Wordless Wednesday: Rain Lilies Love the Rain

Zephyranthes

I am joining Wordless Wednesday.

Flowers in the Rain

The past week we have been experiencing almost daily afternoon showers.  I just love the flowers with rain drops on, so fresh and lovely.

Chinese Rain Bell, or Strobilanthes flaccidifolius, really becomes "Rain Bell" after the rain!  Did you see the reflection in the rain drops?  Oh, that tiny spider also caught in the picture!

Strobilanthes flaccidifolius
Chinese Rain Bell

This is the first time louisiana iris bloomed in my garden.  Meems at Hoe and Shovel was so generous to send me two rhizomes last year.  Thank you, Meems!

Rain lily really lives up to its name.  I saw there are more flower scapes coming up this afternoon.

Rain Lily
Zephyranthes

Belinda's dream is doing great in my garden, recent rain seems have promoted lots of flower buds on her as well.

Belinda's Dream

Hibiscus 'Anderson Crepe'

I am loving the flowers in the rain! Aren't you?

Here Comes the Rain!

I think the raining season finally comes to South Florida!  The past week, almost everyday we got some rain, enough kept my garden watered.  Everything looks more lush and green, including grass.

Rain lilies (Zephyranthes) opened after a good rain.  I only had one rain lily last year, and this year I bought one small pot from my favorite nursery, and came home found there were more than two dozen of bulbs packed in!  I planted them on the border of my flower bed.  They were still quite young.  Expecting next year they can really make the show when they multiply more and open flowers all together.

Meems at Hoe and Shovel got me hooked on caladiums with her beautiful caladium pictures in her garden.   I do not have much shade or partial area in my garden, but I still managed to squeeze about 75 bulbs into different flower beds and containers. 

I think this is ‘Florida Cardinal’.  

Meems also sent me some of her favorite ‘Miss Muffet’ caladium.  They blend in the Bromeliad corner so nicely .  Just love the texture and the color! Thanks, Meems! 

I need to buy more of these.  This year it was sold out on the online store when I was ready to put the order.

The same bromeliad corner from another angle.  The white caladium in the distant is ‘White Christmas’.

Don’t know what is the name of this caladium.

This is what happened when you bought those “mixed” packages, and had no idea what would come up when you planted.  Maybe I should sort them out before they disappear to the ground this fall, so that I can have more planned color arrangement next year.

Although I don’t mind this combination in the container…

Firespike (Odontonema strictum) is setting lots of flower scapes.  Hope I can see hummers visiting this one soon.

Self seeded white Zinnias and pink Vincas are becoming a nice combination in this flower bed.

I tucked different types of house plants into this container and now it mixes with all different textures and colors together quite nicely.    Sometimes simply throwing something together might not be a bad thing.

Yay!  Finally I got several shots of a Monarch butterfly on my Zinnias!  Not very clear shots, but I was so happy that I finally found some butterfly other than ‘White Peacock’ visiting my garden, and I was able to capture it in my picture.

More Siam tulip flowers…

Now we have more rain, Ground orchids are picking up the speed to shoot more flower scapes.

It is nice to see this Griffinia liboniana is reblooming! 

My family is going away for a two week vacation starting this weekend.  We are going to visit YellowStone, Grand Canyon and other national parks in the West.  Kids are excited, and me too!

This raining season came just in time, so that I don’t need to worry too much about my garden.

If I don’t post again before I go, Happy 4th of July, and Happy Gardening, my friends!

Blue Fox Tail Orchid and Other Summer Blooms

Just want to share some blooms that caught my eyes in my garden these days.

This Blue Fox Tail Dendrobium Orchid was a house-warming gift we received last year.  It is blooming again now. I love its deep purple color, not sure why the name is "blue" fox tail. Seems to me that blue and purple are often interchangeable in the plants world... Well, whatever name it is called, I just love it!

Blue Fox Tail Dendrobium Orchid

I found out that the best way to grow orchids is "leave them alone".  When I "over" cared about them before, they died.    Now I just put them outdoor in a bright shaded area, and water them maybe once a week based on if they got the rainfall or not, and fertilize them occasionally.  They seem love that way, there have been three orchids rebloomed for me this year since I learned this "tip" :)

While the ground orchids planted in the front garden are not doing very well, the ones located in backyard a more shaded area are shooting more flower spikes now.  I think I need to move those in the front to a more shaded area as well.

Ground Orchids (Spathoglottis)

These marigolds are the ones I started from seeds this year.  They just thrive in the Florida Sun!  I really love the golden/yellow/orange/red tones in it.  The color just looked so rich!

Marigolds

This concrete piglet statue was left in the mud by the previous owner when we moved in.  I dug it out and cleaned it.  I am not sure if it was originally made as a planter since the opening is very shallow and no drainage hole. I planted some purslane in it, and it now looks cute with a blooming body, doesn't it? 

Purslane

This buttercup plant was self seeded from last year's plants.  It had so many seedlings that I have to pull lots out.  They open the flowers in the morning and close in the evening.  Then the cycle repeats one more time next day before it dies, then other flowers start opening again.

Mounding Buttercup

A couple of weeks ago, Floridagirl at Peace In The Valley posted a picture of this Rudbeckia 'Tiger Eye Gold' on her blog. I immediately fell love into it, and thought it would brighten my west flower bed border very nicely. The next thing I knew, three of them found the home in my garden :)

Rudbeckia 'Tiger Eye Gold' 

I found the flowers of the Pentas in the micro picture look so delicately beautiful with all those details in each small flower, which we usually don't notice with human eyes.

Pentas

This rain lily was my recent purchase.  Only one was found.  I really love the water colored pink on this flower.  Wish it can multiply itself fast, so I can have more of this beauty!

Rain Lily (Zephyranthes candida)

Happy Summer Gardening!