Category Archives: gardening

In a Vase on Monday – If you like Pina Coladas..

I was remembering a song lyric from the 80s “If you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain” – the new next line would be to come visit my garden in South Florida. I have pineapples for juicing and so much rain it is seemingly impossible not to get caught in it. I think it has been raining for about 10 days. Fiona the greyhound has somehow figured out when to go out for the least amount of precipitation. Dogs know these things. She is now walking me.

The vase was chosen because it looks like it could be used to serve cocktails. The plant material was limited to tropical to enhance the pineapple. The mini pineapple plant is called ‘Lava Flow’; white flowers are Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica); orange and sage tipped flowers are from Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria).

Another view:

Orange flowers are ‘Choconiana’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum). Greenery is a frond from a Lady Palm (Rhaphis excelsa); fiddle shaped foliage is from Bridal Bouquet Plumeria and a few sprigs of Asian Sword Fern.

That’s all from the swamp this Monday. To see more vases from gardens around the world, visit Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Six on Saturday – Progress

Since I have been complaining about the lack of rain – we have had the complete opposite this week. South Florida’s classic humidity skyrocketed again followed by daily showers and thunderstorms have been the weather theme this week. I have made some progress on my new beds, they are well watered and establishing, but it is slow going due to the weather.

The lawn replacement is installed and I am hopeful this works. It is hard to express how done I am with St. Augustine turfgrass. Ugh. There is a bit next to the edge of this paver parking pad that needs planting to keep the soil from washing and undermining the pavers. It was turfgrass for several years, we tried two different kinds, then weeds and now I have installed a new groundcover..Tada!

Samantha Liriope, an Liriope muscari variety that has pink flowers, stays low and reportedly grows in Zone 10 in full sun. That remains to be seen. Most Liriope is not good this far south or in the full sun of South Florida. This looks shady now, but gets full fry at mid-day.

The front bed is under renovation. I planted New Gold Lantana and Ice Plant (Delosperma cooperi) in the mulch and am planning to add Goldstrum Rudbeckia behind the rocks in the Salvia border. I have killed every last Rudbeckia I have tried here. They usually succumb to white mold of some sort. My hope is these will be winter annuals at least.

A few surprises appeared in the garden this week. Semi progress. The yellow Pitaya or Dragonfruit finally flowered and started to set fruit. I wish I had seen the flower, this is a spectacular night blooming cactus. Unfortunately, the whole thing disappeared. The yellow Dragonfruit is supposed to be very good.

I have been trying for years to get this Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) to climb the fence. It sulked, slowly creeping on the ground. Imagine my surprise when it was inspired to reach the fence.

A new color of Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) appeared in the garden this week. I like this color and hope it hangs around. These can have seedling varieties from white to red, orange, coral and pink.

More to go:

Hopefully the rain will slow a bit next week and I can get the rest of the plants in the ground.

Thanks to Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk for hosting Six on Saturday. To see progress in gardens across the world follow the link.

In a Vase on Monday – Pineapple Perspective

After collecting flowers for my vase, I looked at what I had gathered and thought, “What a nice fall vase”.

Then, it dawned on me that fifteen years ago I would have thought no such thing. Moving to a frost free area changes your perspective on what a fall flower is – and then pineapples easily grow outside here. I have developed a pineapple perspective on gardening.

The flowers in the vase bloom prolifically in the fall and late summer to early fall is the prime pineapple season here. The town I live in, Jensen Beach, was at one time the pineapple capital of the world. Rarely, I run across a wild pineapple plant on the barrier island near my house. These are very sharp, the foliage covered in spines and have small pink pineapples.

The flowers:

The flowers are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum) “Lady Di” in red, and “Choconiana” in orange. These are hard to beat for a touch of tropical in the garden. The colored foliage is “Mammey” Croton (Codiaeum variegatum “Mammey”), a dwarf Croton that works great if a low shrub is needed. Boston Fern (Nephrolepsis exaltata) provides some green texture. The vase in an olive oil cruet that belonged to my mother.

The pineapple:

This is an overripe miniature pineapple with a twisting top. It is probably really seedy, these can be juiced or used for decoration. Either is a dicey situation as the whole thing is very sharp. That’s why it got left on the plant so long. I did not want to handle it.

