I am joining Cathy’s A Week in Flowers garden meme again today with more tropical madness. This is a Schlomburgkia Orchid that grows in my Gumbo Limbo tree. This particular orchid is native to the Caribbean coast of Mexico and grows in Mangrove swamps along the shore. It has very long stems. It is a mystery how it ended up on the east coast of Florida in some nearby oaks. It seems to be flourishing in the Gumbo Limbo and has multiplied and grown completely attached to a crotch in the tree. I am looking forward to the next spring show.
To see more flowery posts follow this link to Words and Herbs.
I am joining Cathy at Words and Herbs again today – providing a blast of tropical warmth from my South Florida garden. Above is the flower of a Dragonfruit or Pitaya. This is a night blooming cactus that bears fruit in the summer in the tropics. Early morning photography is necessary as these flowers are very ephemeral.
Follow this link Words and Herbs to see more flowery goodness.
I am joining Cathy at Words and Herbs for her winter blogging event, A Week of Flowers. I missed the first two episodes and am sending out a big blast of tropical warmth from my South Florida garden.
Above is Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata) in full bloom. These are summer flowering plants here. They love steamy heat much more than I do!
My garden never fails to surprise me. This week it was a beautiful display of deep red flowers from a Red Shrimp Plant. This plant is one of those I forget completely about until it flowers and then wish I had more. I have this thought every year and have yet to propagate any. Maybe it is time.
A few more serendipitous finds allowed me to complete the vase.
The Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana) in all its glory. The fluffy grasses behind are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris). The Muhly Grass has reseeded here and there in the garden. I would have never planted it where it landed, but have come to enjoy the randomness of the placement. It also has the benefit of thriving in the driest, sandiest part of the garden.
White Vinca (Vinca rosea) comes up in the oddest places. I have never planted any, yet here it is. Again thriving in the driest part of the garden. The sticks in the vase are from some native grape vines I cut down long ago and never quite made it into a bag to be taken to the curb. I like sticks in a vase and never realized it works better if they are good and dead. These were nice and crispy and easily trimmed into a shape that complemented the vase.
The vase is a stoneware ‘pineapple’ found on a long ago Hawaiian vacation.
Now I am hoping to find a serendipitous dinner prepared in the freezer! It’s possible.
Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.
I have been absent from SOS the past few weeks. I have been occupied with houseguests, not much going on in the garden, followed by an unexpected road trip to pick up a new hound. My house and garden feel much more like a home with the addition of Handsome Rob, a rescue Greyhound. There was a major garden event this week – my first ever Avocado!
The avocado. This is a Catalina or Cuban Avocado. To my knowledge, the only variety that is true to seed. These grow wild in the Caribbean, my Puerto Rican college classmate tells me the woods are full of them on his island. Another college friend grew my tree from seed, it has been in the garden since 2016. These are big avocadoes, about twice the size of a Hass. I hope it gets ripe!
The Rangpur limes continue to taunt me – not quite ripe.
The garden provided a few dry season floral surprises this week. A Gallardia pulchella seedling flowering in the shell walkway.
Red Shrimp Plants (Justicia brandegeana). I think the cool weather deepens the color.
Who knew Ti Plants (Cordyline fruiticosa) flowered? This was a surprise to me, they resemble Dracaena flowers.
Meet Handsome Rob – doing what greyhounds do best, holding down the floor. Handsome Rob was a character in the movie The Italian Job. Not the dog, Jason Statham.
That is all from South Florida this week. My fingers are crossed for a bit of rain this week and warmer weather. I have been moving my tomato and zinnia seedlings in and out of the house as we have had morning temperatures in the 50s.
In celebration of In a Vase on Monday’s Eleventh!! Anniversary. I would like to extend a warm, tropical, virtual Thank You card to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting this lovely garden meme for all these years. I enjoy the weekly chat with gardeners around the world and have learned quite a bit about what grows where and beautiful new plant possibilities for my garden. It may seem counterintuitive; but I have found many plants that grow in summer in the UK do well in my South Florida garden in winter and I love making vases with them! Follow the link to see more vases celebrating eleven years of IAVOM.
