Today is May 31st already! I am flitting around the yard with my bag of pelleted fert, trying not to miss anything on this last day to fertilize until fall!

Mike, keep an eye out at HD and Lowe's - I scored some fabulous Heliconia 'Lady Di' last year, 3gal. pots for $7.95 on sale. I originally only bought three, then plunked them in the flower border and went off on a trip. When I got back they were so gorgeous I rushed back and got some more. Here they are last August. They're just starting to bloom again now, but will go and spread all the rest of the summer. I like things that do that!.

Absolutely stunning images Elaine. Thanks so much for sharing those. I'm with jealousy.

Ellaine you have a vast collection of beautiful plants. Here's what's blooming in my garden today:




Crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet'




Hausten White (yesterday's bloom)



Divine Plumeria and Puu Kahea

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Lovely, Gigi. Do you know the name of the pretty rose at the top of your post? I have one in similar colors called 'Easy Does It'. Much as I do love roses, none of mine have done very well. Plus the flowers last such a short time.

Yes, I have a garden full of treasures. Too full. Very messy, and disorganized, but fun. Luckily I have a helper who comes once a week to keep on top of the weeds and pruning. My DH says he "just wants to be able to walk through without plants touching me". So we do prune and weed and mulch to keep some semblance of order.

Here's an interesting anomaly - I broke a long cane off one of my begonia plants a month or so ago. Stuck it in a vase out on the patio in the shade, and here it is with blooms on it!
B. 'Don Miller'

Mine is getting full too and yes DH says the same thing. He is not a plant person but he does like the praises we get when my plants are in bloom.

That begonia is beautiful. I had a cutting like that but it died. I don't have a lot of shade so I can't grow them.

The peach rose is a no ID one.

Hm, some begonias are somewhat sun tolerant, Gigi. Maybe under the shade of one of your plumerias a begonia would get enough shade? This one 'Maurice Amy' gets morning sun full-on until about 11am. More light makes the pink dots on the leaves a brighter color. It also encourages blooming - I just noticed the tiny little pale pink flowers today!


I've been meaning to ask, why are your trees all in pots? Mangoes grow and fruit wonderfully in the ground, and would give you a nice bit of shade, too. They will be more tolerant of cold weather in the ground, as well. (the roots stay warmer)

I've got a big white Brugmansia showing her skirts today. The tall one in the pool cage is getting even pinker. The fragrance at night is amazing!

My trees are in pots because they are young (2 to 3 years old). I worry that if we have frost they will die. I only have Pumelo, Mango and lychee in pots. My bananas and papaya are in the ground.

This is what is in my yard today - worth getting up for this morning!

Cactus with beautiful large blooms! Wow!

That's really lovely, Hetty. Fragrant?

This is a very short, dwarf Canna, only gets about 18in. tall. Finally captured a better picture of the yellow African Iris.

Another neat plant I discovered when we bought this house - Costus, aka 'Corkscrew ginger' or 'spiral ginger'. They are impressive foliage plants with really cool spiral stems that will thrive in the ground even competing with the oak tree roots! (a big deal for me!) The flowers aren't large, but they last a long time, and come in interesting colors, some with patterns. Start very easily from cuttings.

First is special, not so tall as the plain ones that can get to 6ft. Fabulous variegated foliage about 3ft tall. The coral flower is Costus scabra, a tall one that blooms and grows nicely even under my huge oak trees! The flowers always seem to have ants on them, but otherwise are pretty. Third pic, another plain foliage one with cute little yellow/red striped flowers. They open sequentially over a couple of weeks, and keep blooming if you cut out the spent stalks.


This one shows the spiral stem. Then this butterfly was following me around this morning, naturally I didn't have the zoom lens on the camera, so couldn't get very close to him. Zebra longwing, the state butterfly.

Gingers are lovely if you have shade and plenty of water!

I think your third picture might be Zingiber zerumbet aka Pinecone Ginger. The first one does indeed have fabulous foliage!

Hetty, I've got the pinecone ginger as well, but it puts up separate stems with the red 'cone' flowers. They aren't quite blooming yet. It's the one you can gently squeeze the 'cones' and you get ginger-scented lotion or shampoo. Another common name for it is 'shampoo ginger'. I slap it on my ankles to keep the skeeters away.

You're so right about the water! Last year after all the rain from TS Debbie in June I had fabulous blooms on that one. These pics from last year, in July. The cones are green at first with little ivory flowers, then turn red after the flowers are finished.

Elaine
Love the variegated one but then I am smitten with anything variegated.

Mike.

Elaine, thanks for the info on the pineapple ginger and the skeeters. We have some in the yard and I will try this when we have "pineapples."

I have enjoyed all of the beautiful pictures of all of your FL gardens. Unfortunately I am only a part-time FL gardener and are away for now. When we left last week, our agapanthas were just beginning to open and our gardenia had just bloomed. We have camellias, azaleas, daylilies, salvia, crinum, hydrangeas, elephant ears, nuns orchids and a few others, along with one plumeria. Looking forward to more of those lovely pictures.

Keep looking, Jean. We're looking forward to seeing some pictures of your garden when you get back, too. I'm thinking you are missing all the best of the flowers and Florida gardening by being away in the summer. Hope your gingers are still giving out lotion by the time you get back so you can try my skeeter method. Truth be told, it doesn't last long as a repellent, but I am rarely outside for more than 15min. in the summer anyway.

But the weather really does make it a challenge to do any actual garden work. I'm watching tornado warnings on the TV right now. Keep your heads down, everybody!

Very windy, my plumeria in pots got knocked down by strong winds.

A relief to be able to go out and tour the garden today after yesterday's stormy time! A few small branches and palm fronds down here, but down the street a neighbor had a tree down across the road.

The dwarf Poinciana, aka Pride of Barbados is in full bloom and loving its nice deep watering. Couple of branches are askew on that right side .. the flowers are usually a bit more graceful, too. Took a beating from the rain.



Big old scraggly hibiscus faithfully puts out nice double blooms, despite battling with a volunteer palm, viburnum hedge and various weedy vines. Red passion flower is going wild back behind the shop, blooming 40ft. up in the oak tree.



White Brazilian Plume is looking for the right spot to live. It doesn't like my high pH well water and gets all chlorotic if it doesn't rain for a while.

I love pride of barbados. My orange isn't blooming yet but my solid yellow one is. I'd like to get the pink one too.