Tag Archives: South Florida Gardening

Six on Saturday – Solstice Colors

Despite living in South Florida for a decade, I am still surprised by what grows where and flowers when. Today is no exception. Flowers on tomatoes and zinnias on the Winter Solstice still bend my mind. I do love the clear light this time of year. The tilt of the earth softens the strength of the sun. This effect renders nicely in photos.

It is Saturday and I have been slacking off on my SOS posts, but am back. To see other solstice posts, visit Jim at GardenRuminations.

The cactus zinnias just started to flower. I planted these in the ground rather than pots and will be interested in how they fare. So far, so good.

There seem to be several of these. I am wondering if I planted a batch of Envy zinnias. The rain washed away the labels..

Heirloom Pentas (Penta lanceolata). These are big Pentas – they can reach four feet. I have not seen these anywhere else. Sold here for butterfly gardens.

First flowers on the cherry tomatoes. It seems to take much longer this time of year to get fruit.

Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosa) in full color. These are my favorites from my garden further north. I am surprised I have managed to get it to grow here. A very pampered pot on my front porch. Doused twice daily with dog bowl water.

Rangpur limes nearing ripeness. I baked a pie this week. Ginger snap crust with toasted coconut and Rangpur lime filling. It is gone.

Happy Holidays to all and Cheers to longer days.

Thanks to Jim for hosting.

In a Vase on Monday – Salute to the Solstice

While looking around the garden for vase materials I found myself not quite ready to break out the holiday reds, so I concentrated on the colors of the Winter Solstice. Kind of late fall tapestry colors. The Solstice is December 21, a cause for celebration as the days get longer.

There are not many flowers in the garden, so I try to appreciate what I have. I will admit to being disappointed in the somewhat insipid pink zinnia. This is my first flower of a batch of cactus zinnia seed planted in October. It is much prettier upon closer inspection. I am hopeful with more sunlight in the coming days I will get bigger flowers.

The other components of the vase include: in purple spikes, ‘Mona’ Lavendar Plectranthus, a wonderful plant that lasts a couple of years here. Purple berries are from the native Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana); deep red flowers are Chinese Hats (Holmskioldia sanguinea); white flowers are from the White Geiger tree (Cordia boissieri); dark, ferny foliage is Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare); fluffy seedhead in back are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris). The vase is a hefty candlestick from the 70s.

Visit Cathy’s weekly meme at RamblingintheGarden to see vases from other gardeners.

Happy Solstice Week and cheers to brighter days.

Six on Saturday – Winter Color

I am joining SOS sharing my new winter flowers and vegetables. The cool season in Florida is the best time of year for gardening. Late in the year I plant vegetables and update annual flowers in my containers. I am trying some new flowers this winter. Gardening is a constant experiment for me.

To tour other winter gardens visit Jim at GardenRuminations.

I think these are Splash Dance Violet Vogue petunias. I did not realize how many different types of the dark spotted petunias there are and recycled the tag. I also did not realize petunias are not toxic to dogs but Callibrachoa is. Sure enough, I left the Callibrachoa out of the dog reach and later observed him trying to take a bite out of the petunias! Details.

The new Callibrachoa the dog did not get to try. I have varying luck with these. They seem to look great for a short period of time and then poof! no more.

This is a new variety of Begonia called Big Pink (Begonia x benariensis). They are said to thrive in shade or sun and can grow up to 28″ tall, which seems unlikely. Has anyone tried them? Below is Big White with Fireball Neoregelia Bromeliads in a container.

The Cherry Tomato and Zinnia seedlings (in bud!) are more than ready to be planted. I am waiting until tomorrow as warmer weather returns next week.

My first Cuban or Catalina Avocado was a bust. It fell off the tree before it was big enough, there is usually twice as much fruit around the seed. I gifted the seed to a friend – in ten years or so, she might have an avocado. I am hoping for some Christmas 2025.

I am getting back in the garden this sunny Saturday morning. It is 67 degrees F/19 C, good gardening weather.

Happy December to all!

A Week of Flowers, Day Four

I am joining Cathy at Words and Herbs again today – providing a blast of tropical warmth from my South Florida garden. Above is the flower of a Dragonfruit or Pitaya. This is a night blooming cactus that bears fruit in the summer in the tropics. Early morning photography is necessary as these flowers are very ephemeral.

Follow this link Words and Herbs to see more flowery goodness.

In a Vase on Monday – Shrimp and Serendipity

My garden never fails to surprise me. This week it was a beautiful display of deep red flowers from a Red Shrimp Plant. This plant is one of those I forget completely about until it flowers and then wish I had more. I have this thought every year and have yet to propagate any. Maybe it is time.

A few more serendipitous finds allowed me to complete the vase.

The Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana) in all its glory. The fluffy grasses behind are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris). The Muhly Grass has reseeded here and there in the garden. I would have never planted it where it landed, but have come to enjoy the randomness of the placement. It also has the benefit of thriving in the driest, sandiest part of the garden.

White Vinca (Vinca rosea) comes up in the oddest places. I have never planted any, yet here it is. Again thriving in the driest part of the garden. The sticks in the vase are from some native grape vines I cut down long ago and never quite made it into a bag to be taken to the curb. I like sticks in a vase and never realized it works better if they are good and dead. These were nice and crispy and easily trimmed into a shape that complemented the vase.

The vase is a stoneware ‘pineapple’ found on a long ago Hawaiian vacation.

Now I am hoping to find a serendipitous dinner prepared in the freezer! It’s possible.

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.

Six on Saturday – Avocado and Friends

I have been absent from SOS the past few weeks. I have been occupied with houseguests, not much going on in the garden, followed by an unexpected road trip to pick up a new hound. My house and garden feel much more like a home with the addition of Handsome Rob, a rescue Greyhound. There was a major garden event this week – my first ever Avocado!

To tour more SOS gardens, visit Jim at GardenRuminations

The avocado. This is a Catalina or Cuban Avocado. To my knowledge, the only variety that is true to seed. These grow wild in the Caribbean, my Puerto Rican college classmate tells me the woods are full of them on his island. Another college friend grew my tree from seed, it has been in the garden since 2016. These are big avocadoes, about twice the size of a Hass. I hope it gets ripe!

The Rangpur limes continue to taunt me – not quite ripe.

The garden provided a few dry season floral surprises this week. A Gallardia pulchella seedling flowering in the shell walkway.

Red Shrimp Plants (Justicia brandegeana). I think the cool weather deepens the color.

Who knew Ti Plants (Cordyline fruiticosa) flowered? This was a surprise to me, they resemble Dracaena flowers.

Meet Handsome Rob – doing what greyhounds do best, holding down the floor. Handsome Rob was a character in the movie The Italian Job. Not the dog, Jason Statham.

That is all from South Florida this week. My fingers are crossed for a bit of rain this week and warmer weather. I have been moving my tomato and zinnia seedlings in and out of the house as we have had morning temperatures in the 50s.

In a Vase on Monday – A Tropical Thank You

In celebration of In a Vase on Monday’s Eleventh!! Anniversary. I would like to extend a warm, tropical, virtual Thank You card to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting this lovely garden meme for all these years. I enjoy the weekly chat with gardeners around the world and have learned quite a bit about what grows where and beautiful new plant possibilities for my garden. It may seem counterintuitive; but I have found many plants that grow in summer in the UK do well in my South Florida garden in winter and I love making vases with them! Follow the link to see more vases celebrating eleven years of IAVOM.

The Close Ups:

The Eleven is made from Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) foliage that I drew an eleven on with a Sharpie and trimmed off the excess. Certainly a first in my house, drawing on foliage. Grey rosette is Graptosedum succulent; purple and silver striped foliage is Wandering Jew (Transcandentia zebrina); white flowers are Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica).

Purple and pink flower is a “Candy’ Portea Bromeliad. Ferns are native Boston Fern (Nepholepis exaltata).

Thanks again to Cathy and Cheers to all from South Florida.

In a Vase on Monday – Unreal

Well, here it is, my floral comment on the election results. The will of the American people seems unreal to me. Unfortunately, like the components in this vase, they are disturbingly real. Not that I find succulents and bromeliads disturbing; but they do look so different from other flowers they don’t seem real. The rest of it – I suppose the best way to look at it is time will tell.

The vase is black for obvious reasons. The components are succulents including, in grey, Graptosedum; above the Graptosedum, in green and apricot, flowers from Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria); green foliage is from Senecio barbertonicus. I may end up with several new plants.

Bromeliad flowers top the vase. The red and blue (symbolism?) flower is from Aechmea miniata, an odd bloom this late in the year, the brownish one is the same flower drying or dying, depending on how you look at it. Orange and yellow spikes are bits of Aechmea blanchetiana – the entire flower on this is at least four feet tall, so I cut some pieces of the flower. Round leaves in the back are from Flapjack Kalanchoe.

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. I am looking forward to the anniversary challenge. Follow the link to see more vases.

Six on Saturday – Fall Finds

I am joining the SOS gang to share the discovery of my first ripe Rangpur lime this Saturday. I shall be heading to the grocery store soon to buy ingredients for a pie. Gardening is Good! Eventually I end up with a pastel orange “Key Lime” pie.

To see more SOS posts, follow this link Garden Ruminations to visit our host, Jim and travel the world of gardening through the comments section.

The Rangpur lime. This fruit is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. Why it is called a lime I am not sure.

More unusual fruit. This is a Bitter Melon (Monmordica) These grow wild here and are very prolific. Some call them Stinkweed due to the smell of the foliage. They are considered health food for some – I stick with the Rangpur pie.

Fruit of the Jatropha multifida, called physic nut. It is supposedly medicinal, but known to cause mild gastrointestinal distress, I am not sure why you would eat it.

Yellow Elder (Tecoma stans) starting its show.

Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreum) waking up.

Another fall find, the cone of a Cardboard Palm (Zamia furfuracea) – this one has been trimmed off and is nestled in trimmings from a Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba). These are prolific reseeders and not a good thing to get loose in the garden.

That’s all from South Florida this morning. Off to find baking ingredients.

In a Vase on Monday – Jubilation

One way or another October always makes me happy. Bar hurricanes from that statement. The weather cools and this month marks my return to gardening. I spent Sunday morning in the garden dodging rain showers and toweling Fiona the Greyhound off every time we had to run back into the house.

There are seemingly millions of sticks scattered throughout the garden from the glancing blow of Hurricane Milton. It doesn’t seem like I have enough trees to have produced all of these sticks. They can’t really be raked up, so I have been picking them up one by one. Sisyphus would have loved it.

Some of my favorite native plants flower in the fall. The Juba Bush is one that causes jubilation as does Muhly Grass, both lending their fluffy pastel brilliance to this vase. I cut a handful of blooms and plonked them into my Ute tribe vase, swirled them around and viola!

Closer views:

The Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa) is the creamy white flower. It has a wonderful fragrance and is a good cut flower. The plant, being native, has a mind of its own and will only grow where it decides to. I leave it in the middle of pathways, etc. as I enjoy the flower. Here’s the full story from George Rogers at Treasure Coast Natives if you want to read up on Juba Bush. The peach flower is Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) wearing fall colors; a bit of Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaries)

It’s hard to see these blue flowers in the vase – ‘Sapphire Showers’ Duranta (Duranta repens); they rarely flower – so I plucked a few to enjoy in the house. The white daisies are another native, Bidens alba, I pull and cut these at will – they never go away and will happily grow with no attention whatsoever.

That’s all from my garden this Monday. I hope to be back in the garden with Sisyphus, clearing up the sticks. Follow this link to visit Cathy and see more vases in the comments – RamblingintheGarden