Category Archives: Florida’s best summer flowers

In a Vase on Monday – Spider Dancing

It’s the end of summer hot in South Florida. We had a cold front (ha!) come through with Hurricane Ernesto passing by – bringing the daily high down to a bone chilling 88 degrees F/ 31C. I cut flowers early Sunday morning taking advantage of a brief respite from humidity while simultaneously importing a number of green garden spiders into the house. I enjoyed watching the spiders go up and down the sides of the flowers like tiny window washers on a high rise. I am hoping these spiders eat ants as they have tired of the heat as well and are coming inside.

Spider hanging on for dear life.

My Zin Master Zinnias are still going great guns; sadly brown spots are setting in on the foliage. I think this is Mother Nature’s way of telling me to start some new seeds. Now is when seeds are started for winter herbs and veg. After jealously looking at summer tomatoes on other blogs I am looking forward to fresh herbs and vegetables. My favorite parsley collapsed last week.

Survivors of the summer – Zin Master Zinnias and Beach Daisies (Helianthus debilis).

More heat lovers. Red bells are Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformis); white daisies, Bidens alba; Asian Sword Ferns and a few sprigs of white native salvia (Salvia coccinea). The extremely rustic blue mug has the handle glued on – it’s one of those things I wonder why I keep, then I fill it with flowers and spiders and enjoy the color.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. To see more vases follow the link RamblingintheGarden and check out the comments.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Light My Fire

I must have been inspired by Cathy’s “Hunk of Burning Love” vase a couple of weeks ago when the title popped into my brain. I admit to loving The Doors and their iconic song “Light My Fire” from (gasp) 1967. This song has been haunting my consciousness for decades. I guess it’s the organ solo. My garden seems to be reflecting the mood, producing fiery flowers as summer winds down.

Some close ups, sans Jim Morrison.

I have been enjoying cutting Heliconias (Heliconia psittacorum) this summer in all their flaming glory; two varieties here – ‘Lady Di’ in red and yellow and ‘Choconiana’ in orange. The big leaf in the background is a Split Leaf Philodendron (Philodendron selloum).

Orange tubular flowers are, appropriately, Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens); red flowers with blue tips are Aechmea miniata bromeliads. The blue vase was a gift I have enjoyed tremendously over the years.

That’s all this Monday morning from scorching South Florida. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit Cathy and peruse vases via comment links.

In a Vase on Monday – New Summer Favorite

I am a fairly recent convert to Zinnia lover. It all started with a pack of Green Envy seed planted a few years ago to satisfy my desire for chartreuse cut flowers. I let the Envy go to seed and ended up with a new generation of greenish beige zinnias no one would envy so I bought some new seed. These are Zin Master Zinnias. They are living proof open pollinated seeds are what they are. These were advertised as a mixture of sizes, shapes and colors. The plants are prolific, all about three feet tall, and produce enough flowers that I cut a Vase every other day. The colors and flower size are the only things that are mixed.

My feelings are not mixed. These zinnias are my new summer favorites. For some reason, I have never grown zinnias in summer. I have them in containers – the ones that get the full brunt of South Florida summer sun are producing the most flowers. I am in awe and fully intend to grow more. Stay tuned.

A closer view:

The flowers are Zin Master Zinnias; purple foliage is Purple Prince Alternanthera; A bit of chartreuse coleus and some Asian Sword Ferns complete the vase. The crystal vase was a gift from my dearly departed brother.

I just found a few bags of seed starting potting mix on my front porch….fall zinnias should be appearing in a couple of months. And a few other things.

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

Six on Saturday – Discoveries

My Saturday morning garden tours always bring a few surprises, happy and sad. I discovered my first Avocado! And I missed some bromeliad flowers. Oops. I found a few other things along the way to share with my fellow SOSers. Follow this link GardenRuminations to visit Jim’s blog for a Saturday morning world garden tour.

TaDa, the avocado. This is a Cuban or Catalina Avocado, a pebble textured, green skinned avocado. It should be the size and shape of a football (the American kind) when ripe towards the end of the year. Fingers crossed I get to eat it.. A friend grew this from seed and bought the seedling to me in 2016 – it takes a while to get fruit. A rare self pollinating, true to seed avocado, these are native to Cuba.

