In a Vase on Monday – Last Gasp Tropical Mix

The zinnias had their last gasp this week. There were so many buds I could not bring myself to pull them out until I picked the last flowers. I cut the flowers for this vase and pulled all but One plant. The One still out there is a doozy. Hot pink and orange mix. The zinnia plants were huge and required a lopper to get through the main stems, they were woody and an inch in diameter. I have never seen anything like it. Many other plants are at the end of their season and have been included in this mixed vase.

The lone remaining zinnia:

Time for the close ups:

Blue flowers are from the old fashioned favorite, Blue Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata); white flowers with yellow centers are ‘Bridal Bouquet’ Frangipani (Plumeria pudica); white flowers in foreground are Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana divaricata) and yes, the scent wafting from this recycled florist vase is wonderful.

The fruity side, miniature pineapple is ‘Lava’ variety – I think, not particularly edible, but can be juiced. I usually dry them, spray paint them gold and use them in holiday arrangements. Multi colored zinnias are the last of the Zin Master plants – I’m letting the One still flowering go to seed. White daisies are Bidens alba, a very prolific native wildflower.

I’m looking forward to Autumn here. It’s marginally cooler and I just planted the first seeds of the gardening season. This always makes me happy. Cooler weather and new plants!

To see more vases visit Cathy’s blog by following this link RamblingintheGarden

Six on Saturday – Mad Shrubbery

The title sounds like a Monty Python skit! It’s not. I walked into the garden this morning and realized I had become accustomed to the wild, colorful shrubs common in South Florida. I decided to share a few. To see more SOS garden posts follow this link to Jim’s blog.

The larger, very colorful shrub is ‘Piecrust’ Croton (Codiaeum variegatum). The edges of the leaves look like a crimped pie crust. The flowering shrub in the foreground is Dwarf Red Ixora, butterflies love this plant and it blooms frequently to the point I almost get tired of it. Almost.

A stalwart shrub in the garden, Thyrallis (Galphimia glauca). I have wondered what Thyrallis means, it seems such a strange thing to call a plant. The only reference I could find said it is Greek for wick. Further confusing me. It is a bulletproof shrub in my garden, living in an unirrigated area and living off of mostly rainwater. It blooms late summer to fall.

This is a Spinach Tree, also called Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) A tree full of spinach! Only in South Florida. Actually, it is from Mexico and a tropical vegetable. It is poisonous unless you know how to cook it. I am told it tastes like spinach and reacts badly (toxic badly) with copper bottomed pans (like I use) so I have never tried it. I planted it for butterflies and they love the flowers.

Another Croton. This one is called ‘Mammey’ and is reliably dwarf at about three feet. Making it great for foundation planting. I have seen this planted in front of a house painted orange. It was a bit much.

The very tasteful ‘Java White’ Copperleaf (Acalphya wilkesiana) backdrop for my concrete greyhound. This shrub grows like mad. I would estimate I cut about eight feet a year off. How tall it would get without pruning is anyone’s guess.

Last, but not least, the ‘no gardening’ zone next to my compost heap. Ironically, probably the prettiest grouping of reseeded Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in the garden.

That’s all from my garden this Saturday. Happy Gardening !!!

In a Vase on Monday – Summer’s Last Hurrah

It’s Labor Day, the holiday weekend that marks the end of summer. The plants in my garden are feeling the cumulative effects of summer and slowing down. The zinnias I have enjoyed cutting all summer are very capably catching all the fungal organisms Florida has to offer and displaying them on their foliage. The flowers are visibly smaller. It’s time for removal and renewal. The good news! All the seeds are on sale – the bad news, not everything I would like is available. I am making do by trying some new things and thankful I thought ahead a little and bought my favorite tomato seeds. Last year I had weird tomatoes due to poor timing. The tomatoes were good, just sort of oddly gigantic cherry sized fruit that was not quite red.

What’s in the vase:

Multi colored flowers at bottom of image are ‘Zin Master’ Zinnias; white daisies are Bidens alba; purple spikes are Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia) ; pink and white flowers are Vinca (Vinca rosea).

Yellow spikes are Thyrallis (Galpinia glauca); red, white and peach spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). The vase is a thrift store find.

