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May 1, 2013 7:10 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
Lovely, Jim. D'you know the name of that pretty daylily?

I think the blue bells in your hanging basket might be Torenia. Usually they have contrasting throats, white or yellow, but those are lovely.

Our jacarandas were trembling on the brink of blooming at the beginning of March, then it was so cold they held off. I think a lot of the blooms aborted, because they're looking a little scrappy now.

We got lots of rain today, too - what a relief! Rain barrels are filled up again, thankfully.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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May 2, 2013 6:40 AM CST
Moderator
Name: Ursula
Fair Lawn NJ, zone 7a
Orchids Plumerias Cactus and Succulents Region: New Jersey Region: Pennsylvania Native Plants and Wildflowers
Greenhouse Ponds Keeper of Koi Forum moderator Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Adeniums
Gorgeous show, Jim!!
I love love the Jacaranda!! Lovey dubby
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May 5, 2013 6:18 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Jim Hawk
Odessa, Florida (Zone 9b)
Birds Master Gardener: Florida Hibiscus Greenhouse Charter ATP Member Garden Photography
Bromeliad Region: Florida Orchids Roses Tropicals Region: United States of America
I just wanted to post my annual photo of the Canary Island Date Palm against the backdrop of the Jacaranda tree in full bloom. This is the time of year I meet most of my neighbors.

Jim
Thumb of 2013-05-06/hawkarica/ef2503 Thumb of 2013-05-06/hawkarica/ece6d2
"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." -- Steven Leacock
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May 5, 2013 7:57 PM CST
Name: Ted DeWitt
Brea, CA (Zone 10b)
Orchids Container Gardener Butterflies Plumerias Hummingbirder Growing under artificial light
Dog Lover Tropicals Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Herbs Garden Ideas: Level 1 Cactus and Succulents
Thumbs up Outstanding
Showing up is 88% of life
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May 5, 2013 7:58 PM CST
Name: Kathy
Western MA

Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Region: Northeast US Orchids Irises
Enjoys or suffers cold winters
My garden is waking up, finally.
http://forum.crazyorchidlady.c...
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May 6, 2013 6:39 AM CST
Moderator
Name: Ursula
Fair Lawn NJ, zone 7a
Orchids Plumerias Cactus and Succulents Region: New Jersey Region: Pennsylvania Native Plants and Wildflowers
Greenhouse Ponds Keeper of Koi Forum moderator Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Adeniums
Jim, that is spectacularly beautiful!!! Lovey dubby Lovey dubby

Taking a look, Kathy! Smiling
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May 7, 2013 7:53 PM CST
Moderator
Name: Ursula
Fair Lawn NJ, zone 7a
Orchids Plumerias Cactus and Succulents Region: New Jersey Region: Pennsylvania Native Plants and Wildflowers
Greenhouse Ponds Keeper of Koi Forum moderator Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Adeniums
Since I don't keep a super garden here in Fair Lawn ( I wouldn't even know where to begin, truly!) I figured I simply post a mix of my outside endeavors into the garden thread. Hope you enjoy it! Smiling
I moved last week the Cacti and Succulents out onto the deck, in front of the house and into the cage.
Here are some deck pictures, it was always sunny, so the pics are a bit bright. This year I moved a large pot of Passifloras out on the deck too, perhaps they will create a green ceiling as the season progresses
Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/ad9b89 Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/a11453 Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/970cb7 Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/49fa0c Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/75b670
Schick hybrid Nocturne in bloom
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My large Epi oxypetalum was simply looking sloppy, so I "restarted" it.
Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/44664f
Epiphyllum phyllanthus v phyllanthus started blooming indoors already and has a bunch of buds.
Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/9cce0f
Pachypodium baronii started blooming some weeks ago and continues on the deck.
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And there is the cage ready to move the Orchids in. View from the deck -
Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/252860
Some of the Epis are budding
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Amorphophallus konjac is getting ready to bloom
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I started up my kitchen garden/herbs today, they will be perching on the railings out my kitchen door in a couple of days. The Pepper plant ( Caribbean Red Hots) belong to my son, I kept it over the Winter in the greenhouse for him and it is flowering nicely, and I see some small Peppers on it already. It will go back into his garden in a couple of days.
Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/e18727 Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/dc249e

And the Jack in Pulpit seems to like the little Bog and it came back again. Lots of new growth and blooms this year.
Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/b35f55 Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/7a6615 Thumb of 2013-05-08/Ursula/17649a
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May 8, 2013 1:48 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
Lovely, Ursula. Good place for the Konjac, so the breeze can blow away the smell! I don't understand how people can grow those indoors.

