What's blooming in the yard today

Thank you God for rain, Florida sure does need it!  Almost everyday we are getting huge amounts of rain from the thunder storms here in Pompano Beach. Sure hope the dry parts of the country are getting rain like this too!  With the rain comes wonderful things.  The orchids are much happier and starting to bloom. The trees are blooming and berrying (lol), on top of growing new shoots.  The birds love eating the berries and are feeding their babies who in turn will eat these too (hopefully will scatter them in the neighborhood too, hee hee, we need some Fla natives in the hood).  Butterflies & bees everywhere!  Ok, more pictures less talkey :)

Light purple dendrobium blooms with a
large white cattleya flowers behind it.

My neighbor gave me this white cattleya orchid,
which was a rescue from a foreclosed home.   So sad
someone not only lost their home but their orchid collection too.

I have no idea where I got this super awesome
dendrobium orchid but I absolutely love it!
It reminds me of a blushing lady.

I attached the blushing lady dendrobium to
the Christmas palm in the front yard.

Overwhelmed is what I thought when I saw
my Firebush this morning. OMG, how huge!
I couldn't get even a quarter of it in the frame.
Bees are all over it, loving themselves in the flowers.

What in the world is this, you ask?  LOL
This is a Jamaican caper, a large native shrub
excellent with drought conditions & small yards.
The birds love eating the yummy insides of the seed pods.

You can see the brown seed pods hanging
in the background.  They look like small versions
of the Tamarind.  They pop open revealing a
bright red sticky inside with seeds.  The birds &
squirrels just gobble these up, not really
pleasant for humans though.

Jamaican Caper's are great additions to
everyone garden.  I purchased mine from my
most favorite place, Plant Creations in Homestead.
I wish they were closer cause I would be there all
the time, lol.

My Myrtle-of-the-River, Calyptranthes zuzygium,
is the closest to you with lime green new leaves.
Another great small tree to have in Florida
landscapes.  It had a slow start the first few years
but is definitely making up for it now!

"Which one is not like the other one, come
on and tell me which one..." anyone, anyone...Seseame Street jingle?  Anyway, this is a
Burana Beauty orchid, if you notice the bottom flower is still upside down. All orchid flowers grow upside down until they are ready to open, as they open they turn themselves 180 degrees right side up. Cool huh? This one just decided not to, lol.

Even my variegated amaryllis are blooming ;)

Started putting the orchids in the guava tree :))

Crinum lily blooming like crazy!  They clusters
of white flowers remind me of fireworks. These
plants are really easy to grow, but need lots of
room to spread out since they grow quickly.
Perfect plant for a beginner gardener!

Last night I saw a luna moth fluttering around the flowers.  The moths love the sweet gardenia like
smell the flowers have all day and night!

Right smack dap in the center of this picture is my
Bay Rum tree, Pimenta racemosa.  A very slow columnar (vertical)
growing small tree with heavily scented oils in the leaves, hence Bay leaf.
This tree is a must have for any yard, very low maintenance and beautiful structure!
I bought this tree in 2004 from Plant Creations along with my two Lignum Vitae's, Guaiacum sanctum,
both slow growers, and believe it or not they both have grown almost the same height.

The two Lignum Vitae's are in the middle of the picture.  The largest tree to the left behind the vitae's
is the Black Ironwood, Krugiodendron ferreum, again from my fav place Plant Creations. The Black Ironwood is one of my most favorite trees and recommend it to everyone. As you can tell it really likes it here, lol.  I believe it is my tallest tree in the landscape.  I most definitely have to get some better photos of the front yard after I get out there to clean up, lol.   There is a wild lime shrub, Zanthoxylum fagara, to the right behind the vitae's and the word wild definitely does this plant justice.  One of the hardest plant to keep under control, it grew alot larger than I expected.  The Swallowtail butterflies absolutely love it and it is a great shrub to have in a native landscape just watch the thorns. The wild lime is a native small tree/large shrub & is part of the citrus family.


Well hope I haven't bored you to yawn's but just a slice of my little garden heaven.  Things are always changing around here just like nature intends so keep checking back in for more updates.  I'm sure I will be blogging more than gardening right now cause it's so darn HOT!  Stay cool and keep hydrated! :)

Cree Indian Prophecy - a word to the wise big gov't & business

"Only after the last tree has been cut down.
Only after the last river has been poisoned.
Only after the last fish has been caught.
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

…….Cree Indian Prophecy

A little Atlanta botanical orchid inspiration

So upon my return from Atlanta, I of course had a bolt of inspiration.  Using the Atlanta Botanical Garden conservatories as my muse, I have decided to....wait for it....move my hundreds of orchids from their pots into my landscape. Whew, yes I said it!  Never again will I buy another clay pot or mix medium or my #1 least favorite thing to do, never to repot another orchid again!  Ok, so the task sounds a bit daunting BUT (yes everyone I know has a big BUT) but, the reward of an exquisite landscape would be so awesome! Plus I could show my clients how they too can have low maintenance but gorgeous orchids in their landscapes.

