Tag Archives: six on saturday

Six on Saturday – Winter Veg

This is not actually Winter Veg, it’s Muhly Grass growing next to the Winter Veg and hard to resist.

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Here is the Winter Vegetable Garden, the first half just coming up. It is too hot in South Florida in summer for many vegetables to pollinate. I have Tomatoes, Snow Peas, Radishes, Carrots, Green Beans and Cilantro.

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Papayas. I have Avocado and Lime trees in the garden, if they were old enough they would have fruit at this time of year. Two years to go on those trees, it takes five years from seed.

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The Pineapple patch, no pineapples yet. And the feature dead solar pathway light.

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More seeds coming up, Cactus Zinnias, Winter Flowers not Veg.

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The seeds. The most irksome thing, the Cosmos seeds didn’t come up.

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Six on Saturday – McKee Botanical Garden

Last Saturday instead of blogging, I went to McKee Botanical Garden with my friend Marjorie. This garden is a former tourist attraction called McKee Jungle Gardens, located in Vero Beach, Florida. We had a wonderful curry lunch in the restaurant on site and strolled the gardens and water features. It is a bit jungly, but a lovely walk on a sunny afternoon.

This is my favorite container garden. An ornamental pineapple (Lava Burst?), Coontie Palm (Zamia integrifolia) and a bit of Spanish Moss spilling over the side.

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Tropical Blue Water Lilies.

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An introspective owl.

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Gigantic mushroom.

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My other favorite container garden. Ferns and Orchids.

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Resurrection Ferns and Bromeliads overhang a pathway.

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Today it is rainy and we are in the grips of Tropical Storm Nestor.  Last Saturday was much better.

Happy Gardening! For more Six on Saturday go to: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

Six on Saturday – Flowers, and Friends

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This is Alan the Greyhound, my constant garden companion, and a champion hole digger.

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Flowers on a White Geiger (Cordia boissieri). This tree flowers frequently,  more in cooler weather.

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‘Miss Alice’Bougainvillea finally making her presence known. A nearly (Nearly?!) thornless Bougainvillea, this means the thorns are shorter and more limber but can still stab you.  I have been training  Miss Alice into a pillar for a couple of years.

 

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Florida Avocados from a neighbors tree. I just asked my husband what he wanted with Guacamole? We’ve decided on Mojo Chicken Nachos for dinner.  In summer friends give us Mangoes, fall and winter Avocados and Papayas.

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A new addition to my butterfly friends, a Giant Swallowtail. Easily the biggest butterfly I have ever seen, I thought it was a bird.

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The Desert Roses are flowering a bit. This is a popular type of Aeonium in South Florida, native to sub-Saharan Africa and a rare plant that will survive the summer here in full sun and a container.

Happy Saturday!

To see more of Six on Saturday, go to the https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

Six on Saturday – Orchids and Butterflies

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The Cattleya Orchids are flowering again in my garden. My neighbor gave me these, she calls them “The Boner”, not sure I want to know why.

Below are the buds of a Ground Orchid (Spathoglottis ‘Cabernet’)

I am beginning to associate fall with Orchids, which seems weird.

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Here is a little fruit in honor of fall, from the Spicewood (Calyptranthes pallens).

 

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A little more fruit, this is for me – Papayas.

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I was excited to find caterpillars of the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly on this Senna ligustrina, planted to attract Sulphur butterflies.

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My funky iron leaves, reinstalled after taking them down prior to Hurricane Dorian’s near miss.

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Happy Six on Saturday, for more posts, go to The Propagators blog. Here’s the link -https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

Six on Saturday – Breezy

It’s a bit breezy here as we have yet another tropical storm nearby. This one is called Humberto and is staying well offshore, so it’s a bit windy, sunny and rainy. Given the rain from Hurricane Dorian we have had an outbreak of mosquitoes, followed by one of my favorite insects, the Dragonfly. Mosquito control at it’s finest. Swarms of dragonflies patrol my garden and gorge themselves on the offending bug. If only I had a way to call them!

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Fall is showing subtle signs like the fruit on the Firebush (Hamelia patens)

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The Firesticks Pencil Cactus showing a bit more color.

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The Adonidia Palms (Veitchii merrilli) are flowering, I cut some of these a couple of weeks ago and they exploded on the hall table after two days. Lesson learned.

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I have been wondering what my greyhounds have been looking for under the pots. This is a Florida Box Turtle, who refused to pose.

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Fall also means starting seeds for October planting. We garden in the winter here, so I am starting seeds this week. I have been saving and collecting seeds all year. Looking forward to some fresh vegetables and new flowers.

img_20190914_114251Follow this link (The Link) to The Propagators blog to see more posts of Six on Saturday.

Six on Saturday – Some Rescues

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Every Saturday The Propagator (click on link) invites us to share six items of interest from our gardens. Hurricane Dorian passed within 100 miles of my garden this week and we came through the storm unscathed. Physically, unscathed – mentally I was scathed. I did bring a few things inside before the winds howled by. Above, Papayas nearly ripe on the tree. I picked the Papayas and left them on the counter to ripen.

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This is a fungus on a Norfolk Island Pine stump, the tree was removed because they tend to topple in high winds.

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A Gulf Fritillary butterfly on potted Zinnias.

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New growth on a Miniature Pineapple.

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Flower of a Neoregelia Bromeliad.

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The Cattleya Orchids flowered. Thinking the flowers were too delicate for the winds, I cut them and brought them inside. They grow right outside my Living Room window and I usually leave them as they last longer on the plant.

Happy Gardening on Saturday!

Six on Saturday – Waiting for Dorian

I live on the Atlantic side of South Florida and for most of this week, we have been watching now Hurricane Dorian forecasts. Our area has gone from obliteration to partial obliteration, currently, the storm is predicted to not hit us, no obliteration! At least for this morning. I took photos of things that might be blown away by the wind.

First, my Dombeya, it is a tropical version of a Hydrangea. I have been pruning it into a tree form all summer. These flower in December with pink balls hanging below the branches.

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Second, a pink Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) – these can flower white, pink, red or neon orange. I enjoy the little color surprises from the seedlings.

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Next, the Blanchetiana Bromeliads in bud. These flower stalks are about 6 feet tall and will survive high winds, blooming while bent over later this fall.

 

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Fourth, the Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana). These are a Florida passalong plant that came from my neighbor, they bloom off and on year round.

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The flower of Setcresea pallida, Purple Hearts, these tend to appear in the garden and I enjoy their purpleness.

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Last, the native Chapman’s Goldenrod (Solidago chapmanii, I think) Chapman was an early plant explorer in Florida and many native plants carry his name.

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Happy Gardening, I hope all these plants are here next Saturday.

Six on Saturday. Summer Tropicals

I decided to join the Six on Saturday meme at The Propagator’s blog this week. I live and blog in South Florida. Having been down here a while, I still think a lot of the flora is weird but cool. Here are six tropicals blooming in my garden this week:

Flaming Torch Bromeliad. A common and colorful addition to our late summer gardens.

Billbergia pyramidalis.

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Beautyberry, a native shrub with magnificent fruit.

Calliocarpa americana. 00100lPORTRAIT_00100_BUbeautyberry

One of my very favorite Bromeliads, reliable and so funky. And a great cut flower.

Aechmea miniata.

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Late summer brings Cattleya Orchids to the garden, the next ones will be huge, white and fragrant. These grow in my neighbor’s Hong Kong Orchid (Bauhinia) tree.00100lportrait_00100_burst20190710131119708_cover

Another common summer flowering Bromeliad. Little Harv.

Aechmea ‘Little Harv’

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More Florida funkness, this is a Jatropha – called Coral Plant usually and considered a novelty, flowering off and on all summer.

Jatropha multifida.

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Happy Gardening Saturday and thanks to The Propagator for hosting.