Category Archives: White Flame Salvia

Six on Saturday – June Things

I looked back to last year and noted my first mango! was picked on June 2. We are a few days behind this year, but I am thrilled to introduce the first victim of my serrate knife – to be chopped, pureed and made into a Mango Key Lime pie this afternoon! This is a Glenn mango, flavor profile sweet and peachy with hints of citrus. Ha! just like wine speak, I think they taste coconutty.

The indestructible Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana) is starting back up. This is another amazing plant, dump it in sugar sand, forget about it, and it still keeps going.

Another great summer red (not wine again) is the Petunia exserta. These are sort of viney and meandering through the White Flame Salvia.

The orchids I placed in trees are establishing nicely and loving the humidity (unlike me). This is an unnamed Dendrobium in a Catalina (or Cuban) Avocado.

I tried a new mix of open pollinated Zinnia seeds for summer. These are called Zin Master Mix and I am more than curious about what I am going to get here. The plants are gorgeous (I thought they were going to die) I have a bunch of these plants and was planning to try some in the ground, but we have been overrun by Marsh Rabbits this year and they find the Zinnias to be an extreme delicacy. Another gardening dilemma. These rabbits are so confident they build nests inside the fence with a greyhound! These are in a big pot with a chartreuse Coleus and under planted with Blue Scaveola. No idea what color Zinnias are. Hope it works.

The Marsh Rabbit – looking for Zinnias in all the wrong places.

That is all from my garden this Saturday morning. To tour other SOS gardens, visit Jim’s blog, GardenRuminations and follow the links in the comments. I will be hopping into the kitchen to bake.

In a Vase on Monday – Chanel No. 4?

I decided to put together a small vase of spring flowers this week. The big surprise was the wonderful fragrance generated by a combination of four flowers I selected from the garden. Mmmm, I thought, I would wear this as perfume. This led me to a very ancient bottle of Chanel No. 5 my father gave me decades ago that lives on. My mother, in all her Greatest Generation glory, considered this her signature scent. It is a bit, sweet? for me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, though I did try to grow a Ylang Ylang tree in my garden, the main fragrance component of Chanel No. 5. The YY tree expired, but I don’t think this bottle of perfume has!

The purple flowers are Agastache, I have no idea what variety. These have a lemony scent and are doing quite well in a container. These are new to the garden. A few Genovese basil flowers and White Flame Salvia are adding their white flowers and herbal scents.

The Giant Dianthus in pinks adds a clove fragrance to the mix. It seems lemony, herbal, clove may be my signature scent! I love it. A few snips of purple and silver foliage from Inch Plant (Transcandentia zebrina) were added for color.

The blue glass container is an heirloom from a collection my in-laws had. I am not sure what it is. A giant shot glass?

Happy Spring Monday to all and thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM every week! Follow the link ramblinginthegarden to visit Cathy and see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Sprung

Spring has definitely sprung in South Florida. I bought my self required Pink Dianthus last week and here it is springing out of this vase. This is a big green Dianthus I had never seen until last year. I was happy to find another one as they are short lived annuals at best and it will be gone by summer. These make great cut flowers and are currently residing in a pot with rosemary and thyme. I also have a pot of Bath’s Pink Dianthus that I bought mail order last year because I love the grey foliage. It has not flowered and I am wondering if that is why no one around here has ever heard of them. I do love a little Dianthus in spring.

A closer view:

The Dianthus! I am not sure what kind of Dianthus this is – the label on the pot says Dianthus. That is it. Looking around the internet it looks like Rockin Pink Magic Dianthus (Dianthus barbatus interspecific). I concur with the name, it is Rockin Pink Magic.

White Flame and Mystic Blue Salvias are still going strong and needed deadheading. I actually had to throw some flowers away. The never ending supply of invasive Asian Sword Ferns supplied some greenery to emphasize the sproing. The vase is a thrift store find I have enjoyed for years.

That’s all from South Florida. I will be on the lookout for more Dianthus flowers. Visit our intrepid hostess, Cathy’s blog by following this link to see more weekly flowers in a vase from around the world.

Six on Saturday – Winter Treats

Since it has been an unusually rainy winter I have been baking a lot of winter treats. Now that the weather has (sort of) cleared up I am finding treats in the garden. I’m joining fellow SOS’s sharing my garden treats this Saturday, to see other treasures, visit Jim’s blog and follow the links.

The salvias have been relishing the rain and are showing their appreciation. This bed has ‘White Flame’ Salvia, Golden Dewdrop Duranta (Duranta repens), Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria), ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia, and Dwarf Red Ixora (Ixora ‘Maui Red’) in background. These salvias are short lived perennials here.

An unnamed Neoregelia Bromeliad variety showing winter color. These are green and white in summer.

New to me and the garden – ‘Apricot Queen’ Angel Trumpet. This is a rooted cutting I planted in December. It is taking very well and has already produced a side shoot. I have never seen an Angel Trumpet in my neighborhood, so I am wondering about this one and keeping my fingers crossed.

Another treat unearthed when clearing out the garden. A Vriesea ospinae ‘Gruberii’ Bromeliad. Something has been trying to eat the leaves (notice the shredding). It is a rare animal that can eat these.

The tomatoes are finally making some progress. I planted all the cherry varieties as I have no luck with big tomatoes. Oddly, these are the biggest cherry tomatoes I have ever seen. Kind of wondering about the seeds!

