Tropical Garden #98

good morning KayJones, thank you for the kind invite. Better be careful, in my youth I used to just GO...
*hugs*

Aaah, Columbines! I think I've seen those beauties when we've vacationed in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in the past. They won't grow this far south but they sure are pretty!

dyzzy: That Iris is stunning, love the dark color! What Irises are invasive? I'm not real familiar with Iris, bought some bulbs of Iris 'Miss Saigon' a few years ago at either Wal-Mart or Home Depot and I love them. They come up every spring, don't last very long but sure are pretty.

Debra: That Dieffenbachia of yours reminds me of one I have that isn't looking too pretty at present, han't recovered fully after our past two winters. There are a couple of pic's that I put in PF a year or so ago, it's Dieffenbachia Camouflage: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/206159/ I've never thought of Dieff's as climbers ... the nodes you are seeing may be for new branches?

dyzzy: I agree, wonderful shot of the beach! I love the west coast of Fl. We used to trailer out boat over and vacation for a week each summer on Longboat Key ... it's been awhile though. I haven't been to Selby Botanical Gardens in years either, hope to get back that way in the not too distant future. I've never been to Crowley's, Tropiflora or the Native Plant Nursery over there and would love to go! My husband will be giving final exams in about 2 1/2 weeks and will be off until the end of June. I know we will be going down to Fort Lauderdale for a few days to visit my sister and family but we might take a trip over to the west coast for a few days sometime this summer too.

Debra: Great shot of that pretty Mourning Dove! I'm a bird lover and they are one of my favorite year round birds here, always in the feeders or on the ground beneath them. I took this picture yesterday afternoon:

KJ & Debra: Your conversation made me think of this, it's an illustration from a card a DG friend sent me a few years ago:

I have Iris pseudacorus http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/666/ growing in my fish pond. In Florida it's very invasive if it gets loose in a waterway. It is banned or classed as a noxious weed or an invasive in many states.

It has yellow flowers, but (thank goodness) mine doesn't flower at all unless I let the water level drop fairly far. Trouble with Iris is that the foliage all looks the same - nice sword-shaped leaves. You can't tell what they are until they bloom. I was hoping they were native Blue Flags (iris versicolor), didn't know I had this invasive species until it finally put up one yellow flower last spring. Since then I have begun rousting them outa there, but what a job!

I've had a few flowers this spring because we were away for 10 days and the water level dropped. I cut and bring them indoors so they don't go to seed.

They were in nice clumps about 3 ft. tall when we moved in here. They spread and grew so that now the leaves are 6ft. tall and shade the pond so my water lilies don't want to bloom. The rhizomes down in the water are bigger than my wrist. I have to cut them apart individually with a serrated knife. In the pic, the clump to the right is what I have been removing - it's about 1/3 the size it was last fall! The clump to the left are Blue Flags, about the right size for my little pond.

On the up-side, they are great water filters, and keep the pond water nice and clear. But the other iris I'm replacing them with will do the same job. Meantime, my yellow and pale blue water lilies, and Baby Doll lotus will enjoy a lot more sunlight this summer.

Pretty flower of my invasive iris.

Grr ... this new laptop is driving me crazy! It has a sensitive touchpad and I keep losing my entire post!

dyzzy: That Iris is so pretty, love the yellow bloom ... it's a shame it's one of the invasives! There are so many invasive plants that seem to be taking over here in Florida. We've been fighting Southern Sword Ferns, Cape Honeysuckle and Four O'clocks for years ... just can't seem to eradicate them totally! Oh, and the Carolina Cherry Laurel trees, I swear if we didn't mow our lawn for a couple of months we'd have a forest! The flowers are pretty in spring and they provide berries for the birds but oh my, they sprout up everywhere!

Linda, type your message in word or notepad (start, accessories, wordpad/notepad), then copy and paste it here - won't be lost if you do so.

I have had a mac laptop for almost two years. Have not posted a picture since. I can post an entire album on FB but not just a "single" photo. Gives me heartburn!

KJ: LOL, I am too impatient for all of that work. I'm also somewhat computer illiterate, what is "notepad"? I do have Microsoft Word on my Mac but it just seems like too much trouble typing it there and then having to come back and copy/paste. I'm sure over time I will get used to the sensitive touch pad on this new laptop ...

