Garden Odds

One walk in the garden  revealed some garden odds.

I started these Indian Blanket flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) from a seed packet this spring, and most of them came out just like what I expected.  Here is the odd I found on one of the plants:  The flower looks like two or three flowers connected together.   You can tell this from the flower head on the left,  that is not fully opened yet.

Here is one plant coming from the same seed packet, and is what I considered as "normal".

The other odd I found is on this yellow ground orchid (Spathoglottis).  Can you see a green seed pod hanging from the left bottom flower spike?  I did not see any other seed pods from my other ground orchids spreaded in the garden.  I was quite excited when I first saw the seed pod since that could mean I can propagate more orchids.  However, after I read further more, it seems not an easy task since the orchid seeds require some special fungus to germinate which might only be possible in a lab environment.  My best bet could be sowing the seeds directly on the base of the mother plant since the mother plant might have those needed fungus for the seedling.   I will try this way once the seeds mature.  If I ever succeed, I will give an update later.

Speaking of the ground orchids, the ones located in the partial shade area are still blooming strong, new spikes are still rising up.   The ones in the more sunny area are not performing as well, maybe those areas are also not receiving enough water.  I think the ground orchids love partial shad and moistured location.  I so love these ground orchids.  Once established, they are care free. Their long soft foliage add the texture and green lush into the flower bed, and the flowers last for months.  I have three colors for now, yellow, light pink, and deep pink.  I just saw another lovely color of the ground orchid in a local nursery recently.   Hmm, should I bring one more home?  Just feel a little guilty since recently I have been plant shopping a lot, and I still have more on my list waiting...

Here is another plant I am in love with... "Angelonia angustifolia ".  The original small plant in the five inch pot has been thriving into a nice mound in the side partial shade flower bed.  This white one together with the Cats' Whiskers on the background, and the yellow ground orchid create a lovely scene under the moon light.



This is the purple version of Angelonia angustifolia .  I am thinking to plant more in another more sunny location.  Not sure if they will do as well as they do in this partial shade area.    Even it usually is marked as "full sun" plant, but I found out in South Florida, even the sun loving plants do better in an area that at least get some protection from the intensive afternoon sun. 

Here is the side garden these two Angelonia angustifolia are located.  If you still remember my post about opening this new flower bed back in August, you can tell how fast the plants could grow in Florida!

The small tree located in the middle of this side bed is another Angel's Trumpet's(Brugmansia)  from my friend at work. It only had two branches when I planted it in the ground, now it grows so big, and is already producing the 12 inch long pink trumpet flowers!

To end this post, let me include another combination that I am admiring these days.  This plant stand is in the front patio area.  The philodendron 'moonlight', the blooming Dendrobiums orchid, and the rod iron wall decor are looking nicely together, and made me smile every time I open the front door.

Parents have been amazed with my fairly new gardening passion since they came.  They did not know how their daughter suddenly became a gardener!  I am happy they too are enjoying my garden as much as I do, and the cool weather we are having made their daily morning walk around the garden even more enjoyable.