Category Archives: theshrubqueen

In a Vase on Monday – Belated Mother’s Day

I usually cut flowers on Sunday for IAVOM. This Sunday was Mother’s Day in the US. This particular Sunday in May always makes me reminisce about gardening with my mother, the Greatest Generation Southern Belle, who everyone called Miss Betty. My interest in gardening was sparked at her knee, planting field pansies (to use in vases for my elementary school teachers!) in the 1960s. Her father was a peach farmer in South Georgia, his mother a devoted gardener as well. The family joke is my brother and I got the farmer gene. Fortunately, the gene has been passed down and there are some more gardeners in the family. I am passing seeds along as they admit their interest and keeping my fingers crossed.

The vase has some unusual components. I am certain Miss Betty would love IAVOM if it had been in existence when she was. The picture is her graduation photo from nursing school in 1948. Here are the details:

The grey ‘flowers’ are Graptosedum. The smaller white flowers, Lotusleaf Begonias (Begonia nelumbifolia). Red bell shaped flowers, Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetifolium). White flowers, Miss Alice Bougainvillea.Red and yellow and orange flowers, Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum).

Background foliage is Asian Sword Ferns and trimmed Sabal Palm seedlings. The vase is a thrift store find.

Happy Mother’s Day to all, belated and otherwise. Thanks to Cathy for hosting, follow this link to her blog RamblingintheGarden for more vases.

Six on Saturday – Tropical Fruits and Flowers

Last Saturday I didn’t think there was very much going on in the garden, then the temperature heated up a bit and the more tropical plants responded. This week is a different story, ripening fruit on the trees and the sweet scent of Frangipani in the air. To see more SOS posts, visit Jim in his garden and follow the link GardenRuminations

It doesn’t get much more tropical than this. ‘Aztec Gold’ Frangipani (Plumeria rubra) These are sometimes called Key West Yellow or South Florida Gold. They are a very common passalong around here. A friend gave me cuttings some years ago, now I have a 5 foot tree.

Miss Alice Bougainvillea is back in her full glory. I am giving the last two branches a little more time to leaf out.

The summer tomato experiment has begun. On the right, the tomatoes are at the end of the season. On the left, some new cuttings that are just starting to bear fruit. I usually stop growing tomatoes during the summer and start seeds in late summer to grow in winter. This year, I researched and found the most heat tolerant cherry tomatoes, started cuttings on a staggered schedule and just started a few seeds. The types are Sungold, Yellow Pear and Sweet 100 in pots. I am trying the native Everglades tomatoes in the ground. These are currant tomatoes and a bit weird.

The cuttings and seeds. Instructions say to add mulch and cages. Fingers crossed for homegrown tomatoes through the summer. Sometimes the night temperatures are too high for the flowers to be pollinated.

The first Thai Dessert Mangoes (Nam Doc Mai) of the year. Varmints eat the mangoes if they ripen on the tree. These are apricot colored when fully ripe.

Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) perking up with the warming temps.

These are all succulents that hang out under a roof. This is east facing and the roof prevents over watering from rain. The grey plants are Graptosedum. There is some Green Haworthia and a bit of Flapjack Kalanchoe in the strawberry pot.

Happy gardening to all!

In a Vase on Monday – Spring Bouquet Florida Style

This year I have been enjoying vases of spring bulbs from all my northern blog friends. It had not occurred to me I could have a ‘faux spring bulb’ vase until I was in the garden rooting around for flowers to cut. This is sort of a hand tied bouquet (rubber band version) As I was twirling it around it dawned on me it could pass for daffodils and Dutchman’s breeches. From a distance…I’m not sure what the orange flowers resemble.

What are they really?

Yellow and white flowers are from small trees. The white flowers are White Geiger (Cordia boissieri). The yellow flowers are Yellow Elder (Tecoma stans) Both trees have loopy growth habits and I have not quite figured out how to prune them. It seems if I cut about half off during the winter they look better in summer. Odd, but true. The pink flowers are Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) I have been trying for years to get this thing to grow on a fence, but it insists on climbing a nearby lime tree. A thorny lime tree.

Orange flowers are from a Mexican Flame Vine (Pseudogynoxys chenopodiodes) that creeps over from my neighbor’s yard – Giant Swallowtail butterflies come with it, so I really don’t mind. The chartreuse seedheads are from Lotusleaf Begonias (Begonia nelumbiifolia) and the ferns are the invasive Asparagus fern – currently being controlled by flower arrangements. The blue crackled container was a gift. I am not sure if it is a Vase or a candle holder. It has been used for both.

