Fabulous Foliage

A mild winter and the start of the summer rains have really given a boost to the foliage in the shady parts of the garden.

The Sweet Almond bush is taking shape as a single-trunk small tree.  It has had trouble keeping upright during high winds but it stood strong during 'Debby.'  The blooms have come in flushes one right after another since March.

The area underneath the oak is starting to take shape as well.  This area was all Wedelia ground cover.  You can read about its re-do here.   My Oakleaf Hydrangeas didn't bloom this year, but they are putting out new stems and leaves so I have high hopes for next spring.  

Now here's a look I love.  The shady tropical corner has foliage upon foliage.  There are few bare spots to be seen in this area.

I love being able to put houseplants in the ground to form a low bushy groundcover that gets nipped in the winter but comes back every spring.  (Polka Dot Plant 'White Splash' on the left and 'Pink Splash' at the bottom right edge of this picture.)  They re-seed so there are now more than the original two. 

Looking out from the shady corner across the boggy area I'm so happy to see that I may have finally figured out what can take drought conditions in early spring and still take flooding in summer. Many plants have met their doom in this spot.  

Oh yes, mid-summer foliage is a beautiful thing!

Red Riot

Red in my garden is a welcome accent against all the shades of green foliage.  From flying creatures, flowers and foliage, red is a color that catches the eye.  Anyone know the name of this colorful flying insect enjoying the Sweet Almond?

Stopping to smell the Louis Philippe roses I realize even their scent is connected to the color red.  Their smell reminds me of cherry flavored candy.  Is it just because I'm seeing cherry-red that I imagine this?  

The Bottle Brush tree is blooming away now that it has reached a height of ten feet.  I have been happily watching its red blooms attract hummingbirds and bees.  

Accent foliage of magenta red hues really pops against the shades of green in the shady tropical corner.  Blood Leaf Irisine  has made it through even our colder winters.  This year, with the mild winter temperatures, it has remained a small bush and with its spring growth I can see it becoming an even larger presence.  

First time in a long time the Ti plants have shown height as well as their lovely colors.  The background of white Caladiums is early in appearing too.  Love this spring!

My favorite cardinal family is still nesting in the azalea bushes and visiting the feeders throughout the day.  I love the flitting flashes of red they bring to the garden.

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!

A Cold Calculating View

As I walk around the garden these days I do so with a view to assess what has worked well during this cold winter season.  I want to be sure to place more of these plants to help keep some structure going at all times of the year.

Sweet Alyssum, Lobularia maritima, is still blooming and reseeding on the sunnier side of the garden.  It and the Pansies, Viola x wittrockiana,  make a great winter annual combination.  There are lots of little seedlings of something sprouting up in that area.  I sure hope they aren't really weeds.  Since there were blanket flowers and some other butterfly attracting flowers there this past spring, I'm waiting to see what they turn into before pulling them.

Two baby Cardboard Palms, Zamia furfuracea, live along the path and amazingly they both have come through the cold unscathed.  The oak canopy must offer them just the right amount of protection.  This is just another example of micro-climates within the same gardening zone.  Often, I see plants that seem cold-hardy or heat-tolerant in another garden only to find they don't react the same way in my garden.  In this case the opposite happened.  I saw freeze-dried Cardboard Palms in another garden and thought for sure mine would never make it as my garden tends to be in a cold pocket.  The tree coverage seems to be the key to helping these little cycads survive.  The Neoregelia 'Burgundy' are doing quite well placed in front of the Sweet Almond bush.  The poor Sweet Almond, Aloysia virgata, while not seemingly affected by the cold, has had it's leaves pierced and beaten by an overabundance of falling acorns.

The Birdsnest Fern, Asplenium nidus 'Osaka', and Holly Fern, Cyrtomium falcatum, have earned their spots with their ability to not show even a smidgen of winter stress.  Definitely, I am on the look-out for more of these.

The Abutilon is still blooming and producing new leaves.  There seem to be many cultivars of this plant, different colors, and different flower sizes.  I do like the light peach color with dark red veining of this one, but I'm going to be on the look-out for some other colors too.  After the last December freeze some of the larger leaves turned yellow and dropped off.  You would never know it now as it is full of new green growth and weathered the January freeze just fine.  Sometime in February, when the promise of spring is more sure, I plan to take cuttings and spread this cold survivor around in other places along the path.  As an added bonus, the hummingbird visited this plant quite often this past fall.

Lots of Florida gardeners are singing the praises of Camellias this year.  This, Camellia sasanqua 'Shishi Gashira', is blooming in the backyard garden.  Two more Sasanquas have been purchased to add to this area, another 'Shishi Gashira' and a 'Mine-No-Yuki.'  The second one has a ruffly white flower which I'm hoping will be showing up in future posts soon as it is presently covered in buds.

I am thoroughly enjoying the glorious Florida weather we have been experiencing this week.  It sure gets the gardening juices flowing. 

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.