Tag Archives: six on saturday

Six on Saturday – Food Dreaming

It is another windy, overcast day in South Florida. We seem to be attracting cold fronts every Friday night, they pass through with rain or not, then leave clouds and wind in their wake. The fruits and vegetables in the garden are ambling along towards creating edibles, just not quite fast enough for me.

Mexican Papayas grown from seed harvested from fruit I bought. These are almost big enough to transplant into the garden. I have three because Papayas can be male, female or hermaphrodite. Obviously, you hope for hermaphrodite. I have no idea what variety the fruit was, and I don’t think Papayas are true to seed. We shall soon see. Papayas don’t live long and are considered herbs rather than trees. They are known to produce fruit within 9 months of planting. I think the last one I had produced fruit for 2 or 3 years.

Cherry tomatoes taunting me. I think these are the Lost Marbles variety as they look pretty stripey. I never label vegetables as the labels tend to fail and I only grow cherry tomatoes.

Red Bell Peppers just setting fruit. These are the classic thick walled Bell Peppers. I had thin walled heirloom peppers last year, good but weird. I am looking forward to these.

Tiny mangoes have formed on the Glenn and Nam Doc Mai Mango trees. Supposedly it takes 100 days from formation to harvest. I hope these make it. I have been cutting powdery mildew infested flowers off the Glenn and that will ruin the flowers and fruit.

My favorite, Genovese Basil, grown from seed. I am trying not to eat too much of this.

Another herb I love, Giant of Italy Parsley. It has an intense parsley flavor and lasts for two years here. I grow it from seed every two years or when necessary, sometimes the Swallowtail butterflies eat it. My favorite use of this is a Marcella Hazan inspired celery salad with fresh celery, Parmesan strips, olive oil and pepper. Mmmm.

Thanks to Jim at gardenruminations.uk.co for hosting SOS. Follow the link to see what is going on in gardens from the world over.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Future Fruits & Feathered Friends

It is an overcast, cool and breezy Saturday in South Florida. The raptors (Hawks, Eagles or Turkey Vultures) are flying lazy circles over my garden. I can’t tell which one unless they slow down. The Eagles are usually solitary, but the Vultures and Hawks will fly with friends. There were two overhead this morning. They are difficult to catch with the camera and the quality of the image reflects that, but it also captures the mood of the day here.

I am finally seeing some flower action in the garden. My first Zinnia bloomed this week. Surprisingly pink. Cactus Zinnias are my favorite.

Cherry tomatoes started flowering this week. I think this must be the Lost Marbles variety, which is new to me and seems to be the first to flower in both groups of tomatoes. I am a lazy labeler, waiting for the fruits to tell what kind of tomato they are. Hopefully it will set fruit. It has been cool enough for tomatoes not to set fruit this week.

Two out of three of the Mango trees sent up buds this week. They look promising, although I have found with these trees looks can be deceiving. Last year, a bit earlier, the trees started to flower and as soon the flowers were open it became very windy and only one fruit was produced from all those flowers. Mangoes are wind pollinated and if it is too windy all the pollen gets blown away and there is little fruit. God is in the details, as always. Below is a Condo Mango “Pickering”. This is a type of Mango selected to be grown on the porch of a Condo and kept under six feet tall in a container. The fruit is yummy, I am hoping for a good harvest this year.

This is a Glenn Mango, a bigger tree topping out at 30 feet. Another tasty one. And I have had two whole fruits! We bought this in honor of my late Father in Law, Glenn, who would have loved the fruit. The flowers do look very different. My third Mango tree is a Nam Doc Mai, a Thai variety known for flowering up to four times a year. This one is not flowering at all!

Another far away bird picture, but typical of my garden. I looked out the window and thought “who put a white pillowcase in the front yard?” Then realized it was a White Heron. These are spectacular birds, about four feet tall, they pass through fairly regularly eating insects and grubs. Fiona the greyhound does not know what to think of them as they are taller than she is.

That completes my Six from South Florida this Saturday. To visit more gardens via SOS follow the link http://gardenruminations.uk.com and say hello to our host, Jim.

Happy Gardening!!!

Six on Saturday – January Teasers

I am joining the SOS gang this morning with Six items of interest from my garden; focusing on the unusual for January and things I am looking forward to seeing again. Or for the first time. To see more SOS posts visit Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk

January can be a wonderful gardening month in South Florida. Like everywhere in the world, we have our trials. This year it has been cold weather. I believe it is possible to grow Zinnias year round here, but haven’t worked out the seed planting schedule. Above is my first bud, on an ‘Envy’ Zinnia.

