Category Archives: so fla

In a Vase on Monday – Tropicow

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I decided a little fun was in order this Monday and selected my cow vase to contain my beguiling tropical flowers. I dodged soaking rain showers while selecting flowers then stopped to dig up and move a Heliconia in the rain. Upon returning to the house drenched and bearing cut flowers; the dog looked at me like I had lost my mind. The Heliconia doesn’t seem to have noticed its new location. Rain is predicted all week, so it is a good time to move tropical plants.

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A closer cow view. The cow is wreathed in white Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana divicata) accented with a pink Zinnia and a pink seedpod from Aechmea “Burgundy” Bromeliad.

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Bringing up the rear of the arrangement is the lovely fragrant “Aztec Gold” Frangipani. The lavendar spikes are from Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia). This doesn’t have a fragrance, though it sounds like it should. I like the purple backed leaves.

Happy Sultry Summer from South Florida!

To see 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.

Six on Saturday – Billbergias and Begonias

We have had a dreadful weather week. Cold, rainy, overcast and dreary. Long time local garden dwellers say this is the longest cold spell in 45 years. So not South Florida. The sun came back out today and I am happy to see it. I am not certain it was cold enough to damage anything, but am feeling nervous about the fruit on the mango trees. The temperature was hovering around 40F and anything lower than that they don’t like.

I am joining Jim and the gang posting at GardenRuminations to share what is going on in the garden. I sought tropical flowers to counter the January gloom and was pleased to find some. Follow the link to see what else is going on in the gardening world.

Bromeliad madness. This is a Billbergia vittata. I am not sure if it is a named cultivar or exactly what it is. These plant are just so The Far Side. I have a few that are even more unusual. This is about two feet tall. It took a while to get into the right amount of sun for flowering. Now I have a mass of these shooting up flower stalks in January.

A closer view of the flower.

Another Billbergia. Again, I am not sure what variety. It was sold as ‘Rainbow’ – but I doubt that is right. I think the flowers will open a bit more. Time will tell.

Sweet Begonias (Begonia odorata ‘alba’) enjoying the sunshine.

‘Big Pink’ Begonia getting a little bronze with the cool weather. The pink looks more like its parent B.semperflorens (Wax Begonia) to me than ‘Big White’ Begonia does.

‘Big White’ Begonia, richer green leaves and a lower to the ground habit. Still looks great after all the rain and cold. Wondering about summer heat and these Begonias.

That’s all from warming up South Florida. I’m looking for more Billbergias flowers soon to add to the tropical madness. Thanks to Jim for hosting.

In a Vase on Monday – Sharing Sunshine

The Winter Solstice passed last week, days are slowly getting longer and more sunshine is on the way. I thought I should share some Florida sunshine with a brightly colored mix from my garden. I have noticed the wildflowers in my garden germinate late in the year – which should have given me a clue years ago about when to grow cut flowers. I am guilty of reading and following directions on seed packages….again. South Florida reigns peculiar over American horticulture.

It is difficult to find a sunnier group of flowers. All were grown from seed started in September (some named and some in a cutting garden mix) and currently flourishing (with the exception of Nigella, not sure about that) in containers. I am wondering how long the Zinnias will last. Here is a photo of a seedling from the cutting mix I cannot identify.

Any thoughts? It is not a Hollyhock. That was not included in the mix.

Some closer views:

Yellow Sunflowers are ‘Dwarf Sunspot’. Green Zinnias are ‘Green Envy’; purple tubes are from Mona Lavendar Plectranthus. Pink Zinnia is from an Etsy purchase ‘Cactus Mix’. Here is a close up of the Zinnia, I love the stamens (I think?)

The other side:

Pink Zinnia and the very different green one are from the ‘Cactus Mix’. The African Marigolds are from the cutting seed mix with the mystery seedling. The big leaf forming the wave hugging the flowers is a big ‘Java White’ Copperleaf (Acalphya wilkesiana). The leaf is 6 inches long and across. It rolled over naturally.

As always, thank you to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting In a Vase on Monday. To see more posts, follow the link.

Happy Monday!

Six on Saturday – Harvest. Present and Future

Time for SOS again. Follow the link to see more fun from gardens around the world http://www,thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com

My garden is enjoying the weather cool down and making flowers and fruit for fall. I have begun harvesting the Roselles (Hibicus sabdariffa) and here is the first batch:

I pluck these by hand as the green seeds start to appear in the middle of the flower. Rinse them throughly and remove the calyces.

These are the remnants of the flower. The calyces have been removed. I had to look up calyx, in botany speak it is the whole of the sepals that surround the bud of the flower. Calyces is plural of calyx. If the green seeds are allowed to ripen they turn brown and may be ground for a coffee substitute.

Calyx harvested by pulling sepals off or cutting whole. Jam makers like the use the whole ones for aesthetics. I think. I am freezing these bit by bit and looking for recipes.

Fruits of the Christmas Palm (Adonidia veitchii). These are reportedly edible but unpalatable. I leave them for the wildlife. Most people cut them off, though I like to use them for arrangements and enjoy the color.

Tomatoes started from seed in September are setting fruit. I planted Yellow Pear and Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes, not sure which one this is, but am looking forward to eating it.

One of my favorite butterfly nectar plants, the Firebush (Hamelia patens) flowers and produces fruit in the fall. More food for wildlife (and maybe thought, while contemplating the butterflies.)

