Tag Archives: South Florida plants

Six on Saturday – Autumnal Color Pops

The Saturday morning greyhound tour featured a refreshing breeze from the ocean. Visions of cooler weather danced in my head. The fall flowers are coming into season. In South Florida a gardener has to seek fall color and use their imagination.

To tour more SOS gardens, visit Jim at gardenruminations.co.uk

Lemon Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) flowers are not something one normally associates with fall color. In my garden they are. Standing about four feet tall and flowering for months starting in late summer with toasty orange and rusty colors, it is a bold statement.

I had just been thinking about how marvelous the Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) looks…when I noticed the evil oleander caterpillar lurking in the foliage. This time of year they show up and eat all the foliage. I may throw them off, or not, they make an interesting black polka dotted moth.

Fruit hanging over the fence from my neighbor’s Areca Palm (Dypsis lutescens). To me, Arecas are the trash plant of South Florida. Overused and jam packed as screening plants, they often develop fungus problems and die en masse. Not pretty, though I like the fruit.

The old reliable. A sunny South Florida native, the Beach Sunflower (Heliathus debilis). These smile through everything.

I have been enjoying the color mix of the succulent containers. Gardeners around here gift succulent cuttings, I don’t think I bought any of these. To the best of my knowledge, I have Flapjack Kalanchoes, grey Graptosedums, Green Haworthia, Jelly Bean Sedum, and Fish hook Senecio. I let the Purple Queen ramble through for a shot of color.

The intrepid Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in pink and red, peering through ‘Java White’ Copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana ‘Java White’)

That’s it for this Saturday. I will be seeking cool breezes and fall color a while longer.

In a Vase on Monday – Cathy’s Challenge

Last week I challenged myself to create a colorful, informal vase with gardenias. As usual, I chatted back and forth with Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com, our IAVOM host. We were talking about my dearth of pastels in the garden. The challenge was not a teapot vase – but one filled with pastel colors. To see more vases follow the link to Cathy’s blog.

A closer view:

It took a while to suss out a total pastel palette. I suppose the light here is so strong I tend towards using higher colors in the garden and have a few pastels. Many are serendipitous (Weeds!)

The long pink flower and foliage is chandelier plant (Medinilla cummingi); pink flowers are annual vinca (Vinca rosea), a perennial here and a weed; yellow flowers hanging over the edge are snapdragons, surprising me by coming up from last years winter annuals seed; blue flowers are plumbago (Plumbago auriculata); green flowers are Envy zinnias; purple backed leaves and flowers are Arabian Lilacs (Vitex trifolia); coral spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea).

The teapot is from an antiquing venture long ago, teacups are from my grandmother, cow creamer was a gift from someone and the tole tray belonged to my mother.

Tea, anyone?

I have been baking again. This is vegan. Vanilla cupcake stuffed with pineapple reduction and pineapple buttercream frosting.

Six on Saturday – Succumbed to Temptation

SOS time again! Here is the pretty picture this Saturday. To see more SOS posts for a fascinating tour of what grows where in this world, visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk

Below is a Dwarf Red Ixora (Ixora taiwanensis) having a really good year.

It’s Saturday morning and after looking around my overgrown garden – I decided to make a confession. I have succumbed to the End of Season bulb sales. The dahlias and gladiolus were too cheap to resist, so I stocked up. The bulbs and tubers arrived in wonderful condition. Stored in dry peat moss and holey plastic bags.

In South Florida, the state of garden weirdness rules and I had to dither about storing the bulbs for a couple of months until I can plant them for winter cut flowers. I asked fellow bloggers about storage and dithered until the dahlias started sprouting. This spurred me into action. I cut the sprouts off, shook the peat moss off and laid the tubers out to dry. Then, decided on the Mousseau method (Chris at County Gardening) wrapped the tubers in cling wrap, rolled them into a paper bag and put them in the refrigerator.

These shall luxuriate in cool, dry air until October at least. I suppose I should have a look at them to make sure they aren’t molding. I could not cope with the idea of sprinkling fungicide on something and keeping it in the refrigerator.