There! A full color display of the summer dregs from my garden. Not bad, all things considered.

For a full late summer garden tour via vases follow this link to visit Cathy’s blog.

Six on Saturday – Seasonal Hints

Fall is something that must be searched for in my garden. The clues are fruits, berries and weeds going to seed. If a wider net is cast the mullet run can be seen in nearby waters. The mullet run happens when baitfish (mullet) start coming south for the winter, the predator fish go crazy and a lot of action can be seen in the water – fish jumping out the water by the hundreds. This has just started, but I always enjoy the sight.

I am joining the SOS crowd with six sights from my garden. To see what other gardeners have spied follow this link to Jim’s blog.

This is a ‘Lemonade’ Aechmea bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) The Blanchetiana is available in several fruity colors – raspberry, lemon, orange that reflect the color of the foliage. This is planted in front of a six foot fence. These are common in South Florida, I was startled by them at first sight.

Fruit on the Beautyberry (Calliocarpa Americana). The range of this plant always surprises me. It is native from South Florida to New England in the US.

Fruit on the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba). Birds enjoy the fruit and there are many seedlings around the garden emphasizing how much.

A few Rangpur limes are ripening. These are deep orange when ripe and usually aren’t ready until December. I think the tree is thinning its crop.

Coleus tree is looking a bit better.

Another bromeliad showing fall colors – Aechmea rubens. These have the same texture as straw flowers and last for months in the garden.

That’s all from my garden this Saturday.

Happy gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Prune, Plonk and Cheers

Rain has been my garden companion lately. Precipitation is a double edged sword in a South Florida garden. The desirable plants flourish – and so does everything else. Even the good stuff is growing in odd places. I cut the salvia from plants growing in the shell walkway to prevent reseeding, trimmed the Bougainvillea back so I wouldn’t get stabbed, then trimmed what appears to be a palmetto coming up in the driveway and deadheaded the Heliconia. This bounty was unceremoniously plonked into a monogrammed highball glass that belonged to my in-laws. A bottle of Scotch was added to toast.

Cheers to taming a small bit of the garden!

Closer views:

Red spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); orange flowers are Heliconia choconiana.

Red flowers are Heliconia psittacorum ‘Lady Di’; white flowers, ‘Miss Alice Bougainvillea; the palm is a Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) – this is a native shrub scale palm, I have no clue how it ended up in my driveway. A mystery to contemplate with a highball. At a later date, it is too hot for swilling Scotch in the garden.

That’s all from slightly less sweltering South Florida. Visit Cathy’s blog to view more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Spider Dancing

It’s the end of summer hot in South Florida. We had a cold front (ha!) come through with Hurricane Ernesto passing by – bringing the daily high down to a bone chilling 88 degrees F/ 31C. I cut flowers early Sunday morning taking advantage of a brief respite from humidity while simultaneously importing a number of green garden spiders into the house. I enjoyed watching the spiders go up and down the sides of the flowers like tiny window washers on a high rise. I am hoping these spiders eat ants as they have tired of the heat as well and are coming inside.

Spider hanging on for dear life.

My Zin Master Zinnias are still going great guns; sadly brown spots are setting in on the foliage. I think this is Mother Nature’s way of telling me to start some new seeds. Now is when seeds are started for winter herbs and veg. After jealously looking at summer tomatoes on other blogs I am looking forward to fresh herbs and vegetables. My favorite parsley collapsed last week.

Survivors of the summer – Zin Master Zinnias and Beach Daisies (Helianthus debilis).

More heat lovers. Red bells are Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformis); white daisies, Bidens alba; Asian Sword Ferns and a few sprigs of white native salvia (Salvia coccinea). The extremely rustic blue mug has the handle glued on – it’s one of those things I wonder why I keep, then I fill it with flowers and spiders and enjoy the color.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. To see more vases follow the link RamblingintheGarden and check out the comments.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Light My Fire

I must have been inspired by Cathy’s “Hunk of Burning Love” vase a couple of weeks ago when the title popped into my brain. I admit to loving The Doors and their iconic song “Light My Fire” from (gasp) 1967. This song has been haunting my consciousness for decades. I guess it’s the organ solo. My garden seems to be reflecting the mood, producing fiery flowers as summer winds down.

