent from time to time and January is a really good time as cutting flowers are few and far between. I planted seeds for zinnias and rudbeckias in November or so and they were consumed by something. Whatever ate the flowers did not eat the herbs. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around that and come up with Plan B..

What’s the strange brew in my coffee mug?

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The pink flower is a Bromeliad, Quesnelia testudo, sometimes referred to as the tulip of South Florida. Grey rosettes are Graptosedum, a succulent. The green foliage and flower is another succulent, Senecio barbertonicus. The Senecio flowers open for a short time and then make fuzzy seedheads. This plant is terribly poisonous, so brewing it would be a very bad idea!

That is all from my garden this Monday. Doing a rain dance here, showers are possible. Our rain totals are down about 10 inches from normal.

Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit our host, Cathy and follow links to vases from other gardens.

Happy Monday!

Six on Saturday – Winter Gardening / So Fla Style

Hello all and Happy 2026! I haven’t joined SOS in a while as it seemed there wasn’t very much of interest going on in the garden. Winter gardening in South Florida brings what everyone else knows as summer vegetables and cool season herbs. This is also the time of year for dividing bromeliad pups and moving orchids around. So, I have been doing all of that.

Winter is the dry season, so it has not rained in weeks. I am fortunate to have a lot of bromeliads and they only need to have their cups filled about every 10 days. Amazingly resilient plants. High temperatures are running 78F / 25C, the humidity is low and skies are deep blue with a magnificent range of clouds. The migratory birds are passing through, so it is wonderful spending time outdoors.

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Winter also provides tropical fruit. This is the first hermaphrodite flower on the Nemesis Papaya I planted a couple of months ago. I am hoping for some fruit this year. Papayas produce male, female and hermaphrodite flowers that are self pollinating. Nemesis is a selected variety for that and I think the name reflects its resistance to nematodes. We have bad nematodes in Florida.

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Billbergia bromeliads flower in winter. I think these are Billbergia amoena. Above are the rather impressive buds, I cut one of the flowers, they last a week in a vase and open with tiny cobalt blue flowers are the tips that look like curling ribbon.

Here is some of the wildlife passing through. This is a juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk. Hopefully looking for invasive lizards.

I have been harvesting Rangpur limes. These may not look like limes, but they are ripe. They are a cross between lemons and mandarin oranges. A sour orange, really, and used in cooking and baking. They make a delicious key lime pie.

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More bromeliads in flower. These are ‘Candy’ Porteas. I think they are named after Good and Plenty licorice candy.

I use these as cut flowers, here is a closer view.

I believe I am over six pictures, so I will stop. Visit our host, Jim, at this link GardenRuminations to see more SOS posts.

In a Vase on Monday – Winter Eye Candy

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Bromeliad flowers are some serious eye candy in the garden. Sometimes the flowers are seriously weird. This one is Portea “Candy”. They started flowering in November and should be around for another month or so. I suppose they are named for the licorice candy that looks like pills. They qualify for somewhat weird! Fat pink stems with purple flowers that produce white seedpods, I could not have dreamed that combination up!

The rest of the vase:

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The big purple flower is the “Candy” Portea. Green foliage is from Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa). I have always thought of these as persnickety house plants. Not so much in this environment they are nearly indestructible if sited properly and watered occasionally. Purple leaves are from Aechmea “Burgundy” Bromeliad and the purple leafy foliage is Purple Queen (Transcandentia pallida). I was amused to learn the French call this misery. Blue flowers are Plumbago (Plumago auriculata)

We are coming out of a cold snap here. I broke out a sweatshirt but have yet to give up sandals for shoes. It was 53 F/ 12 C. Gasp! Tomato plants are still coming along and my Arugula and Spinach are very happy as are the cool season herbs.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. Follow this link to her blog for more vases. RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Have a Blast in 2026!

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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:

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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’)

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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!!!

In a Vase on Monday – Sticks from the Sticks

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I often tell people I live in the sticks. Coming from a city of five million, that is what it seems like to me. I like sticks of all types – where I live and in vases for texture. We have had another dry spell that has slowed down the flowers (leaving some looking like sticks!) Oddly, the varmints ate all my zinnia and Rudbeckia seedlings (no sticks left) and eschewed the parsley – literally. I am not sure if the varmints are gourmets or anti-snobs as they turned up their noses at my fancy favorite parsley. Varmints are tiresome.

This vase, unlike the garden, requires no water. It did require a bit of a balancing act. The cuttings are balanced along the edge of the vase, I took the pictures quickly.

A closer view.

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The grey “flowers” are Graptosedum. These are absurdly easy to grow here. I have pots of them and they drop leaves that grow under the pots. Orange flowers are dried Aechmea rubens bromeliad flowers. White sticks are stems from the flowers of the Adonidia Palm (Veitchii merrilli). Brown sticks are native grapes – Muscadines (Vitis rotundifolia)

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. To view more vases follow the link RamblingintheGarden

Happy Holidays from the sticks!!