That is all this Monday from the land of pineapples. Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Florida Weirdness

Another Saturday, another garden tour. My garden is looking a bit end of summer tattered. The rainy season abated for a week or so and we have been enjoying lower temperatures and humidity while watching the massive Hurricane Lee form in the Atlantic. Current predictions give the storm 180 mph winds. Fortunately, it is well away from me and most people, what next week holds is anyone’s guess. The current spaghetti models have it heading to Canada or New England. Here is a link to the models, I find them fascinating. https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/storminfo/

If you are in search of hurricane free garden environments to explore – visit our host Jim at http://gardenrumininations.co.uk

Invasive Agama lizards haunt my screen porch. I am not sure what they are eating, but they are always on this corner. They are about 8 inches long and either yellow or rainbow colored. I always hope something will eat them.

Lacewing eggs on my front porch. I have been watching these for a while and they don’t seem to be making any progress. Lacewings are a beneficial predator, they eat aphids, so I was hoping to see a few.

Miniature pineapples going to seed. The pineapple is shrinking and the top is getting bigger. It is time to cut the top off to propagate new plants.

The Turkey tangle frogfruit lawn is establishing oh so slowly. The plant is supposed to be 3 inches tall and like groundcover. Patience. This started from a rooted cutting.

These Envy zinnias have been sitting in bud for weeks! I am not sure what to do or why this is happening. Too much heat and not enough food?

A successful experiment. I rooted a few Senecio barbertomicus last spring and decided to see if they would live in the garden. They are known for dying if left outside during the rainy season. Both have survived and are thriving and it has been very rainy.

That’s all from sunny South Florida this Saturday.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Autumnal Color Pops

The Saturday morning greyhound tour featured a refreshing breeze from the ocean. Visions of cooler weather danced in my head. The fall flowers are coming into season. In South Florida a gardener has to seek fall color and use their imagination.

To tour more SOS gardens, visit Jim at gardenruminations.co.uk

Lemon Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) flowers are not something one normally associates with fall color. In my garden they are. Standing about four feet tall and flowering for months starting in late summer with toasty orange and rusty colors, it is a bold statement.

I had just been thinking about how marvelous the Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) looks…when I noticed the evil oleander caterpillar lurking in the foliage. This time of year they show up and eat all the foliage. I may throw them off, or not, they make an interesting black polka dotted moth.

Fruit hanging over the fence from my neighbor’s Areca Palm (Dypsis lutescens). To me, Arecas are the trash plant of South Florida. Overused and jam packed as screening plants, they often develop fungus problems and die en masse. Not pretty, though I like the fruit.

The old reliable. A sunny South Florida native, the Beach Sunflower (Heliathus debilis). These smile through everything.

I have been enjoying the color mix of the succulent containers. Gardeners around here gift succulent cuttings, I don’t think I bought any of these. To the best of my knowledge, I have Flapjack Kalanchoes, grey Graptosedums, Green Haworthia, Jelly Bean Sedum, and Fish hook Senecio. I let the Purple Queen ramble through for a shot of color.

The intrepid Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in pink and red, peering through ‘Java White’ Copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana ‘Java White’)

That’s it for this Saturday. I will be seeking cool breezes and fall color a while longer.

In a Vase on Monday – Cathy’s Challenge

Last week I challenged myself to create a colorful, informal vase with gardenias. As usual, I chatted back and forth with Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com, our IAVOM host. We were talking about my dearth of pastels in the garden. The challenge was not a teapot vase – but one filled with pastel colors. To see more vases follow the link to Cathy’s blog.

A closer view:

It took a while to suss out a total pastel palette. I suppose the light here is so strong I tend towards using higher colors in the garden and have a few pastels. Many are serendipitous (Weeds!)

The long pink flower and foliage is chandelier plant (Medinilla cummingi); pink flowers are annual vinca (Vinca rosea), a perennial here and a weed; yellow flowers hanging over the edge are snapdragons, surprising me by coming up from last years winter annuals seed; blue flowers are plumbago (Plumbago auriculata); green flowers are Envy zinnias; purple backed leaves and flowers are Arabian Lilacs (Vitex trifolia); coral spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea).

The teapot is from an antiquing venture long ago, teacups are from my grandmother, cow creamer was a gift from someone and the tole tray belonged to my mother.

Tea, anyone?

I have been baking again. This is vegan. Vanilla cupcake stuffed with pineapple reduction and pineapple buttercream frosting.

In a Vase on Monday – Country Challenge

I am holding out hope for cooler weather as the dog days of summer officially end on August 11. I doubt that will bring an end to our daily high temperatures of over 90 F, but one can dream. September brings an average high of 89. October is when the real cool down begins. Rain is still copious and all the more tropical summer flowers are relishing the moisture and flowering with reckless abandon.

I challenged myself this week to create a vase with gardenias that wasn’t all white or seemingly formal. This is the easy, breezy, country casual gardenia vase. Tropical version.

