Tag Archives: Blue Porterweed

In a Vase on Monday – Tropinative.

Tropinative is a word I invented (I think) to describe what plants inhabit my garden. I like tropicals and native plants, a lot of color and texture and plants that appeal to pollinators. I dislike anything that requires a lot of water, lawn, pesticides, herbicides and I really like plants that live without too much drama. This is how my front garden ended up with a native Turkeytangle Frogfruit (lawn) and a Bromeliad border on one side with an English cottage style perennial border on the other side. Kind of mind boggling.

This vase accurately reflects what easily grows here. I haven’t made much effort to water any of it – I think it has been two weeks since it rained. I water herbs and other touchy flowers. The amount of water necessary for a decent lawn in South Florida is appalling.

The vase is a thrift store find I have enjoyed. Here’s what is in the vase – the tropicals.

Purple flower with pink stems is a Portea ‘Candy’ Bromeliad; the white flowers are Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata); rough textured stems and foliage with little blue flowers are Blue Porterweed (Stachytarpeta jamaicaensis)

Mostly natives are in the top of the vase:

The natives in the vase are: in pink clouds, Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris); off white spikes are Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa); ferns are Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata). Non native, varigated foliage is Tasmanian Flax Lily (Dianella tasmanica).

The Gardenia and Juba Bush have scented the foyer with a lovely floral fragrance. It makes traversing through the front door more enjoyable.

That is all from South Florida this Monday. I was on GardenRant last year, this is my rant for this year! Use less water.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. Follow this link to see more vases from gardeners around the world. ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

In a Vase on Monday – Muhly Blues

The Muhly Grass in my garden started sending up feathery pink spires this week. This is one of my fall favorites and I keep adding more to the garden. They reseed a bit and every plant gets moved to a new spot. I realized recently I am running out of spots and should stop before there is too much Muhly. Or I could add some drifts further back in the yard….can one ever have too much Muhly?

A closer view:

The pink is Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) – a Florida native that thrives in my garden; the deep blue flowers are Blue Porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) having a banner year; light blue flowers are from Arabian Lilac (Vitx trifolia); white Sweet Almond (Aloysia virgata) adds some fragrance and graceful Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa) sways with the Muhly Grass.

Bountiful Blue Porterweed:

Another reason for the Muhly Blues. Alan the Greyhound, tail wagging, went over the Rainbow Bridge this week. The Rainbow Bridge is my favorite euphemism as I love the thought of all my departed Greyhounds waiting at the end of the bridge to join Alan in a joyful run into happy infinity…

Happy Gardening and thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly meme. Go visit Cathy and see a world of vases.