Tag Archives: the shrub queen

In a Vase on Monday – Suntini

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful sunny and breezy day. The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflower was covered in flowers again, so I decided to cut them. For some reason, the stems were really short. It seemed like a good idea to utilize the short stems by hanging them over the edge of a martini glass. A Suntini was created to celebrate an abundance of sunflowers on a sunny Sunday.

The crystal martini glass is from my mother’s formal crystal used for holidays. To my knowledge, there has never been a martini in the glass. My mother was a prissy Southern lady who insisted these were fruit compotes. Southern ladies of her generation can only admit to drinking under certain appropriate conditions. I have never been able to work out the appropriate conditions; what has always seemed odd to me is this generation came up with the strongest drinks possible. Another mystery to ponder.

There are two plants in this mocktail. The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers in yellow and flowers and a going to seed flower from Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbiifolia)

The swizzle stick is a stem from the Begonia with a sunflower at one end and a baby mango at the other.

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

Cheers and Happy Gardening!!

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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 – Rustic Endeavors

I have been baking a lot lately and getting in touch with my rustic side. My husband had to cut down on dietary fat dramatically and is a dessert lover, so lower fat cupcakes have been an ongoing project. The latest, Gala Apple Pecan with Light Caramel Frosting. I am not a neat baker nor a cake decorator. The cupcakes never turn out quite the same size and the frosting is always a bit globby, so the house joke is that we have rustic desserts.

The apple cupcake. Moist, delicious and downright rustic. I find vegan butter makes a good caramel frosting.

The vase is rustic in the selection of the mason jar with a raffia bow and the old fashioned contents.

A closer view:

The flowers, in yellow, Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers; shades of pink, Giant Dianthus; blue spikes, a few Black and Bloom Salvia on the left side and Mystic Blue Salvia on the right; white spikes, White Flame Salvia; yellow balls, Golf Beauty Craspedia; a few sprigs of Asian Sword Fern complete the vase.

I’ll be in the garden endeavoring to enjoy a cupcake.

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

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – New Things.

I am joining SOS this Saturday with six new things from my South Florida garden. Below is a new addition to the ecosystem on my porch. This is a tree frog that has been sleeping inside a Billbergia bromeliad for the past several days. I am hopeful he or she is eating mosquitoes. Fiona the greyhound noticed the frog first. Fortunately, she dislikes amphibians, a squirrel would have been an entirely different story.

I have finally eaten a tomato! And there are more ripening, at long last. And yes, it was worth the wait. Delicious.

I cut the last of my Sunspot Sunflowers this week and have been enjoying them in a vase by the kitchen sink.

The sunny, warm weather inspired the Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) to flower. It caused me to realize I should thin the branches.

The red Desert Rose is budding and in desperate need of pruning. Maybe next week, I have been told to treat the pruning wounds with cinnamon to help them heal? Both of these plants were damaged by the cold in December and are bouncing back nicely.

This is Craspedia ‘Golf Beauty’, a new addition to the cutting garden. I kept waiting for the flower to open, but this is it! I will say it looks great in flower arrangements and lasts for weeks.

That’s it from my garden this week. To see more SOS posts visit Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk

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!!

Six on Saturday – Green

I am joining the SOS crowd this Saturday, watching for any signs of ripening fruit and not finding any. It is all green. The tomatoes are especially frustrating- green for weeks, and it hasn’t been cold. Temperatures were in the high 80’s (31 C) yesterday, so maybe the intermittent heat is slowing them down?

All tomatoes I have planted are red, yellow or purple when ripe. Yet they all look like this now and there are a lot of them. Grrr.

Red Bell Peppers, resolutely green. I have high hopes for these, when they turn red.

Craspedia or Woolyheads. This should be yellow flowers, yet they are slammed shut.

Tiny miniature pineapples. Too cute to be mad at.

Glenn Mangoes, fruit set and growing.

Thai Dessert Mangoes, Nam Doc Mai, setting fruit.

Well, sooner or later I will be eating Mango Salsa!

That is it from South Florida. To see more SOS posts, visit Jim at https://gardenruminations.co.uk/

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Snap!

This is a first from my South Florida garden; featuring stalwarts of late spring further north – Snapdragons and Dianthus. I thought these would grow here but figuring out when can be a bit of a trial and error situation. Pinder’s, a local nursery, has concentrated on growing flowers to cut this year and gifted me some plants to trial for vases this weekend. The first order of business was to cut the Snaps and Dianthus; both are the tallest versions I have seen around here. The Dianthus is called ‘Giant’ and the Snap looks like ‘Tetra Mix’ to me, but I am not sure. Winter is rapidly turning into summer here as temperatures are forecast to rise into the mid 80s F (29 C) this week, so I am going to enjoy this floral bounty while I can.

A closer view:

This arrangement smells as good as it looks. The white spike is a ‘White Flame’ Salvia, new to me and sweetly fragrant. I am looking forward to seeing how it performs in the garden. The Dianthus has a light clove fragrance. Background greenery is the native (read weed) Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) The vase was a sample sale find from years ago.

