Category Archives: gardening

In a Vase on Monday – A Tropical Thank You

In celebration of In a Vase on Monday’s Eleventh!! Anniversary. I would like to extend a warm, tropical, virtual Thank You card to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting this lovely garden meme for all these years. I enjoy the weekly chat with gardeners around the world and have learned quite a bit about what grows where and beautiful new plant possibilities for my garden. It may seem counterintuitive; but I have found many plants that grow in summer in the UK do well in my South Florida garden in winter and I love making vases with them! Follow the link to see more vases celebrating eleven years of IAVOM.

The Close Ups:

The Eleven is made from Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) foliage that I drew an eleven on with a Sharpie and trimmed off the excess. Certainly a first in my house, drawing on foliage. Grey rosette is Graptosedum succulent; purple and silver striped foliage is Wandering Jew (Transcandentia zebrina); white flowers are Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica).

Purple and pink flower is a “Candy’ Portea Bromeliad. Ferns are native Boston Fern (Nepholepis exaltata).

Thanks again to Cathy and Cheers to all from South Florida.

In a Vase on Monday – Unreal

Well, here it is, my floral comment on the election results. The will of the American people seems unreal to me. Unfortunately, like the components in this vase, they are disturbingly real. Not that I find succulents and bromeliads disturbing; but they do look so different from other flowers they don’t seem real. The rest of it – I suppose the best way to look at it is time will tell.

The vase is black for obvious reasons. The components are succulents including, in grey, Graptosedum; above the Graptosedum, in green and apricot, flowers from Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria); green foliage is from Senecio barbertonicus. I may end up with several new plants.

Bromeliad flowers top the vase. The red and blue (symbolism?) flower is from Aechmea miniata, an odd bloom this late in the year, the brownish one is the same flower drying or dying, depending on how you look at it. Orange and yellow spikes are bits of Aechmea blanchetiana – the entire flower on this is at least four feet tall, so I cut some pieces of the flower. Round leaves in the back are from Flapjack Kalanchoe.

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. I am looking forward to the anniversary challenge. Follow the link to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Garden Limbo

This time of year gives me an odd sort of garden Limbo. If I still lived further north, the garden season would be mostly over. Here in South Florida, I am watching tomato and zinnia seedlings come up – soon to be transplanted into the winter garden. Planting tomatoes in November may never feel normal.

All of the plants in this vase are Florida natives. Two (Bidens and Juba) are in the garden due to Limbo being induced by not knowing what to do with them. I now cut and enjoy them. The balance I planted, the green fruit is from the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba) tree. Perhaps it is celebrating my garden Limbo?

Closer views:

Two of my favorite wispies are in flower right now. The pinks are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) and the off white is Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa)

Green fruit is from the Gumbo Limbo tree (that word again?!); white flowers are Bidens alba; purple berries are from Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana). The crystal vase was a gift from my dearly departed brother, it always makes me smile to remember him. Today is his birthday.

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.

Six on Saturday – Fall Finds

I am joining the SOS gang to share the discovery of my first ripe Rangpur lime this Saturday. I shall be heading to the grocery store soon to buy ingredients for a pie. Gardening is Good! Eventually I end up with a pastel orange “Key Lime” pie.

To see more SOS posts, follow this link Garden Ruminations to visit our host, Jim and travel the world of gardening through the comments section.

The Rangpur lime. This fruit is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. Why it is called a lime I am not sure.

More unusual fruit. This is a Bitter Melon (Monmordica) These grow wild here and are very prolific. Some call them Stinkweed due to the smell of the foliage. They are considered health food for some – I stick with the Rangpur pie.

Fruit of the Jatropha multifida, called physic nut. It is supposedly medicinal, but known to cause mild gastrointestinal distress, I am not sure why you would eat it.

Yellow Elder (Tecoma stans) starting its show.

Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreum) waking up.

Another fall find, the cone of a Cardboard Palm (Zamia furfuracea) – this one has been trimmed off and is nestled in trimmings from a Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba). These are prolific reseeders and not a good thing to get loose in the garden.

