Green Thumb Sunday

I haven't been in my garden much lately so there were a few surprizes for me when I went out there today :)

My Crinim Lily pup is doing very well. When I moved the mother plant a while ago and this little fella fell off of the main stalk. I planted it under the shade of the lime tree. The first year it wasn't too sure it wanted to survive but now it is growing enough to where I need to consider a long-term spot om the garden (it gets BIG).

Remember this post? This is the same bromeliad and it is blooming! I took another shot of the bloom from a different direction and an update of it's pup. I guess I should have figured out that it was going to bloom because of the emergence of a pup.

Remember my ghost orchid? The one that has no leaves and blooms directly on the roots?

Don't get too excited, it's not blooming but boy has it grown this year! It was a (legal) seedling when I bought it a couple years ago and it should be 3 - 5 years old before it blooms if I recall. I stress legal because it is a protected plant. It does have some strange thing hanging from the center that made me wonder if it was a tiny bloom I missed.....probably just a failed root. I would be very disappointed to learn I missed it's first bloom :(

My staghorn fern had only two leaflets when I bought it. It was growing quite thick but now, with the summer rains and a new spot in the yard, it is so happy it is growing a long leaf.

One of the broms from the Green Thumb Festival, I believe.

Pool garden - out of control AGAIN. Not safe to walk around the pool.

ANd the grand finale.......I was trimming vines last weekend and was ambushed by bees. I forgot all about the trimmers that I abandoned as I ran from the bees. They were still hanging on the vine. LOL

Green Thumb Sunday

Hibiscus in my favorite shade of pink

My one and only tomato in my Topsy Turvy

Spider plant is doing awsome - making lots of little plants

Border is filling in with bromeliads & heliconias

Bromeliad with baby brome

One of the new broms from Green Thumb Festival and this one has been having trouble getting rooted and I've knocked it out of the ground a couple times :(

This is popping up in my brom garden and I can only assume it is a brome

Staghorn ferm suffering a little from the heat

Anthirium blooms look good but the plant is showing a little stress due to heat

Shrimp plant could care less about the heat

Dendrobium bloom in the key lime tree

And another

Remember the pool garden border I cut back a few weeks ago - it's back

Never got these vincas planted but they seem happy anyway!

Green Thumb Sunday

I took all these garden photos at night. I wanted to see the changes to my garden after all the rain during my abscence but it was dark and I couldn't see much (except the orchids on the screenporch, of course) so I took photos with my flash and was able to see my plants in the photos. I got all wrapped up in the runaway vines in the dark, LOL.
My Dendrobium (Nobile) is a dependable bloomer each year. And, every year I believe I've killed it because it drops it leaves and looks like a goner for months before I start to see new leaf stalks emerging and followed by blooms on the old stalks. I'm noticing some of the stalks have deteriorated and am considering cutting them off - it seems as if the blooming is on the previous year's cane only.

Encyclia Tampensis is very impressive this year. Look at all those bloom stalks and how loooong they are! The best year ever. I was excited last year because it had 15 stalks, although I broke off 2 of them, but this year is unprecedented even though hubby broke off 1 stalk. I bet they open today.....will update if so :)

Paphiopedilum also called lady slippers. When I bought this 4 or 5 years ago I was told it would have a single bloom. This is the 3rd year it has had multiple blooms. Truth be told, the flower is a bit more impressive on the years with a single bloom - bigger, deeper colors. I love the mottled leaves of this plant so I love it planted in it's tall pot (not a typical orchid pot) even when it is not blooming.

Another Native orchid....some type of Encyclia. First time it has bloomed for me; however, it's a newbie, somewhat. Teeny, cute little blooms.

One of my favs - this dendrobium is a prolific bloomer and beautiful color. My lousy photography doesn't do this plant justice.

When I was gone it rained and rained in the Tampa area and I came back to see that my neighbor's vines had crept through her hibiscus (that hangs over our fence and helps create some shade for my plants) and worked their way across to my Tampensis - one doesn't mess with my Tampensis! Actually, one of the vines is the flame vine that my hubby loves and the other is a weed :(

This is the view from inside the arbor looking toward the backyard. Everything is so filled in and lush even though I was only gone 5 days!

A pretty little photo showing my Tampensis, Phalanopsis, Oncidium, and some bromeliads in the ground.

The turn of the walkway. I had to have something textural there to soften the harshness of the turn of pavers. Who knew you could grow spider plants outside? I've discovered that the babies attach their roots to the ground and reestablish.

The green with white stripe brom on the right is one of my new ones from the green thumb festival. The dark one on the left is part of a mail order I did a year or so ago. It has grown BIG and has one pup (you can see one of the pup's leaves to the left and top of the mama plant).