That’s all from South Florida this Monday. I am hoping for water to fall from the sky again. The predicted rain keeps not quite materializing..

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases. Possibly with real spring bulbs.

In a Vase on Monday – Cheers to Spring

This breezy, blue sky morning I went in search of flowers celebrating spring. For some reason almost all the flowers were white. I wonder if it is for the pollinators as many butterflies have recently appeared and white is a favorite flower color of pollinators – or just pale serendipity. More garden happenings to ponder.

To contrast the whiteness, I selected some colorful foliage, then added a little more, then took some cuttings in hopes of getting a few more coleus and eventually spied some yellow daisies! Ah!

The vase is a oversized wineglass I painted at a fundraiser for a friend’s charity. To match my Portmerion Botanic Garden china. This glass has seen more action as a Vase than a wineglass. The glasses were supposed to be baked somehow before using and I never got around to it. So, it is really a Vase.

The close ups:

The flowers: In yellow, Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis); white daisies, Bidens alba; white spikes, “White Flame” Salvia.

The foliage: In chartreuse, an unknown Coleus (hoping for roots); ferny, Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare); varigated and pink, Chicken Gizzard plant (Iresine herbstii); burgundy, Purple Prince Alternanthera.

Cheers to Cathy this Monday! Thanks for hosting IAVOM. To view more vases, visit Cathy’s blog by following this link, RamblingintheGarden.

Six on Saturday – Life Cycles

Spring in South Florida brings changes to the garden. It took me a while to figure out what was going on and I am still observing the action.This Saturday morning I noted my fruit trees growing and changing and the ever fascinating (to me) Bromeliads. To see more spring (and maybe fall!) garden pictures, visit Jim at GardenRuminations

O’ Rourke bromeliad flower. These start out very pale pink and are now gaining a deeper color. The flower stalks came up at the end of January. I am not sure how long they last.

Pickering Mangoes starting to color up. These flowered prolifically and set a lot of fruit. I am left wondering what happened to it. There are maybe 10 or 12 left on the tree. Did the evil Agama Lizards eat it?? A garden mystery.

Gallardia pulchella, once considered native but its status was rescinded. For some reason, these only grow in the shell walkway.

The life cycle of the Jill Neoregelia bromeliad. These are stoloniferous. The top picture is the mother plant at the end of the cycle, turning deep red and flowering. This plant will soon die and I will twist its dried up remains off the stolons. The bottom photo is what Jill looks like most of its life.

Blushing Bromeliads (Neoregelia carolinae) doing the same dance. New pups are visible on the right side of the picture replacing the mother plant and spreading. These are considered ground cover bromeliads.

The first ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea flower of the year. Miss Alice was knocked off her trellis by one of the hurricanes last year and remained naked until just now. I was beginning to wonder if she would come back, but here she is! It is hard to keep a Bougainvillea down.

That is all from my garden this beautiful Saturday morning.. Happy Spring!

Six on Saturday – Begonias and Giant Houseplants

My Saturday morning garden tour revealed a budding collection of white Begonias. I actually have more. I did not realize I liked them so much. I have also been collecting plants for some Uber tropical containers I am planting outside my low windows, so I can enjoy viewing flowers in air conditioned comfort this summer. Follow this link GardenRuminations to visit Jim, a fellow Begonia enthusiast, and see what other gardeners have found outside this Saturday.

New to the garden, a Dragonwing Begonia, white with a pink blush.

From the roadside ditches of Central America, Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbiifolia)

A South Florida stalwart, the Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata “Alba”). There must be another color somewhere. I have never noticed a scent from these and have had them for years.

A new Ti Plant for the tropical containers. This is Cordyline fruticosa “Hot Pepper”. The containers will have charteuse Coleus, a creeping silver fern, Dragonwing Begonias and Malaysian Orchids.

The Malaysian Orchid (Medinilla myriantha). The rooted cuttings spent a week in the post to travel 70 miles. They are recovering nicely and should be sporting mad pink flowers in weeks. This is one of those wonderful plants that flower abundantly for a while and then drop dead for no apparent reason. They grow in tree tops in the South Pacific and must be spectacular in their native environs.

The giant houseplants…Snake Plants or Mother in Law’s tongues are an invasive weed in South Florida. It is virtually impossible to get rid of them without heavy equipment. These line a path to my tropical garden. I pull them out frequently to keep the path clear.

White Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia nicolai) reaches for the sky. This is about 15 feet tall and frames a view into the garden from the screened porch. These rarely bloom, the flowers are creamy white with blue accents.