Green Flash Parrot gladiolus joined the dahlias in the fridge. I marked them so my husband won’t eat them. Ha! The last instructions I read about growing glads in Florida was they needed to be coated in DDT to keep insects or everything away. Not happening here and crossing my fingers for future flowers.

All the bulbs made it necessary to reclaim a bed that has been lying fallow for a year due to root knot nematodes. The weeds must be removed and a layer of clear plastic put over the top of the dirt to solarize the bed and kill the nematodes.

Root knot nematode damage. This is a tomato plant that has passed on. You can see the thickened roots and knots on the roots. Nematodes infest the roots and feed on the nutrients, the plants come up, look great and slowly wither away. I have grown some really wimpy vegetable plants, not realizing what was happening. This plant was in a pot, these microscopic worms amaze me, they have gotten into pots set on pavers on my front porch while I wondered why I had the worst herbs ever! Solarizing that pot, too.

Of course, after the bulb and tuber event some new types of seeds were required. The Moonflowers were sent to me by a friend. I am going to try to grow these along with the Bougainvillea for scent this fall. I have not had Orlaya or Buplerum before and look forward to trying these as cutting flowers. I should have some mad green bouquets this winter. Hopefully with dahlias!

Happy Gardening!!!

Six on Saturday – Steamy Summer Florals

Saturday is here again. I took a steamy tour of my garden this morning. The humidity was at 90 percent! I wasn’t sweating, but my skin had condensation on it and so did the windows in my house. The plants continue to thrive and I have a new weed, Rice Paddy Weed.

To join the SOS World Garden Tour – visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk

The Purple Prince zinnias are gaining strength and size. I am hoping for long stemmed cut flowers. Unfortunately, I usually get short stemmed zinnias.

Hummingbird or cypress vine rambling through white salvia. I am probably going to regret this when all the little seedlings come up – until then I will enjoy the little pops of color.

New flowers on the Medinillia cummingii. So tropical. These grow in tree tops in their native habitat. The green orchid bees love the flowers.

Brown Eyed Girl sunflowers continue to flower. I got these in February and they are still blooming. Oddly, they have lost their brown eye.

Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) is a summer standby.

Another stalwart in the summer garden, Spiderwort, the wildflower is sprinkled around sunny spots in the garden. I love the blue and am not sure which Transcandentia this one is.

Here is the Rice Paddy weed. A new one in my world. I thought it was an old fashioned penta (which would have been great!) so I left it in a pot and came to find out – it is an invasive weed in swamps and rice paddies that can produce 250,000 seeds each flower. As my garden is non-water holding sand I am not feeling afraid but getting rid of it shortly.

I have a question for you gardeners. I have been waiting to try this natural weedkiller, Torched, that is non toxic. It was supposed to be available in smaller quantities than a gallon ($74 gallon plus shipping) but the manufacturer decided against the smaller bottles. Would you pay about $90 US to try this?? Thanks for answering, I am curious. Here is a link:

https://www.southlandorganics.com/products/torched-all-natural-weed-killer?variant=43855976661237

That is it for this Saturday. I wish you Happy Gardening.

In a Vase on Monday – Simple Summer S’s

I have been enjoying my “S” plants this summer. I noticed how big the Salvia flowers have grown with all the rain as I walking the dog this morning. The resiliency of plants continually amazes me, last summer it was very dry – I had the same flowers, they were just half the size.

The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers are still blooming and have been since February. They are in a container in the sunniest part of the garden; seemingly not enjoying quite that much sun. They have grown over the side of the container into a shrub to get out the heat. The container features stems underplanted with groundcover bromeliads, a bit odd at this point, but I hate to disturb anything in July. Even the Lantana is taking a rest from flowering.

The vase reflects my simple scheme. The glass I drank my orange juice from was sitting on the counter when I came in with the flowers. It was rinsed and repurposed. I figured the flowers might enjoy a little OJ. I think this qualifies as a plonk.

Close ups:

The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers and seedheads. I saw several vases with seedheads last week, loved them and went looking for a few for my vase.

The Salvias: in red with long flowers, ‘Roman Red’, shorter red flowers are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). The ‘Roman Red’ is definitely not as hardy as the native Tropical Red, it has stopped flowering and appears to be shrinking. Oddly, the armadillos are attracted to it and dug both up, that may explain their unhappiness! In blue, “Mystic Spires’ Salvia; in white, Tropical Red Salvia that reseeded white.

I am thankful July is half over, it is the hottest month of the year in my garden. Adding insult to injury are the bugs this year. I am swarmed by no see ums after about 15 minutes outside and have to retreat. There will be loads of prunings and errant weeds in a few months.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Visit her blog at ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Jungly July

I am joining the SOS garden tour again this Saturday. In South Florida, July has settled around us with a wet blanket of humidity, regular temperatures over 90 F (32C) and nearly daily downpours. The garden is turning into a jungle, overrun by happy plants, weeds and everything green. To see less jungly gardens, visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk and take a virtual tour via posts from gardeners from less sodden climes.

This is about as tropical as it gets. A Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata) in full bloom. They turn black if cut and don’t stretch the smaller yellow petals(?) out.

The fruit of Seagrapes (Coccolobo uvifera). These grow on shorelines and are a very hardy native tree. Native Floridians will eat the fruit as have some of my greyhounds. The flavor is somewhere between a fig and a grape but mostly seed that requires gnawing to get a taste. I am told it makes a good jam. I find it makes a big mess.

The fruit from my garden I do like. This is the end of the mangoes. These are Nam Doc Mai. There were too many for us to eat so I have been freezing them. They actually freeze quite well. I found fresh local swordfish at the market this morning – we are looking forward to grilled fish with mango salsa for dinner. The little pineapple was grown from the top of a grocery store fruit. I think I got to it just in time, before the critters caught the fragrance.

Welcome to the jungle. The Transcandentia zebrina is draping over a lot of things with all the rain. I am not regretting this yet as I planted it so I wouldn’t have to mulch. Now I have to pull out the T. zebrina. The red flower pops up like clockwork in July. It is Aechmea miniata bromeliad, a great garden flower.

An interesting Gallardia pulchella from plants crossing in the back garden. I like the seedling varieties better than the named cultivars.

Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) in full flower. Another favorite, this shrub sneaks up on you by growing a few feet a year if conditions suit. The conditions are evidently perfect and they need a trim.

That is all from the heat zone.

Happy Gardening

In a Vase on Monday – Parrots and Poinsettias

Here’s another set of strange bedfellows from my garden. I would consider this an unlikely combination anywhere but South Florida. The parrots are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum) and the poinsettias are a native Floridian Euphorbia called Florida Poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora). I like the little bits of red on the foliage accenting the colors of the flowers.

I have tried growing the usual Christmas poinsettia in the garden and failed. The Florida version is a wildflower that appears from time to time. Having read up on it a bit I should probably pull them out. It seems they are one of those perverse plants that is hard to grow from seed if you want it – but a prolific reseeder if you don’t. If I don’t act soon the next thing could be a mowed poinsettia lawn for the holidays. Not a festive look.

A closer view:

The Parrotflowers are orange and red and yellow. The orange ones are Heliconia psittacorum “Choconiana”; the reds H. psittacorum “Lady Di”. These are very tropical and did not appreciate the 30 degree temperatures in January and are just recovering. The flowers are smaller than usual for some reason. Yellow spikes are from the Thyrallis (Galphimia gracilis) shrub.

The Florida Poinsettia foliage. Another common name for this is Fire on the Mountain. Where they found the mountains in Florida we will never know.

That is all from sweltering South Florida.

Many thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly meme. Follow the link to see more vases from gardens around the world.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – No Salad Here

This is a spring mix of flowers from my garden. Spring mix is a kind of packaged salad greens I am not particularly fond of. Too bitter, I think it is the tatsoi I don’t like, or it is my husband referring to it as yard clippings? Anyway, there is no salad here and one of the cast members in this arrangement is poisonous, so we won’t be eating any of it.

I am pleased to have grown this poisonous Ranunculus, with the innocent sounding common name Persian Buttercup. This one looks like a tiny red rose and there is one more bud outside. This was a total experiment. I am supposed to be too far south to grow these and bought the bulbs at an end of summer sale. The bulbs arrived fried and I put them aside and completely forgot about them until they were desiccated shells. An old pot with soil in it appeared in the back yard and I had a ‘hate to throw things away’ moment and dumped the shells into the pot. An odd rainy, cold snap arrived, chilled and rehydrated the bulbs. Serendipity intervened and this is the first of probably two Ranunculus my garden will ever produce.

The rest of the mix..in blue, ‘Black and Bloom’ Salvia; white spikes, ‘White Flame’ Salvia; pink and white fringed flowers, Giant Dianthus; a little Pink Snapdragon; green Envy and pink Zinnias; the red Ranunculus; yellow ‘Golf Beauty’ Craspedia, and a few bits of Asparagus Fern. The vase was a gift from my older brother.

Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly garden meme. To see more vases, follow the link.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Boing!

This time of year one of the things I appreciate most about blogging is the documentation of garden awakenings from their winter slumber. The images of spring bulbs and flowers bursting forth from bloggers living further north are a joy for me. South Florida is sadly lacking in spring color, many of the trees are evergreen or choose not to be deciduous some years. The season seems more like temperatures bouncing between spring and summer; eschewing the glory of throwing off the yoke of freezing cold and celebrating with flowers. Boing rather than spring.

We went from summer to late fall this weekend. It is overcast, cool and windy. I think this vase may be the last of my cool season annuals. The snapdragon flowers are about a tenth the size they were a couple of weeks ago and the dianthus is really slowing down. This is the end of Boing celebration vase and a wonderful tonic for a dreary day.

The silver goblet is an old silver plate treasure my mother came up with in her thrift shop trolling days. I like it as it has a wonderful patina and it makes me wonder and laugh about why my mother would buy such a thing? It certainly doesn’t hold water. I found this out the hard way and now use a small plastic cup inside the vase.

The flowers:

Another element adding a bit of boing to this vase – the Golf Beauty Craspedia in yellow. The selection in the vase represents half bloom to full bloom, as I was not sure when to cut these. The younger ones have been hanging around for a couple of weeks and participated in a couple of different vases. The other yellow is a tiny Snapdragon flower; in pink fringes, the Giant Dianthus; blue spikes, Mystic Blue Salvia; white spikes, White Flame Salvia; crimson flowers are the rest of the tiny Snapdragons. The foliage is Asian Sword Fern and a few sprigs of Giant Parsley.

I am hoping for the return of blue skies this week and possibly discovering some spring flowers.

Thank you to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this meme. Follow the link to see more vases.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Brown Eyed Girl

One of the new plants I am trialing may be a new favorite, the Brown Eyed Girl Helianthus. I have had this plant for a little over a week and have already cut enough flowers for 3 vases. Officially called the SunBelievable Brown Eyed Girl Helianthus, the marketing spiel states it will produce a thousand flowers over the summer, it is a warm season annual everywhere. It will be interesting how long it will last in South Florida. August triumphs over many things in the garden. Though I can believe it will produce a thousand flowers.

The weather is wobbling between spring and summer already, but fortunately the humidity is still lurking in the Atlantic Ocean. I have finally figured out what to do with all the new plants and will hopefully get them settled in before the inevitable summer heat.

A closer view:

Brown Eyed Girl is stealing the show. The three new Salvias are the back up singers. I am hoping they will all be garden stars. The Salvias are: in white, ‘White Flame’; in red, ‘Roman Red’; in blue, Black in Bloom. The foliage is ‘Lagoon’ Rosemary and Varigated Flax Lily (Dianella tasmanica ‘Varigata’).

That is all from South Florida this Monday. Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com, to see more vases follow the link.

Happy Gardening!!