So here are some of my potted orchids in my make shift orchid house.
I have quite a few of the larger baskets hanging in the trees plus I started moving
some of the easier smaller orchids onto the tree limbs already.  I just hope I have enough trees, lol.
Will post some pictures once they go into the trees.  Right now in the rainy season is a perfect time to transplant, since the dry hot windy weather can burn their roots & stress the plant.

Super gorgeous & sweet smelling orchid
from Philippines that I bought from
Mac's Orchids in Fort Lauderdale.
This rare orchid is Vanda Lamellata, 
 variation remediosae.

This is how large this orchid is, with multiple orchid
plants all in one basket.  The roots almost touch the ground
& it blooms 2-3 times a year with good rains. This is one of my top five favorites, thank you Mac!

Rhychovanda Colmarie 'Banjong'
This "to die for" orchid has been blooming
for almost 20 days now & still smells just
as delicious as the first day on the job
This one I purchased from Banjong Orchids
in Homestead, a wonderful place :)

Cute bambootie cattleya orchid just opened yesterday.
Unfortunately the tag has disinigrated over time so
another no name orchid, perfect orchid to move
to the trees!

Will keep everyone "posted" as to my inspirational adventure of transform an ordinary garden into an extraordinary landscape!  P.S. my boyfriend thinks I bit off more than I can chew, well will see about that! ;)http://www.facebook.com/macsorchids

Atlanta Botanical Gardens in August

"Hot'lanta" is most definitely the appropriate name for Atlanta today, as the average temperature has been in the mid 90's, humid and absolutely no cross breeze to cool down.  Even the shade is sweltering!  We stayed for just over an hour then headed back to the house for some down time inside with the kids.  Here are a few things happening at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in August.

This gem of an alocasia is definitely on
my wish list. These were the highlights of
several free standing planters in the
canopy walk area.

One of my favorites every time I visit is this
"living wall" inside the conservatory.
They change the plants every month with
a new design.

Every where you look is just loaded with all
kinds of endangered & protected plants &
orchids from around the world.  These are orchids
growing on one of the tree trunks.

Anthiriums, orchids, moss, ferns, bromeliads,
& all kinds of temperate tropical plants.

Orchids with orange flowers growing on the
ground with moss all over the rocks.

Gorgeous starburst bloom growing from
the center of a bromeliad.

Unbelievable! The white cat whisker looking
things are actual flowers from this Habenaria
medusae orchid. So striking!

         

My niece loves the tropical rain forest turtle pond.

Orchids attached in the guava trees.

Tropical rain forest section of the conservatory.
So much to look at, every square millimeter is covered.

You can see how they start each orchid bunch
to tree limbs. The roots are wrapped in a ball
of sphagnum moss which is then tied
securely to the limb with either wire,
zip ties or nylon string.

Orchids, orchids everywhere!
Here they actually made their own type of
orchid totem poles.  In the center they crossed
two poles to make it look like falling trees.

Here is the opposite side of what I call the
"falling tree totems" LOL.  Being an orchid
and plant lover, I could spend hours in
this part of the botanical gardens.

Around each corner you turn is always something
wonderful to look at.  Especially when the lighting
shifts from cloudy to sunny.  What a nature
photographer paradise! 

This cutie patootie is actually a begonia.
I know it would be a daunting job but
it would be great if the more unusual
species of plants were tagged with names.

My niece just loves coming here.  Hopefully
she & her brother will have the love and
respect for nature as we do. What a great
way to pass knowledge onto the younger generations.

Sarracenia pitcher plants hidden in a
crevice between the mossy rocks.  These
are carnivorous plants that extract the juices
of small insects that get stuck in their pitchers.
Talk about nature's survivalists!

And so we come to an end of this visit of the
Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  Spring, fall & winter is such
a great time to visit this amazing place.  August was just
too hot to stay more that a few hours, but well worth it.
They even have orchids growing on the pergola! WOW!

Yes, yes, I know, I know, this is a gardening in South Florida blog, but believe it or not many plants in Florida can also be grown in Georgia.  Your local nurseries will have lots of cold hardy plants that have the feel of the tropics with out leaving the GA.!  

So go on and get dirty before winter gets here! :))

More blooms in our garden

With the little bit of rain showers we have been getting in the afternoons, has done wonders to the plants.

Lemon chiffon yellow water lily

Another lost tag orchid :(
this one just loves to bloom :) 

Our black ironwood tree in the front yard has
tiny lime green flowers all over it which the
bees absolutely love!  This is a perfect tree
for small yards!  Plant Creations in
Homestead is where we purchased this lovely!

The owner of Talay Thai restaurant gave me
this little gem of a dendrobium orchid (amazing
place to eat btw!)  The flowers are pale purple that
grow on long spikes.  The sun was brilliant bright
but you can see the flower spikes in bloom & its
growing two more spikes full of flowers!  This
orchid blooms 2-3 times a year, it just LOVES
showing off! lol :)) 

Our Mockingbirds love eating the berries from
the Willow Bustic tree in our front yard.  They feed
their babies, who will in turn feed from the tree too.
This is another fabulous tree for small yards.  When
this tree is in bloom, the scent is heavenly and can
be smelled for blocks around!