That is all from my garden this Saturday. I hope everyone is enjoying spring!

In a Vase on Monday – Seeing Red

Suffice it to say there are many in the US seeing red this week. I’m leaning towards seeing a monochromatic color scheme that has a tropical Christmas spirit. Making America Garden Again?

Seizing on the garden update. This is an heirloom Amaryllis (Hippeastrum). I think it is a Red Lion. My father in law grew these every holiday and went through an incredible in the closet/out of the closet ritual to force the flowers. Once the bulbs stopped putting up with his behavior, he planted them outside and gave me a few. This one usually flowers on his birthday, which I consider a wink from the great beyond. This year it was about 10 days late. Maybe things are slow in the great beyond.

The Red Lion roars again. The bell shaped red flowers are Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformis). Palm foliage is from Dwarf Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebellini). I found the vase by the side of the road while walking the dog.

The frothy white accents flowers are Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata ‘Alba’) These are a fairly indestructible perennial for South Florida gardens. I am not sure how long this one has been around. Ten years at least and it has provided a few generations of offspring along the way.

I am hoping to see more red flowers! That’s all from my South Florida garden this Monday. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit Cathy and see vases from other gardeners around the world.

In a Vase on Monday – Spring Pinks

I’m thinking my spring pinks are different from most everyone else’s?

After a fairly dry month the rain gods finally smiled on my garden and gave it a good, solid drenching. I think two inches of rain fell in a few hours. Some plants responded with flowers while the bromeliads are pushing out pups. Spring showers are inspirational and I suppose a little fertilizer increased the magic.

A close up of the Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet). These are native to East Asia, I can only imagine the fantastic rainforest they are from. They are edible and have a wonderful gingery fragrance when trimmed. Culinary ginger is better for use in cooking, this is a bit thinner in flavor.

The Shell Ginger is actually a bit late this year, though I do associate it with spring. It sometimes flowers a few times a year. So, it is a bit unpredictable and actually multi-seasonal..sounding like a gardening marketing piece here. The Gingers with solid green foliage are a bit difficult to find but flower on a regular basis. Varigated Ginger is known to flower about once a decade.

This is a miniature ornamental pineapple. I am told they are edible and may be juiced. I think about 50 would be needed to make juicing worthwhile, so I just use mine in vases.They are so cute it is difficult to resist cutting them. A friend gave me a start of this plant some years ago, now there are many in the garden. The only downside – sharp everything.

We are meeting at Cathy’s blog again this Monday to share vases. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to join in.

In a Vase on Monday – Say it with Flowers

These days a simple blue bowl filled with sunflowers packs some political punch. This seems a bit odd to me. It also seems odd that I felt compelled to seek out the closest thing in the garden to a sunflower (actually it is a sunflower, just not one that could be found in Ukraine) The sunflowers are standing up for Ukraine and I agree with my sunflowers.

The sunflowers are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis), a groundcover reseeding annual that grows naturally on sand dunes. They love sand and are incredibly drought tolerant. They can also be overly enthusiastic and are quite fond of my revolting garden ‘soil’. I have never managed to quite pull them all out. Though I do enjoy their sunny presence in small doses in the garden.

The small blue flowers are Blue Porter weed (Stachytarpheta jamaicaensis). Chartreuse foliage is from an unnamed coleus that has been around for years. Ferny foliage is Copper Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

I really need to declare a media blackout and stay in the garden!

Happy Early Spring to all and many thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM for all these years. It is my favorite thing about Mondays!

To see more vases, visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and follow the links in the comments section.

In a Vase on Monday – Boom!

For some reason there are a lot of fiery colors in the garden. I decided to do a hot colors arrangement. I cut oranges and reds and arranged, then added a Palmetto frond, stood back and thought “that looks a bit explosive” Blowing winter back north. Ironically, the next polar vortex is not predicted to get this far south. Boom! I am perfectly happy not to experience the vortex.

What’s in the vase? A lot of things!

The orange daisies burning in the front of the vase are Mexican Flame Vine (Psuedogynoxys chenopodioides) – who thinks of these names? White star shaped flowers are Graptosedum. White Begonias are Sweet Begonias (Begonia odorata)

Red bell shaped flowers are – you guessed it, Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetifolium). Chartreuse foliage is an unnamed Coleus or Plectranthus. Red foliage is Piecrust Croton (Codieum variegatum). Palmetto frond is from a volunteer, there are two that grow here and I am not sure if this is a Saw Palmetto or Dwarf Palmetto.

Well, I had a blast putting this one together. To see more vases, visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden