Category Archives: Tropical gardening

Six on Saturday – The Warm Up

Time for SOS again. To join in, visit Jon at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for instructions and check out the comments from other gardeners around the world.

South Florida, being true to its tropical spirit, heated back up this week and the garden responded. It was 85 F/29.4 C here yesterday. The locals were pronouncing spring had arrived.

Above is what I call my Jurassic Begonia, it started sending up flowers this week, the stems are almost five feet long! This is actually called a Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbifolia) seemingly a roadside weed in parts of Central America – this is difficult for me to imagine.

A closer view of the flower.

The flower of a pink ornamental pineapple. The foliage is green and burgundy striped and the pineapple is miniature and will remain pink. These are too small to eat, but can be juiced if you are so inclined. I usually cut them and use them in flower arrangements. They dry well as tiny brown pineapples.

The Hard Cane Dendrobium Orchid I mounted in the Gumbo Limbo tree has produced a bud. The anticipation is building. I covered this during the cold snap.

Flowers on a Dracaena reflexa just starting to open. They have a wonderful scent. The buds are burgundy and the flowers are white.

I have finally grown some Cilantro! Now I hate to eat it, it took forever.

That is it for this week.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Wedding Inspired

Expecting something a liitle less colorful, maybe shades of creamy white? Not this Monday. While searching for flowers this overcast Sunday in South Florida I found colorful marigolds, zinnias and a bit of white in my garden.

The arrangement was inspired by my nephew, who was recently in a wedding in India and sent me some images of the event with flowers.

Here goes:

Pretty fabulous, I think. Garlands of marigolds are popular in India for all sorts of occasions. I like one reason best, the color of the sun is reflected in marigolds, representing brightness and positive energy. I imagine there are thousands of marigolds here.

Here is a link to more on marigolds and India.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/onmyplate/marigold-the-mexican-flower-that-has-become-a-part-of-indian-festivals/

A pretty shot of marigold garlands with a bicycle embellished with white and deeper toned flowers, another element of weddings in India.

Close ups of my arrangement, with about 5 marigolds instead of 5,000!

I think the orange flowers are African Marigolds from a cutting flower mix I bought from Sow True seeds in Asheville, North Carolina. The white daisies are our native (weed) Bidens alba; yellow tubular flowers are Esperanza (Tecoma stans).

Another view:

Pink flowers are Cactus Zinnias, grown from seed; the foliage – Asian Sword Ferns and a few bits of Rosemary. The vase, a thrift store find on an old brass trivet, probably from India..

There’s my multi cultural experience this Monday. Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Copy the link to see more arrangements.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Blushing Bromeliads

Time to join the SOS gang yet again. My Bromeliads and vegetable garden are doing their winter thing.

First up, the Blushing Bromeliad. I think these are Neoregelia carolinae. The foliage is solid green until we have a cold snap, then the plant blushes, staying red until summer returns.

Another Neoregelia Bromeliad, this is ‘Luca’ showing its deeper winter coloration.

Other Bromeliads flower in winter. This is a bud stalk, probably three feet tall, from an unnamed (or forgotten) Brom that has been in the garden for several years. The flower is a surprise. It should be interesting to watch the evolution.

This one, Quesnelia testudo, is considered by some to be the tulip of South Florida. The flowers last about a month.

I continue to harvest and enjoy fresh vegetables. The snow peas (mangetout) are wonderful cut into matchsticks raw and added to salad.

I finally got some good radishes – do I know how or why? Not really. This is a French Dressing or French Breakfast radish, name depends on who supplies the seed. These are my favorite and always cleaned and eaten immediately after harvesting. Irresistable. I shall plant another bag full before it gets too hot.

That is six from my South Florida garden. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Art That Doesn’t Hold Water

The art? The vase – built by me in high school art class, many years ago. The dark ages when Aerosmith first appeared on the rock scene, something much discussed over making coils for clay pots. I think this was called hand building and is the last surviving artifact of my foray into clay. The bottom of the vase is not glazed, it doesn’t leak or hold water – it sort of sweats.

The arrangement has an Ikebana feel to me. I did not start out with that in mind – as my vases usually go, this one evolved from ‘looking for a brown vase to put the cafe au lait zinnias in’ to ‘needs brown twigs for zen balance’. I found an old brass trivet to put under the vase and it is not sweating too badly.

