Tag Archives: South Florida Gardening

Six on Saturday – Chicken Gizzards?

My garden tour this Saturday morning revealed a few new things in the garden. I have been shopping online. It seems safe to say not everything that will grow here has been tried here. Famous last words. Spring brings new things to all gardens. To tour more gardens and see what’s springing elsewhere from many different places, follow this link to Jim’s blog and check out the comments.

One new thing is the Chicken Gizzard plant (Iresine herbstii) There are a few mysteries about this plant. First, why is it called Chicken Gizzard? Second, where to plant it? The pundits disagree on whether it will grow outside here and say full sun. Full sun in Ohio (the plant was grown there) is one thing, in South Florida it’s a whole different thing. A dilemma to be solved.

The miniature pineapples are flowering.

An example of how tough bromeliads are. I was clearing some bromeliads, cutting this pup off early this week, left it on top of the bucket, not feeling decisive about where to replant it, then forgot about it. It just kept on growing. This is a silvery purple brom with pink flowers. I may remember the name…

I hope this is a praying mantis and not an evil plague.

A Dracaena reflexa I am pruning to a multi trunk tree. It is at least 10 feet tall.

Mangoes are looking more like mangoes!

That is all from South Florida. Our crazy warm weather continues – it is forecast to be nearly 90F/32C here today. I am heading back out to plant that bromeliad pup before it gets too hot.

Happy Gardening.

In a Vase on Monday – Tropical Spring Roll

My spring roll is filled with different ingredients than one found in a Thai restaurant. A bromeliad leaf is wrapped around delicious contents from the garden. The names of some of the contents could be considered food – asparagus (fern), sage (salvia) – but I think we would be hard pressed to chew through the roll. It could possibly be considered high fiber/low carb for oh, say rodents or a passing iguana. My plan is to admire the flowers.

The ingredients:

My salvias are having a great year. Here they are again, Mystic Blue and White Flame. The pink flower is known as the tulip of the Treasure Coast. They don’t really remind me of tulips, but I get it. They are actually bromeliads, Billbergia pyramidalis. Green foliage is Asparagus fern and the wrapping leaf is from Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana). I love the green/mahogany coloration of the Blanchetiana leaves in winter, they are chartreuse in summer.

The weather here has finally turned in favor of gardening. My tomatoes are ripening and spring is in the air. On the down side, the moles ate all the bulbs and tubers, making me realize I should stop wasting money on these lovelies. I also accidentally grew some rabbit tobacco I thought was Chinese Forget Me Nots, oh well. Rabbit tobacco is a weed and a rite of passage in my youth. Boys would smoke it pretending like it was cigarettes! I am told it was harsh, but I never tried it.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly meme. Follow this link to see more vases.

Six on Saturday – Moths and Tropicals

It is Saturday again and I am sharing what is happening in my garden with the SOS gang that meets weekly at Jim’s blog. Follow the link to find other garden tours in the comments section.

My garden revealed some interesting moth related events this Saturday. Some moths I am happy to see, others. Not so much. The tropical plants seem to be revving up for the coming spring season. It’s good to see some different flowers coming along.

This is the result of a Sphinx moth laying eggs on a papaya leaf. These moths produce caterpillars called papaya hornworms, a relative of tomato hornworms and just as destructive. A caterpillar was born and started chowing on the foliage, then a braconid wasp happened by and laid eggs inside the caterpillar. The wasp larvae proceeds to eat the caterpillar. These wasps are beneficial and I am happy to see them in the garden as I get to have papayas instead of the caterpillars.

I posted a photo of Miss Alice Bougainvillea a couple of weeks ago looking puny. She got worse and I could not figure out what was going on. Any little bit of foliage was promptly eaten, but I couldn’t see any bugs. A little research revealed there is something called Bougainvillea loopers, caterpillars from another moth that are the culprit. It seems these moths fly at night and lay their eggs on unsuspecting plants. And they like light. I had an uplight on the vine to show if off at night. Oops. One dose of Neem spray, removal of the offending light fixture and some fertilizer with iron and Miss Alice is looking much happier.

A few tropical flowers are coming out. The Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) is not quite in full bloom. I usually have these in February, so they are a little late.

Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbifolia) is starting to flower again. These can get 2 or 3 feet tall and I love them for their tropical texture. They reportedly grow in roadside ditches in Mexico, so they are pretty tough.

Succulents are also flowering. This is the mystery graptosedum.

This is Senecio barbertonicus, it has all kinds of weird common names. The flowers in this photo represent the full spectrum – buds to a little bit of yellow to sort of dandelions. I have propagated several of these and have been planting them in the garden – this is not recommended by the succulent continuum as they might get too much rain. So far, so good is all I can say and they don’t miss irrigation at all. Our well died about two years ago and I have been going irrigation free since. The St Augustine lawn is gone and I have been concentrating on drought tolerant plants.

That is all from South Florida this Saturday. Happy Early Spring!

In a Vase on Monday – No Guts, No Glory

This Monday’s arrangement is done in primary colors as a nod to the presidential primary elections taking place in the US. All politics aside, I felt compelled to give a shout out to Nikki Haley for taking on the orange beast and standing firm in her resolve to continue her quest. No guts, no glory.

My garden is a strict no politics zone and the colors have nothing to do with anything except hopefully not clashing with one another. Although, I am questioning my own taste in the placement of hot pink flowering ice plants near almost orange flowering Ixora shrubs (they are called Maui Red, in my own defense) then there is the issue of some nearby Purple Queen groundcover plants. I suppose it is Florida, after all, so some questionable tropical color mixtures can be overlooked.

The palette:

The flower shapes reflect the spiky nature of politics. In white, Sweet Almond (Aloysia virgata) adds the sweet scent of success; in red, Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); in blue, Mystic Spires Salvia; white daisies are Bidens alba. The green foliage spikes are a juvenile palm frond from a Cabbage Palm.

Yellow and white round out the primary color palette. In white, Sedum adolphii ‘Firestorm’, yellow daisies, Beach Sunflower (Helianthus debilis); yellow and red daisies, Gallardia pulchella; yellow bells, Tecoma stans. The cobalt blue vase was a long ago gift from my brother’s family.

This primary season should prove to be interesting, maybe not quite as interesting as the final color scheme in my garden – only time will tell. Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly meme, to see more vases from gardens around the work, click this link.

In a Vase on Monday – Wintry Whites

Sometimes I like a little reminder of winter, something that doesn’t involve actually being cold. With temperatures hovering around 80F/26C and the air conditioning running it is not very wintry in my garden. I decided to concentrate on frosty white flowers in a vase for this Monday.

It has been very pleasant outside this week, so I have been clearing things out and moving things around. I planted a couple of packages of seed ahead of a predicted day long deluge (Sunday) hoping to get some different cutting flowers going (Bupleurum and White Finch Orlaya). I decided to plant these in a bed instead of pots as I have this magnificent vegetable bed I prepared a couple of years ago lying fallow since it became infested with nematodes almost immediately after completion. The reseeding salvia is very happy there so I’m hoping for more flowers. Upon returning to the house I read the packages – both said they need to be chilled for two weeks prior to planting. Oops. I hope the deluge helps.

The vase is a thrift store find. Flowers in frosty tones:

White Flame Salvia is cascading over the edges. The purple stemmed fuzzy flowers are Red Velvet Aerva.

White daisies are Bidens alba. Varigated foliage is ‘Bossa Nova’ Neoregelia Bromeliad. The airy grasses are dried seedheads from Muhly Grass (Muhlbergia capillaris).

That’s all from not so wintry South Florida this Monday. Visit our hostess, Cathy, at her blog to see vases from other gardeners around the world.

Six on Saturday – Late Winter Colors

On my weekly garden tour this morning I realized my thinking that cold weather caused color changes in the garden might not be what actually happens. The weather has warmed considerably and now I am seeing the Blushing Bromeliads really looking embarrassed. The garden continues to educate me.

I am joining the group of SOS’ers sharing their garden tours with six items of interest. To join the crowd or visit the other gardens, follow this link to Jim’s blog.

Blushing Bromeliad (Neoregelia carolinae) in full blush, backed up with Quesnelia testudo bromeliads in pink.

Another blusher, Neoregelia ‘MacWilliamsii’, quickly becoming another garden favorite. These are not sharp and like a little or a lot of sun. They are completely green in summer.

I love finding Gallardia flowers in February.

I am hoping this is a future avocado. This is a Cuban Avocado, an unusual variety I had not seen prior to moving to South Florida. A rare one that is true to seed. A friend grew this from seed and brought a small tree to me about seven years ago. The avocados are the size of footballs. Fingers crossed.

The Cuban Avocado tree, about 15 feet tall.

The Sweet Almond (Aloysia virgata) has started flowering again – adding fragrance to the garden.

That completes my weekly tour. Happy Gardening wherever you are.

In a Vase on Monday – Valentine’s Putto

Putto sounds a bit like an Italian curse for a Valentine’s vase. I decided I needed a putto for a proper holiday vase, found one after searching around the house and read up on them. Here is the scoop, naked winged male babies in art are Cupid if they have arrows, cherubs if they have religious connotations and they are all putto in the singular and putti is plural.

So, I have figured out that the putto is presiding over the Valentine’s vase. He looks a bit contemplative. The vase is another old florist’s vase (I think they are multiplying) I wrapped this one with a Blanchetiana bromeliad leaf for another touch of color.

The rest of the players:

Surrounding the putto are the foliage and flowers of Genovese Basil, my favorite. I have this year round and eat a few leaves almost every day. It needed to be cut back, so the timing was ideal and the scent is wonderful. Red and yellow flowers are ‘Lady Di’ Heliconias (Heliconia pssitacorum); red bell shaped flowers are Firecracker Plants (Russelia equisetiformis).

The back of the vase has, in white, Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata); Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) in green; the burgundy foliage is Aechmea ‘Burgundy’ Bromeliad, and the gray green leaf is a cut down palm frond from a seedling Sabal Palm.

Everyone around here celebrated a few days of dry, warm weather and I spent some time tidying and planting a few things in the garden. Ahh.

That is all from South Florida. To see more vases from gardeners around the world, visit Cathy’s blog http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Six on Saturday – The Year of the Dragon

Welcome to The Year of the Dragon. Chinese New Year is today and what will the Dragon bring to my garden? Above, in celebration of this event I have shared a piece of art created by two local ladies who are responsible for the creation of https://www.facebook.com/tctrashart, A Facebook page dedicated to raising awareness and getting rid of garbage on the beach by creating and sharing art they make from their finds.

I went looking in my garden this morning to find six new possibilities for the Dragon. Fruits and flowers are budding and sprouting, it’s looking promising for the New Year! To tour other garden possibilities, visit the host of this weekly meme, Jim, at his blog.

The Rangpur lime is flowering and has set fruit for next winter. I managed to collect enough fruit and made a pie with the juice and zest this week. We ate it!

Rangpur limes are considered sour oranges as it is a mandarin/lemon cross. So – in Old Florida this would be considered a sour orange pie.

The Mexican papayas I planted from seed last year are now five feet tall and setting buds. Upper right side of photo. Papayas are not true to seed and are either male, female or hermaphrodite. I planted two trees, the other one is looking male, so I hope this one will be female or hermaphrodite.

Zinnias or sunflowers sprouting. I haven’t planted anything in this bed for a couple of years, it was infested with nematodes and has been “lying fallow” to get rid of the buggers. Fingers crossed.

Ice plants, they used to be called Delosperma cooperii in latin. I think the botanists have changed the name again. There are two schools of thought about these growing in South Florida – yes and no. I found some very low priced plants and am trying them. They are looking good so far, August will be the true test.

Alligator Lilies (Hymenocallis latifolia) waiting to find a new home. They are a very pretty native lily, but they are difficult to site in the garden. They are looking for moist, well drained dappled sun and they only make foliage if not in their preferred location. I move them around sometimes, contemplating their next location.

‘Burgundy’ Aechmea bromeliad showing new spring color. These have finally found their happy place. And I don’t want to move them as they are sharp.

That is all from my garden this Saturday. Happy New Year!

Six on Saturday – Succulent Things

It’s finally a sunny, warm blue sky Saturday morning in South Florida. Not to worry about perfect weather, tomorrow’s forecast predicts a 90 percent chance of thunderstorms. So today, I planted sunflower and zinnia seeds. I discovered on my weekly tour my succulent plants are doing well and fruit growing in the garden looks promising for succulent treats. Join other garden tours by visiting Jim’s blog and following the links in the comments section.

I cut my first Rangpur lime this week. It was very juicy, but I did not get quite enough juice for a pie so I froze it until the other lime was ripe and picked it this week. There is a lime pie in my future.

The next lime and my first tomato of the season! I think it is a Lost Marbles tomato.

The mango trees are loaded with flowers and setting fruit. This is a Glenn Mango and the fruit is delicious. This is early for mangoes to set fruit, so I am hoping it all works out.

Baby mangoes are visible on the Thai dessert mango, Nam Doc Mai. This variety reportedly can set fruit four times a year. It has been in the garden for about 8 years and I have never seen more than one crop, last year being the best ever. I was vigilant about fertilizing and we had a lot of rain, so this may be the result of water and food.

Senecio barbertonicus is starting to flower. This is about all you get for flowers, soon there will be dandelion like seedheads.

The indestructible Graptosedum. I dropped a leaf in my bookcase and it sprouted. I use these as pseudoroses in flower arrangements. This one lives in a pot with Fireball Neoregelia Bromeliads and a Desert Rose. Never watered and rarely fertilized.

That’s all from my garden this Saturday. Happy February to everyone.

In a Vase on Monday – Plunder and Plonk

Mid-winter in Florida brings its share of garden surprises. I never know what I might find and decided to clip a little bit of treasure here and there and plonk my plunder into an old florist vase that was hanging around. My husband informed me this is similar to the way I cook, which is true. I look in the fridge and freezer and make a dish from whatever I find. It usually works out. I have never thought of creating food as a plunder and plonk before!

My garden treasures this Monday:

The top of the vase is sporting, in orange with green tips, Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria). These do too well in my garden and I need to thin them. The reddish flowers next to them are China Hat (Holmskioldia sanguinea). Small blue flowers are Variegated Flax Lilies (Dianella tasmanica), an unbelievably hardy plant – I just unearthed it from overgrown vines and it was so happy it flowered luxuriously. Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) is in the background.

The salvias continue to thrive, in blue, Mystic Spires and the white is White Flame. Yellow daisies are from Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis), the white ones are Bidens alba, both are natives.

Visit the blog of our weekly meme hostess Cathy to see more garden treasures in vases.

Happy Gardening!!