Category Archives: heliconias

In a Vase on Monday – Solstice Special

This is a hot color special in honor of the summer solstice. I must have some Three Bears issues about day length. I don’t like them too long like they are now – but I especially dislike them too short, like they are at the winter solstice. The question is what is just right? I need to find Goldilocks..

It had not crossed my mind until today that the Lobsterclaw Heliconia are usually in sync with the solstice, the flowers always start appearing after mid June. I think they like the day length.

It is blistering hot here as predicted by the purveyors of the El Nino weather phenomenon. High temperatures in the low 90s (33 C) feels like 101 (38C). We have been getting extensive evening thunderstorms so the plants are thriving. I have been moving orchids around in the trees, they are loving the heat and humidity and rooting into the bark quickly. It’s interesting to watch. I installed 2 types of orchids in a mango tree this week – it doesn’t get more tropical than that!

The red, yellow and green flower is a Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata). Red hots flower is from the Aechmea miniata bromeliad. Multicolored foliage is Piecrust Croton (Codieum variegatum) Trimmed palm frond is a Cabbage Palm (Palmetto sabal)

That is all from my garden this Monday. Reclining in air conditioned comfort seems like the best plan..though I did manage to plant another batch of zinnia seeds!

Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and follow the links to see more vase creations.

In a Vase on Monday – Last Serving of Summer

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The seasonal change seems to be eluding my garden this week. A high temperature of 87 F / 30 C is decidedly not autumnal – and it stopped raining. We had so much rain earlier in October I completely forgot to water the orchids. Only one (I’m lying) was wilted. I nearly charbroiled some that were new to their terracotta Uh, pizza ovens. Those were quickly moved back into the shade, drenched and fingers crossed everyone recovers.

The good news is the humidity is down, so I have done quite a bit of pruning and weed pulling and there are plenty of flowers to cut.

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The Lady Di (in red) and Choconiana (in orange) Heliconias (H. psittacorum) are in full bloom. The tiny Lobster Claws are from Aechmea blanchetiana flowers. White spikes are from the Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). Trimmed palm fronds provide the greenery.

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The flower hanging over the side is from Aechmea rubens bromeliad. I think this flowered in June. They have the consistency of straw flowers and keep their color forever on the plant. Once cut, they turn brown fairly quickly. The crystal pitcher was a wedding gift. I think it has only been used as a vase.

That is all from my garden this Monday. Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly meme. To view more vases visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Tempest in a Teapot

It seems like there is a lot going on in my Blue Willow teapot this Monday.The Parrotflowers are flying, the Juba Bush is swaying and the Zinnias are celebrating their escape from the leaf cutting bees. A lone palm frond holds it all together.

The height of hurricane season has passed, yay! It’s not time to celebrate quite yet as we still have the wind down until the end of November. October is usually more active in the Gulf of Mexico (yep, not changing the name on my blog) I usually start my sigh of relief in mid October and start cleaning the screen porch and setting up the outdoor furniture for winter. We had permanent accordion shutters put on our windows last week so we can be storm ready in a short period of time. That will probably prevent storms for a while!

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The cream colored flowers are from the Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). This is a lightly fragrant native wildflower that has a mind of its own and shows up uninvited. I have no idea how to propagate it, but somehow ended up with a spectacular plant beside my porch. It’s named after a Caribbean dance – the Juba as the plant sways gracefully in the wind. The Parrotflower (Heliconia psittacorum) flower when it rains and I have difficulty resisting cutting them, so here they are. The trimmed palm frond is from a Sabal Palm (Palmetto Sabal)

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The stalwart Giant Benary Zinnias. We have leaf cutting bees here and they seem to love the zinnias, the bees are even eating the flowers. This is new to me, the flower eating. I’m going to keep watching to see what happens.

That is all from my garden this Monday. Visit Cathy at RamblinintheGarden to join in the fun or view more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Summer Berries

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It is still dry and scorching in my garden. Even the enormous Hurricane Erin seems to be keeping the precipitation to herself. She is forecast to pass about 550 miles away from me, the further the better. Fall berries have been forming in the garden. I have been baking, watching the birds enjoy it and cut a few sprigs for my Monday vase.

