Tag Archives: IAVOM

In a Vase on Monday – Fall with a Tropical Twist

We actually experienced some temperatures in the 70s (21C) without rain. So refreshing and a prelude to fall in South Florida. It wasn’t 70 for very long! I decided on an autumnal color palette for this week’s vase and set out into the garden, pruners in hand. I have already made one batch of pumpkin maple cupcakes (Pumpkin is a favorite ingredient in fall cooking in the US) The cupcakes were devoured but they didn’t inspire fall to arrive sooner!

The vase ingredients:

Yellow flowers are from the shrub, Thyrallis (Galphimia glauca) Bell shaped red flowers are a Firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis) Red and yellow flowers are “Lady Di” Heliconia (H. psittacorum) Orange tubular flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens)

The temperatures are back up in the 90s…time for more cupcakes!

Thanks to Cathy of RamblingintheGarden for hosting IAVOM. Follow the link to visit.

In a Vase on Monday – No Fat Lady, Yet.

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I keep thinking the last summer zinnia has been cut and then more materialized. The fat lady did not sing, just yet. I am wondering if this is an American saying meaning, more or less, not quite finished or if it is used elsewhere. I thought it came from Yogi Berra, an American icon and baseball coach, who also said “it ain’t over til it’s over”. Then, I read about a Wagnerian opera where Brunnhilde (apparently a large woman) sings at the end. I suppose opera is a bit more cultural than baseball and the latter is the most likely source.

More things to ponder while weeding.

The vase details:

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Repeat offenders from last week in pink, ZinMaster Zinnias and Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus). White flowers are “Miss Alice” Bougainvillea, a few Sweet Begonias (B. odorata “Alba”) and Salvia coccinea. The foliage is Turkeytangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) it has little white flowers as well. Yellow flowers are Golden Thyrallis (Galphimia glauca) The vase is a cobalt blue bowl.

It’s still raining here and slowly cooling off. Slowly is the operative word. I have tiny papayas in the garden and the tomato seedlings are up. Winter is forecast as cooler and wetter. It’s usually our dry season, so it should be interesting to see how gardening goes.

Thanks to Cathy for conceiving and continuing to host IAVOM. Visit her blog by following this link to see more vases http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

In a Vase on Monday – September Crazy Quilt

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September brings all types of flowers to my garden. I cut several varieties and slipped (plonked) them into a mason jar. A crazy quilt is the most apt description I could come up with for this array of very different flowers. This jar reflects late summer in my South Florida garden. The selection runs from very tropical bromeliad flowers to the more familiar cottage garden stalwarts, the Salvias.

Bromeliads flower year round in the tropics, but I think summer is the peak; some lasting for months. I have at least five in flower, mostly Aechmeas from Brazil. The odd man out is in the vase, Billbergia pyramidalis, common name Flaming Torch or Hurricane Flower. Last week was the peak of hurricane season (which has been blessedly quiet) So I think either name is appropriate.

The close up:

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The patchwork of colors include: Hurricane Flower (Billbergia pyramidalis) in pink. ‘Mystic Blue’ Salvia, the blue spike. The final pink zinnia of the summer. Yellow spikey flower is a side shoot of a much larger flower from ‘Pinot Noir’ Aechmea Bromeliad. White Sweet Begonias (B. odorata) hang over the edge of the jar. The yellow flower in the center is a side shoot from ‘Little Harv’ Aechmea Bromeliad. A few white Salvia (S. coccinea) are in the back with Asian Sword Ferns and Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) in pink.

That’s all from my garden this Monday. Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Visit her blog http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Zinnia Finale

This has been a glorious summer for zinnias. Heat, humidity and generous downpours have provided a bouquet of pink zinnias weekly. The plants seem to know (the weather doesn’t) this is the last official weekend of summer and the flowers are getting smaller by the day. I am getting a bit tired of pink and just planted some Green ‘Envy’ and ‘Aurora’ zinnia seeds. We shall see what colors fall brings when the plants get going.

One of many bouquets from the garden this summer. The plants are easily four feet tall with 1/2 inch thick stems.

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This weeks mix. The yellow leaves and spikey flowers are from ‘Java White’ Copperleaf (Acalphya wilkesiana ‘Java White – a large tropical shrub that has returned with a vengeance from our February freeze. Pink viney flowers are from Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) currently growing in the very thorny lime tree, causing a pruning dilemma. Zin Master Zinnias in pink. Coral and white Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) and a few invasive ferns for foliage. The container is from an orchid gift from a neighbor. I think I killed the orchid…oops.

Happy Labor Day to those celebrating and a big thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Follow this link to see more vases http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

In a Vase on Monday – End of Summer Grace

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It’s been a while since I have joined IAVOM. I unintentionally took the summer off. While it has been dreadfully hot this summer, the reason I have remained indoors is primarily because I am recovering from brain surgery the first week of July. The grace – I am alive and well and haven’t lost any more marbles! The weather is cooling ever so slightly and I have done a bit of gardening and ordered seeds for fall tomatoes. We had a very rainy summer and plants good and bad went wild, lots to do this fall.

The vase is filled with Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum “Lady Di” in red and “Choconiana” in orange) These produce flowers nearly year round – when it rains. One of my favorite tropical flowers.

The foliage is from Asparagus ferns (Asparagus densiflorus) These are dreadfully invasive in South Florida and very difficult to eradicate. I did not realize the flowers were so attractive and fragrant to boot. The bees were angry when I cut them, but I am hopeful I saved the universe from a few unruly ferns by cutting them for a vase.

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That’s all from my garden this week. I look forward to reconnecting with everyone this fall.

