Category Archives: Hamelia patens var patens

In a Vase on Monday – Dillicious

Dill is a cool season herb in South Florida. I usually have several plants in pots, this year I have really enjoyed the dill and there is no foliage left to eat! Long Island Mammoth Dill is my favorite variety, the current plant is producing seed heads and I have been enjoying them in flower arrangements and will save some seed for next year. I usually don’t like the seed for eating but have recently learned to make sandwich bread, so I am going to give a dill seed loaf a try. Everything else I made from this plant has been Dillicious. Including this herbal sweet scented concoction in my mother’s crystal rose bowl.

My dillicious vase this week includes:

Fireworks in this vase are from dill seed heads and flowers in chartreuse and orange tubular flowers from the Firebush (Hamelia patens)

Another delicious flower appealing to a different sense is the white Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana divaricata). These flowers lend a heavenly scent to the garden at night. They are sometimes called the Pinwheel Gardenia, there is a flatter flowering variety that looks more like a pinwheel.

That’s all from SoFla this week. To traverse distant gardens and visit via vase follow this link to Cathy’s blog.

Happy Gardening.

Six on Saturday – A Bird in Hand

Saturday morning has rolled around again. My garden tour this week features a new experience for me. Spring is in full swing here, the birds are singing, the plants are producing loads of pollen and I am thinking a bird in the bush is better than one in the hand. To view more Saturday garden tours, visit Jim’s blog, Garden Ruminations follow the link and peruse the comments section to complete a world garden tour.

Beaming with good, proactive gardening tendencies, I set out to prune my rambunctious Firebush. After a few whacks, a bird came flying out, fussing as she flew away. I stopped chopping to see what that was all about and found a nest with eggs. It was later revealed to be a cardinal as she returned to warm her eggs. This bird has since put a leaf over the nest so I can’t peek in anymore. The shrub remains semi-pruned and my hopes for a clean tree formed Firebush have been temporarily dashed.

The interior of the Firebush revealed one more secret. Tillandsia bromeliads growing inside the branches.

My recently installed orchids have fully opened. The other orchids are putting out new growth, I am hoping for sprays of yellow onicidiums this spring.

Tiny Rangpur limes have formed. These will not be ripe until December.

The Nam Doc Mai mangoes are growing and the tree produced another round of flowers. Now I am hoping for mangoes all summer.

The Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) has nearly reached the roof. Officially over six feet tall.

That is all from my garden this week. My loppers are looking for a new place to land! No worries, plenty of vegetation to chop here while Mrs. Cardinal completes her duties.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Cheers to 2024

I decided some fireworks from the garden and a quote were necessary to celebrate this first Monday of 2024. Having read dozens of quotes, I chose the one that made me laugh. I like Irish blessings and this is my favorite. My temple bells from last week have reappeared to assist ringing in the New Year.

“As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way”

I feel like I ran over a few splinters last year, so hopefully this will ease any future damage.

The oversized wine glass assisting the toast was a gift from a dear friend – the back side says ‘Girlfriends are Forever’.

The floral fireworks:

The orange flower front and center is a ‘Choconiana’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum); ephemeral pink grasses at back are Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capallaris); purple fuzzies are from Red Velvet Aerva (Aerva sanguinolenta); yellow daisies are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis); white daisies are Bidens alba.

Orange tubular flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens); red flowers are ‘Maui Red’ Ixora. There are a few ‘White Flame’ and ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia lurking in the glass.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM for all these years. Follow the link to visit Cathy’s blog and view more vases. http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

It’s surprising how many flowers can be stuffed into a wine glass.

Cheers to 2024!!

Six on Saturday – Jungly July

I am joining the SOS garden tour again this Saturday. In South Florida, July has settled around us with a wet blanket of humidity, regular temperatures over 90 F (32C) and nearly daily downpours. The garden is turning into a jungle, overrun by happy plants, weeds and everything green. To see less jungly gardens, visit Jim at http://gardenruminations.co.uk and take a virtual tour via posts from gardeners from less sodden climes.

This is about as tropical as it gets. A Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata) in full bloom. They turn black if cut and don’t stretch the smaller yellow petals(?) out.

The fruit of Seagrapes (Coccolobo uvifera). These grow on shorelines and are a very hardy native tree. Native Floridians will eat the fruit as have some of my greyhounds. The flavor is somewhere between a fig and a grape but mostly seed that requires gnawing to get a taste. I am told it makes a good jam. I find it makes a big mess.

The fruit from my garden I do like. This is the end of the mangoes. These are Nam Doc Mai. There were too many for us to eat so I have been freezing them. They actually freeze quite well. I found fresh local swordfish at the market this morning – we are looking forward to grilled fish with mango salsa for dinner. The little pineapple was grown from the top of a grocery store fruit. I think I got to it just in time, before the critters caught the fragrance.