Last week I had Beautyberries in my vase. Native Floridians tend to be the only people who really enjoy the fruit, using it in desserts and for jam and jelly. I have been told many times the berries don’t taste like much, so I finally nibbled a few. It’s true, an astringent, peppery flavor emerged when I tried it. Then I cooked some down to juice, added sugar and a very nice berry flavor emerged. Voila! Lemon Beautyberry cupcakes:

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The berries in my vase this week are from the Gumbo Limbo tree (Bursera simaruba). These berries are best left for the birds, who love them. The numerous seedlings around my garden will attest to that.

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Firebush (Hamelia patens) in orange tubular flowers and red and yellow “Lady Di” Heliconias (Heliconia psittacorum) round out the plant palette.

Visit Cathy’s blog RamblingintheGarden to see more late summer vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Primarily Tropical

It’s high Summer, damp and humid, the tropical flowers are basking in the moisture producing bountiful flowers. For some reason a lot of these flowers are red. My theory is they are red to attract hummingbirds, seemingly a major pollinator in tropical rainforests where a lot of these plants are from. I could be wrong. I was quite surprised this morning by an aggressive Gulf Fritillary butterfly trying to get a taste of my herbal scalp conditioner!

I decided to use a primary colors theme as opposed to a patriotic one. I am finding myself embarrassed and unsupportive of what is going on in my country right now. White flowers were purposely left out. All of the plants are from elsewhere.

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Red spikes are Aechmea miniata, from Brazil, surrounded by Blue Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) from South Africa.

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“Lady Di’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum) flowers and foliage are in the background with a few spears of Miniature – “Lava” I think, Pineapple. Heliconias are from Central and South America. Pineapples hail from Brazil and Paraguay. The area I live in used to be home to huge pineapple plantations. I rarely run across pineapples in their natural state – extremely sharp foliage, probably four feet tall and mad colored, tiny fruit.

I think I have digressed enough! Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit Cathy’s blog and see what other gardeners have in their vases this Monday.

In a Vase on Monday – Here comes the Frangipani

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The scent of Frangipani at night is a blessing in the tropics. It compensates for the humidity. June brings Bridal Bouquet Frangipani flowers and fragrance into the garden. This is not the typical Frangipani. The growth habit is columnar rather than a rounded tree form and the foliage can be semi evergreen. The foliage is also an unusual shape, called violin.

I use these as upright hedges to screen my neighbors wood fence. Some winters I see more fences than others as semi evergreen is a very good description. Come summer you can’t get much more tropical than this.

A closer view:

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The white flowers are the Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica). Yellow and Red flowers are “Lady Di” Heliconias (Heliconia psittacorum). Orange flowers are from the Firebush (Hamelia patens). There is a little charteuse Coleus in the back of the vase. The vase is a large crystal wedding gift from Tiffany’s.

That’s all from my South Florida garden. I’ll be savoring the scents of summer and ignoring the weeds.

Visit Cathy’s blog to see more vases this Monday.

In a Vase on Monday – Dead Lob

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The Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata) are having a banner year. I suspect the addition of food, water and acidic mulch has a lot to do with it. Maintenance! What a concept. I have had a flower or two in previous years; but this year a bevy of flowers burst forth followed by new green shoots with buds. The decision was made to dead head the flowers, a task never undertaken before. Hence Dead Lob. As a joke, my siblings and I called my parents favorite restaurant, Red Lobster, by that name. Red Lobster is sort of an American institution, known for serving massive quantities of frozen seafood for low prices.

Heliconias are a single genus and have some unusual habits. This one produces green leaves (at least two feet long) above the flower buds, then the leaves die off leaving curled brown blobs over the bright flowers. I have trimmed the dead leaves off, leaving the stems and flowers. The green leaves remaining are in the vase. As the stems age they take on a bronze, spotted coloration. I like this and will enjoy watching the senescence.