Visit Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Solstice Special

This is a hot color special in honor of the summer solstice. I must have some Three Bears issues about day length. I don’t like them too long like they are now – but I especially dislike them too short, like they are at the winter solstice. The question is what is just right? I need to find Goldilocks..

It had not crossed my mind until today that the Lobsterclaw Heliconia are usually in sync with the solstice, the flowers always start appearing after mid June. I think they like the day length.

It is blistering hot here as predicted by the purveyors of the El Nino weather phenomenon. High temperatures in the low 90s (33 C) feels like 101 (38C). We have been getting extensive evening thunderstorms so the plants are thriving. I have been moving orchids around in the trees, they are loving the heat and humidity and rooting into the bark quickly. It’s interesting to watch. I installed 2 types of orchids in a mango tree this week – it doesn’t get more tropical than that!

The red, yellow and green flower is a Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata). Red hots flower is from the Aechmea miniata bromeliad. Multicolored foliage is Piecrust Croton (Codieum variegatum) Trimmed palm frond is a Cabbage Palm (Palmetto sabal)

That is all from my garden this Monday. Reclining in air conditioned comfort seems like the best plan..though I did manage to plant another batch of zinnia seeds!

Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and follow the links to see more vase creations.

In a Vase on Monday – A Plonk & The Photo Shoot

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I’ve been plonking my zinnias into glass jars as they appear and enjoying them by the kitchen sink. I cut the stems at the lowest point on the plant to encourage more flowers. The V shape of the flowers is a happy coincidence of different stem lengths.

I decided to elevate my Plonk by adding Asparagus ferns and Juba Bush flowers.

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I like the colors of these Zinnias .. orangey fuchsia red! I think.

Cathy asked me to fill you in on the photo shoot in my garden a couple of weeks ago. It was actually a lot of fun. A lovely young couple appeared at my door. She was the photographer and he was the stylist.

Of course, it was pouring down rain!

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It had not rained in weeks, we were 24″ low for rain in a year and the skies opened when the photographer arrived.

The magazine is Homecooked a food and travel magazine. They found me by reading my blog and asked for dessert recipes using fruit from my garden. They wanted to take pictures of the garden and the kitchen and dessert. We started talking about a sour orange pie and ended up with vegan mango filled cupcakes with mango buttercream frosting. I warned the editor I would bake rustic desserts!

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Staging the cupcakes in the kitchen:

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The rain let up a bit and we went outside and my husband and I were photographed eating cupcakes in the garden. She took a lot of photos of the soggy garden that I will be really interested to see!

The magazine will be out in September. I left some ‘fall’ leaves and rakes around for autumnal ambiance. LOL. In South Florida.

I will share whatever appears and hopefully love it. Until then, visit Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Summer Transplants

Suddenly it’s 90 degrees! 32 Celsius sounds so much cooler. However you take your temperature, it’s hot. The garden is responding in kind and producing hot colors.

I performed a swallowtail butterfly caterpillar rescue while cutting flowers for the vase. The dill has been going to seed and I witnessed a beautiful lady swallowtail butterfly laying eggs on the dill. So did several lizards lurking nearby. The tiny caterpillars had hatched and were just starting to devour the dill when I cut the flowers. The cats were relocated to a parsley far away from the lurking lizards. I’m enjoying the dill flowers and I hope the caterpillars are enjoying the parsley. I did not realize how much parsley I had planted and it all came up! Happy to share with the swallowtails and I hope I see a few more.

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Success! The caterpillars have easily doubled in size from when I moved them. I am wondering how much parsley they can eat.

A closer view of the vase:

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There are two kinds of orange tubular flowers. The lower flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens). The upper are Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera). Long red flowers are Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreum, depending on who you ask) Red spikes are Salvia coccinea. Dill flowers, of course and the creamy spikes are from Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa)

Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly meme. Visit her blog at MoreVases to see more vases!

In a Vase on Monday – Zinnias, Actually

After several false starts in 2026, I am pleased to post my first zinnias of the year! I usually have zinnias much earlier than this, nearly year round. I think they were worth the wait. The longest stemmed flowers I have ever grown. As usual, no clue why!

The first batch of seeds I planted – frozen. The second – eaten by unknown varmints. The third time was the charm. I have planted so many zinnia seeds, I am not sure what these are. ZinMaster, I think. I really wanted Cactus Zinnias, but I think I have gone through all those seeds

The closer view:

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The vase is a jar that held specialty tea. The small green flowers at the base are seed heads from Pentas, an annual flower, I am not sure what kind. Creamy white flowers are from Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). Ferns are from the invasive Asian Sword Fern.

Simple pleasures from the garden.

Thank you to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to visit her garden and see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – A Paloma Posey

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More than 30 years ago….my parents went to Mexico. I know this because when they returned, I received this bird, a Paloma, with strict instructions from my mother. It was a dove “a symbol of love and fidelity in Mexican culture”. I had recently married when I received this gift and after the Mexico trip my parents went through a Paloma phase. I had not realized it was also a cocktail!! It is difficult to picture my father drinking tequila with grapefruit soda..but maybe it happened?! There was some parental giggling about tequila. Hmm.

My parents have been gone for over 15 years. This little bird always brings a smile to my face. It resides in my kitchen with the cookbooks, so I see it often. The flowers reflect the colors in the Paloma.

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The orange flowers on top are ‘Dwarf Maui Red’ Ixora, a shrub. The orange tubes are Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) Blue and white spikes are Salvia, White Flame and Mystic Blue. The blue flowers are Plumbago auriculata. The little white vase had a tiny orchid in it that is still floating around the front garden.

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The Paloma. Still standing sentinel over my cook books, decades later. I can only hope my parents are enjoying a grapefruit cocktail in the great beyond.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to see more vases.