Ranunculus sprouting. I have never lived anywhere these would grow. Somewhere I read they can be grown as cut flowers in the winter here – then I ran across a really cheap bag of bulbs at an end of summer sale. Then the bulbs sat in my living room for months along with an end of season bag of Dahlias. Then I forgot about them. Upon discovering the extraordinarily desiccated bulbs; I debated throwing them away or just throwing them in a pot. Two out of three of the Dahlias had turned to dust. The bulbs were thrown into a pot and watered – a lot. And here they are. I am hoping to see some Ranunculus flowers. The Dahlia that hadn’t turned to dust remains incognito.

Alcanterea odorata Bromeliad grown from grass pups. These are big (3 feet across), very showy, grey bromeliads that are grown in full sun. A friend sent me five grass pups a couple of years ago. Four were lost to squirrels and this one took and is just starting to show grey coloration.

Florida Gardenias (Tabernaemontana divericata) in January? This is strange, even in South Florida. This is usually a deciduous, winter dormant Gardenia that blooms all summer.

Dragonfruit cactus is finally making its presence known. This has been in the garden for years. Probably 7. I planted a lot of fruit in 2016. These tend to grow up for a while and then horizontal like this to produce fruit. I would be happy to see a flower. And happier to eat a Pitaya.

More cruel Zinnias teasing me. These are Apricot Profusion. Very happy in the heat and very unhappy in the cold. I am hoping to plant these out next week and coax them into happiness.

That is all from my garden this week.

Happy Gardening!!!

Six on Saturday – Cool Exotics

It’s another cool Saturday morning in South Florida. A bit windy and the temperature is hovering around 40 degrees F (4 C). I finally got the nerve to go out and check on my tomatoes and pepper plants, left uncovered overnight. They look shivery. A few of the less cold tolerant plants were invited indoors last night. I have found basil and zinnia seedlings do not enjoy being too cool. I am joining Jim and the SOS gang to share what cool exotics are currently in color in my garden. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.gardenruminations.uk.co.

The flower of the Candy Portea Bromeliad. This is a medium sized Bromeliad with very sharp foliage that reliably flowers every winter in nearly full shade. I think it started showing color in late November.

Another Bromeliad – McWilliamsii Neoregelia, also called Blushing Bromeliad. These show red coloration during the winter and have green mottled foliage during warm weather. They are 2 – 3 feet wide and are quite showy. Below is the flower, reminiscent of a rosebud.

The China Hat (Holmskioldia sanguinea) continues to flower. I like the coloration going towards chartreuse as the flower ages.

Another winter stalwart, the Quesnelia testudo Bromeliad. I have heard native Floridians call these the tulips of South Florida. I think these are a bit burned from the holiday cold weather. They are usually more purple at the tips.

Number Six today is a flowering tree. This is a White Geiger flower. Cordia boissieri is a medium sized evergreen tree with an odd branching habit that I have been puzzling over how to prune for quite a while. Tropical trees have weird twisting habits and need to be sorted. This one remains an unsorted blob. Sigh.

Here’s to warmer days in the garden!

Six on Saturday – Some Success

A brilliant blue sky awaited this morning as I trundled out to view my seedlings. Despite a cold setback in December, things are coming along nicely at long last. A few successes and a few losses greeted the gardener. Situation – back to whatever passes for normal in South Florida.

Meet my only surviving rooted cutting of Mystic Blue Salvia. I am very proud and happy to have one more. I started with two plants, one passed on last year and the other has been flowering nearly non-stop since March 2021. I took six cuttings and only one took. I would love to know why?

I moved the Zinnia seedlings to a bigger pot to allow them to grow cut flowers. During all the jostling around plants with the freeze all the tags were lost, so I have to wait for the flowers to see what colors are left. About half of the Zinnias succumbed to the cold, dying at the base of the stem.

All the Dwarf “Sunspot” Sunflower seedlings made it through the cold. I covered them with a pillow case for two days. I am not sure what the other seedlings are though I am suspecting weeds.

This is a new variety of big red bell pepper, I have a couple of plants that are doing well. Last year I had heirloom South American peppers, designed for the heat. They were a bit weird, so this year I am trying the classic bell pepper. Hopefully, getting enough water on them.

