Tag Archives: the shrub queen

Six on Saturday – Turkey Tangle Frogfruit

I am joining the SOS gang this week with my latest garden adventure. Weather in South Florida is transitioning from Not Summer into Summer, rain showers have started back up, the humidity is up and a platoon of mosquitoes showed up this morning to interrupt my walk. I slathered myself in mosquito spray and braved the onslaught long enough to pot up the Frogfruit cuttings. Hoping for the dragonfly crew to show up soon and dispatch the mosquitoes.

To see more SOS posts, visit Jim at www.gardenruminations.co.uk.

The Frogfruit:

These don’t look like much right now. I want to get rid of the St. Augustine lawn in my garden. It needs too much of everything, water, sun, fertilizer and I refuse to put weed killers – especially Atrazine on my lawn. Florida, as a state, has mostly ruined their local waterways with lawn chemicals and sewage. And people wonder what happened to all the sea grass that the Manatees eat, duh. Put enough grassy weed killers on the zillions of acres of turf grass on sand and it’s going into the watershed to kill other things, especially the animals that rely on sea grass. The Manatees rely on sea grass and are starving, so the state is feeding them Romaine lettuce. I am so disgusted with these people. So, in my garden the lawn is mostly gone. And really ugly.

Rant is complete.

Turkey Tangle Frog Fruit (Phyla nodiflora) is an evergreen, low growing native wildflower – or weed, depending on who you ask. It is recommended as a lawn replacement in places other than Florida (Texas and California). It is also a host and nectar plant for many butterflies. For some reason, it is extremely difficult to source. I ordered cuttings in January and they just showed up in my mailbox. Now I have potted the rooted cuttings after several days of rehydration. Fingers crossed they grow. Who knew it would be so hard to grow weeds, uh, wildflowers.

The “lawn” as it is. Ugly!

On to prettier things.

Three miniature pineapples and a lizard on a favorite bromeliad. The minature ones are more reliable about fruiting than the big ones, but you can’t really eat them. I have read they can be juiced, but how much juice could really be in there? I like to cut these and let them dry, they are fun additions to flower arrangements.

Another oddity, Coral Plant (Jatropha multifida) The leaves look like marijuana, though the whole plant is very toxic.

A plant combination I like. On the left, the foliage, Golden Duranta (Duranta erecta); grey foliage with yellow ball flowers ‘Golf Beauty’ Craspedia; ‘Mystic Blue’ Salvia and the small yellow flowering plant is a native purslane, I am not sure which one.

Flowers on a Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbiifolia). The leaves on this begonia are easily 18 by 18 inches. It is a great coarse texture accent in the garden – considered a roadside weed in South America, where it inhabits ditches.

That is all from lawnless land in Florida. Thanks to Jim for hosting and..

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Red Lion Roars Again

The Red Lion Amaryllis in my garden is a long ago gift from my father in law, Glenn. He went through forcing bulbs every Christmas, saving them and planting them in the garden and then dividing them and after a while there was a pride of Red Lions. Glenn left us almost fifteen years ago and I still cherish this Amaryllis (he would never call it a Hippeastrum.) It refused to flower for several years, so I moved it to a sunnier spot and the Red Lion is roaring again. I was happy to bring it inside to enjoy in a Monday vase. I was even happier the lion was inside when a rollicking late afternoon thunderstorm roared through.

A closer view of the Lion:

Accompaniments to the Lion:

The white flowers are ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea; orange flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens). This is a restrained plant palette for me. The vase is my favorite piece of vintage Blue Willow, a teapot from the UK.

The thunderstorms lasted longer than I thought they would – leaving 7 and a half inches of rain behind in a little more than two hours! Lots of roaring here today.

Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM every week and hosting our Zoom meeting yesterday. Such fun to meet other garden bloggers. Follow this link http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – The Bugs are Back

Thankfully, we had a couple of inches of rain fall this week. Flowers are bursting out and the buzzing of bees in this flower on my Dwarf Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebellini) caused me to look up and take note. It is a pretty flower though not easy to see unless you are a gardener standing under it looking at other plants. Note the thorns on the stems of the fronds, I wear a hard hat when pruning this one. The butterflies are also back – I have been chasing them but as of yet unable to catch one.

Flowers on the Adonidia Palm (Veitchia merrilli). If left on the palm these get much bigger and turn into bright red fruits in December. This is also called Christmas Palm for that reason. Most people cut them off. There is actually a palm pollen advisory in effect.

The final Ranunculus, about a quarter of the size of the first two. No clue why.

The Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) has been spectacular this year. Again, no idea why.

A Latania Palm (Latania loddigesii) I bought as Blue Latan is probably a Red Latan – due to the red leaf margins. This has been in the garden for years and years and has not developed a trunk. I did not realize how slowly palms grow. I hope to see a tree someday. Right now it is still a shrub – palmetto?

