February Update on the Leap Day

Today is the leap day, thought it would be great to give an update of my February garden, just make this post a little special :)

There are so many colors and flowers bursting in my February South Florida garden due to the mild winter we had this year.

In the past, I only tried pink snapdragons, and this is my first time to grow yellow and white ones, and I find myself loving them so much in the winter garden, warm and bright.

This is the time for Golden shrimp plant(Pachystachys lutea) to bloom.

Giant Apostle's Iris (Neomarica Caerulea 'Regina') started blooming, much earlier than last year.

This Lobelia plant is one of the rare blue flowers I have ever seen.  They make the great trailing (spiller) plants for the container.

Lobelia 

This Purple Verbenas is also great for container, either as the filler or the spiller.

The following two are the new plants I am trying this year, Cuphea llavea Vienco™.  I love them in a more compacted size, suitable for my small garden.

This year I am trying to grow Mona lavender (Plectranthus) in the ground instead of in the container.  It is in a partial shade area, and they seem quite happy there. Best of all, it doesn't require frequent watering compare to growing in the container.

These two Begonias had their blooming peak this month.

Begonia Odorata Var. Alba

Rex Begonia

Even caladium bulbs are shooting out of the ground here and there much earlier than last year.

Dipladenia pink just started blooming again after a hard trim I did late last year. Now they came back fresh and strong.  I expect they will be on their peak time in March.  

Dipladenia pink

Bulbine plants look the best when they are blooming in a mass. Bees just love them.

This Chorus Line daylily has not finished blooming yet, neither has Pandoras box daylily.

CHORUS LINE 

Wow, I found I am having quite some blues in my garden.  I guess that doesn't happen by accident considering blue if one of my favorite colors in the garden. Could not help snap some pictures of this blue butterfly flower every time I pass it by.

Blue Butterfly
Clerodendrum ugandense

February is also the month when many orchids bloom.  One of most impressive orchids bloomed this month is Epidendrum Orchid, or go with the common names such as Crucifix Orchid, Reed-stem Epidendrum, Sun Orchid,and etc.

 I bought one in April of 2010.  After the initial blooming, it only had a few flowers last year.  After I put them into the ground (this orchid is terrestrial type) in a more sunny location, this year they just bloomed like crazy.  If you are trying to find an easy growing orchid, this is the one that you should try!  They are also so easy to propagate by division of pseudobulbous stems or offsets, or by removing and planting those pups on old stems or flower spikes. From one 5 gallon container, now I have three clumps of this orchid spread in my garden.

You also can spot Epidendrum Orchid in the below flower bed.

Now the rest are different orchids blooming currently in my garden. I put them mostly in my front porch since my back porch has too many suns.  I really need more space for more orchids!

For those of you living in the cold weather area, hope you enjoyed the flowers in my Tropical garden, and remember Spring is coming!

Happy Gardening!

Daylily Disappointment and Other Things in April Garden

Ever since I learned that we also can grow Day Lily (Hemerocallis ) in South Florida, Day Lily has been on the top of my wish list.

Unfortunately, I have not found any good sources for it locally.  Last June, I found one (Day Lily 'Stella') for sale at HomeDepot and immediately bought it.  It only lasted about three weeks, and disappeared completely after finishing blooming.  I think it might not be the right foliage type for South Florida.  There are three foliage types for Day Lily: Dormant, semi-evergreen, evergreen.  For south regions, Evergreen is the one that will thrive.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw two types of Day Lilies for sale at Lowes.  I asked the store staff and was told that they are "Evergreen".  Imagine how excited I was when I brought these two home!

Daylily (Hemerocallis ) 'Black Eyed Stella'

Daylily (Hemerocallis ) 'Fooled Me' 

They were labeled as Daylily 'Black Eyed Stella'  and Daylily 'Fooled Me'.  After I came home, I did more reading on these two daylilies, and only found they both are dormant foliage type!!!  I also looked back the Day Lily 'Stella'  picture I took last year, and found it is identical to 'Black Eyed Stella'.  How disappointing!  I bought them expecting they will bloom for me year after year, not just for short a couple of weeks!  I returned them immediately.  

My mission to search for right Daylilies shall continue...

On the bright side, my garden has been happily singing the spring song.  It is May already, and I found I have missed posting some beautiful April bloomings.  Here are some of them.