Tomatoes, finally back in the garden. These are all cherry tomatoes. Lost Marbles, Sweet 100 and Yellow Pear, I think. Started from seed about a month ago. I have downsized to six plants this year. Last year I had nine and was overrun with tomatoes for a long time. The containers are all grow bags, reused from last year. The bamboo sticks are squirrel abatement. I have an idiot neighbor who feeds the squirrels peanuts – this gives them a maniacal urge to dig up any nearby container with nice soil and plants. This guy is obviously not a gardener and set to poison the universe in the name of lawn. Sigh.

The massive (bahahaha) culinary Ginger harvest. I watered this plant all summer and got two roots. The cost of the water probably exceeded the value of the Ginger at the supermarket. Unless these are phenomenally delicious, I won’t bother again.

That is my Six update. To see more SOS posts from the world over visit Jim at http://www.gardenruminations.co.uk.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Recovering for the New Year

I did not post last week as, for the first time in my blogging history, it was too cold to go outside. Most of Florida experienced the coldest Christmas in 30 years. On the Treasure Coast we had temperatures in the mid 30s (close to 0 C) with a cold north wind coming off the Atlantic. Ordinarily our average low is 40 F (4.4 C).

Above is a Mammey Croton, these are notoriously cold sensitive and true to form, it is dropping leaves. Advice on this is to leave it alone and they will grow back with warmer weather. It had not occurred to me to cover it. The orchids I thought about covering, but didn’t are fine as is another Croton. This one may get a bit more wind.

Below is Miss Alice Bougainvillea, burned by the cold, and currently ‘snowing’ white bracts. This is already coming back nicely.

I am fortunate to have gotten off to a late start on planting seeds. Earlier in December, I planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, sunflowers, papayas, Chinese forget me nots and a few types of zinnias. The plants were just getting big enough to pot up when the cold hit. They spent a few days in the bathtub of our guest bathroom. I was surprised to see some cold damage on the zinnia seedlings and grew some pink slime mold on the surface of the potting mix. This pink stuff had me scratching my head for a bit, did I lose a Pepto Bismol tablet somehow? An internet search revealed the pink slime mold, I have only seen the dog vomit version of this in shades of yellow.

The seedlings. I have Lost Marbles, Black Cherry and Sweet 100 tomatoes and two red bell pepper plants. I gave up on big tomatoes a few years ago and usually have bumper crops of cherry tomatoes. Lost Marbles is a good name for this past year! I am letting these recover a bit before potting them up, hoping for Valentine’s tomatoes.

More seedlings. The zinnias seem to be recovering, though I lost several. I think a cast iron bathtub on the north wall might be colder that I thought it would be. The three seedlings in the second row are papayas grown from two Mexican Papayas we ate this fall. (I have been making Papaya Coconut cupcakes). It takes about a year to get fruit from a seedling if you get a hermaphrodite plant (with self pollinating flowers) Time will tell on these papaya seedlings; they can be male, female or hermaphrodite.

An unusual sight, but not around here. I took my dog to the vet (a neighbor’s Rottweiler bit her! she is doing well). Near the vet’s office is the former estate of Frances Langford, a movie star from fifty years ago. She kept a flock of peacocks and their descendants are still around today. There were about twenty of them, hens and peacocks. Not a great picture, but I always enjoy seeing them. Fiona the greyhound was puzzled.

That is my six from warmer South Florida. It is 84 F (28 C) today and I am grateful for the warmth. To see more posts, visit our host, Jim at gardenruminations.co.uk

Happy New Year and Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Porch Pots

Winter is the prime gardening season in South Florida. It is time to start vegetables, herbs and flowers and move back outside. The temps have been in the high 70s (F, 25C), the humidity has dissipated for the most part and there is a nice, refreshing breeze coming off the Atlantic. I replaced all my porch cushions, easier said than done, and have been adding pots to complete the space.

The group from above.

This is a Billbergia Bromeliad. I am not sure which one. I bought it at our local farmer’s market, so it is likely from nearby. The container is antique Portmerion, one of my favorites.

A bowl of Bromeliads and Succulents. The Bromeliads are Fireball Neoregelias. The succulents in grey, Graptosedum; the others are types of Sedum, I think.

What I started with for the bowl. The cuttings are placed in the soil and resting on the edges of the bowl. I topped everything with orchid bark to hide the pots.

A gift from a neighbor, the Pink Star Calathea. These will grow in the garden here, but need more water that I can reasonably provide, so they stay on the porch.

Tomato, pepper and zinnia seedlings on the sunnier porch. My attempt at rooting Mystic Blue Salvia resulted in a 1 out 6 success, I think. I have Papaya, Parsley, Dill and Chinese Forget Me Nots nearby. A mysterious animal took my ID stickers and ate a few seeds.

That’s all from South Florida this December Saturday. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.gardenruminations.co.uk

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – The Hurricane Report

I am joining the SOS crowd after a rare event, a November hurricane – the third one to occur since the mid 1800s. If you look at the map above – where the red line hits the east coast of Florida, that’s my house. The hurricane, named Nicole, made landfall as a Category 1 (min 70 mph winds) at 3 am Thursday morning about 30 miles north. We all slept through it, the dog included. The hurricane was immediately downgraded to a tropical storm after landfall. I would guess we might have had 50 mph wind gusts, the damage minimal.

Floridians generally scoff at Category One hurricanes. The problem is you never really know where the thing is going to end up and the wind field on this one was so huge it was difficult to drive away from it. The wind kicked up Monday afternoon and continued until Thursday. We put up our storm shutters just in case, my husband is currently outside, grumbling and taking down the shutters.

A scattering of debris from Sabal Palms.

My Rangpur Lime tree is bent over. I guess I should tie it up to the fence to straighten it up? Lime trees are quite thorny and this is almost leaning into the pathway.

Miss Alice Bougainvillea was knocked off her column.

Further north, close to the ocean and rivers, people weren’t so lucky. This hurricane hit during a full moon and at fall king tide time, so the water was already high and the storm surge was 3 to 5 feet. The Daytona Beach area was also hit hard by Hurricane Ian, 43 days before. Some of the houses damaged by Ian fell into the ocean with this additional insult. These images are what you are seeing on the news.

The barrier island protecting us had quite a bit of flooding and an native American burial ground on the beach was unearthed; it will be interesting to learn how old the skulls are found on the beach.

A few images from further north:

Wind and water damage from further north.

Thanks to Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/ for hosting Six on Saturday. To see more posts, follow the link.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – The Far Side of South Florida

I am joining the SOS crowd today with our new host, Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/. Follow the link to see more SOS posts! Thank you to Jim for taking on this task.

I have been ruminating about the odd nature of some of the plants in my garden. There are aspects of my garden that remind me of The Far Side cartoons. Below is a Pencil Cactus (Euphorbia tirucalli) standing sentinel by my side door. I kept thinking this thing would snap in a high wind, but it hasn’t.

Another novelty plant in the garden, Coral Plant (Jatropha multifida). These look oddly like a multi stem marijuana plant, but in reality are deadly poisonous and the flowers are a great butterfly attractor. These are planted in a narrow spot between the house and driveway.

The Coral Plant flower. It looks like a coral from the ocean..

The caudex of a Desert Rose (Adenium obesum). I have several around the garden. This one has the most interesting trunk. These are native to the Arabian Peninsula and grow quite large.

Buds on the Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscue arboreum). I was poised above this with the pruning shears when I realized how many buds were there!

The super tropical Palm accent is a gift from a passing bird. It’s the seedling of a Chinese Fan Palm (Livinstonia chinensis) This is about 8 or 10 feet tall and has been in the garden for the past 10 years. The trees get much bigger. It has been surprising to me how slowly palm trees grow.

That’s my Six for this Saturday. Maybe I should take up garden cartooning??

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Fall Food for Thought

I am joining the SOS crowd today seeking signs of fall in my garden. South Florida is not noted for obvious seasonal changes – however, there are autumnal signs if you look hard enough. To see more posts about fall, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

There are trees and shrubs that produce fruit in the fall. The hungry migrating birds are just starting to show up as the fruit matures. This is the fruit of the Gumbo Limbo tree (Bursera simaruba). It ripens to red and then bronze. Then there are a zillion seedlings.

I was surprised the first time it happened. The Pleomele (Dracaena reflexa) flowered, and then it produced fruit. There is a bird that bangs on the window after it eats the fruit for some reason. I have never seen Dracaena seedlings although it is easy to grow from cuttings.

Wild Coffee (Psychotria nervosa) occurs naturally in my garden. I have read that you can roast and use the seeds for a coffee like beverage, but it is not recommended or caffeinated and related to medicinal plants that can make you sick. Best left to the birds.

I spied a Mockingbird enjoying the Beautyberries (Calliocarpa americana) at long last. He or she did not hang around for a photo session. Mockingbirds are winter visitors here.

Martin Bromeliads (Neoregelia ‘Martin’) starting to show their fall colors. They are yellow and green in summer and change to deep red by winter.

For a final tropical touch, my ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea is showing off for fall. Who knows why?

That is all from South Florida.

Happy Gardening!!