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!

Under The Oak Tree

The southeast corner of the backyard garden is under the shady canopy of the large oak tree as well as the shadow of the wood fencing.  Pockets of sunlight appear in different areas at different times throughout the day.

Still on the east side but closer in toward the tree, new plants have been added to fill in the area where the wedelia ground cover once was growing.  The tallest plants are about two feet tall right now, but there are several which will be gaining height to add much needed layers.

Lots of low growing ground covering plants are planted on the north side of the tree.  This is the view we have from our back porch. 

There is a fairly good mix of cold hardy plants such as flax lily, holly fern and walking iris to keep the area from being too bare when the various clerodendrum, coleus, and caladiums disappear for the winter.  Where are all those caladiums I planted right after removing the wedelia?  Maybe I've been digging around too much and displaced them. 


Three oakleaf hydrangeas were planted on the southside of the tree to give some height and background.  These blooms are just beginning to open.  Hydrangea quercifolia is a native plant that fits in well with a natural woodland setting. 

Another native plant just added is this ground cover, Ruellia caroliniensis.  I'm hoping this native wild petunia will spread and help cover the areas between the other plantings. 

Up against the trunk of the old oak are clumps of different types of bromeliads.  The roots of the oak tree make it impossible to dig deep planting holes so these epiphytes fit perfectly. 

I just enjoy the sunlight shining through the leaves.  You never know when a stray sunbeam will show up.

On the west side of the tree I tried to mirror the planting of the east side.  There is another flowering maple, wormwood, firespike and a new reed-stem epidendrum planted on the outer edge of the circle where it can get some stronger sunlight.

With a mix of old and new, native and Florida friendly plants, I am eager to see how this woodland garden grows up. 

Something Just Caught My Eye

When I took my morning walk along My Garden Path, a few things drew my attention.  This Butterfly Bush, Buddleja davidii,  is constantly producing blooms and what is truly amazing, it is healthy.  I buy one of these bushes every Spring only to watch it wither away.  This year's bush has been different - in a good way.  I don't know the cultivar name, it was simply labeled as "purple."

The Blackberry Lily, Belamcanda chinensis, is actually in the Iris family.  What I noticed on my walk was the seed pods forming.  This is exciting stuff!  It means I will have more of these beauties to spread around My Garden Path and to share with other gardening friends. 

Look at this!  The Red Firespike, Odontonema strictum, is starting to bloom.  These spikes will get much larger and open up into many tiny trumpet shaped blooms that the Hummingbirds love.  Last year, this was the number one plant where I could count on seeing a Hummer sipping away. 

 

Another favorite with the Hummingbirds is this Firebush, Hamelia patens.   This particular shrub was planted this Summer to replace the one that never returned from the winter freezes.  It has been planted in a shady area in hopes of the big oak giving it some winter protection.  The shade has not diminished the blooms,  I'm happy to see.

 

Oh Look!  The Celosia has a bud forming.  I bought this plant for $1 from the County Jail Horticulture program.  I've been taking cuttings and rooting them without realizing I was keeping it from blooming.  I just love the red foliage.  I guess I'll stop cutting it and let these buds blossom.  I have learned since planting it that it re-seeds so if I want it next year I need to let her bloom. 

Oops, those aren't blooms on the Milkweed!  Those are Monarch caterpillars.  Yay! 

The Sweet Almond, Aloysia virgata, has been really blooming of late.  The sweet scent is so nice in the garden.  I've read these can get 10 feet high or more.  I can't wait for my little sprawling bush to grow up and really fill the air with the perfume of many more blooms. 

There are a couple of things I noticed about these Mexican Petunias, Ruellia brittoniana.  First, they are staying in a neat clump and not taking over the world.   These are a sterile cultivar that are more upright in form than the type I have planted (and regretted) in the past.  They really are staying in one spot. 

Another thing that caught my eye was the fact that the Bamboo is weeping over on top of the Mexican Petunias.  That side bed is going to have to be widened.  But, it's definitely a project for a cooler time of year. 

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!

Total Devastation

Before.

The current state of the area.  So sad.

The gingers and bananas along the back fence are unrecognizable. 

The past two weeks have brought a prolonged freeze to the garden.  So many plants are nothing but brown crispiness or black mush.  It will be a while yet before the damage is understood completely.  Patience.  This new blog will be an opportunity to chronicle the re-growth and re-learning process along My Garden Path.