Category Archives: gardening

Six on Saturday – Fruits and Flowers

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It has been a rainy and windy week in South Florida, Christmas is over and I am looking forward to a new decade in my tropical paradise. Winter brings changes to the flora and is the most enjoyable time of the year to be outdoors. We live on our screen porch, my next task is to plant some containers for the porch.

Above is a Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet), I cut these  frequently in the winter; they have a light, gingery scent and are very reliable in the garden. Other Gingers suffer in silence in my garden.

Below is a Hong Kong Orchid Tree (Bauhinia purpurea) These are common parking lot trees and produce a lot of seeds and seedlings.

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The Dombeya (Dombeya wallichii) finally opened  on Christmas Day, a wonderful gift. It is so windy it makes pictures difficult to take as the flowers swing in the wind.

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Zinnia of unknown origin. In December.

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I have three types of Mango trees in my garden, all are flowering, it is a bit early.  Here is the flower of the Glenn Mango. These are panicle flowers, if pollinated produce numerous small Mangoes.

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And  finally, my first homegrown Papaya breakfast – with honey vanilla yogurt and granola. A very satisfying end to my gardening year.

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Six on Saturday is a gardening meme hosted by The Propagator. For more posts, go to http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy New Year!!

Amelia

Six on Saturday – Gifts from the Garden

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It’s  time for Six on Saturday. Six pictures of anything interesting from your garden.

Just in time for Christmas the garden is gifting me with some wonderful things. Above, finally a nearly ripe Papaya.

Below, green beans and radishes:

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In honor of the holidays, a few red flowers are blooming. The weather is dreadful today,  howling wind and rain, so pictures were taken inside.

This is Nodding Hibiscus (Hibiscus malvaviscus)

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Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana)

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The garden provided plenty of Blanchetiana flowers (and foliage) to make this wreath.

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And a greyhound to watch over the front porch:

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

For more Six on Saturday posts go to http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com

Six on Saturday – The Deluge

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One day this week we had 4 or 5 inches of rain,  this wheelbarrow full of water is from that storm. The crushed shell residue is from my work on the cleaning and touching up the pathways in my garden.

Below you can see the cleaner part at the bottom of the photo is the new shell, well water irrigation has been staining the shell rust, and I have redone the irrigation so it doesn’t spray on the walkways – the rain helped by compacting the shell.

 

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The rain also made this fungus open and let loose their spores. We called these puffrooms when I was a child. And stomped on them.

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I had to tie the Snow Peas up.

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The rain also gave me some flowers: Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans)

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And a new flush on the Porterweed (Stachytarpeta jamacaensis)

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A little rain can be a good thing, it has been fairly dry here lately. I just looked at the weather radar, more storms on the way!

That’s the six from my garden this Saturday.

To see more Six on Saturday posts,  go to http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening. Stay dry.

In a Vase on Monday – Christmas Palm Forest

 

IMG_20191208_115516It’s an oddly dreary day in South Florida, making it feel more like the holidays to me. I decided to do a mini forest basket for this second week of Advent. The forest idea sprang to mind when I saw the Christmas Palm seedhead from last week lost all its berries and looked like a  birch tree in winter. I usually call these Adonidia Palm, this is one of  those  plants with several common names. The common name can be Christmas Palm or Manila Palm, and my neighbors call them Triple Palms as many have three trunks. The botanical name is Veitchii merrilli. Below is a Christmas Palm with red fruit.

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The arrangement has the white stalk from the Christmas Palm seedhead. Red flowers are from Heirloom Pentas (Penta lanceolata); red berries are from the evil Brazilian Pepper  (Schinus terebinthifolia) – the Peppers are invasive in South Florida to the point it is illegal to plant them. I have gotten rid of mountains of  these things, but there are always a few lurking and using them in flower arrangements saves Florida a few in the woods. The ferns are: Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) in the back and Asparagus Fern around the edges. Both are volunteers in the garden. A closer view:

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The  basket is a thrift store find and the gold cat is in honor of Mr. Bob, our resident Bobcat.

Feeling a bit more Christmassy this week. Maybe a tree and wreath on the front door next week.

For vases from around the world, follow this link to http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening.

Six on Saturday – Waiting

It’s Saturday morning and time for The Propagators garden meme featuring six items of interest from your garden. For more interesting sixes, follow this link SIXES

I  think Tom Petty said ‘The waiting is the hardest part’. If there is one thing gardening teaches you it is patience. Our weather has cooled a bit and this slows everything down. Here are six things from my garden that I am waiting for:

The Dombeya,  I  had the buds in last weeks post,  they are tormenting me by just getting bigger and staying green. This uber tropical small tree should be covered in pink hydrangea like flowers soon.

img_20191206_143357Green Beans, not quite big enough  to eat:

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Radishes, again not quite big enough to eat:

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Tomatoes, every so slowly turning red:

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Papayas refusing to turn yellow or doing so at the moment a hungry bird flys by. These must have yellow streaks before  picking or they never get ripe.

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Lastly, fancy Zinnias grown from seed (Macrenia),  these are supposed to be an excellent cut flower – double and 3 inches across bronzy orange with scarlet tips. Waiting to see the flowers!

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That’s six from my garden. Happy Gardening.

In a Vase on Monday – Holiday Infusion

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For me, it is always a bit strange being in South Florida during the holidays. I spent most of my life in a place that experiences winter. Yesterday I found myself in the grocery store dressed in shorts and a tank top, surrounded by gaping tourists and listening  to  Christmas carols play in the background. While driving home I noted my neighbors planting Poinsettias in their yard for holiday color. Odd. Clearly a holiday vase was in order.

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The big red flowers are Nodding Hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos); red spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); red star shaped flowers are Heirloom Pentas (Penta lanceolata); white spikes are from the sweetly scented Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata); white stems are from Adonidia Palm (Veitchii merrilli); white daisies are from Spanish Needles (Bidens alba) ferns are from the native Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata).

The vase is another oddity found by the side of the road in my neighborhood, likely a historic florist vase from the 1980s. With all the red and green in my vase…my Christmas spirit is cranking up a bit. Maybe my holiday mood will improve once my neighbor puts the flamingoes out. Yes, there is a sled and Santa that goes with it.

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Didn’t I say it was a bit strange in South Florida during the holidays?

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At least the Nodding Hibiscus looks a bit like a Christmas ornament.

Happy Holidays!  To see more vases from around the world go to http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.

Six on Saturday – Florida Style Fall

I am enjoying the cool, sunny weather in the garden. This time of year in South Florida is perfect gardening weather, temperatures in the 70s and low humidity. I have redone my front porch containers with Bromeliads, succulents, annuals, and herbs.

Below is a new plant to me, Dwarf Chenille Plant, it is draped over a tall pot with a striped Bromeliad behind it.

 

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This container has herbs, Dill,  Columnar Greek Basil, and Genovese Basil. I grew the Basils from seed and have Blue Spice Basil for butterflies.

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The succulents in the Strawberry pot are just getting going. They are Flapjack Kalanchoes, a Graptosedum and Gold Sedum. A real pain to water, I found this pot by the side of the road and the plants are cuttings from my garden.

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A Guzmania Bromeliad produced a seed head in another container, I  have not had this happen before and can’t quite tell where the seeds are.

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My neighbor’s Rangpur Lime tree is loaded with fruit, the basket of limes is from her garden. A  pie may be in my future.

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This is a Mangrove tree growing on a riverbank down the street from my house. The roots help hold the soil on the banks of the Indian River and prevent erosion.

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To see more Six on Saturday posts- go to www. thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

 

Happy Gardening

 

 

In a Vase on Monday – Harvest Mood

 

img_20191103_135728It has been a rainy, overcast, blustery weekend in my garden. Feeling like a somewhat warmer and more humid version of fall further north. I went searching for some vegetation to fit the moody weather. The plants in the arrangement speak of fall in Florida – fruits from flowering and shade trees and “fall” leaves.

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The green fruit is from a White Geiger tree (Cordia boissieri) a smallish white flowering evergreen tree. The berries are from the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba) a native shade tree affectionately called the Tourist Tree because of its red, peeling bark is similar to sunburned skin. The fruit is not edible from either tree. The “fall” leaves are from “Louisiana Red” Copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana) they are this color year-round. This is a recent addition to the garden and has just started showing color.

Here is a more edible fall fruit, my first Corkystem Passionfruit, something other than me ate it. I planted it as a larval butterfly plant, the butterfly caterpillars have been eating the leaves, not sure who ate the fruit.

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Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Spring Salad Surprises

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Winter in South Florida (or as I call it, Not Summer) is winding down. As I was planting my last crop of vegetable seeds, I noticed the lettuces fading and bolting. I grew Red Romaine lettuce this winter and was surprised to see how pretty the flowers are. While picking them, I could tell by the scent that the Romaine had turned bitter, no need to taste it. Even the rabbits have quit eating it and turned to munching on my Bromeliads and eating the old green beans.

20190303_100841-1Another surprise in the garden was the emergence of 5 flowers on a Guzmania Bromeliad I left in a container for a little too long. I did not know Guzmanias would even put out multiple flowers, so I cut one since it went so well with the Romaine.

In keeping with the salad theme, I added some Copper Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) to the arrangement. The vase is a junk store silverplate heirloom from my mother, gaining patina (rust) with every use.

Here is the Papaya update: More surprises, six fruit so far. I think there will be more.20190303_162431