Another vase view:

Time for the close up:

Cafe au lait Zinnias from a Cactus seed mix are the stars of this show. The peachy flowers are non red Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). This Salvia is a perennial (reseeding) favorite in my garden and I love the color surprises left by pollinating bees.

Another view:

The ‘zen’ brown sticks are from the native Muscadines (Vitis rotundafolia) that run rampant through the wilder parts of my garden. The greenery, Asparagus Ferns, run the same course with the Muscadines, with a much smaller stature.

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

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – F Words

First, we have flowers. I focused on flowers this Saturday as there is a possibility of another f word – frost, in frostfree areas of Florida. That’s seven f words – though I will probably think of some more as I am covering orchids and tomato plants for our overnight low. The low is predicted at 37 degrees F., with 35 mph gusty winds. I am not thinking about the wind chill. Not doing it. I had to search for shoes this morning as I always wear sandals; astonished to find some currently fashionable Chuck Taylor style sneakers that must be ten years old!

I’ll admit the shoes looked better in the dark corner of my closet. Maybe I saved them for gardening prior to discovering plastic Birkenstocks, the mysteries continue.

On to January flowers, that will hopefully be here in February.

‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea is in full bloom.

I started some Balsam Impatiens from seed and transplanted them into the garden last week. They are just starting to flower.

Another Balsam Impatiens. I think these will be hardy if the temps stay above freezing. They look like big Snapdragons to me.

Dwarf Chenille Plant (Acalypha pendula) this is underplanting a Malaysian Orchid. These two are spending the night in the bathtub.

‘Little Harv’ Aechmea Bromeliad flowers; one of my winter favorites. It seems all the Bromeliads should be fine. It is recommended to fill their cups with water prior to cold weather. This seems counterintuitive to me but I did it anyway.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Saturday!

Thanks to Jon at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for hosting, follow the link for more SOS posts.

In a Vase on Monday – Zinnia Conversion

I admit it, I am a Zinniaphile. The reformation from Zinniaphobe has taken a few years to process, but the conversion is complete. I think seeing Cactus Zinnias all summer in Monday vases did the trick. I planted a few varieties of Cactus mix and Green Envy seeds mid September and have been cutting flowers since mid November. My kitchen table has never had so many vases of flowers.

The Zinnias are mostly in grow bags. I have Green Envy planted in the ground, basically in potting soil as the sand in the garden resists water. It took several trials and many dwarfed Zinnias to figure out the sand, no matter how much it was amended, is pretty useless for growing classic cut flowers. I broadcasted a cutting garden seed mix in the area I was trialing the Zinnias last year; just to see what came up in the garden. One Sweet Alyssum, and so weird looking I had to look at it a couple of times before I could figure out what it was. Then, our resident rabbit ate the lone Nigella I tried there.

A close up:

The silverplate goblet is an ‘heirloom’ that came from my mother’s ‘junkstore collection’. It does not hold water and has a yogurt cup inside. I like the patina and wonder what possessed my mother to buy it. Maybe she liked the patina, too. Mysteries to ponder.

The Zinnias are all from the Cactus Mix seeds I bought on Etsy. The smaller pink flowers are Globe Amaranth that was a bonus seed gift with the Zinnias. Orange flowers are grow bag Marigolds from the cutting garden mix from Sow True Seeds in Asheville, North Carolina. Green flower spikes are Sweet Basil seed heads; green spikes are Muhly Grass foliage. Deep blue spike flowers are Mystic Spires Salvia.

Here are a few more vases of Zinnias my kitchen table has enjoyed..

Anyone else converted?

Thanks to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday – to see more vases, follow the link to http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Monday and Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – January Fun

Saturdays are more fun when I share six items of interest from my South Florida garden. Florida means flowery in Spanish and we have abundant flowers year round here. Here are a few flowers and colorful plants appearing in January.

Flowers on the White Geiger (Cordia boisseriei). This semi evergreen small tree produces flowers on a whim, usually during the winter.

Snake Plants, Mother in Law Tongues, all Sanseviera flower in winter. These grow wild in South Florida and are considered invasive. The flowers have a lovely, sweet scent and don’t last very long.

The Jurassic, huge (5 feet across) Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbo) is shooting up buds.