The first sign of recovery on what I suppose was a tactical error. This is Miss Alice Bougainvillea. Apparently, she resents being cut back hard and left out in the cold. Usually, the Bougs are indestructible. Alice has been naked for at least a month and I was fearing her prognosis. I’m planning on buying some special Bougainvillea fertilizer now that the leaves are reappearing.

That’s all from my garden. Wishing everyone Happy Gardening, armchair or otherwise.

In a Vase on Monday – Cheers to 2024

I decided some fireworks from the garden and a quote were necessary to celebrate this first Monday of 2024. Having read dozens of quotes, I chose the one that made me laugh. I like Irish blessings and this is my favorite. My temple bells from last week have reappeared to assist ringing in the New Year.

“As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way”

I feel like I ran over a few splinters last year, so hopefully this will ease any future damage.

The oversized wine glass assisting the toast was a gift from a dear friend – the back side says ‘Girlfriends are Forever’.

The floral fireworks:

The orange flower front and center is a ‘Choconiana’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum); ephemeral pink grasses at back are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capallaris); purple fuzzies are from Red Velvet Aerva (Aerva sanguinolenta); yellow daisies are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis); white daisies are Bidens alba.

Orange tubular flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens); red flowers are ‘Maui Red’ Ixora. There are a few ‘White Flame’ and ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia lurking in the glass.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM for all these years. Follow the link to visit Cathy’s blog and view more vases. http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

It’s surprising how many flowers can be stuffed into a wine glass.

Cheers to 2024!!

In a Vase on Monday – Delicate Dianthus

I have been enjoying the Giant Dianthus plants that I have been keeping on my front porch. I expected them to burn out as soon as the temperatures exceeded 80 degrees. They haven’t, surprising me with fringed flowers in shades of pink almost daily. The snapdragons are still hanging on as well. Laziness and distaste for throwing anything away that might possibly flower made me keep the snaps around. I was rewarded with a few more flowers, dwarf when compared to the earlier ones, but a nice accessory to the delicate dianthus flowers.

The vase belonged to my mother. It was her go-to container for pansies and a perfect size for the dianthus. I am wondering if this was once a jam jar, it has a very jammy vibe. This vase has some wonderful scents, basil flowers, dianthus and salvia; sweet, spicy and herbal. I am enjoying walking by.

The close up:

Giant Dianthus in pink; yellow snaps; a few sprigs of Genovese Basil flowers; ‘White Flame’ Salvia and ‘Golf Beauty’ Craspedia in yellow.

Pink snapdragons, a few sprigs of Tropical Red Salvia in white with Asian Sword Ferns and Asparagus Ferns for greenery.

This is a stuffed jam jar!

Thank you to Cathy for hosting this week (and every week) To see more vase follow this link to her blog. http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – No Salad Here

This is a spring mix of flowers from my garden. Spring mix is a kind of packaged salad greens I am not particularly fond of. Too bitter, I think it is the tatsoi I don’t like, or it is my husband referring to it as yard clippings? Anyway, there is no salad here and one of the cast members in this arrangement is poisonous, so we won’t be eating any of it.

I am pleased to have grown this poisonous Ranunculus, with the innocent sounding common name Persian Buttercup. This one looks like a tiny red rose and there is one more bud outside. This was a total experiment. I am supposed to be too far south to grow these and bought the bulbs at an end of summer sale. The bulbs arrived fried and I put them aside and completely forgot about them until they were desiccated shells. An old pot with soil in it appeared in the back yard and I had a ‘hate to throw things away’ moment and dumped the shells into the pot. An odd rainy, cold snap arrived, chilled and rehydrated the bulbs. Serendipity intervened and this is the first of probably two Ranunculus my garden will ever produce.

The rest of the mix..in blue, ‘Black and Bloom’ Salvia; white spikes, ‘White Flame’ Salvia; pink and white fringed flowers, Giant Dianthus; a little Pink Snapdragon; green Envy and pink Zinnias; the red Ranunculus; yellow ‘Golf Beauty’ Craspedia, and a few bits of Asparagus Fern. The vase was a gift from my older brother.

Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly garden meme. To see more vases, follow the link.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Flowers

I am joining the SOS gang once again after checking out the flowers in my South Florida garden. The sun is shining and the weather is heating up again. I have been attentive to watering and fertilizing and have some new flowers to show.

The Chandelier plant (Medinilla cummingii) had a rough winter, not enjoying our unusually cold December weather. It has come back nicely and started flowering again. This plant usually flowers year round. This is the flower.

The fruit follows the flower and is just as ornamental. Eventually, the berries turn dark purple and become sticky. I am guessing in their native Philippines the birds eat them and distribute them in the tree tops. I smashed some of the berries onto some big branches in the trees in my garden last summer and nothing happened..

I am enjoying my recently planted Salvias tremendously. The sun was hitting the Black and Bloom Salvia as I walked outside this morning and I had to snap a photo.

Roman Red Salvia is also shining.

Our native Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) sometimes appears in white. This amazingly hardy plant is happy with Blue Daze Evolvulus at its feet.

More blue and white flowers. White Flame and Mystic Blue Salvia.

Wishing everyone sunny days and warmer weather. Thanks to Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk for hosting. Follow the link to see more gardens.

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!!