First Matchstick bromeliad bloomed...  Looks so beautiful in the early morning sun.

Aechmea gamosepala
MatchStick Bromeliad

Opening more...

Aechmea gamosepala
MatchStick Bromeliad

Other Neoregelia Bromeliads in the garden are also blooming.  Their flowers are hidden in the center of the leaves.  The blooming usually means it is the time for the mother plant to produce the babies, or pups.  Yay!

April is the month for Jasmine and Gardenia.  The fragrance made the garden walk even more pleasant.

Arabian Jasmine
(Jasminum Sambac 'Maid of Orleans')

I also like to bring them indoor to enjoy more...

Needle flowers or Augusta rivalis has set out so many buds, and looks like May will be their peak time.

Neomarica Caerulea 'Regina' has been flowering on and off since early March.

Neomarica Caerulea 'Regina'
 (Giant Apostle's Iris)

The warm weather also brought early blooming of frangipani (Plumeria).  I checked last year's record, and it did not flower until last September.

Last year's Caladium bulbs have been emerging from the ground one by one, adding different colors into the shady corner.  

What May will bring for the garden?

Spring Fever

My garden is definitely having a Spring Fever! Almost everyday I discover something new blooming.  Come to discover them with me...

This Gazania flower is almost too pretty to be real!  I started some seeds last fall, and only two seedlings eventually made it.  This week I discovered the first bloom, and it is not like those common yellow/orange tone flowers often seen sold in the garden center.  Isn't it a beauty?  Since the seed package I tried is a mix, now I am wondering what kind of flowers the other plant will have.  We shall see.

This is a real surprise to me!  I bought two yellow African Iris (Dietes bicolor ) when I just started my brand new garden almost two years ago.  They look like ornamental grass with their waving green sword-like leaves, and have multiplied nicely over the the time, but never bloomed. See what I found hidden in all green today?

Dietes bicolor 

Oh, my first Nun's orchid blooming!  I ordered this from Internet last November, and did not expect I can see a flower this soon.  It is still young, and only developed one flower spike.  I hope next year, it can bloom as prolific as what has been shown in other blogs.  Am I being greedy?!

Phaius tankervilliae
Common name: Nun's Orchid

I love the foliage of Variegated Devil's Backbone (Euphorbia tithymaloides 'Variegatus') since it adds nice texture and variation into the flower bed.  I did not know it even can bloom.  The flower is small and red, not very significant, but surely is showy and unique!

Euphorbia tithymaloides 'Variegatus'
Variegated Devil's Backbone

Remember how I whined about I missed my first bloom of Neomarica Caerulea 'Regina' (Giant Apostle's Iris) due to the busy schedule?  It quickly opened another sets of flowers to reward me! The flowers only last for one day, but surely worth the waiting!

Neomarica Caerulea 'Regina'
Giant Apostle's Iris

I bought this Proven Winners Senorita rosalita Cleome Hybrid  last summer after I encountered the mass of blooming of the classic Cleome in China.  This one is much smaller than the classic one.  I have to say even it is "Proven Winnders", I don't think it is really made for South Florida.  It has been attacked by a stem borer twice.  Each time, the  stem tip wilted and appeared dead.  Cutting them back to almost the base of the plant seems have saved it both time.  This attack has not occurred during the winter, and finally gave it a chance to bloom again! Hooray! 

Senorita rosalita Cleome Hybrid  

Yay, my ornamental pineapple bloomed too!  Just love this intense red on both leaves and fruit.  The leaves only turn to this bright red when the plant in blooming.

This Inca Lily (Alstroemeria) was one of those plants that I bought when I didn't  know much South Florida friendly plants (not I know it all now) at all.  After finishing its flower period last spring, it quickly melted away in the Florida heat.  Fortunately I did not throw away, and kept the pot in a shady place, and gave some occasional irrigation.  Once the weather cools down, it develops the new leaves, and now finally rewarded me with its flowers!

AlstroemeriaInca Lily

My Double Delight Rose still occasionally opens some flowers to reserve its spot in the garden. Yes, you are here to stay!

So much Spring Fever in my garden, contagious enough to spread to this gardener too!  I can feel so many ideas dancing in my mind to wait for me to execute!

Is your garden having a Spring Fever?