Hello there plant friends! 👋 Is anyone ready for some cooler weather?
Goodness knows I sure am, hot flashes in our summer months are absolutely the pits, ugh!
So have you ever heard of this old timey saying...that when the golden rod is in full bloom, and I mean full full bloom, you can count six weeks from then and that's when our first cold spell will be.
We were road tripping a few months ago & on our way back into Florida, I saw the golden rod in north & central Florida in full bloom so theoretically based on this idea it puts our first cold days about the second week of November (give or take a week or two one way or another). Aaaaaand that's right around the corner y'all! Good golly goldenrod don't let us down! 🙏
 |
| My Mom on their Sturbridge, Massachusetts farm in 1946. It's no wonder why my grandpa made the decision to move to the good ol' sunshine state! |
Speaking of goldenrod, let's talk about flowering plants today! We are in the dog days of summer and our Autumn months are fast approaching here in SE Florida. Surprisingly there are so many plants in full regalia of bloom. Most likely due to our daily thunder storms as of late. The beginning of this year into mid summer we were in one of our worst droughts. ... .hot and dry is always tough in the landscaping industry. Not much responds well in those stressful growing conditions. Then about the end of July/beginning of August, our weather patterns shifted. ... .hot, humid and wet is the name of the game now. It's like our normal seasonal weather is off by 2-3 months, late to it's own garden party lol. But heck, I'll take rain over drought any day of the week! We can't make water now can we? 😉
With this wet weather, the flowering plants that typically bloom in Spring to Summer are now blooming beautifully. Gardenia's, hibiscus and ixora are absolutely loving this weather. Normally this time of year is fairly drab going into our "winter months". But not this year said Mother Nature!
Let's dig into it shall we!? Grab a comfy seat & a tasty beverage cause it's going to be a long one no doubt. So many beauty's to share here!
The first one is one of only a few flowering plants with a blue color flower....please meet plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides), in the leadwort family. A truly spectacular bloomer all throughout the year here in zone 11. This plant is a very large shrub that can grow 4 to 5 ft high by 5 to 6 ft wide. Plumbago is a pollinator attractor & pest and disease free. Most flowering plants are heavy feeders & rely on a consistent fertilizer schedule throughout the year. Not plumbago, this is a hardy shrub that grows in all kinds of soil types. Though it does need lots of room to show its true potential since it looks pretty shabby with hard trimming. But it will need need regular pruning to promote new growth & flowers. While trimming it in bloom, the plumbago has little sticky parts of the flower can will attach themselves to your clothes so if you have sensitive skin, it's best to wear long sleeves, glove & pants. Word to the wise, it is not a plant for small landscape spaces though works well as a container plant. So go figure.
 |
| Plumbago also has an ivory flower....check out the girth on this beauty! |
Next up is clerodendrum 'light bulbs' (clerodendrum Schmidtii) which is a terrible name for such an unusual and somewhat rare flowering shrub. It has an open wispy branching habit, deep green leaves and loaded with strikingly beautiful pendants of flowers. When this unassuming plant is in bloom boy howdy it's a show stopper. Seems to be pest & disease free. Even though it's a multi trunk plant, it can be pruned into a specimen tree as a focal point or as a background plant. They do need to be on a consistent pruning regiment or else they can grow super thick & unruly. The branching habit is an open format but the pendants of flowers all hang delicately from the branch like they are floating in air or like falling snow flakes. I think 'dancing butterflies' is a more appropriate name than light bulbs, pfft 😂 Here in SE Florida it blooms twice, typically in our wetter months of Spring and Fall. It's hard to get a good photograph of it but trust me when I say it's truly spectacular when in bloom!
 |
| I used the clerodendrum 'dancing butterflies' lol, as a subtle centerpiece when not in bloom & a stunner of a showcase specimen when in bloom! |
Here is another clerodendrum aaaand another true blue flower, this is an upright grower with gorgeous butterfly shaped flowers, hence the name blue butterfly bush (Rotheca myricoides). I know, I know super cool names, lol 🤣 This shrub is a multi-stem plant so it's narrow at the bottom but widens towards the top of the plant. Leaving plenty of space for more plants lol. The new growth is always at the top, so as it grows taller it also gets top heavy and starts to lean out to the sides there by making itself look like a fluffy bush. The blue butterfly bush is another weird grower that is hard to tame with standard pruning practices. I tend to leave them be with minimal pruning so you'll need about 4-6 ft of space for it to do it's thing. They grow about 4-6 ft high by about 3-5 feet wide. Not picky about soil type, pollinator friendly, no serious pest or disease issues and blooms throughout the year.
