Tag Archives: senecio

In a Vase on Monday – Strange Brew

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Behold my all time favorite coffee mug. The handle broke some years ago and I cannot bring myself to throw it away. It lurks around the house holding one thing or another. Today it is a vase holding an unusual array of flowers.

Not quite all of them are flowers. I like to throw in a succulent from time to time and January is a really good time as cutting flowers are few and far between. I planted seeds for zinnias and rudbeckias in November or so and they were consumed by something. Whatever ate the flowers did not eat the herbs. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around that and come up with Plan B..

What’s the strange brew in my coffee mug?

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The pink flower is a Bromeliad, Quesnelia testudo, sometimes referred to as the tulip of South Florida. Grey rosettes are Graptosedum, a succulent. The green foliage and flower is another succulent, Senecio barbertonicus. The Senecio flowers open for a short time and then make fuzzy seedheads. This plant is terribly poisonous, so brewing it would be a very bad idea!

That is all from my garden this Monday. Doing a rain dance here, showers are possible. Our rain totals are down about 10 inches from normal.

Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit our host, Cathy and follow links to vases from other gardens.

Happy Monday!

Six on Saturday – Winter Interest & Green Bees

Well, it is time for another garden tour. We are having the rainiest El Nino winter I have ever experienced in Florida. I was in the garden for an hour or so this morning and now it is pouring down rain yet again. We are molding slowly. To join the worldwide tour visit Jim at gardenruminations.co.uk and follow the links posted in the comments section to other gardens.

The green bee! This is a green orchid bee, they arrived in Florida about 20 years ago from Central America. I don’t think these are especially bad in terms of non native insects and enjoy seeing them around the garden. This one is enjoying a sip of Mystic Spires Salvia nectar. This was a lucky shot. These bees are difficult to photograph.

This is a nice surprise. I think it is Senecio vitalis. I did not think this succulent would grow out in the garden due to too much moisture from rain. They have been in a pot on a covered porch for a few years and have gotten too big. I rooted a few cuttings over the summer and planted them in the garden a few months ago. They are thriving and getting a lot of moisture, I suppose the sugar sand is so well drained they like it. Time will tell.

A white oxalis in flower. A friend’s grandmother filched this from a garden in Ireland in the 1950s. It must grow everywhere.

Lotusleaf Begonias (Begonia nelumbiifolia) are enjoying the abundant moisture. I am not sure what is eating the leaves. I have never seen a slug here but we do have snails.

Ti Plant (Cordyline fruticosa) It has taken a few years for this plant to develop the hot pink coloration. It was solid green for a long time. I thought I had a cheesy cultivar. Maybe not. Patience rewards the gardener.

Foliage detail on a Pie Crust Croton (Codieum variegatum) leaf. One of my favorites and a real splash of color in the garden.

That’s all from my garden this Saturday. Wishing everyone Happy Gardening or Happy Seed Catalog Reading. It is a good afternoon for that here.