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A close up of the flower. There must be seeds in there somewhere? I wonder if my garden has a pollinator that is capable of working with these flowers. The Orange Bird of Paradise rarely produces seed here because the Sunbird (native to South Africa where the plants originate) is one of the few animals capable of the gymnastics necessary to pollinate the flowers. I must look into what pollinates Heliconias. More garden mysteries to ponder.

To see more vases, follow this link RamblingintheGarden to Cathy’s blog.

In a Vase on Monday – Goddess Stone & Heliconias

Today is Memorial Day in the US, marking the official start of summer. It certainly feels like summer and the garden has started serving up tropical flowers in celebration. The humidity kicked into high gear last week and I am betting it won’t go back down until fall, though there is a nice breeze and it fortunately started raining. The garden is much happier now and I am enjoying the air conditioning indoors. Rob the dog is so peacefully asleep at my feet I want to take a nap, too.

Closer views:

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The goddess stone. These are coral stones worn down by the ocean over time. They break from offshore reefs then wash up on our beach and are imbued with mystical powers from the sea. The locals call them goddess stones. I have seen them called hag stones, but prefer the former.

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The Heliconias. The bigger flower is Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata). Smaller flowers are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum). There is some Asparagus Fern tangled through the vases that came with the flowers and a trimmed palm frond. The vases are bottles that did not quite make it to recycling.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday. I enjoy creating a Vase every week while sorting through whatever is in my garden. To see more sorts of vases follow this link to Cathy’s blog.

Happy Summer!

Six on Saturday – Smells Like Summer

My garden tour started early this morning. Upon stepping outside I was greeted with South Florida’s summer signature – a wet blanket of humidity. The slimy blanket was countered by the combination of several lovely scents from new flowers inspired by the onset of the rainy season.

This is Aloysia virgata, Sweet Almond. It actually smells like almond extract. I cut this out of control shrub back to the ground during the winter and this is the second flush of growth.

What would summer be without Gardenias? This is a Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana diviricata) it’s deciduous, probably 15 feet tall and blooms all summer. The scent is more prominent at night.

The Frangipani is also gearing up. This is a variety of Plumeria rubra. It is too tall to get a close up.

The straw flowers of the tropics, Aechmea rubens. Another Bromeliad I acquired somewhere.. The flowers last for months. These are easily three feet tall and will open further.

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It doesn’t get much more tropical than this. Lobsterclaw Heliconias (Heliconia rostrata). I gambled and put some Holly tone fertilizer around these. It has paid off handsomely, although no one recommends it. The ‘soil’ in my garden is sand with virtually no nutrients and nearly neutral pH.

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A much happier Alcantarea odorata Bromeliad. These are grown for their grey foliage and usually love full sun – except this variety. It’s recovering nicely with lower light. The tips of the leaves were burning before I moved it.

That’s the story from South Florida this Saturday. Visit Jim at GardenRuminations to tour gardens around the world.

Happy Gardening!

In a Vase on Monday – Cherry Fizz

The title reflects the glassware and the fruit in the vase. The glass is some sort of footed cocktail glass, inherited from my in-laws, who collected such oddities. The cherries are Surinam Cherries, a sorry excuse for Bing Cherries from the tropics. The flavor can only be described as resinous, redolent of turpentine. I do like to cut them for vases and leave the rest for the natives and wildlife. Apparently, the flavor is something you have to grow up with to appreciate. I have not acquired a taste for these – directions on how to prepare them from locals is another turn off. “Store them in the fridge overnight to get the worms out” is what I was told. Not likely.

Surinam Cherries, in varying stages of ripeness. Red is ripe. The shrubs make an excellent privacy hedge and are indestructible. There is another tropical cherry from Barbados that is rumored to be more palatable. I’m sticking to growing mangoes and pineapples.

The fizz. In white, Lotusleaf Begonias (Begonia nelumbifolia). In red, yellow and orange, Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum). Greens provided by Asian Sword Ferns and trimmed Saw Palmetto frond.

We finally got rain! The happy news from the garden. Spring showers have been few and far between in South Florida and thundershowers were very welcome.

To see more spring beginnings, visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for a vase tour.