The Close Ups:
The Eleven is made from Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) foliage that I drew an eleven on with a Sharpie and trimmed off the excess. Certainly a first in my house, drawing on foliage. Grey rosette is Graptosedum succulent; purple and silver striped foliage is Wandering Jew (Transcandentia zebrina); white flowers are Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica).
Purple and pink flower is a “Candy’ Portea Bromeliad. Ferns are native Boston Fern (Nepholepis exaltata).
Thanks again to Cathy and Cheers to all from South Florida.
Well, here it is, my floral comment on the election results. The will of the American people seems unreal to me. Unfortunately, like the components in this vase, they are disturbingly real. Not that I find succulents and bromeliads disturbing; but they do look so different from other flowers they don’t seem real. The rest of it – I suppose the best way to look at it is time will tell.
The vase is black for obvious reasons. The components are succulents including, in grey, Graptosedum; above the Graptosedum, in green and apricot, flowers from Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria); green foliage is from Senecio barbertonicus. I may end up with several new plants.
Bromeliad flowers top the vase. The red and blue (symbolism?) flower is from Aechmea miniata, an odd bloom this late in the year, the brownish one is the same flower drying or dying, depending on how you look at it. Orange and yellow spikes are bits of Aechmea blanchetiana – the entire flower on this is at least four feet tall, so I cut some pieces of the flower. Round leaves in the back are from Flapjack Kalanchoe.
Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. I am looking forward to the anniversary challenge. Follow the link to see more vases.
This time of year gives me an odd sort of garden Limbo. If I still lived further north, the garden season would be mostly over. Here in South Florida, I am watching tomato and zinnia seedlings come up – soon to be transplanted into the winter garden. Planting tomatoes in November may never feel normal.
All of the plants in this vase are Florida natives. Two (Bidens and Juba) are in the garden due to Limbo being induced by not knowing what to do with them. I now cut and enjoy them. The balance I planted, the green fruit is from the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba) tree. Perhaps it is celebrating my garden Limbo?
Closer views:
Two of my favorite wispies are in flower right now. The pinks are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) and the off white is Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa)
Green fruit is from the Gumbo Limbo tree (that word again?!); white flowers are Bidens alba; purple berries are from Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana). The crystal vase was a gift from my dearly departed brother, it always makes me smile to remember him. Today is his birthday.
Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.
I am joining the SOS gang to share the discovery of my first ripe Rangpur lime this Saturday. I shall be heading to the grocery store soon to buy ingredients for a pie. Gardening is Good! Eventually I end up with a pastel orange “Key Lime” pie.
To see more SOS posts, follow this link Garden Ruminations to visit our host, Jim and travel the world of gardening through the comments section.
The Rangpur lime. This fruit is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. Why it is called a lime I am not sure.
More unusual fruit. This is a Bitter Melon (Monmordica) These grow wild here and are very prolific. Some call them Stinkweed due to the smell of the foliage. They are considered health food for some – I stick with the Rangpur pie.
Fruit of the Jatropha multifida, called physic nut. It is supposedly medicinal, but known to cause mild gastrointestinal distress, I am not sure why you would eat it.
Another fall find, the cone of a Cardboard Palm (Zamia furfuracea) – this one has been trimmed off and is nestled in trimmings from a Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba). These are prolific reseeders and not a good thing to get loose in the garden.
That’s all from South Florida this morning. Off to find baking ingredients.
As I was searching the garden for flowers to cut, I started thinking outside the box. Well, I inhabit the area outside the box anyway and it dawned on me that there is fall color in South Florida. It is just not the typical seasonal color changes – it’s the flowers and berries! Such a relief after all these years of feeling deprived of fall color.
With a fresh perspective, I snipped a fall vase and plonked the flowers into a mason jar. Here are some closer views.
Yellow flowers are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis); orange tubular flowers and berries are Firebush (Hamelia patens); white flowers are ‘White Flame’ Salvia.
Red spike flowers are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); red and yellow flowers are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum ‘Lady Di’.
The Shrub Queen 