That is six from my garden this Saturday.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Pole Beans and Papayas

It’s time for Six on Saturday. A garden meme based in the UK; hosted by The Propagator. The concept is to post photos of six items of interest from your garden. Follow this link to see more:THE LINK.

I have flowers, fruits and vegetables coming along in my garden. Today I had a papaya for breakfast and picked pole beans. I may make a Papaya Seed dressing for the beans later, this papaya had especially peppery seeds.

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The Mango trees are busy making fruit and they are big enough to see the difference in varieties. This is a Nam Doc Mai, a fiberless Thai dessert Mango.

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This is a Pickering, a condo Mango – dwarf varieties that bear fruit early.

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A pineapple flower, just starting.

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Buds on the Lotusleaf Begonia

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And  buds on the Leonitis, I love these spiky ball buds and flowers. I am proud of these, started from seed in September.

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That’s my six from South Florida.

Happy Gardening.

Six on Saturday – Too Windy

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I have a Florida Box Turtle family in my garden, this one was scurrying (as fast as a turtle can scurry) away from me as I snapped the picture.

I have planted some seeds for lettuces and root vegetables and wanted to plant more, but the wind has been blowing steadily about 20 mph seemingly for the last week. Here are some Arugula seedlings, they need a major thinning, I dropped the seed packet into the pot.

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Winter brings a new color to Bromeliad foliage. These are Super Fireball Neoregelias, they are green in summer and go to reds and greens during the winter.

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Winter also brings some new and different flowers, these are buds on a Dracaena reflexa.

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The New Zealand Flax Lily (Dianella) has finally started flowering. It suffered through the summer sitting on the ground without a pot. Amazing survivor.

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My one Passionfruit. I planted a Passiflora edulis vine for larval hosting of butterflies. I have seen very few butterflies on it, two flowers and one fruit. I am interested to taste the fruit; it has been ripening for at least a month and I am told you must wait until they fall off to eat them. I hope I see it before the turtle does.

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That is my Six on Saturday, for more posts go to thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com to see six items of interest from gardens all over the world.

Happy Gardening.

Dirty Little Secrets in the Garden

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Since I live in the former ‘Pineapple Capital of the World’ I feel compelled to eat a lot of the fruit; and then attempt to grow more. The dirty secret? I cut the tops off and throw them into the front foundation planting in my garden. If they take root, yay! Then they get moved to the pineapple patch in my pollinator garden.

These two are coming along nicely and will join their friends in the backyard. Eventually, I will have homegrown pineapple.

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Here is their destination:

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Here is a link to more information about pineapples.

Pineapples and their Cousins

Happy New Year, I think I need some pineapple in a festive cocktail later….

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In a Vase on Monday – Dombeyas End the Decade

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Dombeyas fill the last vase of the decade. Ten years ago, I did not blog; I did not live in Florida and I did not know what a Dombeya was. What a difference a decade makes.

We have spent the past few weeks cooking and going to holiday parties. My husband and I enjoy cooking but we are taking a break and fortunately have leftovers. He is a great pie baker – this year making an apple, a pumpkin and a Rangpur Lime pie with fruit from my neighbor’s tree. I need to get back to the garden to work all the calories off.

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Here is a closer view:

The  pink flowers are the Dombeyas (Dombeya wallichii); the burgundy and silver striped leaves are Transcandentia zebrina, sometimes called Wandering  Jew; the silvery succulent is  the flower of a Flapjack Kalanchoe and the ferns are Boston Ferns (Nephrolepis exaltata).

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Dombeyas are sometimes called Tropical Hydrangeas though they are not related to Hydrangeas but belong to the Mallow family. Hydrangeas have their own family (Hydrangeaceae). Here is the Dombeya flower in situ. The shrub is about 9 feet tall and wide and the leaves are at least a foot wide and fuzzy. The bees love the flowers and I brought one in with the flowers. I think of them as reverse Hydrangeas since the flowers hang under the foliage.

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Happy New Year and Happy New Decade, hopefully the twenties will roar again. But, nicely and with many flowers.

A heartfelt Thank You to Cathy for hosting this wonderful weekly meme. More vases may be seen in the comments of her blog http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.

In a Vase on Monday – Holiday Bus Again

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Here’s my favorite holiday tin again. Several years ago a client of my husband brought this from the UK, filled with Scottish Biscuits (shortbread cookies in US speak). The cookies were divine (and didn’t last very long). I am a lover of tins and used it IAVOM twice before during the holidays. This year it is crammed full of red, green and white flowers and foliage, having some perspective on my garden and many others through blogging I realized how downright odd it is to have red and green foliage to cut for Christmas decorations. And I haven’t  done the wreath yet.

A closer view:

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The big white flowers are Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica), smaller white flowers and bigger foliage is from Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata); white and red spikes are from Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); the red spikes on the sides are Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans), red berries are from Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebenthifolia) – a dreadful weed.

Below is a better image of the red and green foliage – at the right end a Martin Bromeliad (Neoregelia Martin) leaf, the middle has foliage from Mammey Croton (Codieum varigata ‘Mammey’)

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Here is the tin from 2016:20161211_102634-1

And  the original tin/ vase from 2015.

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Hmm,  which is your favorite.? 2016 has one of my favorite plants, the Parrotflower (Heliconia psittacorum)  – I like the Flapjack Kalanchoes in 2015 (grey foliage). I may combine all the plants next year into a 2020 mash up.

For more vases on Monday, visit our hostess, Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Holidays!