Category Archives: Tropical gardening

Six on Saturday – Rainy Season Up!

The rainy season in South Florida officially starts June 1. And it has! One day early. Which is a good thing, because the garden was getting parched. I toured the garden before the rain started to fall and the typically clear blue skies were overcast – one look at radar confirmed it, water would be falling from the sky shortly. Rain Dance successful. My six images today reflect typical garden sights that start the season. To see more tours with six items of interest from the garden the world over, visit Jim at GardenRuminations

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A sure sign of a quenching rain. New growth on Mango trees. This happens when the fruit is nearly ripe. It reminds me of fall color, a rare sight in South Florida.

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Rangpur limes coming along. I fertilized all the fruit trees ahead of the rain. They are very happy.

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Wildflowers are making their presence known. This is a White mouth Day flower (Commelina erecta) I have no idea where it came from, but I enjoy these every summer.

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This is Vitex trifolia, a Chastetree that grows this far South. I planted this for butterflies. They like it. I have mixed feelings, it is difficult to prune into anything attractive. I am considering a round bush concept.

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The great indestructible Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana).

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Another harbinger of the rainy season. These are either called Flaming Torch or Hurricane Bromeliads (Billbergia pyramidalis). I prefer Flaming Torch, if the light hits them just right – that is exactly what they look like.

SOS mission complete! Happy Summer!

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 – Zingy Zinnias

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My first zinnias of the summer appeared this week. Despite a seed packet promising mixed colors, they are all hot pepper spicy so far. There are a few more plants in bud, I am not holding my breath for pastels this summer. I decided to add some whites and blues to cool down the heat in the vase.

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The Zingy Zinnias range in color from orange and fuchsia to deep red to orange. I seem to recall complaining about the insipid pink flowers from this same pack of seeds last summer! I’ll take Zingy over Insipid any day of the week. The blue flowers are Blue Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) announcing summer is here. White flowers are Bidens alba, these have been gleefully reseeding everywhere so I should have a lot of cooling white on hand to counter the Zingies. Foliage is a small Dwarf Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebellini) frond.

That’s all from soon to be sweltering South Florida!

Happy Gardening!

To view more vases, follow this link to Cathy’s blog – RamblingintheGarden

Six on Saturday – Mango Alert

It’s Saturday morning and time for another tour featuring six items of interest from my garden. To join the fun and experience a worldwide garden tour follow this link to Jim’s blog.

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I have collected more than a bowl full of mangoes and received my first ever dog alert to start picking the Glenn mangoes. My fruit loving Greyhound brought me a ripe mango that had fallen to the ground and was partially devoured by who knows what. I have learned not to leave the fruit on the tree if you want to eat any. I pick them when they release from the stem easily and let them ripen on the counter.

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The first zinnia of the new crop. They seem to be orange or orange and fuchsia.

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The irresistibly cute pineapple.

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New pups forming on Macwilliamsii Bromeliads as the cool season coloration fades.

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We had a huge storm Monday night and now the Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes rubra) are celebrating.

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My very happy Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata) and unnamed Coleus.

That’s all from South Florida this Saturday. Wishing everyone Happy Gardening. I will be in the kitchen staring down those mangoes.

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 – Heat Wave

We’re not having a heat wave in Florida..yet. I am sure there will be one soon. I was somewhat amused by the heat wave in the UK, the forecasted temperatures there are a nice winter day in South Florida. We are in a bit of a drought with normal spring windy weather, even the bromeliads are a bit crispy.. I have had to drag the hose around, my least favorite garden task. I let the irrigation go when all the turfgrass was asked to leave the garden. Rain is predicted a week from Sunday! UGH.

A closer view: The hot colors have all been plonked into my mother’s old jam jar. She never made jam, but liked to use the jar for flowers. I do the same thing, no jam, just flowers.

The names of the flowers sound hot. Beach Sunflower (Helianthus debilis); Firebush (Hamelia patens) in orange; Indian Blanket (Gallardia pulchella) is snuggly in red and yellow. The white daisies don’t sound so hot..Spanish Needles (Bidens alba). These produce zillions of sharp seeds – supposedly used for needles by Floridian pioneers. They are maybe 3/4 inch long, so I have never figured out quite how that works.

That’s all from South Florida. I’ll be dragging the hose around… To see more Monday vases visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden.

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.