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!

As the Season Changes

Blue Ginger
Dichorisandra thyrsiflora

The end of the week heralds the official beginning of Fall.  The garden is beginning to show its Fall colors already.  Since the trimming has gotten away from me, the Blue Ginger is blooming underneath the overpowering branches of Purple Firespike which won't bloom until late winter.

Flowering Maple
Abutilon

Flowering Maple has bloomed pretty much non-stop since Spring, but seems to have more blooms than ever now that the nighttime temperature has dropped a bit.

Forsythia Sage, Salvia madrensis and Red Firespike, Odontonema strictum

My favorite Fall flowering combination is this Red Firespike and Forsythia Sage blend.  The butterflies and hummingbirds love these two as well.

I have noticed more buds forming on other Fall blooming plants which are nice to see as many of the Summer bloomers are closing up and fading away.  I love witnessing the changes of season in the garden even though, here in central Florida, those changes are very subtle.

Buzzing, Flitting and Fluttering

Buzzing....

Spotted Horsemint has gotten way out of hand over by the veggie bed.  It really brings in the bees and other buzzing insects though.

Flitting...

A busy female ruby-throated hummingbird is the only hummer I've ever seen.   Always just one at a time.  Could she be the same one?  Last year I saw her from March until October.  This year it sure looks like the same bird.  She has been flitting through the garden several times a day since February this year.  I would love for her to bring along some friends. The red firespike is her favorite flower.  I'm glad I have spread it around in several places.

Fluttering...

Crimson pentas are one of the best butterfly attractors planted in my garden.  I can always count on finding butterflies where they are blooming.

Now that summer is at its end and the temperature is at its highest, more of the buzzing, flitting and fluttering creatures are visiting the garden.  I enjoy seeing this flurry of  activity as much as I enjoy seeing the flowers.

Yikes! Spikes!

In the fall, the long lasting, spiky blooms of Red Firespike, Odontonema strictum, and Forsythia Sage, Salvia madrensis, tower above the rest of the shade garden.  Their graceful spires beckon all the flying, flitting and buzzing creatures to come sample their nectar. 

Planting the yellow and red blossoms together was purely happenstance.  Next spring more of this combination will be used around the garden.  Both of these plants root easily from cuttings and both are root-hardy in winter. 

The bright yellow blooms of Forsythia Sage show up really well in the shady corner.  But the square-shaped stems are not quite sturdy enough to keep those spikes aloft without being staked.  This plant will root readily where the stems touch the ground and it sends out suckers from the roots.  A small cutting can turn into quite a large clump by the next season after planting.   

When brushed against, the foliage releases a very unpleasant odor.  The scent is reminiscent of fish emulsion fertilizer.  Because of it's height, this is a back of the border plant so it isn't often that anyone other than the gardener would notice the less than delightful fragrance.

The original Red Firespike is planted with Stromanthe sanguinea 'Tricolor'.  This grouping was purposefully planted.  Since the Stromanthe multiplies nicely and makes it through winter with just minor leaf damage, there are plans for moving divisions of it around the garden in the future.  

These red blooms began showing up in August and now, in November new ones are still blossoming.  The yellow blooms made a late showing beginning late October and should persist for six weeks or so. 

These fall flowers add a lot of color to the shady areas of the garden.  Even though freezing temperatures will kill them to the ground, both of these beauties rebound quickly once warm weather returns.  They both have large green leaves that make a good backdrop for spring and summer blooms.  When fall arrives it is their turn to shine and put up the spikes. 

Hummingbird Approved Blooms

Sighting a hummingbird is cause for great excitement here at My Garden Path.  Fall and Winter seem to be the seasons for these speedy jewels to visit this garden.  Actually, there seems to be only one speedy jewel this year.



Senecio confusus, Mexican Flame Vine

Perhaps it is that this female Ruby-Throated hummingbird only sees enough of her favorite flowers blooming along the Path during the Fall season. 



Justicia brandegeana 'Fruit Cocktail'

December 21, 1990, is the first time I spotted a hummingbird here.  It was feeding on the bright red Tropical Hibiscus blooms which were just outside the guest bedroom window.  What a God-sent moment that was.  


Justicia brandegeana

I was helping my Mom into the bed for the first of many times.  She had rather suddenly been released from the re-hab center following a major stroke.  My Dad was in another hospital across town recovering from surgery.  There were three children living at home.  I needed to see that hummingbird.

Salvia elegans, Pineapple Sage

That little bird visited the Hibiscus bush every afternoon as I helped Mom get into bed for a nap.  Just like clockwork that iridescent jewel would appear. 

Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph'

Now, in an effort to encourage the return of hummingbirds each year,  a smorgasbord of hummingbird attracting blooms has been planted. 



Salvia purpurea

The bright reds and oranges of the firespike and flame vine may be the initial attraction for the hummingbird, but once in the garden other blooms seem to be just as enticing.  Purples, pinks and even whites are nectared from time and again.



Barleria cristata,Philippine Violet & Pentas lanceolata

Everytime I see the tiny hummingbird flitting among the flowers, I am reminded of God's care.

Odontonema strictum, Red Firespike


"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:26