Welcome to the jungle. The Transcandentia zebrina is draping over a lot of things with all the rain. I am not regretting this yet as I planted it so I wouldn’t have to mulch. Now I have to pull out the T. zebrina. The red flower pops up like clockwork in July. It is Aechmea miniata bromeliad, a great garden flower.

An interesting Gallardia pulchella from plants crossing in the back garden. I like the seedling varieties better than the named cultivars.

Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) in full flower. Another favorite, this shrub sneaks up on you by growing a few feet a year if conditions suit. The conditions are evidently perfect and they need a trim.

That is all from the heat zone.

Happy Gardening

In a Vase on Monday – Linear

My husband jokes me about my lack of linear thinking. I am completely lateral. This week I decided to seek some linearity to complement the line of purple berries from the Beautyberry. I am convinced Florida Beautyberries are different than Beautyberries in other places. Every August I am amazed at the quantity and beauty (yes!) of the berries produced by this shrub.

The Beautyberry story:

I went to a local native plants nursery ‘going out of business’ sale shortly after moving to Florida. The Beautyberries were 3 for 10 dollars. Of course, I bought three. Thinking about putting them in a couple of different locations, not really knowing where to site them in the atrocious sand in my garden. Also not realizing the dramatic seasonal shift of the sun in my new home; I planted one on the due north side of my garage near the exit from our screen porch. Reasoning (lateral as usual) for this location: I thought it would stay shady enough for what was an understory shrub to me and this shrub is supposed to deter mosquitoes.

Much to my surprise, the sun got higher and higher in the sky as the year progressed. Full shade in January is full sun by May! Frying full sun. Not fun to dig things up in frying full sun, so it was left behind the garage. And then, the berries showed up. Impressive berries. I planted the other two in a much shadier, understory location – one passed on and the other bears about a tenth of the fruit of the one I seemingly planted in the wrong place. Another gardening riddle.

Oddly, mosquitoes were much worse in my garden in Atlanta – though we do have astonishing dragonfly (they eat mosquitoes) swarms periodically here and I do stuff Beautyberry leaves in my shoes if there are mosquitoes about (it works). I rarely see mosquitoes on the screen porch. Floridians make jam from the berries. I have not tried this as everyone who has ever mentioned it says it is pretty but tasteless.

The Shrub:

Perhaps the purple berries are a bit clashy with my peachy garage wall..still not digging it up.

A closer view:

The purple and green berries are Beautyberries (Calliocarpa americana); blue spike flowers are Mystic Spires Salvia; purple spike flowers and varigated leaf are from a Coleus ‘Homedepotensis’; the long chartreuse leaves are from Lemon Aechmea blanchetiana Bromeliad. The vase was a gift from my late older brother; it always makes me smile when I use it – and its linear.

As always, thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this meme. To see more vases, follow the link.

Happy Gardening.

In a Vase on Monday – Fireworks

This week’s vase began with clippings from pruning my Miss Alice Bougainvillea on Saturday. The white flowers looked so alone in the vase I added some fiery accents with Firebush and Firecracker flowers. Then my husband padded by and said it needed some blue (he rarely comments on vases). It was the Fourth of July, after all – red, white and blue are the colors of the day. I think he was right. Here is the vase with just fire and Miss Alice.

The blue definitely beefs up the flower power in this vase. Of course, I couldn’t stop with one blue flower..

A closer view from the left side. Miss Alice Bougainvillea in white; Firecracker flowers (Russelia equisetiformis) in red; Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in red and white (think they should just call it Tropical Salvia as it comes in four colors?, I do.) Blue Salvia is Mystic Spires; lighter blue flowers are Blue Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) a tropical shrub that is virtually indestructible here – look closely and you’ll see the leaf cutting bees have had a bite of the foliage.

Miss Alice in white again with the reds and oranges of Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) – one of my favorite shrubs. Blue Plumbago around the edges with Mystic Blue Salvia in the background..

There’s my vase for this Monday. For anyone wondering about Elsa, we are out of the warning cone – on the east coast of Florida across from the big hole in the middle of the state (Lake Okeechobee)

Thank you to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting the worldwide vasers. To see more vases from gardeners in many different locales follow the link.

Happy Gardening…

In a Vase on Monday – Goblet of Fire

It has been so rain free here the only flowers worth cutting are on the shrubs. My enormous Firebush is packed with bees and butterflies who were none too happy about me stealing their flowers. I chose the silver goblet before I realized I was making a Goblet of Fire. My husband and I are Harry Potter fans and coincidentally I have a family wand. Abracadabra!!!

