Category Archives: Bromeliads

Six on Saturday – The Last Mango

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There it is. The final perfectly tree ripened Thai dessert mango of the summer. I am not sure who or what ate it, but it wasn’t me. I will count my blessings. We had a wonderful crop of three varieties of mangoes from May to July and I have learned to make a new dessert, Mango Coconut Cream pie. I will confess I have been shopping for a Keitt mango to extend the season through September…the pie.

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Now for some pretty garden images:

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This is a Vriesea bromeliad. The botanical name has been changed to Goudaea ospinae, it used to be V. ospinae cv. gruberi. Maybe it is not a Vriesea anymore. These are planted primarily for foliage, the color really lights up the shade garden. It is reported to have a yellow flower, but I have never seen one.

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This is a Buttercup Bush (Turnera ulmifolia) – I think. These grow wild here and it popped up to replace an Angel Trumpet that didn’t grow here at all.

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This is a Golden Dewdrop (Durant erecta). This rarely flowers in my garden and the butterflies are really enjoying it. I am wondering what inspired the flowers. The Dewdrop is a bit of a mystery to me. It is supposed to be a large shrub to a small tree sized plant. I would guess it has been in the garden for 8 or 10 years and might be two feet tall. More puzzles to ponder.

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A Royal Ponciana (Delonix regia); also called Flamboyant tree. My neighbor has one and a seedling popped up in the garden, so I potted it, coddled it and waited for the rainy season to plant it. In a few years it will be covered in flowers like this. Flamboyant is a good name! Hopefully.

That is all from South Florida. The rainy season continues….

To see more SOS posts, follow the link to visit Jim’s blog Garden Ruminationshttp://garden ruminations.co.uk.

In a Vase on Monday – Rubens Rebound

I am definitely getting in touch with my inner tropical garden lover this Monday. My rainforest garden is putting out funkier flowers by the day. Of course, the bromeliads are uncooperative about growing where I want them and need rearranging. A winter time chore in full armor is in my future.

The flowers are Aechmea Rubens. I have never heard a common name for this plant. Apparently a botanical garden in Canada picked it up in Brazil and didn’t quite document it, so no one knows exactly where it came from. I am not sure where the one in my garden came from??! The rebound came when I couldn’t remember the name and put the picture in Google Lens and was referred to my own blog!

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A closer view. The flowers are very much like straw flowers. I have had them last until Thanksgiving in the garden. I am not sure about vase life, but I expect it will be a while. The background foliage is a Sabal Palm frond trimmed to fit. The vase and flowers are easily three feet tall. The plant in the garden is at least that tall.

Happy Monday from the tropics.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. To visit other gardens via vase follow this link to RamblingintheGarden

Six on Saturday – Summer Fun

My garden tour this Saturday was quick. The humidity descended this morning after sunrise, the kind that fogs your glasses upon exiting the air conditioning. A few quick snaps with the phone followed a twirl around the block with Rob the Greyhound and I’m posting six items of garden interest once again.

To see more Six on Saturday posts or to join in, visit Jim at Garden Ruminations.

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The pink flamingo was our college mascot, so I have to have one in the garden. This one lives in a mass of Soap Aloe.

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Continuing the pink theme with the flower of Silver Urn Bromeliad (Aechmea fasciata)

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My lawn replacement project from last year is finally looking lawnish. This is Turkeytangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) This plant is an evergreen wildflower that provides food and habitat for several butterflies. The butterflies do love it – but, they are shy about photography.

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More butterfly habitat. These are Maui Red Ixora. The vines rambling through the shrubs are Corkystem Passionflower (Passiflora suberosa). The flowers of the Ixora provide nectar for the butterflies while the Passionflower vines provide food for the caterpillars. Given that the vines have been completely denuded I think we are having a good butterfly year. The vines host Zebra Longwing and Gulf Fritillary butterflies. The Gulf Fritillary butterflies are known for their aggressive mating behavior (foursomes!) It’s a wonderful aerial acrobatics show in the garden every sunny day.

Another pollinator plant is doing well. Green berries are formed on the Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana) The butterflies love the flowers and later these berries will turn a deep purple color and birds.

‘Lady Di’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum) in place in the garden. These skirt another lady ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea.

That is all from my garden. I will be pursuing cooler pursuits this Saturday.

