I am joining Jim and the SOS gang this morning from my South Florida garden. Our weather continues to seesaw between spring and summer. I am wearing a sweatshirt one day and shorts the next. The good news is some rain has finally fallen after a long absence underscoring that we are still in our dry season. I am very grateful for the rain. To see more Six on Saturday posts, follow this link to Jim’s blog http://gardenruminations.co.uk
First up: Some of the tropical plants are showing their colors. These are the first flowers on ‘Lady Di’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum). These are one of my many favorites.
The ‘Little Harv’ Bromeliads are flowering again.
A pineapple top I set aside and forgot about has rooted and is growing a pineapple.
The Nam Doc Mai Thai Mangoes have set fruit. Fingers crossed I get to eat a lot of these before the squirrels do.
On the less tropical side, the Golf Beauty Craspedia is in full bloom. Golf Beauty is a very appropriate name.
I planted a couple of ‘Black and Bloom’ Salvia last week. The black is a bit startling, but I love the contrast with the emerald green foliage.
I have been baking a lot lately and getting in touch with my rustic side. My husband had to cut down on dietary fat dramatically and is a dessert lover, so lower fat cupcakes have been an ongoing project. The latest, Gala Apple Pecan with Light Caramel Frosting. I am not a neat baker nor a cake decorator. The cupcakes never turn out quite the same size and the frosting is always a bit globby, so the house joke is that we have rustic desserts.
The apple cupcake. Moist, delicious and downright rustic. I find vegan butter makes a good caramel frosting.
The vase is rustic in the selection of the mason jar with a raffia bow and the old fashioned contents.
A closer view:
The flowers, in yellow, Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers; shades of pink, Giant Dianthus; blue spikes, a few Black and Bloom Salvia on the left side and Mystic Blue Salvia on the right; white spikes, White Flame Salvia; yellow balls, Golf Beauty Craspedia; a few sprigs of Asian Sword Fern complete the vase.
I’ll be in the garden endeavoring to enjoy a cupcake.
I am joining SOS this Saturday with six new things from my South Florida garden. Below is a new addition to the ecosystem on my porch. This is a tree frog that has been sleeping inside a Billbergia bromeliad for the past several days. I am hopeful he or she is eating mosquitoes. Fiona the greyhound noticed the frog first. Fortunately, she dislikes amphibians, a squirrel would have been an entirely different story.
I have finally eaten a tomato! And there are more ripening, at long last. And yes, it was worth the wait. Delicious.
I cut the last of my Sunspot Sunflowers this week and have been enjoying them in a vase by the kitchen sink.
The sunny, warm weather inspired the Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) to flower. It caused me to realize I should thin the branches.
The red Desert Rose is budding and in desperate need of pruning. Maybe next week, I have been told to treat the pruning wounds with cinnamon to help them heal? Both of these plants were damaged by the cold in December and are bouncing back nicely.
This is Craspedia ‘Golf Beauty’, a new addition to the cutting garden. I kept waiting for the flower to open, but this is it! I will say it looks great in flower arrangements and lasts for weeks.
One of the new plants I am trialing may be a new favorite, the Brown Eyed Girl Helianthus. I have had this plant for a little over a week and have already cut enough flowers for 3 vases. Officially called the SunBelievable Brown Eyed Girl Helianthus, the marketing spiel states it will produce a thousand flowers over the summer, it is a warm season annual everywhere. It will be interesting how long it will last in South Florida. August triumphs over many things in the garden. Though I can believe it will produce a thousand flowers.
The weather is wobbling between spring and summer already, but fortunately the humidity is still lurking in the Atlantic Ocean. I have finally figured out what to do with all the new plants and will hopefully get them settled in before the inevitable summer heat.
A closer view:
Brown Eyed Girl is stealing the show. The three new Salvias are the back up singers. I am hoping they will all be garden stars. The Salvias are: in white, ‘White Flame’; in red, ‘Roman Red’; in blue, Black in Bloom. The foliage is ‘Lagoon’ Rosemary and Varigated Flax Lily (Dianella tasmanica ‘Varigata’).