That’s all from South Florida this morning. Off to find baking ingredients.

In a Vase on Monday – Fall Outside the Box

As I was searching the garden for flowers to cut, I started thinking outside the box. Well, I inhabit the area outside the box anyway and it dawned on me that there is fall color in South Florida. It is just not the typical seasonal color changes – it’s the flowers and berries! Such a relief after all these years of feeling deprived of fall color.

With a fresh perspective, I snipped a fall vase and plonked the flowers into a mason jar. Here are some closer views.

Yellow flowers are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis); orange tubular flowers and berries are Firebush (Hamelia patens); white flowers are ‘White Flame’ Salvia.

Red spike flowers are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); red and yellow flowers are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum ‘Lady Di’.

Feeling ever so autumnal now..

To find more vases for viewing visit Cathy at this link – RamblingintheGarden.

Six on Saturday – Changes

Fall brings changes to my garden. Cooler weather is the best! It seems odd to me that the more tropical plants (like Bromeliads) start to reproduce like mad and it is time to thin and move them around. I am not sure why I think they should like the rainy, steamy weather better. Maybe that is why I enjoy them so much.

To see more changes in SOS gardens follow this link GardenRuminations to Jim’s blog.

October inspires the ‘Candy’ Portea Bromeliads to flower. This is just the beginning. These get longer and have fat pink stems.

I am trying to decide if I love this or not. These Purple Queen (Transcandentia pallida) pop up in the Bromeliads and add a little color – or does it look unkempt? A dilemma.

A bit more typical fall scene, the Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) is starting to show off.

An unusual post hurricane occurrence. The Papaya tree knocked down by the wind is still alive. I think rabbits are eating the leaves. I am wondering if I can prop this up to make an easy to pick Papaya tree. The fruit is usually at least 8 or 10 feet off the ground.

The Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). A native wildflower makes its seasonal appearance.

Another change in my garden I am sad to share. Fiona the Greyhound was lost to bone cancer this week. She was only seven and diagnosed in late August. I thought we would have more time with her. Here she is looking for bees to munch on in better days.

In a Vase on Monday – Jubilation

One way or another October always makes me happy. Bar hurricanes from that statement. The weather cools and this month marks my return to gardening. I spent Sunday morning in the garden dodging rain showers and toweling Fiona the Greyhound off every time we had to run back into the house.

There are seemingly millions of sticks scattered throughout the garden from the glancing blow of Hurricane Milton. It doesn’t seem like I have enough trees to have produced all of these sticks. They can’t really be raked up, so I have been picking them up one by one. Sisyphus would have loved it.

Some of my favorite native plants flower in the fall. The Juba Bush is one that causes jubilation as does Muhly Grass, both lending their fluffy pastel brilliance to this vase. I cut a handful of blooms and plonked them into my Ute tribe vase, swirled them around and viola!

Closer views:

The Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa) is the creamy white flower. It has a wonderful fragrance and is a good cut flower. The plant, being native, has a mind of its own and will only grow where it decides to. I leave it in the middle of pathways, etc. as I enjoy the flower. Here’s the full story from George Rogers at Treasure Coast Natives if you want to read up on Juba Bush. The peach flower is Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) wearing fall colors; a bit of Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaries)

It’s hard to see these blue flowers in the vase – ‘Sapphire Showers’ Duranta (Duranta repens); they rarely flower – so I plucked a few to enjoy in the house. The white daisies are another native, Bidens alba, I pull and cut these at will – they never go away and will happily grow with no attention whatsoever.

That’s all from my garden this Monday. I hope to be back in the garden with Sisyphus, clearing up the sticks. Follow this link to visit Cathy and see more vases in the comments – RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Fall Vibes

Fall is slowly finding its way to South Florida. October is a month of contrasts – one of the most active months for tropical weather, witnessed last week by the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Milton, it also ushers in welcome cooler temperatures. Sometime around October 15 usually brings the first cold front of the season and it was right on time. Temperatures in the 70s (F) have been experienced for the first time in months. Ahh.

