Bloom Day and Summer

Ahhhhh...the month of June! What a wonderful month and the official beginning of summer (June 21)!  Thankfully the days are long, providing time to cram additional activities into one 24-hour period. In South Florida, June brings hot, humid days that spark ferocious thunder storms and stirs up hurricanes.

Ladies, never let a hurricane cramp your sense of style!

Hurricane shoes come in all colors and sizes!

June is a time for the beach, boating, swimming pools and monstrous plant growth (especially weeds that seemingly become trees overnight). 

I spent the weekend weeding and cutting back overgrowth, allowing preferred plants some much needed air and space.  However, I took time to grab a few shots for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  Caladiums have been all the rage in my yard.  I planted them in shady, dark spots under bushes where they've jumped to life and are quickly outgrowing their bushy ceiling.

These rest under a Star Jasmine bush.

These two enjoy the cool breeze under the Presidential Hibiscus bush.

This Caladium leaf would make a lovely bud vase, don't you think?

The Orange Jasmine sprang into action, providing intoxicating perfume and an abundance of snowy white blooms for the hellaciously hot days.

The sunny yellow Allamanda shows no signs of the harsh winter.

I've featured my canna lilies so many times, but this tropicanna gold never gets boring.

My young mango is providing a small harvest this year...its first!

The honeysuckle made a showing for it's last bloom day.  I extracted the vine this weekend in favor of less invasive plants.  I had mixed feelings about it, but it's a done deal.

The butterfly milkweed is doing it's job. 

The Pentas and Moss Rose help attract butterflies too.

We've enjoyed many varieties of butterflies, including the Monarch and Swallowtail.  I'm not usually fast enough to capture a good shot though.

It's also time for the hoards of dragon flies that dance about the yard every evening.

And the lizards are joyfully running around the yard.

This little guy likes hanging out in the coconut in the shade of the palms and arboricola.

He's taking a closer look at me too.

And this green anole feels safe as he blends in with the White Bird of Paradise stalks.

My little cactus is full of powder pink buds.  Isn't it sweet?

Oxalis Charmed Wine is also in full bloom

Other June bloomers include:

Gaillardia

Purple Cone Flower (echinacea)

Fire Bush

Bolivian Sunset

Red Salvia

Purple Angelonia

Ixora Yellow

Vinca purple, pink, fuschia and white

Hibiscus red and yellow varieties

Lantana gold, red and orange

Purple Dianthus

Firecracker Plant

If you'd like to see what's growing in other June gardens or would like to participate, be sure to stop by May Dreams Gardens for Carol's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Happy Gardening!

My Favorites...THIS Month! April 2010

YAY!  I remembered!  Actually I marked my calendar - 

Simply Susan's 

"My Favorites - This Month"

happens every month on the 25th.  I love this theme since faves DO tend to change with the season!  April has been a joy this year as the hard hit plants from this winter's "Big Chill" are really starting to show promise, and spring is in full gear!  This month, I'd like to take you on a tour of some of my garden spaces as I point out my favorites this month.

This is the front entry garden.  The burgandy Ti Plants are still showing the stress of the Big Chill, but lots of new buds are showing up.  There's also some cannas and cacti hiding behind the Giant White Bird of Paradise.  The Gaillardia (Indain Blanket flower) in the front has bloomed all winter...it's been a bright spot!  The agave is still a mystery.

I need help from Noelle of AZPlantlady...I have no idea what is going on with my agave as posted in my What's Next Madonna? post.

The Echinacea bloom right next to the Gaillardia and a Ti in the front entry space.

This is the North, shady side of the house where the pool and house systems are located.  This garden was started last summer to help camoflage the equipment.

This is the south, sunny side of the house.  Some of my favorites are located along this side.

Queen Emma Crinum Lily, milk and wine blooms. These are my absolute faves!!

One of my favorite groupings includes dwarf canna, pentas, mexican heather (it's hiding to the right of the pentas), purple fountain grass and the El Capitolio hibiscus to the left.

The honeysuckle grows on both sides of the fence, creating a fantastic segue into the backyard space...

Next to the honeysuckle in the southeast corner is the gorgeous bouganvillea and navel orange tree.

Yes, those are baby oranges!  Woo Hoo!!

My newly planted bromelaid and plumeria cutting are at the bottom right of this photo.

