Wow! Woke up this morning and everything’s in bloom. Simply amazing!
Spindle palm, ground lilies, and red button ginger…
Another lily, hibiscus and my philodendron (which I’ve never seen bloom before!)…
Plus my pineapple and my neighbor’s mangos and papayas…
And I have to tell you that my incredible ground orchids, which lost all their blooms several months ago, came back in full, glorious color! But you’ll never guess how…
I mentioned earlier about my poor Shrimp Plants and how they’re not doing well. Shrimp Plants are a very cool plant that I first discovered at Jungle Island when it was in Coconut Grove. There, they were huge bushes about five feet tall. Very thick and very full.
At home, I planted four of them along this fence quite a while ago and they’re very puny. I even cut them back to try for new growth and a fuller look but they’re still very puny. Even so, I will persevere because they are so unique.
The long yellow blooms with the white side blooms. Go figure! One day I will master the art of growing them. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy my meager version of them.
How many “favorites” can a girl have? I’m hoping the answer is “lots” because the Allamanda is another one of my favorite SoFlo plants! It has done great for me, delivering a lush, verdant shrub that’s always filled with lots of bright yellow blooms. I have it in two places around my house. I did try it in a third spot but think it either got beat up by the high winds of a tropical storm or the area I planted it is deficient in nutrients. (I’m suspecting the latter because I now have Shrimp plants there and they are not doing well either.)
In any case, Allamandas are bug-free, drought-resistant, low-maintenance, and grow like weeds. All this plus year ’round blooms to boot! Who could ask for more? Aha, but there is more! (If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ll know there’s always more with SoFlo flora, it seems.) In addition to the flowers, you get these weird “nuts.”
Not sure what the are for, but they’re about 3/4″ to an inch in diameter and very thorny. They seem to be dried out and the insides are hollow. Curious, no? If anyone has any idea why the Allamanda produces these, please share!
Here you can see what a great shape the Allamanda has. I’ve pruned it to grow somewhat laterally, instead of straight up. To the left of the Allamanda you’ll see the Plumeria, and to the right is the ground lily.
I’m calling these “Father-in-Law” plants because they remind me of the Mother-in-Law plants that are common house plants. I know they’re not the same, but they do feature the long dark purple and green leaves resembling spears. And they are almost impossible to get rid of!
These unwelcome visitors are ubiquitous — seming to spring up everywhere other plants wouldn’t think twice about — between cracks, along the base of the house, and anywhere not much else will grow. My husband has always been an advocate of them since they do thrive. I’ve been resistant … just because! I suppose it’s more like, if I didn’t plant them, I don’t want them. But after trying to get something growing at the base of my Spindle Palm with no luck, I just might settle for this plant. Although it would hide the strange air roots which are wondrous to behold. Hmmm. We’ll see.
But even these “weeds” have blossoms to share with us! See the mini white flowers in the centers? Not sure it vindicates this plant’s existance, but still … delightful!
As in “mosquito”. This is our cute little kitten we found in a tree in the front yard. Not knowing its sex, we came up with a generic name. When we found out it was a girl, some in the family wanted to change it to a female name, but Skeeter just seemed right for her. She’s a riot!
She’s strictly an indoor cat, as are our other two, Murphy and Ziggy. Guess the sexes of those? Ha. I guess we have a track record of non-demoninational names. Murphy is a girl — another stray we found on the ramp to Interstate 95! And Ziggy is a boy — a gift to my daughter from an old boyfriend.. As I said, all are indoor cats. Save the birds and lizards, right?
Fortunately we don’t really have many actual skeeters, as in mosquitos, being on a salt water canal. But this Skeeter is a handful all by herself and we love her.
And I promise, I will keep these animal posts down to a bare minimum to be used only when bored.
The common bougainvillea. You see them everywhere down here and in lots of different, brilliant colors. They’re gorgeous! To look at anyway. The numerous thorns will get you every time, no matter how careful you are. And gorgeous to look at outside. When you try to cut off a sprig for indoor use, the blossoms dry out like miniature paper Chinese lanterns. Cute in their own right, but they’ll just litter your table and floor. It was a nice try anyway.
I keep this one growing rather wild. A privacy shrub, if you will. But just when you think you know all about this very common plant, you take a closer look and, voila, what do you see? A flower within a flower. Who woulda thunk.
See the little white center? Here’s a closer look …
One of my spindle palm’s “flower” is dying as you can see how the one on the left has collapsed. (The stalk just folded.) I’ll have to hack it off which isn’t easy since it’s so fibrous. But the good news is that a new bloom looks imminent! See how it’s shedding it’s sheath.
And how huge it is!
Okay, so it’s fauna, not flora. But it’s a rainy, gloomy Monday and I thought this critter would cheer me up.
These things are highly poisonous to dogs that attempt to chow down on them, so we relocate them to a vacant lot or forest preserve. Fortunately we’ve only seen a handful in the 18 years we’ve lived here. Trying to get this one to pose wasn’t easy. Hence the hands in the shot.
Used heavily in municipal landscaping, the ixora is another hardy shrub that does well with little attention. These also come in a dwarf variety that sport a ton of blooms in either a dramatic orange-red color or yellow. It also makes my list of “not a favorite” but is great for a hedge (trimmed to a uniform shape) or along the wall of a house. I prune them as needed, but not intensely, and mostly just let them grow and do their thing. I had this one that I transplanted from the side of my house to a pot in the backyard. It has since died due to a total lack of watering. (I told you it wasn’t my favorite! And I have since replaced it with some stunning ground orchids which I’ll feature later.)
But again, to attest to the incredible beauty and variety of the flora down here, just look at how these common little flowers still manage to amaze.
Like the lily I wrote about earlier and for which I showed sort of a “time lapse” scenario, the flower of the ixora blooms bit by bit, too. I find it fascinating!
On my list of “Not My Favorite Plants,” along with the common ginger, is the croton. I guess it’s just a little too common as they’re used widely in commercial and municipal plantings. But because they come in different varieties — dwarf and curly leaved are two — they can add interest to your garden when used in the right location. And the croton does have some good attributes. They are hardy and so do well with little attention. They are colorful — greens, reds, oranges and more. And they are bushy, so provide for some degree of privacy.
I recently planted three small plants and noticed part of one that’s a brilliant yellow! Albino, I ask? This alone may be enough to move crotons onto my list of favorites. It’s just too weird and wonderful!
sofloflora 