I have a few nice new flowers and exciting leaves. Always love the Black Gamecock iris, they are so fleeting though. Talk about bright sunlight for the picture, you can see my feet in there as I was standing over the plant to shade it so the camera wouldn't completely wash out the colors. Whistling
Thumb of 2013-05-08/dyzzypyxxy/b6d8fb

Couple of caladiums getting up to speed now. First is 'The Pearl' a Thai hybrid, then 'White Queen' with several 18in. leaves, and 'Miss Muffett'. The fellow who helps me in my garden also designs swimwear, and he took home a leaf of 'Miss Muffett' to copy the leaf pattern onto some fabric.
Thumb of 2013-05-08/dyzzypyxxy/c640e7 Thumb of 2013-05-08/dyzzypyxxy/cf00de Thumb of 2013-05-08/dyzzypyxxy/a0712e
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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May 8, 2013 8:10 PM CST
Name: Ted DeWitt
Brea, CA (Zone 10b)
Orchids Container Gardener Butterflies Plumerias Hummingbirder Growing under artificial light
Dog Lover Tropicals Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Herbs Garden Ideas: Level 1 Cactus and Succulents
Wow, you two sure know what you are doing. How do you find the time to take care of all those guys/ Hurray!
Showing up is 88% of life
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May 9, 2013 7:28 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
Care? Not much really Ted. Most of these are perennials, so if you get them in the right place, they just come back year after year, and you can enjoy them, plus maybe throw a bit of fertilizer around and make sure there's water when it's dry.

The caladiums are all in pots and I move them around the yard to display them when they are looking good. Then winter them over in a protected place that's on the dry side.

The orchids are the only thing in my jungle that get constant care.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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May 9, 2013 7:36 AM CST
Moderator
Name: Ursula
Fair Lawn NJ, zone 7a
Orchids Plumerias Cactus and Succulents Region: New Jersey Region: Pennsylvania Native Plants and Wildflowers
Greenhouse Ponds Keeper of Koi Forum moderator Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Adeniums
It's all in the organization! Smiling
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May 9, 2013 11:29 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Jim Hawk
Odessa, Florida (Zone 9b)
Birds Master Gardener: Florida Hibiscus Greenhouse Charter ATP Member Garden Photography
Bromeliad Region: Florida Orchids Roses Tropicals Region: United States of America
Wonderful show, Ursula, and it is twice the fun because I don't get to see most of these plants around here. I need to get back outside for weeding and pictures.

Jim
"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." -- Steven Leacock
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May 10, 2013 2:35 PM CST
Name: Ted DeWitt
Brea, CA (Zone 10b)
Orchids Container Gardener Butterflies Plumerias Hummingbirder Growing under artificial light
Dog Lover Tropicals Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Herbs Garden Ideas: Level 1 Cactus and Succulents
Organization? Dang, that leaves me out. Hilarious!

When you Winter them over. Are they still outside? And hold cold do you get? Caladiums are kind of special to me. My Mom recently passed and lived in Sebring. She had many Caladiums. When we visited we had to all go to Lake Placid to see the Caladium capital of the world. I think they had a talking wall down there as well. Anyway, I can keep them going through the summer, but they never come back. Maybe I should try and see if there is a Caladium forum
Showing up is 88% of life
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May 10, 2013 3:16 PM CST
Moderator
Name: Ursula
Fair Lawn NJ, zone 7a
Orchids Plumerias Cactus and Succulents Region: New Jersey Region: Pennsylvania Native Plants and Wildflowers
Greenhouse Ponds Keeper of Koi Forum moderator Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Adeniums
Everything comes inside starting around the middle of September- into sunroom, greenhouse, windowsills downstairs, approach room to greenhouse. Things get grouped according to light requirements, the Orchids go all into the greenhouse which I scrub out over the Summer, I can easily water them there. And with its glass ceiling the greenhouse is very bright.
Comes Spring/now I move everything outside again for the Summer.
NJ has warm humid Summers with temps into the nineties F, Winter temps can go into single digits F. We are supposed to have a couple more chilly nights around 40 degree F Sunday and Monday, then I can start clearing out the greenhouse....
Last edited by Ursula May 10, 2013 3:25 PM Icon for preview
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May 10, 2013 5:49 PM CST
Name: Carol
Santa Ana, ca
Sunset zone 22, USDA zone 10 A.
Bookworm Charter ATP Member Region: California Hummingbirder Orchids Plant Identifier
Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge)
Ted, I've accepted that caladiums are annuals here, as are many of the bulbs we love. Some bulbs need winter chill, but very few will tolerate cold and wet. I'm amazed that some of my Lilies return each year, while some just disappear. I used to plant caladiums under the avocado tree every year, but only a couple of puny ones ever came back. Now I can't get anything larger than a seed in that ground...are you aware that avocados are surface rooters?
I got a few pics between winds today...Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/6b1789 NOID coral Epiphyllum
Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/bd2235 Epi. Courante Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/b4083c Last of the orange Epies
Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/b32265 red Amaryllis
Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/95a509 Penstmon 'Margarita Bop' Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/48ca81 Left side of the walk
Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/6f8a6e Easter cactus a month late Thumb of 2013-05-10/ctcarol/3e3dab and Chameocereus sylvesterii
Last edited by ctcarol May 10, 2013 5:52 PM Icon for preview
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May 10, 2013 6:19 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
Beautiful, Carol. Love that easter cactus! I'm with you, Ted. Very little organization in my garden for sure. I have my own private botanical jungle. By the end of summer, it really is a jungle out there. Rolling my eyes.