Nam Doc Mai Mango ripening. The wind and rain knocked the mango crop from maybe 50 to about 15, which is normal and expected. I was concerned about what to do with 50! Waiting for one of the 15.

That’s my Six this Saturday from South Florida. Where are yours? To see more SOS posts, visit http://gardenruminations.co.uk

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Delicate Dianthus

I have been enjoying the Giant Dianthus plants that I have been keeping on my front porch. I expected them to burn out as soon as the temperatures exceeded 80 degrees. They haven’t, surprising me with fringed flowers in shades of pink almost daily. The snapdragons are still hanging on as well. Laziness and distaste for throwing anything away that might possibly flower made me keep the snaps around. I was rewarded with a few more flowers, dwarf when compared to the earlier ones, but a nice accessory to the delicate dianthus flowers.

The vase belonged to my mother. It was her go-to container for pansies and a perfect size for the dianthus. I am wondering if this was once a jam jar, it has a very jammy vibe. This vase has some wonderful scents, basil flowers, dianthus and salvia; sweet, spicy and herbal. I am enjoying walking by.

The close up:

Giant Dianthus in pink; yellow snaps; a few sprigs of Genovese Basil flowers; ‘White Flame’ Salvia and ‘Golf Beauty’ Craspedia in yellow.

Pink snapdragons, a few sprigs of Tropical Red Salvia in white with Asian Sword Ferns and Asparagus Ferns for greenery.

This is a stuffed jam jar!

Thank you to Cathy for hosting this week (and every week) To see more vase follow this link to her blog. http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – The Jesus Lizard

It’s Saturday again and time to share garden happenings. I suppose it is very appropriate to find a Jesus Lizard in the garden during Easter week. I had been seeing a fast moving animal in the garden for a couple of weeks, it appeared to be running on its back legs like a little T Rex dinosaur. I am beginning to think I am seeing things. Things that aren’t there. Finally, it stopped and I was close enough to get a picture.

Here is the lizard. Google was able to identify this as a Brown Basilisk or Jesus Lizard. It does run on its back legs and has paddle shaped feet that make it appear to walk on water if it runs into a lake at high speed, hence the name. These are not native to Florida and considered invasive. Mental health crisis averted. Additional information, if you need it. loridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2023/02/22/jesus-lizard-florida-what-to-know-brown-basilisks/69902695007/

I was thrilled to get my second Ranunculus flower.

I am looking forward to eating this pepper. Tonight. My first successful red pepper.

I have been moving bromeliads around this week. A new container of Neoregelia bromeliads was assembled for the porch from random plants in the back garden.

‘Purple Haze’ Billbergia bromeliad added to the front garden. A ring cut from a nursery container supports the plant as it roots into its new space.

I planted three Papayas grown from seed in the back garden. Hopefully a male and female plant emerge from the trees and I get some fruit. These are Mexican Papayas. I have them amongst the pineapples that were gnawed by something. Maybe the Jesus Lizard.

Happy Easter and Happy Gardening!!

To see more SOS posts visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk

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!!

Six on Saturday – Tropical Fun

I am joining the SOS gang once again at Jim’s blog – http://gardenruminations.co.uk Follow the link to see more garden fun. This Saturday I am looking at the more tropical side of my South Florida garden.

Nothing says tropical like a big, tasty mango. These are Glenn Mangoes ripening on the tree. I am looking forward to a June day when I can eat one.

Spring brings bromeliad pups and these unusual rick rack shaped pups are growing up from a Macwilliamsii Neoregelia. These bromeliads are mottled green in summer and develop red coloration in winter, the red at the base of the pups is fading.

Shooting out some pups, Fireball Neoregelia are a famously tough groundcover bromeliad. Deep burgundy red in full sun and green in shade, these are underplanting a Brown Eyed Girl sunflower in a container.

Hippeastrum can stay outside year round in my garden. These are Red Lion inherited from my Father in Law years ago.

I installed some Cattleya Orchids in the Pygmy Date Palms (Phoenix roebellini) in my front garden this week. The orchids are wedged into the pruned part of the crown and secured with jute twine. The orchids are already putting out roots and should flower late summer, these are purple Cattleyas.

Schomburgkia orchids were mounted in the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera simaruba) tree last year. They have multiplied and are sending up buds (the brown stem looking like a bamboo shoot). These orchids are native to mangrove forests on the Gulf coast of Mexico; how they ended up here is anyone’s guess.

That’s all from my garden this week. I am breaking rules next week. Bromeliads are supposed to be divided and moved by March 31. Guess what I am still doing? I am enjoying the Lost Marbles tomatoes so much I am considering planting another batch – pushing the tomato envelope here. The last tomatoes should be planted in March. Oh, the dilemmas…

Happy Gardening!!

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!!

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!!