In a Vase on Monday – Harvest Cobbler

There are still some unresolved seasonal dilemmas I have to cope with living in South Florida. It’s Thanksgiving in the US this week and I need a harvest themed arrangement with berries and fall color. No funky tropicals, just some fall color. The hunt was on!

After rooting around in the garden I realized a little compromise was required. Fall color is not found in deciduous trees here, but other plants – and berries we have. The basket was located and snipping began.

A closer view:

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The fall color compromise is displayed in its full glory. The rusty red Aechmea rubens flower. Yellow flowers are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis). Purple berries are from the Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana).

Another view:

Berries are from the Gumbo Limbo (Bursea simaruba) you can’t get much more tropical than that. The (I use the term loosely) fall leaves are from a Raggedy Ann Copperleaf (Acalphya wilkesiana)

White filler flowers are Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa) my fall favorite.

I think my Thanksgiving arrangement has been cobbled together without tropical vibes. I can go forth and thaw my turkey and make cranberry relish in peace now. Happy Thanksgiving to my American counterparts.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is about expressing gratitude and thanking those who have helped us. Some of you know I have been arguing with Inflammatory Breast Cancer for the past four years and it is truly difficult for me to express my gratitude for having my blog community as an escape from the grind of the process. I detest the warrior/battle ethos. And pink for the most part.

Here is a link for more info. There are groups in the UK, Canada and Australia https://theibcnetwork.org/

So, Thank You.

And thanks to Cathy for hosting this sanity saving meme! (my sanity) Follow the link to her blog to see other vases. RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Seasonal Reflections

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This vase is a reflection of the changing seasons in the garden. It features some of my favorite flowers. It’s surprising how long some of them hang around the garden.

The lower part of the arrangement displays bromeliad flowers that dried on the plant. The blooms started in July. I like the muted colors of the dried Broms. I cut some when they were fresh this summer and am still enjoying the flowers months later. They were originally bright reds and oranges. Here are the red flowers from a July IAVOM post.

These bright red flowers (Aechmea miniata) fade to the rusty apricot above. The rusty feathered flowers (Aechmea Rubens) deepen in color through the summer.

Some closer views:

The brown flower with rounded elements is from Aechmea miniata Bromeliad. The orange flower is Chocochiana Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum). Feathered flowers are from Aechmea Rubens.

The rest of the arrangement is “Lady Di” Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum) in red and yellow. The ferns are my favorite invasive fern, the Asian Sword. The vase came with a flower arrangement that was not from my garden.

That’s all from my garden this week.

Visit Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – WTFlower

It’s Monday again.I’m joining Cathy and the intrepid producers of floral artistry with a mad concoction from my South Florida garden. Happy Monday!

The Bromeliads in my garden are welcoming their season to shine. It’s possible to have Bromeliad flowers year round, but the winter months are when they are happiest. November through March is the time to move the plants around, cut and propagate pups, and cut flowers if you are lucky.

This is no surprise to me as I doubt I encountered a Bromeliad growing up in the Deep South – most people gawk when seeing flowers like these and say “What in the world is that?” I found these plants so intriguing (and bulletproof to boot) I have them everywhere.

Some closer views. I am wondering if anyone else uses a Pixel phone? The latest upgrade has been giving me fits.

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The pale yellow flowers are “Little Harv” Aechmea Bromeliad.

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Blue and pink flowers are “Candy” Portea Bromeliads. White flowers are Dragonwing Begonias.

Foliage is from pineapple plants and a White Bird of Paradise.

Thank you to Cathy for hosting. Follow the link to RamblingintheGarden to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Peace, Love & Salvia

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It’s no secret I love Salvia. I was delighted to see a bevy of blossoms after a few intense rain showers last week. I cut a large handful of mostly red, with a little off red and white. The Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) is not really true to seed and color ranges from neon orange to coral, pink and pure red. This off red is a new color, surprising me by flourishing in nearly full shade.

I think I created a Freudian flower arrangement. Does it look like it is shooting a peace sign or is it just me? I fear for my country and am hoping for peace.

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A close up of the Tropical Red Salvia (Salva coccinea). The background plants are Lemon Blanchetiana Bromeliad foliage and Asian Sword Ferns. A sprig of Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica) was added for fragrance.

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A twining stem of Coral Vine graces the edge of the vase. This vine (Antigonon leptopus) refuses to grow on the fence it was planted beside and prefers to climb the very thorny lime tree. I pick a piece out now and then and usually manage to get stabbed.

Peace be with you all.

Visit Cathy’s blog RamblingintheGarden and follow the links to see more vases.