Like Ursula, I move things around according to the available light at a given time of year. (my shelf unit of phals really needs to move further into the shade for a couple of months now!)

We went to that Caladium Festival in Lk. Placid a few years ago, and it was a visual overload of fabulous plants. Mye caladiums like bright shade, just like orchids. Fortunately for most of the year I have lots of nice bright shade under my big oak trees where I can park my pots of caladiums and they make a pretty show. When they die back in winter, all the pots are gathered on the south side of the house where it's protected from the cold north wind that comes along after each cold front. We regularly get nights down into the low 40's in January and February - and this year in March, too! Sometimes we do get down into the 30's and in the 12 years we've been here we've had a couple of nights that actually froze. I cover my veggies to keep them producing and of course the orchids get covered up when it gets below 50, too. But I never have had to protect the caladiums. They come back faithfully. I've got a couple of new ones just coming along, will post them in a week or so.

One thing, in your dryer climate, maybe they'd survive winter if you stash the pots under one of your orchid benches where they'd get a little bit of water and a little higher humidity than if they were in the garden? Simulate a Florida winter?
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
Last edited by dyzzypyxxy May 10, 2013 6:20 PM Icon for preview
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May 10, 2013 7:49 PM CST
Moderator
Name: Ursula
Fair Lawn NJ, zone 7a
Orchids Plumerias Cactus and Succulents Region: New Jersey Region: Pennsylvania Native Plants and Wildflowers
Greenhouse Ponds Keeper of Koi Forum moderator Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Adeniums
Lovey dubby Carol, I love your posts! The Epis are gorgeous!! Very pretty Chamaecereus silvestrii. Mine isn't saying anything yet! And that Easter cactus looks gorgeous!

Caladiums could easily become another favorite plant group for the Summer around here. Just keep it up you guys....
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May 10, 2013 8:12 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Jim Hawk
Odessa, Florida (Zone 9b)
Birds Master Gardener: Florida Hibiscus Greenhouse Charter ATP Member Garden Photography
Bromeliad Region: Florida Orchids Roses Tropicals Region: United States of America
My caladiums didn't even die back this year. I never worry about them and they are always there in the spring. I've also been to the Lake Placid Caladium Festival and the problem with it is they always have it in the middle of summer. It is so hot I don't enjoy it much. Speaking of caladiums, here are a few of mine:
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The hibiscus took no winter hit so they are in full bloom:
Thumb of 2013-05-11/hawkarica/dce880 Thumb of 2013-05-11/hawkarica/a280a9 Thumb of 2013-05-11/hawkarica/3e31c2
Thumb of 2013-05-11/hawkarica/aa5718 Thumb of 2013-05-11/hawkarica/43cbc9

Jim
"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." -- Steven Leacock
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May 10, 2013 8:47 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Jim Hawk
Odessa, Florida (Zone 9b)
Birds Master Gardener: Florida Hibiscus Greenhouse Charter ATP Member Garden Photography
Bromeliad Region: Florida Orchids Roses Tropicals Region: United States of America
I was trying to post using Firefox and it was making me crazy. It seems to work well on DG but over here it is a mess. Now back out into the yard.

Begonias:
Thumb of 2013-05-11/hawkarica/f20bbd

Bromiliads:
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Roses:
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The yellow garden:
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Iochroma:
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Passion vine with flower and fruit:
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Pomegranate flowers:
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Young avocado:
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Native canna and a crinum lily
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And lo, quietly emerging in the middle of a flower bed, almost forgotten but ever remembered....
Thumb of 2013-05-11/hawkarica/3bfe3e

Jim
"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." -- Steven Leacock
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May 11, 2013 7:20 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
Yikes, Jim. They look like garden bombs! Stink bombs that is.

There's still time to de-fuse them if you can find your armored suit and gas mask in time!
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill

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