Category Archives: 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!!

In a Vase on Monday – Parrots and Poinsettias

Here’s another set of strange bedfellows from my garden. I would consider this an unlikely combination anywhere but South Florida. The parrots are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum) and the poinsettias are a native Floridian Euphorbia called Florida Poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora). I like the little bits of red on the foliage accenting the colors of the flowers.

I have tried growing the usual Christmas poinsettia in the garden and failed. The Florida version is a wildflower that appears from time to time. Having read up on it a bit I should probably pull them out. It seems they are one of those perverse plants that is hard to grow from seed if you want it – but a prolific reseeder if you don’t. If I don’t act soon the next thing could be a mowed poinsettia lawn for the holidays. Not a festive look.

A closer view:

The Parrotflowers are orange and red and yellow. The orange ones are Heliconia psittacorum “Choconiana”; the reds H. psittacorum “Lady Di”. These are very tropical and did not appreciate the 30 degree temperatures in January and are just recovering. The flowers are smaller than usual for some reason. Yellow spikes are from the Thyrallis (Galphimia gracilis) shrub.

The Florida Poinsettia foliage. Another common name for this is Fire on the Mountain. Where they found the mountains in Florida we will never know.

That is all from sweltering South Florida.

Many thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly meme. Follow the link to see more vases from gardens around the world.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Mystic Muscadines

It is somewhat of a mystery where all the @#! muscadines came from behind my house. The grapes are bitter, have huge seeds and the vines can grow 10 or 15 feet during the summer and once you start pulling it is impossible to find the end of them. I had these at my house in Atlanta and it took a few years to find them all but – I won. This time I am not so sure. So, every summer I have grapes in a vase or two. I love the chartreuse color of the unripe grapes. The vases have not reduced the vines, though it would be wonderful if they did! I need a large grapevine basket or wreath making business.

The Mystic here is the blue spike in the back of the arrangement. I love these. Mystic Spires Salvia. Amazingly long lived for South Florida, one has been flowering since March 2021. I realized I needed one more and then pulled myself back from planting anything in July.

Closer views:

The unripe grapes of the Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia). This is a native grape to a large portion of the southern and eastern US, there are some varieties that are good to eat or used in making wine. The white bracts are Miss Alice Bougainvillea flowers. Orange and sage green flowers are from Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria).

The spires of the Mystic Spires Salvia accented with foliage from Varigated Flax Lilies (Dianella tasmanica)

I have been baking with Thai dessert mangoes harvested from my tree this afternoon. I ended up with four ripe mangoes and decided to make vanilla cupcakes with mango filling topped with mango buttercream. Not to worry, these are actually vegan, not terribly unhealthy in the scheme of life and very good.

That is all from South Florida this week. No, I am not considering cake decorating classes.

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

In a Vase on Monday – June Bride

I was inspired to cut some Tropical Gardenias after they started flowering in earnest. Several afternoon thunderstorms provided the inspiration for the flowering, I think. As I was gathering gardenias it occurred to me it felt like I was carrying a bridal bouquet and it certainly looks like one. This is not a proper hand tied bouquet – it is rubber band secured. The gardenias exude a sticky sap, I am not sure how good this would be to carry down the aisle. They also brown quickly like the more common gardenias. With the addition of the Sweet Almond flowers, the fragrance is amazing.

A closer view:

A closer view:

The vase is a thrift store find I have enjoyed for years. I love the sprays of buds on the Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana divaricata), they last longer than the flowers and rarely open. The white spikes are the very fragrant Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata). I cut these back about two months ago and they have grown four feet and need another trim. Abundant rain in South Florida is a plant stimulator, I am not sure I even fertilized these. Greenery is from the gardenia and Asian Sword Ferns.

I needed some color and also needed to deadhead the Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers, so I made another little vase. Continuing the wedding theme, these are for the tables at the reception..

The vase is a Pier One oil jar from who knows when. I trimmed the sunflowers as they needed some air to hopefully help with their tendency for powdery mildew. It has been raining too much to do anything else about the mildew. A few snips of Salvia are included: in blue, Mystic Spires; in white and pink, Tropical Red Salvia. Greenery is a bit of Asian Sword Fern and a few stems of Blue Lagoon Rosemary.

A closer view:

My wedding plans are complete! More than 30 years ago, anyway. Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly meme. Visit Cathy and find more vases to explore.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Fun Things

The weekly garden tour commences now. So many tropicals coming to life with the onset of the rainy season in South Florida. It has been stormy all week and the first named tropical storm of the year appeared in The Gulf of Mexico this week – Arlene. The storm is a long way from here and set to wind down into a tropical depression before making landfall in Cuba with a lot of rain. The first thing I spied when powering up the computer this morning was a Coastal Flood Watch; rainy season is definitely here.

To see more SOS garden tours, visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk

The Frangipani hedges are flowering. This is Bridal Bouquet Plumeria (Plumeria pudica). I have these in front of wood fences that aren’t so pretty. They are columnar plants about 8 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. These are unusual as they are semi evergreen.

The Frangipani hedge with a Java White Copperleaf shrub accent.

A psychedelic Aucuba? No, this is a Pie Crust Croton. Named as the edges of the leaves are crimped like – pie crust. New growth is yellow and will mature into a mostly red and black shrub later in the season.

In the above image you can see a bit of an orange flowering shrub – this is a Dwarf Red Ixora, a butterfly nectar source. I let the larval host plant, Corkystem Passionflower, a vine, ramble through the shrubs for the Zebra Longwing butterflies to lay eggs on. This is the first caterpillar I have spotted this season, though the butterflies have been out in force.

I am finally picking a few mangoes. They are delicious. The lower mango is a condo mango, Pickering. The others, Glenn Mango, a big tree. Condo mangoes are usually less than 6 feet tall.

And just for fun, a gift from my friend Lu. Gardening socks!

That is all from the moist South Florida. Thanks to Jim for hosting and…

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Celebrate Summer

I decided to celebrate summer with a colorful vase after the garden served up a batch of bright colors this week. I think the garden is celebrating a few soaking rains. The difference between hand watering and rain always surprises me – it seems all the plants enjoyed it from the fruit trees to the succulents. The mango trees are covered with fruit, I managed to give them their summer feeding before the rains started and now they are putting out new foliage. The mangoes are beautiful, but still hard as rocks. More gardening patience required. The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers are back in action. I added them to two vases this week, this one and a birthday vase for my neighbor.

A closer view:

The vase is a crystal rose bowl that belonged to my mother. Gracing the rose bowl front and center are the BEG Sunflowers in yellow; salmon flowers with green tips are from Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria); blue flowers are Black and Bloom Salvia.

The back of the vase has two colors of foliage from Pie Crust Croton, a mad tropical shrub about five feet tall currently. The yellow and green foliage is new growth and the darker is the mature foliage. The shrub resembles a psychedelic Aucuba. White flowers are from the stalwart Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea, the white version)

Thanks to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday. For a summer garden tour from other bloggers visit http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening!

Six on Saturday – Broms and Bunnies

It’s time for the weekly visit with other SOS gardeners. My South Florida garden received plentiful rain this week, the plants enjoyed it and are starting to show their summer colors. Bromeliads in the garden change colors with the seasons. Some in the winter and others in summer. The color change I notice most is from green to red (and back). Markings on the foliage that change vary from spots to streaks to bands of color.

For the SOS garden tour follow this link to visit Jim: http://gardenruminations.co.uk

‘Jill’ Neoregelia climbing a palm trunk. The foliage tips and cups on this one deepen in color in the summer.

‘Hallelujah’ Billbergia. These tend to go a bit green in the summer. The purple color deepens in winter.

Aechmea ‘fasciata’. The bands of grey coloration sharpen with warm weather, these produce big pink flowers every other summer. Also known as the Silver Urn Bromeliad.

‘Luca’ Neoregelia, one of my favorites, is almost too dark but the chartreuse spots lighten things up.

An unknown Neoregelia in flower. This one has pink stripes in sunny areas and white in shady areas.

The bunny, we have had a banner year for bunnies. Fortunately, they like weeds and are eating something in the so called lawn while tormenting Fiona the Greyhound. This is a Marsh Rabbit. I am impressed with the camouflage, I could not see the rabbit as I was taking a picture of it.

That is my Six for this Memorial Day weekend Saturday. Thanks to Jim for hosting.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Plumb Wonderful

I am very pleased with my Plumbago shrubs this year, they have burst forth with a display of flowers like no other. Why this happened is another mystery of the gardening universe. They inhabit the “hell strip” – a dry area between the street and my driveway. There is no irrigation, I am pretty sure I forgot about the fertilizer and they are growing under some good sized trees. Yet they prosper. My neighbor gave me the original shrub about 10 years ago, offspring of the one her grandmother planted in the 60’s. I added a darker blue variety last year and that is what I have in the vase.

The two Plumbagos, the darker one on the left. The lighter blue one is at least eight feet wide and five feet tall.

A closer view of the vase:

I was taught in my college perennial garden design class (by a very old school design professor) that the classic Southern (the Southeastern US) summer color scheme for a garden is yellow, blue and white. I decided against the yellow in favor of grey green. I am pretty sure my professor wouldn’t consider Florida part of the south, so he is probably not spinning in his grave over the lack of yellow. The only yellow in the garden currently is daisies and the shape of the flower needed to provide some contrast as all the other flowers are daisy shaped.

The gray green flowers are the buds of the Adonidia Palm (Adonidia veitchii). The flowers eventually open, turn nearly white and then produce bright red fruit. The white flowers and glossy green foliage belong to the Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana divaricata). The vase was a thrift store find I have enjoyed immensely. It is my favorite for the Gardenias as they lounge over the side so well.

That’s all from my simmering summer South Florida garden. Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. To see more vases follow the link.

Happy Gardening!