Terrific Tuesday

Hope you all are enjoying the weather before we get super hot!  I fear we are going to have a hot and wet summer this year.  This morning it's 77 degrees F with the high of 91...how crazy is that??? We have had a non-existent winter here this year so our plants are growing new leaves and blooming early.  Even though our days are still some what short they seem to have adapted quite well to the shift.  Boy I wish I could say the same for me, it's hot!  For the rest of you elsewhere in the world...what's your weather like right now?

Here's a peek-a-boo as to what our place looks like today...

One of our 'lost tag' miniature orchids in our bay rum tree

The pale pink flower is about 2" wide.

This magenta flower is about an 1 1/4" wide

Another one of our 'lost tag' miniature orchids in our
bay rum tree.  I was concerned that orchid roots
wouldn't attach to the naturally peeling bark
but they seem to have done just fine.

Two of our beautiful bromeliads under our guava tree.
The very large apple green one has pink tips on the
end of it's leaves and the smaller pink one has the
apple green in it's leaves.

A close up of the stunning pink & green bromeliad

This spectacular palm is called a Watermelon
palm, chambeyronia macrocarpa.

It's a very slow growing subtropical understory palm that
can grow up to 10-20 ft high.  It's native to New Caledonia east of Australia.  When I bought mine from Tropical Gardens of Maui it was in a 3"pot & only about 14" high.  The new fronds are a bright pinkish red then fan out to the solid green above.

As the Watermelon palm gets older the trunk
becomes more of a dappled light & dark green,
looking just like the outside of a watermelon.

The newly opened bright reddish pink frond will
slowly start to turn a muddy color red then
eventually a solid green like the rest of the fronds.

This close up shows you how intense the
reddish pink color of the new frond is.

This is the other side of the frond without the
sunlight illuminating the back side of the frond.

To my surprise, the lilies in our front island
are blooming!  First time in a long time!  I think
they may be the 'Ellen Bosanquet' variety.

Here is another view of the magenta lilies.
Their floppy leaves have a frilly curl to side of them.
The flowers look like a daylily & smell divine!

Not sure what species of lily it is but I relocated
a whole mess of them from our Miami house
before my Dad sold it a year ago.  Good thing I
did since the new owner ripped everything out!

I believe they are a type of crinum lily but I haven't seen them anywhere else here in South Florida. I can't even remember where I got them from back in the 1990's. Oh well, at least they self propagate lol!

Does anyone know what this ground cover is?
Well, it's a ornamental peanut, arachis glabrata.
Never again do I have to mow my lawn, YEA! 

The ornamental peanut is an excellent alternative to grass! The bright emerald green leaves & sunshine yellow sweet-pea looking flowers make people stop to look at it. This ecoturf is very drought tolerant, makes it's own nitrogen, priced very affordable & needs very little maintenance. Who could ask for more right!?!

It's really windy today so it was hard to get a good
shot without everything having the classic
'hurricane lean' to it. I'll be relocating the jaboticaba
on the left & putting in another phoenix robellini.  The
original triple that was there died & my jaboticaba
needed more sun so it made sense at the time.

Our front yard with the phoenix sylvestris palm in the middle

I just love this native flowering plant, called
blanket flower, gaillarida pulchella, grows
best in sunny coastal and dry conditions.

My lovely alcantarea imperialis, the giant of all bromeliads.
My best friend gave me these two many years ago.  It
took a while but they are really starting to take off.
It has purplish-maroon edges and underbelly with a silvery green leaf & the tips of the leaves curl under.  It's about 42" across & 26" high.
An absolutely beautiful bromeliad!

Well that is what's happening in our neck of the woods today...how about you?

Wishing you happy gardening and best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo