Tag Archives: six on saturday

Six on Saturday – Milton was Here

It’s a sunny blue sky Saturday morning in South Florida. Two days ago, it was a totally different story. Late Wednesday afternoon, Hurricane Milton made his presence known by dropping several tornadoes a little too close to my house. If you have seen the Spanish Lakes damage images in the media, that is about 15 miles from my house. The tornadoes were spawned by an outer band of the storm as it was making its way towards landfall. Milton eventually passed about 100 miles north leaving only minor damage in the garden, frayed nerves, sore backs (We had put up our hurricane shutters in a rush) and 24 hours without power.

This garden update is for Gill, from Off the Edge Gardening blog, who always checks in after a storm in Florida. It warms my heart to get these checks. Thank you, Gill.

To visit more gardens on Saturday morning, that are entirely hurricane free, visit Jim at Garden Ruminations.

My first ever video – the outer band going through the garden THE VIDEO

My Papaya tree was smashed by a falling branch. I am going to cut it off and see what happens.

The solitary Avocado hung on through the storm. The foliage on this tree looks good so far.

Rangpur limes are still intact and ripening. A few were lost to the wind.

The Nam Doc Mai Mango had most of its interior leaves blown off.

Miss Alice Bougainvillea was blown off her support. She is reclining in the shrubbery and shall be righted soon. The support blew over with her – it’s hogwire that hooks over the brown post at the top of the wall.

Amazingly, within hours of the storm passing, the butterflies were back out. A little worse for wear, like us.

Six on Saturday – Post Hurricane

Maybe I should say Hurricane Post. It is inevitable when a hurricane hits Florida I hear from a lot of people who are wondering if we are okay. Which is great, I am glad people think of me. This particular hurricane, Helene, hit the opposite coast of Florida with devastating results and is still continuing to wreak havoc two days later. In my garden, about 8 dried palm fronds came down. The storm passed about 2 or 300 miles to our west, the wind field was huge and we were barely on the edge of it. There was a fairly consistent 25 mph wind Thursday and Friday with a few downpours from the outer bands of the storm, but that was about it. The garden is intact and well watered.

On to Six, to see more SOS gardens, undoubtedly hurricane free, visit Jim at GardenRuminations

Turkeytangle Frogfruit:

Several people have asked to see this, so here it is. I removed our icky lawn (a term I use loosely) and replaced it with an evergreen wildflower called TTFF (Phyla nodiflora). These are a bit difficult to source, so I bought a blob online and propagated the cuttings. This is the “lawn” last year.

I cleared the area by hand and then installed rooted cuttings. Much trial and error, hand weeding and head scratching ensued. I read somewhere to install the cuttings in toilet paper tubes and tried it. This seemed like a reasonable plan – the raccoons thought it was so fun they pulled out all the tubes, and ate the cuttings. Replanted without tubes and that worked. My now curated evergreen weed, uh, wild flower lawn. I think this is more groundcover than lawn.

The curated weeds are still growing in and host three types of butterflies. I have only seen one type, White Peacocks, but there are usually 4 or 5 flying around the TTFF. A closer view.

The White Peacock.

Gardening season is not quite here in South Florida, but I do have a couple of interesting volunteers.

This is a Primrose (Ludwigia) of some sort. They just appear and I like them here and there.

One of my favorite fall flowers, the Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa). Another plant that appears and cannot be grown where it doesn’t want to be. These are fragrant and dance in the wind. It amazes me that anything grows in the grey sand.

That is all from my garden this Saturday. Here is hoping Juracan (Caribbean God of Hurricanes) is done with us for the season.

Six on Saturday – Summer is Back

After a short lived, but meaningful, cool front respite the humidity and heat has bounced back in the form of heat advisories. The heat has produced a tremendous amount of rain. The garden has vacuumed up the copious water and is producing some nice flowers for a celebration of precipitation. To see some likely cooler gardens celebrating a different seasonal vibe follow the link to Jim’s blog –GardenRuminations

After a dry spell rest, the Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata) grew about five feet and is flowering prolifically. I will need to cut it back after it slows down. This is planted by my screen porch so I enjoy the fragrance and the bees stay outside.

The Sunshine Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) has escaped it’s boundaries and is growing in the shell walkway.

Dendrobium orchids are establishing in the crotch of the Cuban Avocado tree. Note the fat roots.

I have been trying to get this Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) to grow up the wood fence for years! I mean Years! Finally it has. These have a reputation of being hard to get rid of – not in my garden.

Blue Porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) it may wane, but always bounces back with rain.

I have been planting a little winter color. Seeds of Gallardia, Rudbeckia and Forget Me Nots went directly into the garden to take advantage of the rain. Fingers crossed, I have never had any luck with Rudbeckia. The new plant is a Gill-inspired purchase from last week. A Blue Eye Fuchsia. I tried Fuchsia last year and it flowered once and promptly fried. It is still too hot to put it outside, though I think I need to pot it up.

That is all from my garden this week. Here’s to Happy Gardening and cooler days.

Six on Saturday – Mad Shrubbery

The title sounds like a Monty Python skit! It’s not. I walked into the garden this morning and realized I had become accustomed to the wild, colorful shrubs common in South Florida. I decided to share a few. To see more SOS garden posts follow this link to Jim’s blog.

The larger, very colorful shrub is ‘Piecrust’ Croton (Codiaeum variegatum). The edges of the leaves look like a crimped pie crust. The flowering shrub in the foreground is Dwarf Red Ixora, butterflies love this plant and it blooms frequently to the point I almost get tired of it. Almost.

A stalwart shrub in the garden, Thyrallis (Galphimia glauca). I have wondered what Thyrallis means, it seems such a strange thing to call a plant. The only reference I could find said it is Greek for wick. Further confusing me. It is a bulletproof shrub in my garden, living in an unirrigated area and living off of mostly rainwater. It blooms late summer to fall.

This is a Spinach Tree, also called Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) A tree full of spinach! Only in South Florida. Actually, it is from Mexico and a tropical vegetable. It is poisonous unless you know how to cook it. I am told it tastes like spinach and reacts badly (toxic badly) with copper bottomed pans (like I use) so I have never tried it. I planted it for butterflies and they love the flowers.

Another Croton. This one is called ‘Mammey’ and is reliably dwarf at about three feet. Making it great for foundation planting. I have seen this planted in front of a house painted orange. It was a bit much.

The very tasteful ‘Java White’ Copperleaf (Acalphya wilkesiana) backdrop for my concrete greyhound. This shrub grows like mad. I would estimate I cut about eight feet a year off. How tall it would get without pruning is anyone’s guess.

Last, but not least, the ‘no gardening’ zone next to my compost heap. Ironically, probably the prettiest grouping of reseeded Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in the garden.

That’s all from my garden this Saturday. Happy Gardening !!!

In a Vase on Monday – Summer’s Last Hurrah

It’s Labor Day, the holiday weekend that marks the end of summer. The plants in my garden are feeling the cumulative effects of summer and slowing down. The zinnias I have enjoyed cutting all summer are very capably catching all the fungal organisms Florida has to offer and displaying them on their foliage. The flowers are visibly smaller. It’s time for removal and renewal. The good news! All the seeds are on sale – the bad news, not everything I would like is available. I am making do by trying some new things and thankful I thought ahead a little and bought my favorite tomato seeds. Last year I had weird tomatoes due to poor timing. The tomatoes were good, just sort of oddly gigantic cherry sized fruit that was not quite red.

What’s in the vase:

Multi colored flowers at bottom of image are ‘Zin Master’ Zinnias; white daisies are Bidens alba; purple spikes are Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia) ; pink and white flowers are Vinca (Vinca rosea).

Yellow spikes are Thyrallis (Galpinia glauca); red, white and peach spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). The vase is a thrift store find.

There! A full color display of the summer dregs from my garden. Not bad, all things considered.

For a full late summer garden tour via vases follow this link to visit Cathy’s blog.

Six on Saturday – Seasonal Hints

Fall is something that must be searched for in my garden. The clues are fruits, berries and weeds going to seed. If a wider net is cast the mullet run can be seen in nearby waters. The mullet run happens when baitfish (mullet) start coming south for the winter, the predator fish go crazy and a lot of action can be seen in the water – fish jumping out the water by the hundreds. This has just started, but I always enjoy the sight.

I am joining the SOS crowd with six sights from my garden. To see what other gardeners have spied follow this link to Jim’s blog.

This is a ‘Lemonade’ Aechmea bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) The Blanchetiana is available in several fruity colors – raspberry, lemon, orange that reflect the color of the foliage. This is planted in front of a six foot fence. These are common in South Florida, I was startled by them at first sight.

Fruit on the Beautyberry (Calliocarpa Americana). The range of this plant always surprises me. It is native from South Florida to New England in the US.

Fruit on the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba). Birds enjoy the fruit and there are many seedlings around the garden emphasizing how much.

A few Rangpur limes are ripening. These are deep orange when ripe and usually aren’t ready until December. I think the tree is thinning its crop.

Coleus tree is looking a bit better.

Another bromeliad showing fall colors – Aechmea rubens. These have the same texture as straw flowers and last for months in the garden.

That’s all from my garden this Saturday.

Happy gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Summer Survivors or Not

It has been a hot and humid week. I strolled the garden in search of plants surviving and thriving in the heat. There is always a surprise or two. I pulled a few weeds, but mostly noted that there are weeds – waiting patiently for their demise during cooler days.

To join the world wide SOS garden tours visit Jim at GardenRuminations

Neoregelia bromeliads are very reliable survivors here. There are so many varieties, I don’t know the names of these two. This one is just starting to flower, signaling the end of its life.

Another Neoregelia of unknown origin. I bought many of these at garage sales (nobody knows names at garage sales) as broms are absurdly expensive when nursery grown.

Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in white. These love summer rain and heat.

The coleus tree. I have pruned it again. The winds from Tropical Storm Debby knocked a woody branch off the side. It is surprising how woody the trunk is.

It has been a great year for butterflies. I have been lacking the patience to stand in the shrubbery and wait for them to pose. This is the state butterfly of Florida, Zebra Longwing. It is sipping nectar from a Chaya tree. Chaya is a tropical spinach that grows into a multi stemmed shrub. I thought it would grow 4 or 5 feet – this one is almost ten feet tall!

Here is the not survivor. My hopes were dashed for Dragon fruit yet again. Sigh.

That’s all from South Florida. Dreaming of cooler days and a dragonfruit from the garden.

In a Vase on Monday – New Summer Favorite

I am a fairly recent convert to Zinnia lover. It all started with a pack of Green Envy seed planted a few years ago to satisfy my desire for chartreuse cut flowers. I let the Envy go to seed and ended up with a new generation of greenish beige zinnias no one would envy so I bought some new seed. These are Zin Master Zinnias. They are living proof open pollinated seeds are what they are. These were advertised as a mixture of sizes, shapes and colors. The plants are prolific, all about three feet tall, and produce enough flowers that I cut a Vase every other day. The colors and flower size are the only things that are mixed.

My feelings are not mixed. These zinnias are my new summer favorites. For some reason, I have never grown zinnias in summer. I have them in containers – the ones that get the full brunt of South Florida summer sun are producing the most flowers. I am in awe and fully intend to grow more. Stay tuned.

A closer view:

The flowers are Zin Master Zinnias; purple foliage is Purple Prince Alternanthera; A bit of chartreuse coleus and some Asian Sword Ferns complete the vase. The crystal vase was a gift from my dearly departed brother.

I just found a few bags of seed starting potting mix on my front porch….fall zinnias should be appearing in a couple of months. And a few other things.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to her blog to see more vases.

Six on Saturday – Formations

Tropical Depression Four formed over Cuba this week, my phone tells me it is 365 miles away. I could feel the wind and caught the scent of the ocean in the air first thing this morning. The storm is headed for the West coast of Florida, so here on the East coast we should get ‘some rain’. It is already pouring down and the weather guessers are madly issuing proclamations. A social media search for the Weather Channel host is usually the best indicator of where the storm will hit. The Jim Cantore effect. I haven’t seen him yet.

I think a dragonfruit formed in my garden this week. This is much more exciting than a tropical storm. For more SOS garden tours, follow this link to Jim’s blog.

The dragonfruit bud. These are a night blooming cactus native to Central America. They are also called Pitaya. This one has been sort of languishing in the garden for several years. Last year I had one flower and no fruit. This year, three flowers and perhaps one fruit!

The flower. These last for one night and must be viewed early in the morning.

The (fingers crossed) fruit. The others turned completely yellow or brown.

One that didn’t make it.

More local avocados:

I’m still enjoying zinnias daily. This red one is a favorite.

Happy Saturday gardening to all!

Six on Saturday – Discoveries

My Saturday morning garden tours always bring a few surprises, happy and sad. I discovered my first Avocado! And I missed some bromeliad flowers. Oops. I found a few other things along the way to share with my fellow SOSers. Follow this link GardenRuminations to visit Jim’s blog for a Saturday morning world garden tour.

TaDa, the avocado. This is a Cuban or Catalina Avocado, a pebble textured, green skinned avocado. It should be the size and shape of a football (the American kind) when ripe towards the end of the year. Fingers crossed I get to eat it.. A friend grew this from seed and bought the seedling to me in 2016 – it takes a while to get fruit. A rare self pollinating, true to seed avocado, these are native to Cuba.

These are summer Florida avocados my neighbor picked at a friend’s house. This type is the result of many crosses between Central American avocados and available in several skin colors. The black ones are especially good. Guacamole is in my future. Food forests do exist!

Fruit on the White Geiger tree, These eventually turn white and are enjoyed by wildlife. Supposedly edible, but not tasty.

Another invasive lizard. The red headed Agama. UGH.

The Bridal Bouquet Plumeria (Plumeria pudica) hedge is flowering.

One of the most reliable summer flowering perennials in my garden. The Firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis)

That’s all from South Florida. Rain dances shall begin shortly.