lux verde

Still a fool for rhizatomous begonias. I didn't write down name when buying.. sheer laziness. 

Lime.

In town on business

Always a pleasure to see my friend the iguana, posing here in the parrot vine. 

The roses were a debacle. Black spots, shriveled new growth, I don't have time to figure them out. Maybe in my retirement.

Place Bougainville

Found some 4lb bags of organic worm castings on lunch break at Flamingo Road Nursery$7 I remember them seeming a lot pricier on-line so I picked some up. Tried to make a tea overnight but it didn't dissolve and made muddy heaps which I had to flush into the soil. Better to add to top soil and work and water in. Bought fish emulsion same trip, I thought I was buying seaweed but it was fish. Smells rather taint-like.. now this you can make a tea out of, a right stinky tea. Probably loved by all.

New growth on the rose. Trimmed down sternly after first flush.. it tried to send out a water sprout below graft, which I pinched off immediately, nothing allowed below graft. It gets 4 hours of sun more or less. I've sprinkled a little Bayer Feed and Protect and watered in, keeping a little water in saucer that can be wicked up.. coaxing roots down? It's in a 3 gal pot, I'd like to leave it there.

New growth.

Goings on about town..

5/7/2016
The soil in the large magenta bougainvillea seemed to have taken on a clay-like consistency. I trimmed main branches that will be used to splay the plant back on the trellis and then after some chipping away at the top soil in the pot slid the plant out onto a plastic drop cloth. Went around the root ball with small shovel knocking off about 1/2 of the root ball. Didn't find large "tap" roots that I have encountered when repotting other bougies; may hidden inside remaining root ball. Great pot for $140 from Flamingo Road Nursery. If you're in Broward county, probably the best for large ceramic pots.

Finally found a underliner that was a good fit and matched the dirty white tile somewhat enabling me to repot see above.

Weed blocker top of drainage holes
2" white granite
Weed block above granite
Mulch, just composting trimmings from garbage about 1"
Mixed 3 cubic foot yards of soil with 2 bags perlite and 2 7lb bags of worm castings
This was done in a large contractors trash bag, I could mix well and then poured 2 cans of water in to make some fun mud. My soil wouldn't compress much when watered later. Put this in bottom 1/3 of pot. Put in root ball. In another bag, mixed soil and perlite and filled in around ball.
Tied the thorny trollop tightly to the trellis.
Stuffed some sanchezia and burle marxe in for some base filler.
Watered in well.

Splayed bougie on month later..

2 months after repotting

The compulsory purchase at the nursery: one of my favorite bougainvillea-- the magenta pops with the variegated leaves.

Fabulous when in full flower.

Like a lavender candy

I don't think these are very floriferous, but the lavender ice bracts are refreshing.

My mother's lipstick (1960's)

Trying something new. Roses in containers, blown by ocean wind, underneath serious sun. The subtel fragrance and the gorgeous color of "Smoking Hot" captivated me. It's grafted onto Fortuniana roots. If it looks like this might be a successful effort, it would be beautiful throw them in a big pot with bougainvillea 

She's smoking hot!!

baby love

b. Selph's Mahogany in late winter-- the sprays of pale reddish pink are gorgeous. Usually lasting 3-4 weeks.

Overwatering vanda during overcast winter days..

A few yellow straps on what was a perfectly green 4'5" vanda.. overwatering i think on these cool rainy days.. what is happening to our weather? Probably not too late.

Winter time at last. A dry, cool sunny day.

Spent a very nice afternoon at RF Orchids then to the nearby White Lion Restaurant, which I give a very good and I love to eat

Trichoglotis Brachiata, I've tried this before, but I think I've had an epiphany on orchid culture.. it's all in keeping the velum alive.. so the plant can absorb moisture and food--without provoking rot. This girl will need overhead sun, but I don't live in a screened hot house. How to acclimate?

A number of piglets coming off of the main stem

A place of bright overhead light, direct sun will probably have to wait until she is more acclimated.

Dendrobium Aggregatum-- straight from the hot house.. notice moist green on rootlets?



Cladiums. I think of my mother and the deep south when I see these.
A striking leaf that doesn't shy away from the sun.



 

 

Combo

 

Sea Grape and bougie combo

The rainiest fall and winter since our arrival in S FL in 2003.  The orchid's velamen have been kept warm and wet. I've been supplementing with foliar fertilizer- to good effect. I've spent a good deal of the last year studying for a 3 part professional exam that's taken me off garden duty to my soul's detriment. I passed the exams.. not sure i'll ever be able to apply to my professional life. My idea of sea grape and bougainvillea has grown into a combo of striking size, color and free habit.

Pretty fluted pot

The little clay pot was lying in the dirt underneath the red orange tree. The dendrobium slipped right in. Maybe the tight fit will lend itself to a pretty spray. 

The super fire monkey comes running

I have a number of projects coming up in the garden- the overall tenor being a sharp reduction in containers. Not necessarily less foliage as I'm tucking in multiple per pot. For example in the large pot that houses the parrot vine, I've repotted this to include a red bougainvillea and some yellow orchid vine seedlings which will fill the trellis below the canopy of parrot vine. There is also a branch with terete vandas (miss joachim) snuggled in. I am grooving on terete vandas right now, though i have yet to have a blooming. I'll post a picture of this arrangement.


Parrot Vine, red bougainvillea (on wooden trellis) yellow orchid vine to the left of bougie.
There is also a small 'Selph's Mahagony' rhizomatious begonia in the back right corner.

A few weeks later.. look close for the red brackets

I've found in container gardening, it's important to water thoroughly and frequently. Once the soil has pulled away from pot and the edges of the root ball has dried. It's trouble. I'm often taken back when i dig my hand into a pot that I've watered regularly only to find parched soil around the sides of the pot..

Don't use unglazed clay pots.

terete vanda "miss joachim" not my pic.. i can only hope and pray to Saint Fiacre. 

Chicken wire filled with bark in a large clay pot-- proof of concept

Vanda growing on a column of chicken wire filled with bark. There are several teretes growing up the other sides into the bougainvillea.

Terete vanda

Homage to Mizner's Palm Beach

 

John Ferguson's Fort Lauderdale terrace (need some plumbago)

The (Mizner) Palm Beach of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred G King 1921
From the fabulous book, fabulous,  

Mac Griswald and Eleanor Weller
The Golden Age of American Gardens 1890 - 1940 Paperback 2000
I could spend forever reading about the families and gardens, the pictures are wonderful.

A blushing bride and a colorful bunch of thorny trollops

My bower vine. Blooming pretty much the whole year.It takes full 10b sun.  I can't say enough good things about it. I'm having trouble with my phone's camera.. The terrace has become more focused on bougainvillea, parrot vine and Florida orchid vine- some sanchezia and orange bird of paradise.. 

Parrot vine with Florida orchid 

 To the right is Parrot vine with Florida orchid vine

Frankly fabulous

 Below, orchids with bougainvillea and the ubiquitous
sea grape.

dewy