The silver goblet is an heirloom from my mother, who loved to collect junk. Heirloom may be too strong a word. The goblet is more like something I found while cleaning out her house. I am not sure what became of my copy of Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. It is probably around the house somewhere – though, Deathly Hallows looks better with the Firebush!

The Grant family wand. It had never occurred to me that we had a family wand, until today. Some years ago, my father, the geologist, was prospecting in the woods of North Georgia and ran across a water witch. Water witches direct people to the best locations to drill wells. She gave him this wand. Wands are also called divining rods. This particular witch used native Alder branches (Alders grow near streams) to divine where the water was most likely to be located underground. I am not sure how to operate the wand, though I tried when we dug a well at our house in South Florida, no luck from the wand. Perhaps it was too far from home or I am just a muggle.

A closer view:

There are two varieties of Firebush (the tubular flowers) in here..the red ones are the Florida native Hamelia patens var patens; the orange ones (I think) are from the Bahamas – Hamelia patens. People get into arguments about this, ugh. These arguments annoy me, love the plants. Beautiful, tough shrubs that bees and butterflies love. I don’t care where they originated. The yellow flowers are Thyrallis (Galphimia glauca)..This one has several botanical names and is often sold as a native; though it is not. The grey accents are Adonidia Palm flowers. Background red and green foliage are tips from Blanchetiana Bromeliads (red) and Super Fireball Neoregelia (green).

As always, thank you to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link for more vases.

Wishing everyone a magical gardening week..muggles or not.

In a Vase on Monday – Senza fiori

Today is the seventh anniversary of In a Vase on Monday. Cathy, the hostess of IAVOM issued a challenge to celebrate – creating a vase without flowers, hence the title – without flowers, sounding much sportier in Italian.

Here is a closer view:

This vase is mostly composed of edible plants that I haven’t eaten. The dark green leaves in the back are from Tree Spinach (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), an odd tropical vegetable that is very poisonous unless cooked correctly – I have not learned the method and haven’t eaten any. Purple berries are Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana), Floridians make beautiful jewel tone jam from these – reviews always mention it tastes just like sugar! The grey foliage is the top of a pineapple, I admit to growing and eating it. Burgundy fruits on left side are Roselles (Hibiscus sabdariffa), an edible Hibiscus. I have been freezing these for a later, undetermined use. Ferny bits are from Asparagus Ferns and the grey succulents are Graptosedums of some sort, I am wondering if they will root or rot in the vase? The leaves creating the vase by covering a pickle jar are from Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana)

Thank you to Cathy for hosting this addictive (yes, very) meme on WordPress. Seven years is outstanding and I am looking forward to many more..

Happy Blogaversary and Happy Gardening….

Six on Saturday – The Orange Challenge

Today is Halloween in the US. There is a full moon and I am staying home today…I bought this pumpkin to celebrate and challenged myself to find five additional orange things in my garden.

The Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria) is flowering. A friend gave me one of these several years ago, now I have several and give them to friends. A native of South Africa, they can be used for shampoo – but are well known for causing allergic reactions, so I enjoy them in the garden and cut them for flower arrangements.

Dwarf Ixora (Ixora chinensis or taiwanensis) these flower nearly continuously through the summer and off and on during the winter. They are called Maui Red, but I think they are orange.

Blanchetiana Bromeliad flowers are getting bigger and bigger…sometimes called Lobster Claw, these are big Aechmeas – some are six feet tall.

Gallardias (Gallardia pulchella) just keep going. I foolishly tried to start some from seed in August, not realizing them come up in droves naturally in October…

My favorite shrub, the Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens)

I am joining The Propagator for Six on Saturday – to see more posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.

Orange you glad for gardens!?

Happy Gardening!!

Six on Saturday – The Front Garden

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My front garden is composed of hot colors, oranges, reds and apricots. Of course a few other colors have crept in, but for the most part it is hot colors for a hot climate. In keeping with the spirit of heat – above is the Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens), planted by birds in a perfect foundation planting placement.

Imagine my surprise when looking at a real estate website one day I found this picture of my garden (Thanks, Google)  with me in my usual position.

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The nearly year round flowering Dwarf Red Ixora (Ixora ‘Dwarf Red’) is at its peak during the summer months, bees and butterflies love it.

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Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria) adds grey foliage color and texture and flowers just about quarterly.

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More foliage interest is provided by Crotons in two varieties. Codiaeum varigatum ‘Pie Crust’ is below.

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The other Croton is Mammey…

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Happy Gardening from my front yard!

To see more Six on Saturday posts, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.