Tag Archives: the shrub queen

Six on Saturday – Tending Benefits

SOS once again. This week I am exploring the culinary benefits of tending my garden. I grew all the vegetables and herbs in the dishes and enjoying the bounty. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com

This is dill crusted salmon with fresh tomato and herb balsamic pasta and steamed green beans.

Green bush beans. I have finally figured out I need twelve plants to have two decent sized servings of beans for dinner. This is my second crop of beans this winter.

A very funky yellow pear tomato. These seem to produce better fruit if fertilized bi weekly instead of weekly?

New to the garden and my first ever pepper success. Meet the wrinkly Criollo pepper. Native to Central American and essential to Ecuadoran cuisine, these are very tasty. I am thinking Chicken Cacciotore for dinner.

Nasturtium finally produced a flower…a future sandwich or salad topping.

My very first, tiny, Sugar Baby Watermelon. Here’s hoping I can get enough water on it.

That’s it from South Florida. Two hours til lunch!

Happy Gardening.

Bees at Work?

I started this batch of Zinnias from open pollinated seed. The first flowers were pink and creamy solid colors. Now I have mixed striped flowers.The plants are winding down and I am letting a few go to seed and see what color comes up next. I am thinking these are not hybrids and have cross pollinated?

Any thoughts?

In a Vase on Monday – The Twist

Do the twist! I spied deep pink twisty stemmed Zinnias in the garden and thought I could wind them through some spiraling grapevines I had been eyeing..(that need to come out). The white paper mache object is from a college design class – the assignment ‘evoke the feeling of disco’ I think they are doing the twist. With the Zinnias.

The vase alone:

The grey glass vase, a thrift store find. Pink Zinnias, grown from seeds found on Etsy. White Begonias, a local botanical garden find; Begonia nelumbifolia or Lotusleaf Begonias. Smaller pink flowers are Globe Amaranth, again from Etsy seeds. Tropicals lounging over the edge are Shell Ginger ( Alpinia zerumbet) Ferns are – the love it or hate it Boston Fern – a native I love. Brown grapevines doing the twist, Vitis rotundafolia; they are difficult to like, producing bitter fruit and overrunning (or ruining) everything else.

Closer views:

I love color and texture..

Happy Monday and Happy Gardening.Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpresss.com for hosting. Follow the link for more vases.

Six on Saturday – Fab Feb Fleurs

Saturday morning has rolled around again and I took to the garden to find February flowers to join the SOS crowd. To see more February fun, visit Jon at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com

Above is an underside view of a Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) opening. Eventually the flower hangs down from the branch. These flower every February and a few other times during the year at their discretion.

Long Island Mammoth Dill flower. I am not sure if I should cut this off or let it go to seed. The dill has been wonderful and is recommended for winter in Florida.

A perversely peachy Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). One of my favorite reseeding flowers. Probably hasn’t had water in weeks.

Here is the red flower…Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformis) I like the texture of this plant, though it is kind of gangly, and dangly.

Sugar Baby Watermelon flower. Hoping for some fruit! I am trying to grow these on a teak stool to keep them off the ground. Time will tell.

A blessing and a curse, white wildflower, Bidens alba. The blessing, an indestructible, happy prolific flowering plant. The curse, the same, and it can produce 1200 seeds per plant providing Bidens sod.

That’s it this week.

Happy Gardening from South Florida.

In a Vase on Monday – Rapt

I had lunch in my garden today, a perfect 75 degrees F/23C, sunny blue sky day in South Florida..contemplating how the plants and flowers had me paying rapt attention to all the details (and weeds) This made me realize I should sit in the garden more often. And it conjured up a wrapped vase.

The vase is a marinated artichoke jar shaped in a radiused square. I used the leaves vertically instead of horizontally around the jar this time and left some taller leaves with tips in the back. The leaves are from a Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana)

The arrangement under construction:

The Zinnias I grew for winter are fading fast. I collected seed from the Envy Zinnias and started a new batch to replant in my front garden. I will sow a few more Cactus Zinnia just to have more to cut in the bag garden. With temperatures in the mid 80s F last week, I realize the bag gardens days may be numbered as the bags will dry out faster than I can water them when temperatures are too hot.

A closer view:

White spikes at the top are Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata); deep blue spikes are ‘Mystic Blue’ Salvia; off white flowers at top are Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbo); the Zinnias are Cactus Mix and ‘Envy’ grown from seed. The fragrance is a bit unusual – a combination of Sweet Almond and tangy Salvia.

Another view:

Zinnias at the bottom are ‘Envy.’

To see more vases follow the link http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com and visit our hostess, Cathy in the UK who invites bloggers to share their vases from around the world.

I’ll be in the garden paying rapt attention to getting rid of the weeds.

Happy Gardening..

Six on Saturday – The Warm Up

Time for SOS again. To join in, visit Jon at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com for instructions and check out the comments from other gardeners around the world.

South Florida, being true to its tropical spirit, heated back up this week and the garden responded. It was 85 F/29.4 C here yesterday. The locals were pronouncing spring had arrived.

Above is what I call my Jurassic Begonia, it started sending up flowers this week, the stems are almost five feet long! This is actually called a Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbifolia) seemingly a roadside weed in parts of Central America – this is difficult for me to imagine.

A closer view of the flower.

The flower of a pink ornamental pineapple. The foliage is green and burgundy striped and the pineapple is miniature and will remain pink. These are too small to eat, but can be juiced if you are so inclined. I usually cut them and use them in flower arrangements. They dry well as tiny brown pineapples.

The Hard Cane Dendrobium Orchid I mounted in the Gumbo Limbo tree has produced a bud. The anticipation is building. I covered this during the cold snap.

Flowers on a Dracaena reflexa just starting to open. They have a wonderful scent. The buds are burgundy and the flowers are white.

I have finally grown some Cilantro! Now I hate to eat it, it took forever.

That is it for this week.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Wedding Inspired

Expecting something a liitle less colorful, maybe shades of creamy white? Not this Monday. While searching for flowers this overcast Sunday in South Florida I found colorful marigolds, zinnias and a bit of white in my garden.

The arrangement was inspired by my nephew, who was recently in a wedding in India and sent me some images of the event with flowers.

Here goes:

Pretty fabulous, I think. Garlands of marigolds are popular in India for all sorts of occasions. I like one reason best, the color of the sun is reflected in marigolds, representing brightness and positive energy. I imagine there are thousands of marigolds here.

Here is a link to more on marigolds and India.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/onmyplate/marigold-the-mexican-flower-that-has-become-a-part-of-indian-festivals/

A pretty shot of marigold garlands with a bicycle embellished with white and deeper toned flowers, another element of weddings in India.

Close ups of my arrangement, with about 5 marigolds instead of 5,000!

I think the orange flowers are African Marigolds from a cutting flower mix I bought from Sow True seeds in Asheville, North Carolina. The white daisies are our native (weed) Bidens alba; yellow tubular flowers are Esperanza (Tecoma stans).

Another view:

Pink flowers are Cactus Zinnias, grown from seed; the foliage – Asian Sword Ferns and a few bits of Rosemary. The vase, a thrift store find on an old brass trivet, probably from India..

There’s my multi cultural experience this Monday. Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Copy the link to see more arrangements.

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – Blushing Bromeliads

Time to join the SOS gang yet again. My Bromeliads and vegetable garden are doing their winter thing.

First up, the Blushing Bromeliad. I think these are Neoregelia carolinae. The foliage is solid green until we have a cold snap, then the plant blushes, staying red until summer returns.

Another Neoregelia Bromeliad, this is ‘Luca’ showing its deeper winter coloration.

Other Bromeliads flower in winter. This is a bud stalk, probably three feet tall, from an unnamed (or forgotten) Brom that has been in the garden for several years. The flower is a surprise. It should be interesting to watch the evolution.

This one, Quesnelia testudo, is considered by some to be the tulip of South Florida. The flowers last about a month.

I continue to harvest and enjoy fresh vegetables. The snow peas (mangetout) are wonderful cut into matchsticks raw and added to salad.

I finally got some good radishes – do I know how or why? Not really. This is a French Dressing or French Breakfast radish, name depends on who supplies the seed. These are my favorite and always cleaned and eaten immediately after harvesting. Irresistable. I shall plant another bag full before it gets too hot.

That is six from my South Florida garden. To see more SOS posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Art That Doesn’t Hold Water

The art? The vase – built by me in high school art class, many years ago. The dark ages when Aerosmith first appeared on the rock scene, something much discussed over making coils for clay pots. I think this was called hand building and is the last surviving artifact of my foray into clay. The bottom of the vase is not glazed, it doesn’t leak or hold water – it sort of sweats.

The arrangement has an Ikebana feel to me. I did not start out with that in mind – as my vases usually go, this one evolved from ‘looking for a brown vase to put the cafe au lait zinnias in’ to ‘needs brown twigs for zen balance’. I found an old brass trivet to put under the vase and it is not sweating too badly.

Another vase view:

Time for the close up:

Cafe au lait Zinnias from a Cactus seed mix are the stars of this show. The peachy flowers are non red Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). This Salvia is a perennial (reseeding) favorite in my garden and I love the color surprises left by pollinating bees.

Another view:

The ‘zen’ brown sticks are from the native Muscadines (Vitis rotundafolia) that run rampant through the wilder parts of my garden. The greenery, Asparagus Ferns, run the same course with the Muscadines, with a much smaller stature.

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

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Tropical Travails

This weekend was a bit of a trial. The coldest weather South Florida has seen in a decade blew in Friday night and lingered through Sunday morning. Freezing temperatures threatened; our normal lows are 40 degrees F. I spent the weekend covering and uncovering plants and making sure the vulnerable were hydrated. I fear the only casualty will be the watermelon vines, they wilted despite being covered.

I was quite surprised to find the pink Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) on Sunday morning. I added a few leaves from the varigated ‘Bossa Nova’ Neoregelia Bromeliad, then set off to find a few more vase ingredients from the garden.

The purple ‘flowers’ are actually seedheads from the Portea ‘Candy’ Bromeliad. These eventually turn a creamy white if left on the plant. The green foliage, baby palm fronds from a seedling Sabal Palm (Palmetto sabal) – the state tree of Florida. Grey tendrils in front of the flowers are from the edges of the palm fronds. The heavy crystal vase, a gift from my late brother.

I am ready for some normal Florida winter sunshine this week with no travails.

Happy gardening and thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.