The vase started out in a mason jar. Very casual country. The clear glass showed too much of the weird and thick tropical stems of the bromeliad and palm. Who ever thought stems would be distracting? The vase needed clothes. A basket a friend sent with a gardenia plant (I killed it, G. jasminoides) was pressed into service.

The red and yellow flowers are parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum ‘Lady Di’); the red and blue tipped flowers are miniata bromeliads (Aechmea miniata); white flowers are tropical gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata); white green stems with berries are adonidia palm (Veitchii merrillii) unripe fruit; striped foliage is martin bromeliad (Neoregelia martinii); ferny accents are asparagus fern.

Another view:

Thanks to Cathy at ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly array of floral abundance. Follow the link to see more vases.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Gee, Gardenias

The Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata) have been flowering madly. I have been waiting for an opportunity to cut them for a vase. The shrub is over ten feet tall, so blooms have to be on the low side. Several flowers were within reach on Sunday morning and I cut all of them.

Last week, Susie’s heirloom teapot vase made me remember mine inspiring its use as a vase. This teapot was a wedding gift my parents received in 1950. It was used to brew iced tea as long as I can remember – the interior of the pot is stained tea colored. The white tea towel was unearthed in an old friend’s grandmother’s house. The grandmother was in her 90’s in the 1980’s and the towel belonged to her mother – who knows how old it is. I was gifted the towel as it matched my monogram. They certainly don’t make things like this anymore. The G.

The Tropical Gardenias are joined by two types of Salvia, ‘White Flame’ and Tropical Red; foliage is Asian Sword Ferns and a few sprigs of Golden Dewdrop (Duranta repens).

Happy Monday!! I’ll be sniffing my foyer enjoying the fragrance of Gardenias..

Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Helfire and Romans.

The title sounds downright biblical. But it is not. I have seen Florida’s weather this time of year called Hell’s Front Porch – that seems pretty accurate currently. So I decided to see if I could do an all hot color arrangement. Using Hel – icona, Fire – bush, and Roman – Red Salvia. I think the Heliconia flowers lend a flame shaped touch to the arrangement.

I just found out there are dog day Cicadas in Florida. More unintentional biblical reference. They seem especially loud this year, lending their song to underline the heat and humidity. It is interesting how sounds can emphasize weather. Despite the heat the garden continues to thrive. This is largely due to consistent downpours from afternoon thunderstorms. The Firebush has grown almost three feet since May. They are foundation plants and I need to trim them back so I can see out the window! Expect more orange in vases in the near future.

A ‘Lady Di’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum) bud looking flame like and surrounded by Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens)

A few sprigs of ‘Roman Red’ Salvia joins the crew. This is one of the best Salvias to cut, lasting longer than the the Tropical Reds and Mystic Spires. The greenery is from palms. A bit of Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa) in the foreground and a trimmed Sabal Palm (Palmetto sabal) providing a grey green backdrop.

The vase is a thrift store find. I may need to revisit that store, I have really enjoyed this vase.

That is all from South Florida. Where I am doing as little gardening as possible. Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link for a vase tour of gardens.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Simple Summer S’s

I have been enjoying my “S” plants this summer. I noticed how big the Salvia flowers have grown with all the rain as I walking the dog this morning. The resiliency of plants continually amazes me, last summer it was very dry – I had the same flowers, they were just half the size.

The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers are still blooming and have been since February. They are in a container in the sunniest part of the garden; seemingly not enjoying quite that much sun. They have grown over the side of the container into a shrub to get out the heat. The container features stems underplanted with groundcover bromeliads, a bit odd at this point, but I hate to disturb anything in July. Even the Lantana is taking a rest from flowering.

The vase reflects my simple scheme. The glass I drank my orange juice from was sitting on the counter when I came in with the flowers. It was rinsed and repurposed. I figured the flowers might enjoy a little OJ. I think this qualifies as a plonk.

Close ups:

The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers and seedheads. I saw several vases with seedheads last week, loved them and went looking for a few for my vase.

The Salvias: in red with long flowers, ‘Roman Red’, shorter red flowers are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). The ‘Roman Red’ is definitely not as hardy as the native Tropical Red, it has stopped flowering and appears to be shrinking. Oddly, the armadillos are attracted to it and dug both up, that may explain their unhappiness! In blue, “Mystic Spires’ Salvia; in white, Tropical Red Salvia that reseeded white.

I am thankful July is half over, it is the hottest month of the year in my garden. Adding insult to injury are the bugs this year. I am swarmed by no see ums after about 15 minutes outside and have to retreat. There will be loads of prunings and errant weeds in a few months.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Visit her blog at ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening!!