October Garden and Bromeliads Collections

While I am feeling for the people in Northeast region who are suffering from the mess and the power outage brought by hurricane Sandy, I feel fortunate that we are here having the most enjoyable weather in South Florida.

Around the garden, I added some cool weather annuals to fill in those vacant spots left by summer annuals.  New Guinea Impatiens are becoming my new favorites since they can be put in the wide range of light condition, including the full sun.  Although I think the partial sun is the optimum since they would require more water if put in the full sun. 

Roses are loving this cool weather.

Josephine's Land

Josephine's Land

Queen Elizabeth

The following two are the double knock outs that I started from the cutting s five months ago. Really love the color and the form, and no black spots!

Belinda's Dream had lots of flowers since the weather cooled down.

This Kalanchoe thrysiflora was a small pup from my friend's plant, and look how tall it has grown, and it has lots of pups its own now.

Look down from the top of Kalanchoe thrysiflora.  Don't you think it looks like a green rose?

The small corner in the front yard near the front door entry.  The Rex begonia in the down left corner of the picture was moved from a total shade place.  It lost most of leaves after the move since this spot gets some morning sun. Now it has been fully recovered and showing its fantastic foliage.

It even bloomed!  Although the flowers are almost lost in the colorful leaves.

This Birds' nest fern started from a 4 inch houseplant, and it grows so big and lush after putting it into the ground.  

Bromeliads collection are getting bigger and bigger, and they are all expanding!  For those who just started gardening in Florida, I have to tell you, get some Bromeliads for your garden, you will love them!  You don't need many for each kind since they produce pups quickly. You also can exchange pups with your friends to get more varieties. Here are some pictures of the Bromeliads all around my garden.  

In South Florida climate, Bromeliads are among the easiest plants to grow, and they provide the year around colors to your garden too!  I am glad that I came to know this plant and became addicted to it when I just started my garden three years ago.

Happy Gardening! Be safe for the folks under the  Hurricane Sandy's impact!

Cool weather brings back the blogger

I can not believe I have not posted anything for this long.  After coming back from a three-week vacation in China, I have been busy catching up the work. The blogging had to take the back seat. The gardening work was mostly involved with weeding, weeding, and weeding!  Yes, Florida gardeners know what I meant by non-stopping weeding in the rainy summer season.  Also, lots of plants have grown wild, and have turned the flower beds into the jungle.  I had to do lots of trimming on those bushes, and removing the dead branches, plants.  

I have to admit that I am still not very fond of the hot humid weather of South Florida after living here for 18 years!  The mosquitoes and strong sun light are simply not the best friends to my sensitive skins.  So, the summer time I usually do the limited gardening, and try enjoying what I have in the garden.

Now the weather has been cooling down, especially in the morning and evening. It feels so comfortable to wander around the garden with the cool breeze blowing on my face.  Yes, once again, I feel energetic and want to get out to do more in the garden, and also some blogging!!!


Since this is the first post after a long break, I really don't know where to start. Let me first show you a new addition to the garden that I am very happy about.

A new fountain! I have been wanting a fountain for a long time, and have been searching for it for quite some time now. The experience was quite dramatic. Let me just say, this is the third one we brought home, and the only one kept! The first one was from a big box store, made of fiberglass. Looked quite nice, and fit our budget. However, after we finished installation, we found some coating already peeled off. So, we returned. Then we spent almost double of the price as the first one to buy another one from a specialty store. On the way the worker carried it to our car, they dropped the piece on the floor! So, the store said they would order for us with the color we preferred. We waited for almost three months for the order, and when we called to ask for the update, they found the person forgot to place the order! I almost gave up, but when we went to that store to discuss this matter, I fell love into this piece they had in store immediately! So, we bought it right that day, and delivered to us within a week. Good thing doesn't come easily, huh?

It is very heavy, although I don't think it is made of the real stone, it was made looking like stone.  Not only I liked the textures and the finishing color, I loved the four birds (one is blocked, not shown in the picture) at the top the most.  The birds sipping the fountain water just add more tranquility to the garden.

Speak of garden decoration, look what I have brought all the way from China, a Stone Turtle!  This one was made of the real stone, and has a hole carved underneath to connect to the mouth.  So if sinking this turtle half way into the water, and attach a bump to it, water can come out of the turtle's mouth.  For now, I just put it on the top of a boulder in the garden.  Love how it adds the life into the garden!

This is the first time Tibouchina grandifolia bloomed in my garden.  The new flower has a white center, and it turns to red with the flowers aging.  I also love its large fuzzy leaves even when it is not blooming. 

Another first in the garden is blackberry lily.  I started it from the seeds sent by Susan  two years ago.  After the seeds sprouted, it only grew leaves for the first year, and finally they bloomed for me this year.  Thanks, Susan!  I love them!

This knockout roses I started from some cuttings early this year, see how well it has bloomed this summer.

Griffinia liboniana bloomed again this year, yay!

The following are the orchids currently blooming in the garden. 

Finally, let me show you a visitor to my garden this past weekend, a Wood Stork, standing on the fence, looking down my flower bed.

That's it for now.  Happy Gardening, my friends all over the world!