I am joining the SOS crowd this Saturday, watching for any signs of ripening fruit and not finding any. It is all green. The tomatoes are especially frustrating- green for weeks, and it hasn’t been cold. Temperatures were in the high 80’s (31 C) yesterday, so maybe the intermittent heat is slowing them down?
All tomatoes I have planted are red, yellow or purple when ripe. Yet they all look like this now and there are a lot of them. Grrr.
Red Bell Peppers, resolutely green. I have high hopes for these, when they turn red.
Craspedia or Woolyheads. This should be yellow flowers, yet they are slammed shut.
Tiny miniature pineapples. Too cute to be mad at.
Glenn Mangoes, fruit set and growing.
Thai Dessert Mangoes, Nam Doc Mai, setting fruit.
Well, sooner or later I will be eating Mango Salsa!
This is a first from my South Florida garden; featuring stalwarts of late spring further north – Snapdragons and Dianthus. I thought these would grow here but figuring out when can be a bit of a trial and error situation. Pinder’s, a local nursery, has concentrated on growing flowers to cut this year and gifted me some plants to trial for vases this weekend. The first order of business was to cut the Snaps and Dianthus; both are the tallest versions I have seen around here. The Dianthus is called ‘Giant’ and the Snap looks like ‘Tetra Mix’ to me, but I am not sure. Winter is rapidly turning into summer here as temperatures are forecast to rise into the mid 80s F (29 C) this week, so I am going to enjoy this floral bounty while I can.
A closer view:
This arrangement smells as good as it looks. The white spike is a ‘White Flame’ Salvia, new to me and sweetly fragrant. I am looking forward to seeing how it performs in the garden. The Dianthus has a light clove fragrance. Background greenery is the native (read weed) Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) The vase was a sample sale find from years ago.
I am hoping to get into the garden and plant these new vase worthy plants then watch and cut them through the seasons. More new flowers will be coming soon.
It is a beautiful sunny Saturday in my South Florida garden. Yesterday I received a wonderful gift from my favorite local nursery, Pinder’s. Several new (to me, anyway) varieties of Salvia and some interesting cut flower plants to trial in my garden and use to make vases.
I am joining Jim and the SOS gang to share what is going on in our gardens. Follow the link gardenruminations.co.uk to see more garden tours from bloggers around the world.
Salvias:
My love affair with Salvias continue:
Black and Bloom Salvia. This is supposed to grow 3 feet tall and wide. I hope it does.
Roman Red Salvia. This one has a very herbal, sage fragrance. The butterflies came out to see the new plant as soon as I took it out of the car. Another good sized Salvia, 24 ” height and spread.
White Flame Salvia, this one has a sweet fragrance and is almost grey. It will be a wonderful accent for flower arrangements.
A new sunflower to cut, Brown Eyed Girl. I am interested to see how it grows, theory is a mounding mass rather than a tall stick. This one will have to live in a container in my garden.
A surprise to me. Giant Dianthus. It is 18-24 inches tall and the biggest Dianthus I have ever seen. I am not sure what these will do in my garden. I suspect it will be too hot shortly for Dianthus. I cut some of this and it has a wonderful classic clove fragrance.
Craspedia globosa, perhaps the answer to the lack of Alliums in South Florida. These produce bright yellow balls that are long stemmed, good cutting and drying flowers. I am not quite sure where to put this, but I like the silvery foliage. The instructions on line say well drained clay?! I think that the nurseryman speak for take your chances.
That is my Six for this Saturday. I am looking forward to taking my ramble around the world this afternoon visiting other gardens.
The third Monday in February is a federal holiday honoring former Presidents of the United States. It began as a holiday to honor George Washington’s birthday (the first President) on February 22 (or 11th depending on what calendar you use). Congress changed the date to make three day holiday weekends in the late 1960s, ensuring it would never fall on Washington’s actual birthday. Different states call the holiday by different names, so there is no correct spelling. I never knew it was such a confusing holiday until I read up on it. Though I do remember when it was celebrated on February 22nd.
The warm up in weather and a nice rain prompted my Salvias to start flowering. These plants do so much better if deadheaded, so I decided to cut a red, white and blue vase for George Washington. Deadheading for President’s Day.