These are summer Florida avocados my neighbor picked at a friend’s house. This type is the result of many crosses between Central American avocados and available in several skin colors. The black ones are especially good. Guacamole is in my future. Food forests do exist!

Fruit on the White Geiger tree, These eventually turn white and are enjoyed by wildlife. Supposedly edible, but not tasty.

Another invasive lizard. The red headed Agama. UGH.

The Bridal Bouquet Plumeria (Plumeria pudica) hedge is flowering.

One of the most reliable summer flowering perennials in my garden. The Firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis)

That’s all from South Florida. Rain dances shall begin shortly.

In a Vase on Monday – Summer Bromance

My husband may be wondering about my summer bromance (probably not). July is prime time for a Vase of my favorite summer bromeliad flowers, Aechmea miniata. To say this is a striking flower is a bit of an understatement. The flower is a nearly foot long panicle composed of what looks like red hot cinnamon candies accented with cobalt blue tips, it is a sight to behold. The plant has deep olive leaves with purple backsides and thrives in dry shade. I love it. Definite bromance here.

The plant in the garden:

A closer view:

An overhead view. The foliage accents are trimmed palm fronds from Sabal Palm seedlings (Palmetto sabal). The vase was repurposed from the florist.

Happy Summer Monday to all. To see more vases, follow this link RITG to visit Cathy.

Six on Saturday – Sirius Things

The dog days of summer are definitely here. Sirius, the dog star, is reportedly in the sky July 3 – August 11 this year. Dog days last a bit longer in South Florida – through September at least. My dog, Fiona the greyhound, is enjoying baking in the sand until it gets too hot, then she looks puzzled. I am puzzled by how much she enjoys this!

I enjoy the small details in the garden that thrive in summer. Native Portulacas pop up everywhere. I keep some and pull many of them out as they are prolific reseeders. This one is called Kiss Me Quick (Portulaca pilosa)

Heliconias, true to their name, enjoy the heat. This is Heliconia psittacorum.

Our native Salvias (Salvia coccinea) flower readily with just a little water.

The Chicken Gizzard plant (Iresine herbstii) is showing its colors. I am wondering if I should cut it back.

The Zin Master Zinnias have been providing cut flowers twice a week. I have been enjoying these by the kitchen sink. Bringing the garden indoors is a Sirius pleasure.

That’s all from my garden this Saturday. To join the worldwide garden tour visit Jim at Garden Ruminations.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Mixed Feelings

This Saturday morning my tour brought up a few things in the garden I have mixed feelings about and a few love/hate relationships. I’m starting with love going to mixed and ending with hate. For more, likely less emotional SOS garden tours, follow this link GardenRuminations to visit our host, Jim.

I love Cattleya orchids peeking out of a tree trunk.

I love the new Dendrobium orchids establishing in my Gumbo Limbo tree. These produce flowers in spring.

Loving the ever expanding group of Rain Lilies (Zephyrantes rosea)

It’s safe to say I have mixed feelings about vines, especially this one. Meet Yellow Allamanda (Allamanda cathartica). Sure, it’s pretty, but also a rampant thug. It forms tubers like potatoes (very toxic). I may pull it out with my SUV this winter. I say that every year.

Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria) is a nice architectural plant that grows a little too well and needs to be thinned. It’s oh, so sharp. Hmmm.

Yes, I hate these. Yellow Agama lizards. There is also a rainbow version running around the garden, red and blue. These are African lizards introduced by the exotic pet trade and they have become invasive. Up to a foot long, they eat native lizards and stake out my butterfly plants for fine dining. There are sometimes packs of them, they scuttle away on the path as I walk through the garden – like a horror movie. EEk!

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Zen, Zin & Min

I am enjoying my new crop of zinnias – ‘Zin Master’, planted in big terracotta pots. I have been cutting most of the flowers in hopes of getting actual long stemmed zinnias – something that has always eluded me, my zinnias are always very short in stature. These are the longest stems I have ever grown and have a wiry appearance that I like. I visualized this vase as a Zen Ikebanaesque arrangement with winding stems of zinnias intertwined with the Min – Miniata Bromeliads. It was not to be, the glass frog serving as a base was not up to the challenge of the weight of the flowers. I had to add rocks on top of the frog to keep everything upright. I ended up not having a very Zen flower experience at all. It is what it is. A soup bowl filled with flowers.

The Zin – ‘Zin Master’ Zinnias grown from seed started around the first of May. I am enjoying the color mix, but thought I would get some different types of zinnias. I guess these are semi-double something. I bought some Cactus Mix seeds this week to spice things up. I am not quite sure what will happen in mid July with seed starting. Always an adventure.

The Min. These are Miniata Bromeliads (Aechmea miniata). A reliable summer flowering shade perennial, if one can think of bromeliads as perennials. The tropical plants always twist my mind a bit in sorting out what they are – house plants, perennials, epiphytes, plain weird? The big green leaves in the back are from a coleus and the vase is actually a soup bowl.

That is all from South Florida this Monday. I’ll be seeking further garden Zen from Zinnias this week. Follow the link to visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and see what’s appearing in other vases this week. Or soup bowls.

Six on Saturday – High Summer Rising

June has actually been very pleasant, all things considered. I am suspicious July will not be, the wet blanket of sweaty humidity has arrived and the second tropical storm of the season is predicted to form next week. High Summer in South Florida has arrived. The good news, we get great tropical fruit and flowers. The bad news, we have to leave the air conditioning to see them. For a grand summer (or in some cases winter) garden tour follow this link GardenRuminations to Jim’s blog and visit the comments.

I am picking mangoes every morning. So many that I have started freezing them and giving them away. I’m currently waiting for a ripe one to make mango blackberry pie. There are 3 different types of mango here – Nam Doc Mai, Thai dessert mangoes, long and green; Pickering mangoes are peach colored; one Glenn mango in the top middle. Mangoes should be picked as they start to change color and easily come off the tree and then ripened on the counter.

Tropical or Florida Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata) are loving the summer heat and rain.

Turkey Tangle Frog Fruit (Phyla nodiflora) “lawn” is flourishing and flowering.

Sea Grapes (Coccoloba uvifera), a native tree that seemingly will grow anywhere is making tons of fruit and dropping it everywhere. I like the tree, but wish someone would come up with a fruitless one. This is food for wildlife, the fruit is edible and I am told it tastes like figs – but, it is mostly seed. One of my numerous greyhounds was the only household member to enjoy it.

Silver Urn Bromeliad (Aechmea fasciata) is almost in full bloom.

That is all from South Florida this Saturday. I went out and looked at the weeds, plucked a few, and came back inside.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Shrimp with Zin

The title would make one think I had been eating seafood while imbibing in red wine. Oh, how crass! I have not. I am not a big fan of red wine and drink white regardless. I have probably now surpassed crass.

The shrimp in the vase are Red Shrimp Plant and the Zin, Zin Master Zinnias. The zinnias are supposed to be a mixture of cactus and other types of zinnias, so far they all look like these, disappointingly regular zinnias. For some reason, these are the best looking Zinnia plants I have ever grown – so, maybe the other flowers will be more spectacular. I think I have twelve or so in big terracotta pots under planted with Blue Scaveola and chartreuse coleus. Hopefully another garden miracle in the making. Seed mixes are like a box of chocolates – you never know what you are going to get. Paraphrasing Forrest Gump.

Red Shrimp Plants (Justicia brandegeana) are a sort of pass along perennial in Florida. A neighbor gave me one about ten years ago. I regularly forget about it and it just keeps on going and flowering without a care in the world. It occurred to me I should root some for other areas of the garden I tend to forget about. It also makes a great cut flower.

A closer view:

The ‘Zin Master Zinnias with a little Red Shrimp below and some Licorice plant (Helichryseum) tendrils above.

Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) are the tubular orange flowers in the arrangement. The vase is a bromeliad leaf wrapped pickle jar from a couple of weeks ago. I left it as I was wondering if it would dry into something attractive. It is looking a bit like wood now, not quite dried out.

This Monday the garden is in similar shape to the vase, not quite dried out. We have been getting regular downpours and the plants are very happy. Of course, all the weeds are ecstatic. Summer fun.

To see more vases from Cathy’s international entourage of gardeners; visit Rambling in the Garden and follow the links in the comments.