Six on Saturday – Summer Visitors

Summer is in full force in my garden, bringing out some of the usual suspects and a few surprises. I’m joining Jim and the SOS gang to share six items of interest from my garden this week. To see more SOS posts, follow this link GardenRuminations.

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I have been wondering for years why I can’t grow anything but spotty White Salvia here. Rob the Greyhound spotted a gathering of Marsh Rabbits working their way through the Blue Daze Evolvulus. What is strange is how not marshy my garden is?

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The first ripe Thai Dessert Mango (Nam Doc Mai). We had Mango Salsa with Herb Crusted Steelhead Trout and rice for dinner. Delish. These mangoes are tricky to pick – if they aren’t showing the apricot blush they never get ripe on the counter. I’m thinking about trying a Mango Cream pie with graham cracker crust.

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The Jamaican Caper (Quadrella jamaicensis) is flowering. This is a small tree native to South Florida. It looks like a Japanese Cleyera to me. It does produce capers, but they are not edible.

My husband and I met a very friendly kitty in the garden. I have no idea where she came from. I hope she enjoys dining on invasive lizards.

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Our local farmer’s market has the most fantastic deal on Phalaenopsis orchids – 3 for $20. I have been enjoying the flowers in the house and transplanting them into palm tree boots after the flowers fade. Fingers crossed this works.

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This might be a Fantasia Aechmea Bromeliad. I am not quite sure what it is – but Fantasia seems like an apt name!

That’s all from my garden this morning. I hope everyone is enjoying summer gardening. Thanks to Jim for hosting.

Six on Saturday – Rainy Season Up!

The rainy season in South Florida officially starts June 1. And it has! One day early. Which is a good thing, because the garden was getting parched. I toured the garden before the rain started to fall and the typically clear blue skies were overcast – one look at radar confirmed it, water would be falling from the sky shortly. Rain Dance successful. My six images today reflect typical garden sights that start the season. To see more tours with six items of interest from the garden the world over, visit Jim at GardenRuminations

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A sure sign of a quenching rain. New growth on Mango trees. This happens when the fruit is nearly ripe. It reminds me of fall color, a rare sight in South Florida.

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Rangpur limes coming along. I fertilized all the fruit trees ahead of the rain. They are very happy.

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Wildflowers are making their presence known. This is a White mouth Day flower (Commelina erecta) I have no idea where it came from, but I enjoy these every summer.

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This is Vitex trifolia, a Chastetree that grows this far South. I planted this for butterflies. They like it. I have mixed feelings, it is difficult to prune into anything attractive. I am considering a round bush concept.

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The great indestructible Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana).

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Another harbinger of the rainy season. These are either called Flaming Torch or Hurricane Bromeliads (Billbergia pyramidalis). I prefer Flaming Torch, if the light hits them just right – that is exactly what they look like.

SOS mission complete! Happy Summer!

Six on Saturday – Smells Like Summer

My garden tour started early this morning. Upon stepping outside I was greeted with South Florida’s summer signature – a wet blanket of humidity. The slimy blanket was countered by the combination of several lovely scents from new flowers inspired by the onset of the rainy season.

This is Aloysia virgata, Sweet Almond. It actually smells like almond extract. I cut this out of control shrub back to the ground during the winter and this is the second flush of growth.

What would summer be without Gardenias? This is a Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana diviricata) it’s deciduous, probably 15 feet tall and blooms all summer. The scent is more prominent at night.

The Frangipani is also gearing up. This is a variety of Plumeria rubra. It is too tall to get a close up.

The straw flowers of the tropics, Aechmea rubens. Another Bromeliad I acquired somewhere.. The flowers last for months. These are easily three feet tall and will open further.

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It doesn’t get much more tropical than this. Lobsterclaw Heliconias (Heliconia rostrata). I gambled and put some Holly tone fertilizer around these. It has paid off handsomely, although no one recommends it. The ‘soil’ in my garden is sand with virtually no nutrients and nearly neutral pH.

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A much happier Alcantarea odorata Bromeliad. These are grown for their grey foliage and usually love full sun – except this variety. It’s recovering nicely with lower light. The tips of the leaves were burning before I moved it.

That’s the story from South Florida this Saturday. Visit Jim at GardenRuminations to tour gardens around the world.

Happy Gardening!