Despite all the rain, my staghorn had a couple brown leaves. It gets a little more sun after moving it from the lime tree so I believe it needs a tad more water. Hubby didn't water it while I was gone but the rain sustained it.

The new brom border - this was the area I really wanted to see in the dark. They are all alive and well but haven't seen growth yet. I am so impatient, LOL.

The brooms and heliconias in this small border were whimpy before I left because it had been so hot and dry. Things are looking better now. I still need to get that Japanese honeysuckle planted in the ground............

And finally, my topsy turvy tomato. Apparently the rain didn't penetrate. I don't like vegtable gardening anyway, LOL.

Green Thumb Sunday

I wrote a poem about my garden this morning. You will need to scroll past the photos if you want to read it. Don't be too harsh - I believe it's the first poem I've penned other than school assignments long forgotten.

Dendrophylax Liudenii (Polyradicion) a.k.a. Ghost Orchid

Wikipedia: This is an endangered orchid in the wild. Cultivation outside of its native environment has proven exceptionally difficult, but not impossible. Although many fail in the attempt to raise seedlings grown in sterile culture into adult plants, some have succeeded, and it would be a worthwhile venture for experienced orchid growers to attempt cultivation of this plant obtained from a legal source. This orchid is .... is fully protected by Florida state and federal protection laws and should not be removed from the wild.

I can FINALLY begin to see growth. The roots were only about 1/4" when I purchased it about 2 years ago. Probably will be years before it blooms (bloOms on the root - it is leafless).

Dendrobiens on a cool stand my hubby bought me for Christmas a few years ago


My Cattleyas (I know, I know - they are too crowded)

Orchids hanging in the Key Lime tree


Vandas in the Key Lime - roots are starting to get unmanagably long on some


The orchid in top of this photo is new but the one on bottom is an old favorite. It is a ruffled flower and for some reason I am exceptionally fond of this flower and plant.


This photo is for Wicked Gardener who loves gingers. This one in growing in a lot of shade with only dapples of sun. Growing slowly but beautifully. It's sister plant in a sunnier location and blooms and grows very quickly. They are known as shell gingers.


When I bought this Staghorn Fern a couple years ago it only had two fronds. I fought to keep it healthly and alive until I put it under the lime tree. Now it is very happy and so am I!


In My Garden

In my garden I sit
Protected by screened windows and a roof
From insects unknown

In my garden I sit
And watch what I desperately want to be part of
Changing the world

In my garden I read
Connected by wireless internet to gardening blogs
Twenty-first century gardening

In my garden I read
Novels of murder and mystery and cats
Library books borrowed

In my garden I hear
Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and This American Life
Radio or iPod

In my garden I hear
Birds chirping, lizards moaning, frogs
Especially after rain

In my garden I see
Ceiling fan, sprinklers, pool and Jacuzzi
Many foreign appliances

In my garden I see
Lush green foliage, vibrant flowering, orchids and vines
Always changing, growing

In my garden I feel
Like I should be doing something productive
No relaxation time

In my garden I feel
Warmth and humidity envelope me, tropical paradise
Connection to nature

In my garden I... am

Green Thumb Sunday

This was my Sunday surprise today. I've been really good at staying off my foot all morning and rewarded myself 5 minutes of digicamera in the garden. I heard a bang agaisnt the screen porch door as I came around the corner and was greeted by a Black Racer. Scared the heck outta me! I think I screamed and then Eddie took off after it. Luckily he didn't catch it. I wasn't quick enough to photo it so I borrowed the photo from: oops, I lost the link.

The most colorful hybiscus in my yard. It is a real survivor. conan chopped it down once, a frost got it a couple years ago, and jerry broke/damaged it pulling out a rouge vine. It may be a weak shrub but the flowers are gorgeous.

My staghorn ferm. I am thinking if we remove the propane tank, which we do not use because we don't heat our pool, then I may cosolidate all my ferns creating a fern garden! When I bought this one a couple years ago it only had two leaves - or was that last year?? I purchased the most unusual items from this lady who lives near my friend Christina. She has an awsome yard and sells plants she has propegated. Her sale was probably yesterday because it usually coincides with Green Thumb Festival :(

My Christmas cactus which is actually an Easter cactus but blooms more like a Mother's Day cactus. Let's just call it a holiday cactus and be done with it!

This plant was delivered to my Dad's house when my step mother died. You just wouldn't believe how many plants were delivered to the house on top of everthing at the funera home. No kidding, there were probably 50 plants. Most were what one would think of as houseplants but in my climate they are lkiving outside. Dad is still keeping a dozen or so alive. Since we drove to Arkansas we were able to bring a few back and I created a Bessie garden. A cold night took out a couple of them and I moved the bromeliad to my new bromeliad border but I still have two "Bessie" plants in a corner by the pool - it's a reflective area of my garden.