The bright yellow lime leaves are show stoppers while the dark black berries are hiddenunderneath. The flowers & berries actually grow
right on the branches. Very cool! We bought
our trees from Plant Creations in Homestead!
A "must go" for all gardners!

Our little Nam Doc Mai mango tree dropped
all it's blooms earlier this year due to anthracnose
disease, oh so sad, no mangoes for us. :(  Well
not quite, as we were able to eat some extremely
delicious mangoes thanks to Hatcher Mango Hill in
Lake Worth.  Though Mother Nature always has
a way to surprise us!  With the spurts of rain we
have been getting, guess who is flowering!?!  Yes
our little Nam Doc Mai mango tree.

So I have gone against my "no spraying" policy
(for this tree only) in order to save the mango
blooms & hopefully we will have a late
mango harvest this year after all!  So
stay away Tropical storm Emily!!!!

A couple of Florida native orchids I put
in our Desert Cassia tree.  Unbelievable
how fast the rooted to the tree!  Match
made in heaven!

This super cute palm is a Watermelon Palm, Chambeyronia
macrocarpa, that has done really well here.  I purchased
this way cool palm from Tropical Gardens of Maui.  Yes,
this palm traveled all the way from Hawaii as a tiny
seedling (~14 inches high).  My how it's grown!
This is a very slow growing understory palm but a "must
have" for all collections.  New fronds are bright red &
the exterior top trunk is dappled greens just like a watermelon.

Last but not least, in this little miscellaneous section of the garden
I threw the scooped out insides of a melon I was cutting up to eat.
Now mind you this was a store bought melon & Mother Nature does
it again by throwing me another surprise.  Yes, that sprawling patch of greens
is what grew from the melon.  Of course I don't remember what kind
of melon it was cause I never thought it would grow, lol, but I guess
that will be a surprise too! :))

HAPPY GARDENING EVERYONE!  STAY DIRTY!

Oh my, to my surprise...

As I walked through my orchid house to take the garbage out...to my surprise, there were a handful of orchids in bloom!  One of my favorites is Rhynchovanda Colmarie 'Banjong' AM/AOS.  The flowers are filled with the most unique sweet scent with a hint of tarty citrus. The flowers are one of the darkest purples I have seen with a frilled middle lip and thick almost waxy petals.  The leaves are long and broad just like any other vanda species.  I purchased this amazing orchid from Banjong Orchids in Homestead, definitely a "must have" for every collection, plus Banjong is a "must go see" for any collector!

Rhynchovanda Colmarie
'Banjong' AM/AOS

Rhychnovanda Colmarie 'Banjong' AM/AOS
dark purple flowers with super sweet scent

Rhychnovanda Colmarie 'Banjong' AM/AOS
flower detail

I almost missed this single bloom among the vast sea of orchids.  This is a Miltassia which is a cross between a Miltonia and a Brassia orchid.  The flower is about 6 inches from end to end with no scent but very striking indeed!

Miltassia Shelob 'tolkien' B149 AM/AOS

Eye spy with my little eye the Miltassia...

This single beauty is a Epicattleya (a cross between a Cattleya x Epidendrum) crossed with a Brassavola.  Super sweet scent only at night and beautiful vibrant green flower, almost glow in the dark green, lol.  One of my other fav's!

Epc. Lime Sherbert x B. Little Stars

Epc. Lime Sherbert x B. Little Stars

Here are a few more little gems blooming right now...

One of my lost tag orchids

& its flower

Another lost tag orchid but this one is an Encyclia Cochleata
very unique flowers with a very unusual tangy citrus scent

Wish you were here to smell some of these beauties but until then will keep posting pic's and hopefully you will find a few of these to include in your garden to enjoy!

Oh how I wish I could vine!

There are so many wonderful vining plants everywhere I turn.  Our yard small yard can have just a few vines strategically placed AND I have to constantly maintain them, though they are well worth it.  We have the Sweet pea vine which is super for a small yard as it is very easy to keep it under control (see previous post).  Then we have a Dutchman's Pipe vine which I planted to cover the existing chain link fence to create a "living fence".  Boy it that an aggressive growing-leaf dropping-Polydamas butterfly loving vine!  I am cutting it back at least two-three times a month in the summer.  But the flowers make everyone stop to gaze with amazement!

As I was leaving a client meeting a couple weeks ago (Yes I know it took me that long to post this LOL), this vine caught my attention as I have never seen it here in South Florida before.  It smells like a Gardenia but looks like a jasmine and to top it off, it was variegated.  It turns out that this is a Madagascar Jasmine or Bridal Bouquet Vine, Stephanotis floribunda is the latin name.  It needs a trellis or support structure of some sort in order to vine.  This one is growing in full sun but read they can grow in partial shade too.  They bloom from Spring throughout the summer.

This is the Madagascar Jasmine vine growing along the entrance way to the condo building.  You can see how it's growing throughout the masonry lattice work. Very striking with the variegated leaves, the white clusters of flowers with the white lattice wall and black ironwork architectural elements!

A close up of the blooms.

Another detail view of the entry area.
Oh how I wish I could vine! :)
For those of you who can, this may be the vine for you!