Category Archives: Tropical gardening

In a Vase on Monday – Ring in the New Year

I am issuing a hearty welcome to 2023 by ringing in the New Year with a vase on Monday. A bit of a poem by Tennyson, written in 1850, celebrating the church bells ringing at midnight.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

This is a high concept floral creation. The pen holding up the bell is for writing New Year’s resolutions. It has not been used – yet! The silver bell is for ringing in (and out). The flowers are fireworks and the shells are grounding it all. Design school rearing its ugly head again.

A closer view:

The pen is a freebie I picked up at a lecture about controlled burns in the nearby state park. It is from the Florida Forestry Service and looks like a stick. The bell is one of many collected by my husband. It is an annual silver bell engraved with the year. After about 30 years you really don’t need any more bells. The grey plant in the background is an Air Plant; known around here as Ball Moss (Tillandsia recurvata). These can grow almost anywhere and are sometimes seen on power lines. This one is flowering and I think it looks like fireworks.

The red fireworks are actually buds from ‘Maui Red’ Ixora. The Ixora is a shrub that is very intolerant of cold – being a perverse plant it has started flowering after being exposed to the coldest temperatures it has ever experienced last week. Shells are from our local beach and the moss and the vase are from recent floral gifts from friends.

Happy New Year to all and a big Thank YOU to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for her years of hosting In a Vase on Monday. Follow the link to see more vases.

Six on Saturday – Recovering for the New Year

I did not post last week as, for the first time in my blogging history, it was too cold to go outside. Most of Florida experienced the coldest Christmas in 30 years. On the Treasure Coast we had temperatures in the mid 30s (close to 0 C) with a cold north wind coming off the Atlantic. Ordinarily our average low is 40 F (4.4 C).

Above is a Mammey Croton, these are notoriously cold sensitive and true to form, it is dropping leaves. Advice on this is to leave it alone and they will grow back with warmer weather. It had not occurred to me to cover it. The orchids I thought about covering, but didn’t are fine as is another Croton. This one may get a bit more wind.

Below is Miss Alice Bougainvillea, burned by the cold, and currently ‘snowing’ white bracts. This is already coming back nicely.

I am fortunate to have gotten off to a late start on planting seeds. Earlier in December, I planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, sunflowers, papayas, Chinese forget me nots and a few types of zinnias. The plants were just getting big enough to pot up when the cold hit. They spent a few days in the bathtub of our guest bathroom. I was surprised to see some cold damage on the zinnia seedlings and grew some pink slime mold on the surface of the potting mix. This pink stuff had me scratching my head for a bit, did I lose a Pepto Bismol tablet somehow? An internet search revealed the pink slime mold, I have only seen the dog vomit version of this in shades of yellow.

The seedlings. I have Lost Marbles, Black Cherry and Sweet 100 tomatoes and two red bell pepper plants. I gave up on big tomatoes a few years ago and usually have bumper crops of cherry tomatoes. Lost Marbles is a good name for this past year! I am letting these recover a bit before potting them up, hoping for Valentine’s tomatoes.

More seedlings. The zinnias seem to be recovering, though I lost several. I think a cast iron bathtub on the north wall might be colder that I thought it would be. The three seedlings in the second row are papayas grown from two Mexican Papayas we ate this fall. (I have been making Papaya Coconut cupcakes). It takes about a year to get fruit from a seedling if you get a hermaphrodite plant (with self pollinating flowers) Time will tell on these papaya seedlings; they can be male, female or hermaphrodite.

An unusual sight, but not around here. I took my dog to the vet (a neighbor’s Rottweiler bit her! she is doing well). Near the vet’s office is the former estate of Frances Langford, a movie star from fifty years ago. She kept a flock of peacocks and their descendants are still around today. There were about twenty of them, hens and peacocks. Not a great picture, but I always enjoy seeing them. Fiona the greyhound was puzzled.

That is my six from warmer South Florida. It is 84 F (28 C) today and I am grateful for the warmth. To see more posts, visit our host, Jim at gardenruminations.co.uk

Happy New Year and Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Deerly Blingloved

We are gathered here today to celebrate the holidays with a bling filled vase and a wicker deer. Cheers to IAVOM and our weekly hostess, Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com. Follow the link to see more vases.

I seem to recall the deer is actually an antelope and a historical artifact from the Crate & Barrel; though I do enjoy him or her for the holidays. The vase is a roadside find. The bling, gold painted dried Bromeliads and Miniature Pineapples from my garden. I am definitely getting in touch with my Southerness painting dried flowers gold for the holidays. I am certain my mother is smiling in the great beyond.

The merrymakers in the vase:

Red variegated foliage in background is from the shrub, Mammey Croton (Codieum variegatum); wispy green flowers are Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa); red flowers are Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreus); a gold glazed Miniature Pineapple completes the background.

Upside down gold glazed Miniature Pineapple nods along with the Hibiscus.

A single stem of Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata) provides white flowers, foliage and fragrance. The gold glazed dried flowers gracing the edge of the vase are from Aechmea miniata Bromeliads.

That’s all from South Florida this holiday week.

Happy Gardening!!!

In a Vase on Monday – The Holiday Bus Returns..again.

It’s that time of year. Time for greens with red accents and a little, um, tropical color from the garden tucked into a festive biscuit (or cookie in US speak) tin. A friend from the UK gifted us with this tin of biscuits several years ago. I love tins and pull this out every December to make a holiday arrangement for my foyer. My husband and I devoured the shortbread in the tin, leaving me wondering if packaged cookies (biscuits) from the UK are better than US cookies? I think they might be, Hobnobs are my favorite cookie to buy, chocolate and made in the UK. As a native of the Southeastern US I think biscuits are for dogs or a simple quick bread/roll served as a side dish. Biscuits are a very important vehicle for gravy in the South.

Back to the vase, now that I am hungry… An overhead view, the ferny foliage is from the Asparagus Fern that pops up in the garden; purple foliage with white flowers is ‘Purple Prince’ Alternanthera; white flowers are from a volunteer Vinca rosea, another garden pop up; bigger red flowers spilling over the tin are Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreus).

Another view: on each side I have ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea in white; a few sprigs of Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); and a dash of China Hat (Holmskioldia sanguinea)

The colored foliage at the back of the arrangement looking a bit like flames is from two Crotons in my garden. Crotons are medium sized, extremely colorful shrubs from the South Pacific. They are very common in South Florida. There are a few leaves from ‘Pie Crust’ Croton at the edges and some leaves from ‘Mammey’ Croton mixed in the background. Pie Crust has the rolling leaf margins, you guessed it, like a pie crust. There are a lot of food references in this post; I need to think about what to have for dinner…

Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.

Happy Holidays from South Florida !!

Six on Saturday – Porch Pots

Winter is the prime gardening season in South Florida. It is time to start vegetables, herbs and flowers and move back outside. The temps have been in the high 70s (F, 25C), the humidity has dissipated for the most part and there is a nice, refreshing breeze coming off the Atlantic. I replaced all my porch cushions, easier said than done, and have been adding pots to complete the space.

The group from above.

This is a Billbergia Bromeliad. I am not sure which one. I bought it at our local farmer’s market, so it is likely from nearby. The container is antique Portmerion, one of my favorites.

A bowl of Bromeliads and Succulents. The Bromeliads are Fireball Neoregelias. The succulents in grey, Graptosedum; the others are types of Sedum, I think.

What I started with for the bowl. The cuttings are placed in the soil and resting on the edges of the bowl. I topped everything with orchid bark to hide the pots.

A gift from a neighbor, the Pink Star Calathea. These will grow in the garden here, but need more water that I can reasonably provide, so they stay on the porch.

Tomato, pepper and zinnia seedlings on the sunnier porch. My attempt at rooting Mystic Blue Salvia resulted in a 1 out 6 success, I think. I have Papaya, Parsley, Dill and Chinese Forget Me Nots nearby. A mysterious animal took my ID stickers and ate a few seeds.

That’s all from South Florida this December Saturday. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.gardenruminations.co.uk

Happy Gardening!!

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!!

In a Vase on Monday – Waning Wildflowers

I set out to collect the last of the wildflowers generated by our late season rains to create a vase marking the end of the not so rainy season. It seems strange having Beach Sunflowers in December when there were none this summer. Weather patterns make for strange seasonal bedfellows. I inherited the vase from my mother; it was made by Native Americans in the desert Southwestern US. I like the earth tones with the wildflowers.

The palette:

The spike flowers in white and salmon are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); yellow daisies are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis); the fluffy pink grasses in the back are Muhly Grass (Muhlbergia capillaris)

Another view:

The reddish flowers are from a shrub called China Hat around here. Holmskioldia sanguinea is the botanical name. The form of the shrub reminds me of Forsythia, arching and semi deciduous. Hummingbirds and butterflies love the flowers. This is native to the lowlands of the Himalayas and reportedly hardy to Zone 8. I have never seen one until landing in South Florida. This one is doing wonderfully well growing in sugar sand with very little supplemental water.

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

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!!