Hurricane Milton passed about 100 miles north of my garden. The havoc wreaked here was by a series of tornadoes spawned by the outer bands of the storm the day before landfall. My area was peppered with these storms packing winds in the 150 mph range. A great deal of destruction ensued and lives and many properties were lost. The hurricane was a snooze compared to the tornadoes. We are unscathed and grateful.

I plucked some cooler colors, fall tones and pseudo fall leaf color for my vase this Monday:

The off white flowers are ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea’, she is leaning a bit towards green having fallen off her trellis in the storm. Blue flowers are Blue Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) the tropical rains seem to have inspired a new flush of flowers for October. The gold glass container is an olive oil cruet.

Faux fall color is provided by peachy Choconiana Heliconia (H. psittacorum) and the leaf of a Piecrust Croton (Codieum varigatum).

I guess I can pretend I am raking up fall leaves instead of hurricane debris since its October!

Visit our hostess, Cathy, at RamblingintheGarden and follow the links in the comments section to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Swan Song

The pink flower in this vase is a Silver Urn Bromeliad (Aechmea fasciata). The tips go silver and the pale pink deepens to rose as the flowers fade. I like the coloration and have appreciated this flower for quite some time – it opened May 12th! I think I got my money’s worth. They never last very long in a vase, so this is its swan song.

Supporting players in this swan song.

In white, a few Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata) are still in the garden; varigated foliage is Chicken Gizzard plant (Iresine herbstii). I am told the name originates from the tropical island these plants are from – they were eaten with chicken gizzards. Chartreuse foliage is from an incredibly prolific coleus.

The wispy accents are from another Caribbean tropical, Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa).

We are still dreaming of a fall cool down and thankfully were missed completely by Hurricane Helene.

To join in the IAVOM fun visit Cathy at this link RamblingintheGarden.

Six on Saturday – Post Hurricane

Maybe I should say Hurricane Post. It is inevitable when a hurricane hits Florida I hear from a lot of people who are wondering if we are okay. Which is great, I am glad people think of me. This particular hurricane, Helene, hit the opposite coast of Florida with devastating results and is still continuing to wreak havoc two days later. In my garden, about 8 dried palm fronds came down. The storm passed about 2 or 300 miles to our west, the wind field was huge and we were barely on the edge of it. There was a fairly consistent 25 mph wind Thursday and Friday with a few downpours from the outer bands of the storm, but that was about it. The garden is intact and well watered.

On to Six, to see more SOS gardens, undoubtedly hurricane free, visit Jim at GardenRuminations

Turkeytangle Frogfruit:

Several people have asked to see this, so here it is. I removed our icky lawn (a term I use loosely) and replaced it with an evergreen wildflower called TTFF (Phyla nodiflora). These are a bit difficult to source, so I bought a blob online and propagated the cuttings. This is the “lawn” last year.

I cleared the area by hand and then installed rooted cuttings. Much trial and error, hand weeding and head scratching ensued. I read somewhere to install the cuttings in toilet paper tubes and tried it. This seemed like a reasonable plan – the raccoons thought it was so fun they pulled out all the tubes, and ate the cuttings. Replanted without tubes and that worked. My now curated evergreen weed, uh, wild flower lawn. I think this is more groundcover than lawn.

The curated weeds are still growing in and host three types of butterflies. I have only seen one type, White Peacocks, but there are usually 4 or 5 flying around the TTFF. A closer view.

The White Peacock.

Gardening season is not quite here in South Florida, but I do have a couple of interesting volunteers.

This is a Primrose (Ludwigia) of some sort. They just appear and I like them here and there.

One of my favorite fall flowers, the Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). Another plant that appears and cannot be grown where it doesn’t want to be. These are fragrant and dance in the wind. It amazes me that anything grows in the grey sand.

That is all from my garden this Saturday. Here is hoping Juracan (Caribbean God of Hurricanes) is done with us for the season.