The vase is a crystal rose bowl that belonged to my mother. It is one of those things I keep in such a safe place that I forget about it. It has never held a rose in Florida.
The details:
Red Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus penduliflorus) are napping over the edge of the vase.
Here is the bowl with Salvias on the side. In blue, ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia; in white, Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) – this is a true to seed white flowering Tropical Red Salvia that appeared in my garden. It is magnificently hardy, requires little water and flowers non-stop. A favorite, I must name it after myself. The red spike flowers are from Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformus), These are sort of a lanky, rambling perennial, but indestructible. A few sprigs of Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) are tucked into the back.
Valentine’s Day is happening this week and my usual reaction is a pink or red vase. I finally collected a full vase of Zinnias and decided Cupid wouldn’t mind some colors other than pink. One of Zinnias flower meanings is lasting affection, I think that works for Valentine’s Day. The Envy Zinnias in here might be more difficult to explain.
The warmer weather over the past few weeks has produced some green tomatoes and Zinnias. Bell peppers are setting buds and the cool season herbs are being devoured (by humans). The Sunflowers are in bud and I am earnestly watching the Ranunculus, having never seen any before, waiting breathlessly to see a flower, or a bud. They look like weird giant parsley right now. I just stuffed a package of “Alaska” Nasturtium seeds into the pots and edges of beds around my front porch. It may be too late to plant the seeds, I usually do it in December.
The details:
The vase, inherited from my mother, was made by the Ute tribe in the Southwestern US. The flowers are Zinnias, grown from seed started in December and nurtured through two unusual cold snaps. Cactus mix in pink and Envy in green. The purple foliage is from an old “Purple Prince” Alternanthera, which has been languishing in a pot for a couple of years. I had just decided to get rid of it and changed my mind to add it to the vase. Maybe I will just start some new cuttings and change the planting in the pot. Decisions, decisions.
It is an overcast, cool and breezy Saturday in South Florida. The raptors (Hawks, Eagles or Turkey Vultures) are flying lazy circles over my garden. I can’t tell which one unless they slow down. The Eagles are usually solitary, but the Vultures and Hawks will fly with friends. There were two overhead this morning. They are difficult to catch with the camera and the quality of the image reflects that, but it also captures the mood of the day here.
I am finally seeing some flower action in the garden. My first Zinnia bloomed this week. Surprisingly pink. Cactus Zinnias are my favorite.
Cherry tomatoes started flowering this week. I think this must be the Lost Marbles variety, which is new to me and seems to be the first to flower in both groups of tomatoes. I am a lazy labeler, waiting for the fruits to tell what kind of tomato they are. Hopefully it will set fruit. It has been cool enough for tomatoes not to set fruit this week.
Two out of three of the Mango trees sent up buds this week. They look promising, although I have found with these trees looks can be deceiving. Last year, a bit earlier, the trees started to flower and as soon the flowers were open it became very windy and only one fruit was produced from all those flowers. Mangoes are wind pollinated and if it is too windy all the pollen gets blown away and there is little fruit. God is in the details, as always. Below is a Condo Mango “Pickering”. This is a type of Mango selected to be grown on the porch of a Condo and kept under six feet tall in a container. The fruit is yummy, I am hoping for a good harvest this year.
This is a Glenn Mango, a bigger tree topping out at 30 feet. Another tasty one. And I have had two whole fruits! We bought this in honor of my late Father in Law, Glenn, who would have loved the fruit. The flowers do look very different. My third Mango tree is a Nam Doc Mai, a Thai variety known for flowering up to four times a year. This one is not flowering at all!
Another far away bird picture, but typical of my garden. I looked out the window and thought “who put a white pillowcase in the front yard?” Then realized it was a White Heron. These are spectacular birds, about four feet tall, they pass through fairly regularly eating insects and grubs. Fiona the greyhound does not know what to think of them as they are taller than she is.
That completes my Six from South Florida this Saturday. To visit more gardens via SOS follow the link http://gardenruminations.uk.com and say hello to our host, Jim.
The Shrub Queen 