A Delightful Day

After far too long, an entire day was available for me to spend in the garden.  And what a beautiful day it was.

Cool temperatures and clear skies brought enjoyment to even the most mundane of gardening chores.  Florida Fall colors greeted me as I moved around tending to trimming and weeding.  The red berries of the native rouge plant, Rivina humilis, are so prolific they make up for the spots of fungus on the leaves left by the incessant rains of last month.

Tillandsias enjoyed all that rain and are now showing off their fall colors.  These have to be the easiest plants to care for in my garden.

The red firespike, Odontonema strictum, is at the height of its glory.  The fact that freezing temperatures kill it back is actually a good thing.  Winter weather keeps this monster from taking over the whole garden.  It always grows back quickly as soon as the ground warms in spring and is ready for late summer blooms that last until that first frost occurs.

Opening its blooms right on time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, is the Christmas cassia, Cassia bicapsularis.   When all the yellow blossoms are open this little tree is quite a spectacular sight.

One of the gardening chores urgently needed was righting the sweet almond bush, Aloysia virgata,  which had been blown sideways during a recent windstorm.  While propping and staking it, I decided to trim it up into a one-trunked tree.  Hopefully, that won't prove to be too much for it to handle all at one time.

These sweet smelling flowers are present all year but in the spring and fall they are more abundant.  The more this little tree is trimmed the more it produces its sweet perfume.

Nothing is better than a delightful day in the garden!

My Favorites....This Month

"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving."  Psalm 69:30

Simply Susan  invites bloggers to share their favorites each month on the 25th of the month.   My garden brings me joy all year long and so it is fitting to share my thankfulness for these favorite flowers on this day. 

The candy corn plant, Cuphea micropetala, was killed to the ground this past January and it was feared that it was not coming back.  A few spindly sprigs did return to bloom this month.  The blooms are pretty enough that it will get a reprieve from the shovel and given a chance to return to former glory.

Another favorite bush that isn't quite back to full size after being frozen, the Cassia bicapsularis, is popping out with it's lovely yellow blooms.  This bush has been providing suphur butterfly caterpillars with food since spring, yet is still able to produce a cloud of blossoms. 

Camellia sasanqua, 'Shishi Gashira,' was planted last January just after the freeze that took away so much of my garden.  It's still a very small bush, but it is loaded with buds ready to explode into bright pink double flowers.

Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' is opening single red flowers just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. It should continue blooming right on through the Christmas season after which it is named. These cheery flowers will be greeting guests to My Garden Path when they arrive at the front door. 

My favorites for November are all, with the exception of the Cuphea, only winter bloomers.  The 'Candy Corn' will bloom much of the year if we have a mild winter.  I hope you are enjoying your November garden and will join Simply Susan in sharing your  favorites this month. 

I am thankful for the joy my garden brings.  Happy Thanksgiving!

A Cool (Almost) Crisp Fall Day

One recent morning the temperatures were in the mid-sixties with 49% humidity.  While enjoying the view from the back porch I didn't even need to turn on the ceiling fans.  I walked around to the sunny eastside veggie bed to complete my morning watering chores and I didn't break a sweat, not one drop.  What a difference from just last week's humidity. 

In fact, the morning air was so cool that I was inspired to enlarge the westside bamboo bed.  This is a project that became necessary once the bamboo grew large enough to weep over the top of the loropetalum I had planted in front. 

A sleepy bumblebee was just resting amid the bamboo leaves.  How those little wings lift that fat and furry body is amazing to me.  This bee didn't lift off until much later in the morning.  He was a welcome companion while I worked.

The flax lily border was brought out about 3 feet and the loropetalum bushes moved forward.  The Mexican Petunias (the sterile ones from Home Depot) were left in place which made the bumblebee happy.  
 ( To see the beginnings of this bed you can go here.)

Another creature slowed by the coolness in the air was this Sulphur butterfly.  Be sure you notice the huge caterpillar in the left foreground.  These guys have been eating the tips of this cassia bush all summer.  I have it for just that reason, but I do want it to bloom this year.  Last year I remember it being stunning the whole month of November.  This year it is about half the size it was so I'm concerned. 

While in the sunny area of My Garden Path with camera in hand, let me show you Belinda's Dream for the millioneth time. 

She is loving the cooler weather and so am I. 

They Made It!

I know that whining about the big freeze has been very much overdone at My Garden Path, so today I declare that I am officially over it. 

Clockwise from Top Left - Fig, Firespike, Butterfly Ginger, Papyrus, Crinum, Ice Cream Banana

Many of the plants I thought were never to be seen again have begun to push through the oak leaf mulch.  Soon they will back better than ever just as they were last spring.

Clockwise from Top Left Ending in the Middle - Cat's Whisker, Penta, Canna, Tibouchina, Passion Vine, Grand NainxSumatrana Banana, Butterfly Cassia


The list of plants not showing signs of life is very short:  a few Hibiscus, Firebush, Pseuderanthemum, Clerodendrum.  By the end of March if they haven't woken up they will be replaced with other more cold hardy specimens.  The only one I will really miss is the Firebush, so I may get another of those for the hummingbirds.


At last, I'm able to go out into the garden and see life and growth!