I have plumeria / frangipani cuttings all over my yard.  This one hasn't even rooted yet, but it's blooming anyway. Freaky, but I like it!! 

The newly planted poolside garden is filling in well...a little too well for my liking. I'll probably relocate some of these as the garden matures...too much going on in one space.  This space is flanked by the recuperating Queen Emma Crinums.  Lots of cannas in here too!

However, my goal of ridding this narrow patch of grass is almost complete.

The bananas are recuperating quite nicely in the rear of my yard, behind the pool.  Soon, my cherished privacy screen will be in full foliage, recreating my tropical escape!!

This shot was taken in the early morning with the dew still on the leaves. I also planted some impatiens under the banans, thinking the shade will give them life during the hot Florida summer.  You can also see a newly saved-from-the-garbage bird of paradise along the fence row. Someone was throwing this guy away!  I couldn't have that, now could I?  The bird will provide privacy during the winter when the chill takes the bananas to the ground.

Other stuff going on in the backyard...

The aloe buds haven't opened yet, but aren't they pretty?!

This is one of the perils of owning dogs that seek out the rabbits and other misc. rodents that may be hiding under the ugly shed...  my ferns have been trampled.

Here's another newly planted bromelaid.

The Presidential Hibiscus was just lifting it's pretty face when I snapped this photo this morning.

And this spider lily crinum is in full bloom

The passion flower vine is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorites.

And the cannas on all sides of the house are in full bloom!

I hope you enjoyed today's tour.  There's additional, smaller spaces throughout my garden, but they're not photo worthy yet.  Soon, I hope!!

Happy Spring!!! 

PS - Lola apologizes for missing out on this tour, but she was still sleeping, and if you know Lola...let's just say that it's not nice to wake a sleeping baby!!! 

Blooming Friday - Canna Leaves

Being the dork that I am, I really wanted to name this post, "Canna Leaf it Alone", but I decided to walk away and "leaf it alone"!  So, sit back and enjoy the beautiful patterns of the Canna varieties that grace my garden.

New Poolside Garden Phase I

When I relocated to South Florida 5 years ago, my landscape goal was to create a tropical paradise...something my native midwestern family had never been able to enjoy unless on vacation!  In doing so, I've created a mowing nightmare in my backyard.  Thus, toward the end of last year, I decided to begin filling in more of my dwindling backyard so the difficult areas to mow could maintain themselves.  During the cold snap, I identified a perfect place to create a tropical garden space...along a narrow strip of grass between the pool deck and the privacy fence.  After a VERY successful visit to the local retail garden shop, I couldn't wait to get started!

At this point, I really must pause to give some credit where credit is due.  I don't usually prefer to promote the large retail garden centers over the local nursery, BUT, this weekend's clearance rack at Lowes made it possible for me to begin my poolside garden.  I happened to be in the right place at the right time!!

I used some of the plants to fill in where the cold had left some empty spots in my front landscape.  But the rest was used to begin Phase I of the poolside garden!!  Here's the space BEFORE with only two Queen Emma Crinum lilies.

 

The plan is to clear the entire fence row, but I only had time / plants for a portion of the space (Phase 1!). Here's Phase 1 cleared of grass (and weeds!) with plants laid out (note the poor Queen Emmas have been drastically cut back from the cold...but they'll be fine).

I divided pots of plants, creating two and three individuals out of the one...making the most of my money!  These plants will spread by the end of summer, filling in the space very nicely!

After a long day's work and a sore back, Phase I is complete!

But there's still more to do!  The strip will be cleared all the way to the house.  While the Cannas and Crinums are the focus next to the pool, I'll plant a Ponytail Palm, Firecracker Plant (maybe) and some dwarf Mondo Grass in the Phase II space.

So what specifically is planted in this little space?  First, of course my favorite, the Queen Emma Crinum Lilies.

The complimentary flowers consist of cannas...two kinds were divided from my front yard...  the dwarf peach canna...

and the Tropicanna Phaison with it's gorgeous foliage and bright orange blooms. 

The new addition is the stunning Tropicanna Gold!  (I had to add some of this out front too...I couldn't resist)

The ground cover consists of Liriope,

Ferns

Sedum

and Dianthus for some temporary color!

Stay tuned for Phase II.  For now, I have the job of keeping the dogs out of the newly planted space and providing my back with some Advil!!