Ground orchids oh how I love thee and hate thee...okay you're right, hate is a strong word, oh how I sometimes dislike thee immensely lol. Ground orchids ( spathoglottis ) are considered a true orchid though are terrestrial orchids, aka ground in the ground. These beautiful ground orchids are very specific with their growing conditions of shade, low wind, moist rich soil, moderate salt, moderate humidity & a consistent watering schedule for them to thrive. Can they grow in full sun absolutely but make sure they have the rest of their growing conditions. Can they grow in sandy soil, yes, though make sure they get regular fertilizer. The three elements I've noticed over the years that ground orchids have a hard time adjusting to is high wind which dries out their leaves, in super wet humid conditions their bulbs tend to rot & they get mealy bugs in the humidity and they are absolutely not drought tolerant. If you have a part sun/part shade area under a tree in your backyard that's protected from high winds getting irrigated regularly, well then, you got yourself a perfect spathoglottis habitat! They like our warmer temperatures & can surprisingly withstand our extreme heat lately but definitely start to die back when we start getting into the 40's & 50's for days on end. I do use them outside their comfort zones and they do well though they really need a constant watering source & nutrient rich soil (or fertilizer) to be able to help offset the other environmental stressors. They also do fantastic in planters!
This is an unusual one that many people don't know about, this beautiful shrub is called abutilon pictum (aka Chinese lantern). Though it is not native to Asia but hails from regions tropical regions in South America like Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The leaves may look like a maple but it's actually in the mallow family, think hibiscus. Abutilon pictum had it's heyday in the Victorian era when having "parlor plants", what we call house plants lol, were all the rage to show your friends how cool you were. As you can see this tropical evergreen is truly special with it's veined flower petals & large palmate shaped leaves. It can be used as a topiary or what we call a "patio" style shape or can be a full on shrub. Either way I'd say, this one is a must in your collection. Can grow in full sun but needs to be on a consistent watering schedule so it doesn't dry out too much. Prefers part sun/part shade for it's max growing conditions. Definitely not drought tolerant but can take drier conditions for short periods. Blooms throughout the year here in SE Florida zone 11. It's a pretty fast grower & gets to be about 5-7 ft high but could get to be about 9 ft if it's in a happy spot. If you want to grow abutilon in your landscape, not to fret, it's fairly cold tolerant but also is a fantastic potted plant. It's an upright grower so it will get shrubby if not regularly pruned. This darling of a plant is sure to be on your wish list for the holiday's!
Now here's one I think you'll really enjoy...this is in the climbing aster, (symphyotrichum carolinianum). So it's not a vine but it rambles upwards like a creeping shrub, perfect for a trellis or a fence without the aggressiveness like vines. The flowers are so sweet and dainty but when you see the entire plant, you're like whoa, that's gorgeous! They grow much larger than you think any aster would grow...think upwards of 8 ft by about 4-5 ft wide! They are a native here in Florida & in my opinion totally under utilized in the landscapes. It's hard to compete for space when artificial turf is so popular around here. ugh. This aster prefers full sun but it can grow in some shade. Is a heat lover and get grow in the toughest of environments. Definitely likes a moist soil which are usually a rich muck soil around here but can grow in sandy soil as well. A pollinator's favorite and super easy to grow!
You may know calathea's for their beautifully colored leaves but did you know that some of the calathea's actually have some striking flowers?! This is by far one of my favorites, meet Brazilian star. FYI they recently changed the name from calathea to geoppertia so we will use geoppertia here. This tropical understory plant is from tropical areas of South America countries like Peru, Brazil, Columbia & Ecuador. Definitely an shade lover and does not tolerate wind or excessive high heat indexes. The wind will brown & curl the leaves on the edges. And if the ambiant air temps are too high for too long the soil will get too hot & these Brazilian beauties will start to disappear. Brazilian star definitely likes to be in moist rich soil and get actually grow quite large when happy. Think 3ft or higher and wide. They can form a beautiful mass with gorgeous pinkish purple flowers that pop up above the sea of jade green big leaves. Not an easy one to find but you will fall in love once you have one growing in your yard.
Moving from the moist & shade plants, here is a fantastic ground cover that is a full sun lover & fairly drought tolerant. They are extremely heat, wind & salt tolerant. There are two different color flowers: one is a pretty lemon yellow while the other is an orange & yellowish mix called "marmalade". They grow en masse and can be an absolute show stopper when in full bloom. Though bulbine are known to flower throughout the year here in zone 11 plus they are super easy to grow with little to no maintenance. They can grow in a variety of soils and conditions though they do not like be wet for long periods of time. Think more of a Mediterranean or coastal Florida garden.
Oleander is a plant that certainly is not for everyone but it is a great flowering alternative for those who live close to the ocean where king tides, high winds & salt spray can kill plants pretty darn quick. This is one tough cookie! Oleander 'pink ice' is considered a "dwarf" topping out at about 4-5 ft high, yet compact making it easier to maintain unlike it's larger siblings. This oleander variety also blooms throughout the year with large clusters of open flowers. And luckily this variety also doesn't seem to attract the red, white & blue moth which the caterpillars can decimate a large plant very quickly. Due to their super duper hardiness, they do bounce back quickly but I can say I've never seen 'pink ice' have the pest pressure the other oleanders do. This one is a great small shrub that can handle the harshest of conditions...full sun, wind, salt, drought, poor soil, you name it and 'pink ice' still looks charming.
Yarrow, does that name sound familiar? Yes it's a plant and yes it's soooooo pretty! Yarrow is another under utilized plant that is also considered an herb, look at that two for one! It's in the aster family and like the aster has many cultivar's along with some North American native varieties. This is another super hardy plant that can be found growing in almost every state in North America. So not to worry, this isn't a SE Florida specific plant. Yarrow is an excellent pollinator plant not only for it's gorgeous flower display but also as a host plant for certain insects, butterflies and moths. Typically most people associate a beautiful white flower cluster much like queen Anne's lace but did you know there are pink's, red's, ivories, yellow's...all kinds of other colorful yarrow flowers. You can even dry the flowers for arrangements. Yarrow is considered to have a wide range of medicinal properties that many Native American tribes relied on. Depending on the variety they can grow anywhere from 1ft up to 3-4 ft high. They prefer full sun but can take some shade and can grow in just about any variety of soil conditions. In case you can't find plants local to you, yarrow is easy to grow from seed. Try this one in your garden and see how happy yarrow will make you!
Sweet almond bush is highly fragrant rambling shrub that is another pollinator lover! When in bloom the scent can be so prolific that you can catch a whiff houses away lol. Due to its weird growing habit, you can use it along a fence, entwine it in a trellis, trim it as a topiary or let it grow wild like it was born to be. This bush gets to be about 10-13 ft high by wide and can look like a tangle of branches without consistent pruning. Sweet almond flowers all year round, not particular to soil types, thrives in full sun but is not drought or wind tolerant. When in full bloom this one is a shower stopper but you'll definitely need the space for it to perform.
Let's end this with a banger of a flowering plant, to be honest, it's in my top 2 fav's! Meet osmanthus fragrans or sweet tea olive. Whooo wee if you've ever smelled this discreet shrub you know what I'm talking about. And if you haven't well let me introduce you to this beauty. Zone 11 is probably pushing it for the heat index of how far south this plant can grow but I'm lucky to be able to have a few suppliers here who are willing to take the time & patience to grow it. Sweet tea olive definitely prefers a more temperate climate with colder winters, Georgia & the Carolina's are a perfect grow zone for this one. The flowers are tiny but mighty with their perfume, they can either be white or yellow. The scent is hard to describe but you'll smell this plant before you notice it. It's a demur plant with no outstanding features so it's great to use within the landscape as a filler. Kind of reminds me of viburnum suspensum. Prefers part sun/part shade and likes consistent watering and rich soil for it to flower. Not very wind tolerant but once established can withstand some environmental stressors much better than in a pot. I've actually dried the flowers to make tea and wow, what a fragrance! Sweet tea olive I saved the best for last and I know you're going to love it as much as I do!
Thank you so much for being here & spending a bit of your precious time with me.
I truly appreciate you and wish you all the very best! 🤗
Best wishes & happy gardening,
Sheri
xoxo