Winter color on a Neoregelia Bromeliad. This green Bromeliad, a found plant, has been in the garden for several years. This is the first time it has shown color, allowing me to begin figuring out what it is. Where I found it, I do not recall!

Miss Alice Bougainvillea is flowering again and is sporting a Tillandsia bromeliad on her trunks.

A flower spike on Flapjack Kalanchoes. These have a nice fragrance and eventually turn into little plants.

That’s my six on this January Saturday. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Coming and Going

Time to join the SOS crowd again and share the going ons in my South Florida garden. The first few months of the year much of the tropical fruit flowers and many of the reseeding perennials set seed. The winter veg crops are also starting to produce.

The first tiny mangoes to appear on our Glenn Mango tree. I am happy to see the fruit, some years it is so windy the pollen gets blown away and no mangoes. The saying goes 100 days from flower to fruit, so we will see how that works out. The mangoes are early this year by about two months. Fingers crossed.

These are heirloom peppers from Nicaragua, Criollos. They will be wrinkled and red when ripe and are a standard in Ecudoran cuisine. I am very excited to try one.

Snow Peas grown from seed are climbing and flowering. I love the French version of the name for this vegetable, mange-tout. That translates to eat all in English as the whole pod is eaten. I will eat them all.

Papayas are bravely producing more buds. The Versa Moths have been around (they lay eggs in the fruit) Hopefully, they know something I don’t – and I will beat them to the fruit.

Currently eating – tomatoes, green beans and herbs.

Tropical Milkweed sharing its seed to the wind. I collected some seed and let the rest fly. Next, I will cut them to the ground to create some fresh growth to feed Monarch butterflies.

That is my Six for this Saturday. To visit other gardens via blog follow this link: http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening.

In a Vase on Monday – Dombeyas…Inverted

One of my favorite winter gifts from the garden are the pink flowers of the Tropical Hydrangea (Dombeya wallachi). Unlike French or Mophead Hydrangeas, the flowers are borne hanging down from the branches like Christmas ornaments. These same flowers do not appreciate being turned upside down for flower arrangements – they tend to be top heavy and fall out of the vase for spite, this is after the bees chase you into the house because the most delicious cake batter scented treat in the garden is being repurposed for aesthetic reasons.

The recalcitrant flowers were conquered by a riff on the hand tied bouquet. I made mini bouquets of four flowers twist tied together, then placed them on the edge of the container.

Dombeya flowers in their natural state:

Someone described these as dreamy, I tend to agree. A big plus to the plant is they are very easy to grow. Unlike their blue French relatives, who I could never grow in my northern garden. I am going to try some cuttings for propagating when flowering is finished.

A closer view of the vase:

The vase is a Fostoria crystal ice bucket that belonged to my grandmother. I think the pattern is Americana. It dawned on me this was probably a wedding gift and over a hundred years old.

The foliage backing up the Dombeyas – in purple stripes, Transcandentia zebrina. The ferns are Asian Swords, a lovely weed. I compost or throw out a lot of both of these plants monthly. They both appeared, unbidden, in my garden – I use them where I would rather not mulch and recycle the rest.

To see more vases from gardeners worldwide, visit our hostess, Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Relish

There are many things to relish about the winter garden in South Florida. Above is actually relish! This is Roselle/Apple/Pecan relish made from Roselles grown in my garden. We ate it on Christmas Eve with the classic American meal – turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and green beans.

I have been enjoying vases and vases of flowers from these two, Globe Amaranth and Green Envy Zinnias. This one has culinary Fennel (not from the garden) I ate that, too.

The bag garden continues to recieve additions. This bag has Sugar Baby Watermelons underplanted with Bush Beans. Theoretically, the beans will fix nitrogen and feed the watermelons. I am going to, hopefully, train the watermelons up the hefty bamboo teepees and tie the fruit on with slings. The fruit weighs eight pounds, so this should be interesting.

Hopefully, these are the first fruit buds on the Cuban Avocado. A friend grew this from seed, it is the rare Avocado that is true to seed, they are usually grafted. It is now five years old and at the proper age to bear fruit. Fingers crossed.

A very typical sight on my front porch. A Anole lizard sunning on a pot of succulents. The succulents are, in bud, a Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) and a Fish hook Senecio.

That’s the rundown this Saturday on what I am relishing in my garden. To see SOS posts from other gardens follow this link http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!