Six on Saturday – Mango Alert

It’s Saturday morning and time for another tour featuring six items of interest from my garden. To join the fun and experience a worldwide garden tour follow this link to Jim’s blog.

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I have collected more than a bowl full of mangoes and received my first ever dog alert to start picking the Glenn mangoes. My fruit loving Greyhound brought me a ripe mango that had fallen to the ground and was partially devoured by who knows what. I have learned not to leave the fruit on the tree if you want to eat any. I pick them when they release from the stem easily and let them ripen on the counter.

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The first zinnia of the new crop. They seem to be orange or orange and fuchsia.

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The irresistibly cute pineapple.

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New pups forming on Macwilliamsii Bromeliads as the cool season coloration fades.

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We had a huge storm Monday night and now the Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes rubra) are celebrating.

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My very happy Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata) and unnamed Coleus.

That’s all from South Florida this Saturday. Wishing everyone Happy Gardening. I will be in the kitchen staring down those mangoes.

Six on Saturday – Life Cycles

Spring in South Florida brings changes to the garden. It took me a while to figure out what was going on and I am still observing the action.This Saturday morning I noted my fruit trees growing and changing and the ever fascinating (to me) Bromeliads. To see more spring (and maybe fall!) garden pictures, visit Jim at GardenRuminations

O’ Rourke bromeliad flower. These start out very pale pink and are now gaining a deeper color. The flower stalks came up at the end of January. I am not sure how long they last.

Pickering Mangoes starting to color up. These flowered prolifically and set a lot of fruit. I am left wondering what happened to it. There are maybe 10 or 12 left on the tree. Did the evil Agama Lizards eat it?? A garden mystery.

Gallardia pulchella, once considered native but its status was rescinded. For some reason, these only grow in the shell walkway.

The life cycle of the Jill Neoregelia bromeliad. These are stoloniferous. The top picture is the mother plant at the end of the cycle, turning deep red and flowering. This plant will soon die and I will twist its dried up remains off the stolons. The bottom photo is what Jill looks like most of its life.

Blushing Bromeliads (Neoregelia carolinae) doing the same dance. New pups are visible on the right side of the picture replacing the mother plant and spreading. These are considered ground cover bromeliads.

The first ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea flower of the year. Miss Alice was knocked off her trellis by one of the hurricanes last year and remained naked until just now. I was beginning to wonder if she would come back, but here she is! It is hard to keep a Bougainvillea down.

That is all from my garden this beautiful Saturday morning.. Happy Spring!

Six on Saturday – Garden Goodies

I am joining the group at Jim’s blog this Saturday, sharing six items of interest from our gardens. Follow the link to join the garden party GardenRuminations

This week has been wonderful weather wise. Clear blue skies, sunny, low humidity and a rain storm that quenched the thirsty plants in the garden. I have been enjoying homegrown produce, admiring fruit coming along in the trees and spying orchid flowers in the Gumbo Limbo tree.

First up, the orchid. This is a Dendrobium superbum. The fragrance was fantastic when it first opened. It has been flowering for about a week. I tied this into my Gumbo Limbo tree last spring.

Second, another mad bromeliad flower. This is from Aechmea ‘burgundy’. They do not flower often, but it is an interesting bloom.

Another bromeliad, the pineapple. I think it doubled in size with the addition of fertilizer and rain.

More fruit in the garden. The Thai dessert mangoes are coming along.

I have been enjoying heirloom Arugula and cherry tomatoes – in everything possible.

The heirloom Pentas (Penta lanceolata) are doing their best to welcome spring.

That is all from South Florida this Saturday. I am waiting for another set of rain showers to move through and hopefully wash some pollen away.

Happy Spring!!

In a Vase on Monday – Quesnelia Quest

In my quest for materials for a vase I spied a sure sign of spring in South Florida. The arrival of these pink flowers signals winter is over. Meet Quesnelia testudo, they are a bit like a pink pinecone. I like the name. I have heard them referred to as the tulips of the tropics.

These bromeliads are native to Brazil and thrive in my garden. They only need a few accents to make a dramatic arrangement.

A closer view:

I placed the flowers in an heirloom crystal vase, added water, swirled them around, avoiding the seedy parts and then added the accents. In white, a few sprigs of White Flame Salvia followed by a few more sprigs of Boston Fern. Voila! Quest complete.

To see more vase quests follow this link to Cathy’s blog – RamblingintheGarden