Some close ups, sans Jim Morrison.

I have been enjoying cutting Heliconias (Heliconia psittacorum) this summer in all their flaming glory; two varieties here – ‘Lady Di’ in red and yellow and ‘Choconiana’ in orange. The big leaf in the background is a Split Leaf Philodendron (Philodendron selloum).

Orange tubular flowers are, appropriately, Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens); red flowers with blue tips are Aechmea miniata bromeliads. The blue vase was a gift I have enjoyed tremendously over the years.

That’s all this Monday morning from scorching South Florida. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit Cathy and peruse vases via comment links.

Six on Saturday – Summer Survivors or Not

It has been a hot and humid week. I strolled the garden in search of plants surviving and thriving in the heat. There is always a surprise or two. I pulled a few weeds, but mostly noted that there are weeds – waiting patiently for their demise during cooler days.

To join the world wide SOS garden tours visit Jim at GardenRuminations

Neoregelia bromeliads are very reliable survivors here. There are so many varieties, I don’t know the names of these two. This one is just starting to flower, signaling the end of its life.

Another Neoregelia of unknown origin. I bought many of these at garage sales (nobody knows names at garage sales) as broms are absurdly expensive when nursery grown.

Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in white. These love summer rain and heat.

The coleus tree. I have pruned it again. The winds from Tropical Storm Debby knocked a woody branch off the side. It is surprising how woody the trunk is.

It has been a great year for butterflies. I have been lacking the patience to stand in the shrubbery and wait for them to pose. This is the state butterfly of Florida, Zebra Longwing. It is sipping nectar from a Chaya tree. Chaya is a tropical spinach that grows into a multi stemmed shrub. I thought it would grow 4 or 5 feet – this one is almost ten feet tall!

Here is the not survivor. My hopes were dashed for Dragon fruit yet again. Sigh.

That’s all from South Florida. Dreaming of cooler days and a dragonfruit from the garden.

In a Vase on Monday – New Summer Favorite

I am a fairly recent convert to Zinnia lover. It all started with a pack of Green Envy seed planted a few years ago to satisfy my desire for chartreuse cut flowers. I let the Envy go to seed and ended up with a new generation of greenish beige zinnias no one would envy so I bought some new seed. These are Zin Master Zinnias. They are living proof open pollinated seeds are what they are. These were advertised as a mixture of sizes, shapes and colors. The plants are prolific, all about three feet tall, and produce enough flowers that I cut a Vase every other day. The colors and flower size are the only things that are mixed.

My feelings are not mixed. These zinnias are my new summer favorites. For some reason, I have never grown zinnias in summer. I have them in containers – the ones that get the full brunt of South Florida summer sun are producing the most flowers. I am in awe and fully intend to grow more. Stay tuned.

A closer view:

The flowers are Zin Master Zinnias; purple foliage is Purple Prince Alternanthera; A bit of chartreuse coleus and some Asian Sword Ferns complete the vase. The crystal vase was a gift from my dearly departed brother.

I just found a few bags of seed starting potting mix on my front porch….fall zinnias should be appearing in a couple of months. And a few other things.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to her blog to see more vases.

Six on Saturday – Formations

Tropical Depression Four formed over Cuba this week, my phone tells me it is 365 miles away. I could feel the wind and caught the scent of the ocean in the air first thing this morning. The storm is headed for the West coast of Florida, so here on the East coast we should get ‘some rain’. It is already pouring down and the weather guessers are madly issuing proclamations. A social media search for the Weather Channel host is usually the best indicator of where the storm will hit. The Jim Cantore effect. I haven’t seen him yet.

I think a dragonfruit formed in my garden this week. This is much more exciting than a tropical storm. For more SOS garden tours, follow this link to Jim’s blog.

The dragonfruit bud. These are a night blooming cactus native to Central America. They are also called Pitaya. This one has been sort of languishing in the garden for several years. Last year I had one flower and no fruit. This year, three flowers and perhaps one fruit!

The flower. These last for one night and must be viewed early in the morning.

The (fingers crossed) fruit. The others turned completely yellow or brown.

One that didn’t make it.

More local avocados:

I’m still enjoying zinnias daily. This red one is a favorite.

Happy Saturday gardening to all!