Category Archives: theshrubqueen

Six on Saturday – The Jesus Lizard

It’s Saturday again and time to share garden happenings. I suppose it is very appropriate to find a Jesus Lizard in the garden during Easter week. I had been seeing a fast moving animal in the garden for a couple of weeks, it appeared to be running on its back legs like a little T Rex dinosaur. I am beginning to think I am seeing things. Things that aren’t there. Finally, it stopped and I was close enough to get a picture.

Here is the lizard. Google was able to identify this as a Brown Basilisk or Jesus Lizard. It does run on its back legs and has paddle shaped feet that make it appear to walk on water if it runs into a lake at high speed, hence the name. These are not native to Florida and considered invasive. Mental health crisis averted. Additional information, if you need it. loridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2023/02/22/jesus-lizard-florida-what-to-know-brown-basilisks/69902695007/

I was thrilled to get my second Ranunculus flower.

I am looking forward to eating this pepper. Tonight. My first successful red pepper.

I have been moving bromeliads around this week. A new container of Neoregelia bromeliads was assembled for the porch from random plants in the back garden.

‘Purple Haze’ Billbergia bromeliad added to the front garden. A ring cut from a nursery container supports the plant as it roots into its new space.

I planted three Papayas grown from seed in the back garden. Hopefully a male and female plant emerge from the trees and I get some fruit. These are Mexican Papayas. I have them amongst the pineapples that were gnawed by something. Maybe the Jesus Lizard.

Happy Easter and Happy Gardening!!

To see more SOS posts visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk

Six on Saturday – New Things.

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.

That’s it from my garden this week. To see more SOS posts visit Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Snap!

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.

Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Follow the link http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Trials

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.

Happy Gardening!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

I am sending warm holiday wishes from South Florida along with some warm colors from my garden. Fiona the greyhound is not fond of my annual attempt at getting her in the holiday spirit. Hopefully all this verbal and photographic warmth will counteract the temperatures outside…it was 35 F (1.6 C) this morning, making this the coldest morning in recent memory.

I am looking forward to sharing more blogging adventures in the New Year!

Happy Holidays!!

A Week of Flowers – Day Seven

I am joining Cathy at Words and Herbs for this year’s Week of Flowers sharing images from our gardens. Today I decided to feature seven images in celebration of the final flowery day. These images are purposefully warm to chase away the winter chill. Hot colors from hot South Florida.

From left to right starting at the top. Aechmea rubens Bromeliad, Tropical Red Salvia, Aechmea miniata Bromeliad buds, Firebush flowers, Balsam Impatiens, The Admiral Red Hibiscus and Lobsterclaw Heliconia in a vase, and finally Aechmea blanchetiana flowers.

Hopefully these images warm up gardeners living in more northern climes. To see more flowery images from around the world visit Cathy at wordsandherbs.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

A Week of Flowers – Day Six

I am joining Cathy at Words and Herbs for this year’s Week of Flowers sharing images from our gardens. Today I have a first for my South Florida garden in 2022, Dahlias. It has been interesting reading about the experience of other gardeners with this perennial, but fussy favorite. I am finding the single Dahlias like the red one below don’t rev me up. I like the fluffy, exuberant dramatic ones…

Below, the fluffy, exuberant one.

A drama queen with stems too short to have much fun in a vase..still worthwhile.

Hopefully these images warm up gardeners living in more northern climes. To see more flowery images from around the world visit Cathy at wordsandherbs.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

A Week of Flowers – Day Five

I am joining Cathy at Words and Herbs for this year’s Week of Flowers sharing images from our gardens. I am adding more blue flowers from my South Florida garden and a post script from yesterday. Below is a Dayflower, a common wildflower I let run free in my garden. I enjoy their ephemeral appearances and interesting common names – one is Widow’s Tears and another (in Spanish) herb of the cooked chicken. I have not eaten any.

Below, making another appearance, the Blue Pea Vine. This one caused some intrigue yesterday, so I looked in the garden to see if I could find a few flowers to make tea. I found flowers and a seed pod, then I made tea.

Blue tea, indeed! Still not very tasty.

Hopefully these images warm up gardeners living in more northern climes. To see more flowery images from around the world visit Cathy at wordsandherbs.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

A Week of Flowers – Day Four

I am joining Cathy at Words and Herbs for this year’s Week of Flowers sharing images from our gardens. I am adding some favorite blue flowers from my South Florida garden today. Below is Butterfly Pea vine, this finally took hold in my garden after an extended trial with rabbit abatement. For some unknown reason the rabbits, who couldn’t get enough of this vine at first, now avoid it. I am wondering if like some people it gets bitter with age? My neighbor enjoys making cobalt blue tea with the flowers and then adding lemon to turn it pink. I have found I do not enjoy bean flavored tea.

Below, another blue flower, the Chinese Forget Me Not. I was astonished to find out last year I could grow this as a winter annual. I have just planted seeds and hope to see some flowers in a couple of months.

Hopefully these images warm up gardeners living in more northern climes. To see more flowery images from around the world visit Cathy at wordsandherbs.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Raindrop Close ups

I am joining the SOS crowd this morning, celebrating a very recent rain shower in my garden. The weather guessers predicted a much wetter September (usually our rainiest month). On this third day of the month, they are right.

I have been attempting to watch the Artemis 1 rocket launch this week; depending on weather the launches are visible from my backyard. If we see them my husband is usually squealing “this is so cool!!!!” This is NASA’s run up to another manned trip to the moon in a couple of years. The first attempt was scrubbed on Tuesday and the second is scheduled for this afternoon. Currently it is overcast, so time will tell. If the weather clears and the launch happens I may see a rocket fly by this afternoon.

On to plants:

Esperanza (Tecoma stans). Sometimes called Yellow Elder. This plant amazes me. It had virtually no water and a very dry summer and it just keeps going.

The base of Travelers Palm (Ravenala madagascarensis). Another survivor with very little watering. I love the base of these. This is a member of the Strelitzia family related to Bird of Paradise.

Aechmea rubens in the final stages of flowering. I have never heard a common name for this. This bromeliad started flowering at the end of May, lasting all summer. I am wondering if the black tips are seeds?

These bromeliads are just starting to flower. They are Billbergia pyramidalis and have many common names – Flaming Torch, Hurricane, Foolproof Plant, Summer Torch. They are foolproof if planted in the right spot. I enjoy these every fall.

A mystery bromeliad in full bloom. This has lasted most of the summer.

Dancing Ladies Ginger (Globba winitii). My garden is too dry to support these, so I grow them in a pot. The plant is dormant during the dry season, then pops up mid June and flowers late summer. A neighbor gave me this plant. I think I will upsize the pot to see the plant will spread.

That’s it from South Florida. To see more SOS posts, visit Jon at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!!