I am hoping to get into the garden and plant these new vase worthy plants then watch and cut them through the seasons. More new flowers will be coming soon.

Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Follow the link http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Trials

It is a beautiful sunny Saturday in my South Florida garden. Yesterday I received a wonderful gift from my favorite local nursery, Pinder’s. Several new (to me, anyway) varieties of Salvia and some interesting cut flower plants to trial in my garden and use to make vases.

I am joining Jim and the SOS gang to share what is going on in our gardens. Follow the link gardenruminations.co.uk to see more garden tours from bloggers around the world.

Salvias:

My love affair with Salvias continue:

Black and Bloom Salvia. This is supposed to grow 3 feet tall and wide. I hope it does.

Roman Red Salvia. This one has a very herbal, sage fragrance. The butterflies came out to see the new plant as soon as I took it out of the car. Another good sized Salvia, 24 ” height and spread.

White Flame Salvia, this one has a sweet fragrance and is almost grey. It will be a wonderful accent for flower arrangements.

A new sunflower to cut, Brown Eyed Girl. I am interested to see how it grows, theory is a mounding mass rather than a tall stick. This one will have to live in a container in my garden.

A surprise to me. Giant Dianthus. It is 18-24 inches tall and the biggest Dianthus I have ever seen. I am not sure what these will do in my garden. I suspect it will be too hot shortly for Dianthus. I cut some of this and it has a wonderful classic clove fragrance.

Craspedia globosa, perhaps the answer to the lack of Alliums in South Florida. These produce bright yellow balls that are long stemmed, good cutting and drying flowers. I am not quite sure where to put this, but I like the silvery foliage. The instructions on line say well drained clay?! I think that the nurseryman speak for take your chances.

That is my Six for this Saturday. I am looking forward to taking my ramble around the world this afternoon visiting other gardens.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Deadheading for Presidents

The third Monday in February is a federal holiday honoring former Presidents of the United States. It began as a holiday to honor George Washington’s birthday (the first President) on February 22 (or 11th depending on what calendar you use). Congress changed the date to make three day holiday weekends in the late 1960s, ensuring it would never fall on Washington’s actual birthday. Different states call the holiday by different names, so there is no correct spelling. I never knew it was such a confusing holiday until I read up on it. Though I do remember when it was celebrated on February 22nd.

The warm up in weather and a nice rain prompted my Salvias to start flowering. These plants do so much better if deadheaded, so I decided to cut a red, white and blue vase for George Washington. Deadheading for President’s Day.

The vase is a crystal rose bowl that belonged to my mother. It is one of those things I keep in such a safe place that I forget about it. It has never held a rose in Florida.

The details:

Red Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus penduliflorus) are napping over the edge of the vase.

Here is the bowl with Salvias on the side. In blue, ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia; in white, Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) – this is a true to seed white flowering Tropical Red Salvia that appeared in my garden. It is magnificently hardy, requires little water and flowers non-stop. A favorite, I must name it after myself. The red spike flowers are from Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformus), These are sort of a lanky, rambling perennial, but indestructible. A few sprigs of Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) are tucked into the back.

As always, thank you to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this habit forming meme. Visit here to see vases from gardeners around the world.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Food Dreaming

It is another windy, overcast day in South Florida. We seem to be attracting cold fronts every Friday night, they pass through with rain or not, then leave clouds and wind in their wake. The fruits and vegetables in the garden are ambling along towards creating edibles, just not quite fast enough for me.

Mexican Papayas grown from seed harvested from fruit I bought. These are almost big enough to transplant into the garden. I have three because Papayas can be male, female or hermaphrodite. Obviously, you hope for hermaphrodite. I have no idea what variety the fruit was, and I don’t think Papayas are true to seed. We shall soon see. Papayas don’t live long and are considered herbs rather than trees. They are known to produce fruit within 9 months of planting. I think the last one I had produced fruit for 2 or 3 years.

Cherry tomatoes taunting me. I think these are the Lost Marbles variety as they look pretty stripey. I never label vegetables as the labels tend to fail and I only grow cherry tomatoes.

Red Bell Peppers just setting fruit. These are the classic thick walled Bell Peppers. I had thin walled heirloom peppers last year, good but weird. I am looking forward to these.

Tiny mangoes have formed on the Glenn and Nam Doc Mai Mango trees. Supposedly it takes 100 days from formation to harvest. I hope these make it. I have been cutting powdery mildew infested flowers off the Glenn and that will ruin the flowers and fruit.

My favorite, Genovese Basil, grown from seed. I am trying not to eat too much of this.

Another herb I love, Giant of Italy Parsley. It has an intense parsley flavor and lasts for two years here. I grow it from seed every two years or when necessary, sometimes the Swallowtail butterflies eat it. My favorite use of this is a Marcella Hazan inspired celery salad with fresh celery, Parmesan strips, olive oil and pepper. Mmmm.

Thanks to Jim at gardenruminations.uk.co for hosting SOS. Follow the link to see what is going on in gardens from the world over.

Happy Gardening!!