LouC: I tried playing around with IPhoto and I have 6 photo's there but don't remember HOW I got them there, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to upload them from There to Here! Maybe when my husband is done with teaching this term and has free time I will have him work with me although that's making me laugh because I get very frustrated when his technical brain is trying to teach me how to do something computer related! He's never used Iphot but he's worked with nothing but Mac's since the very first one that came out in the 1970's ... and I'm sure if he can take one of these durned things apart and add memory and figure out all kinds of programs he should be able to figure out Iphoto!! I got a little booklet with my laptop and for the Iphoto part it tells you to go to the website ... I haven't had time to check it out yet. I really think I'd like Iphoto because of all the neat features of being able to do photo collages, albums, calendars etc.

I am one of very little patience when it comes to electronics so we shall see ...

Linda, are you an Aries?

Nope ... I'm Pisces (March 7th) ❀

Ok.

Haven't had much time to take pictures but did get this MG this morning.....

KJ: Why were you asking if I was an Aries?

MJ: Wow ... that MG bloom is gorgeous, love the color!

I have no tropical blooms to share pictures of right now ... but how about a picture of another little bird? We've had Carolina Wrens nesting in a Purple Martin House that is mounted to a low pole just outside the back deck. The babies apparently fledged today and I missed it. My husband got on the step ladder this afternoon and there was one dead baby in the nest. ☹

Carolina Wren:

Linda, I am Aries and have absolutely NO patience, just as you described.

I don't put much stock into zodiac signs but I do read the horoscope in the newspaper for fun sometimes. I was a preemie and should have been born in May (Taurus). My mom and two of my sisters were the sign of Taurus and mom always said that all 6 of us kids were stubborn (just like her) and had little patience, but she said that it was because of the Irish in us. I've always had patience with children, the elderly, pets ... well, I think I am pretty patient most of the time LOL, but my husband would not agree. I have very little ... well honestly almost no patience when it comes to electronics like computers, my newest cell phone, him trying to teach me something technical ...

^_^

Yep, yep and yep - I can relate to what you say.

me tooooooooo!

Goodness, don't sign in for a week, and it seems like I miss a months worth on the thread! Nice to see great pictures. I haven't taken pictures this year. Nothing really new in the garden, and I think I posted 7 years of the cycles!
I've finally got the garden kicked back into shape- The fern tree finally grew some fronds, this is the latest it's taken. I'll post picture tomorrow.
I still had my pumpkins from Oct decorations at the end of feb, so broke them open and scattered the seeds...didn't know they were so easy..have lots of vines growing, and saw my first pumpkin bloom today..hope I get some pumpkins!
Seems like every year some plants thrive and some don't because of conditions- this year I think the happiest plant is the Thungbergia battescombei..it's really blooming.
Miss ya'll. Heading to Colorado Springs next week for my little brothers birthday...
Rj

Rj: Oh yes, please post a picture of the Tree Fern! I think I remember seeing a photo somewhere around here before and it sure was gorgeous. Oh, how cool ... your very own Pumpkin Patch!! If you have blooms I bet you will have lil' pumpkins before long! I remember when my family first moved to Florida, we had watermelon one summer day and my youngest sister (who was probably 11 at the time) collected all the seeds and threw them out into a corner of the backyard. I think everyone laughed, but sure enough ... she got watermelons!

The past two winters have been extremely cold here too, with numerous freezes. I think everyone, everywhere has been experiencing major, crazy weather changes! Our winter of 2009/2010 was the coldest in Florida history. We had a lot of ice which I haven't seen in the 44 years I've been in Florida! It was interesting and we made a little snowman (well, he was really an ice man) and placed him on the front porch. We had temp's in the 20's for many nights! I lost many plants that winter, some I had for 25+ years and then lost a few more this past winter too. I had over two dozen Croton's that were lost to the freezes and this past winter I lost a large Ficus Maclellandii and a few other plants.

Safe travels to Colorado ... and ♬ ♭ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♪ Happy Birthday to your little brother!

Good morning, all! Randy, any time you want to show us your flowers, please do so - we never tire of looking at your amazing plants!

Good afternoon...HOT!
Here is the Fern. The fronds are small, and the ones on the edge froze. I usually wrap it in outdoor seat cushions..and the forecast that day was fairly warm..thought I would wrap it after work. But....turns out that as soon as I got to work, a cold front blasted through and it was at freezing at least 6 hours. It's a hardy guy though...It grows about a foot a year. The statue reveals the growth as it was below Davids head last year.

The reason I'm so lucky with the fern is that it is a C. Australis (by accident) was marked as C. cooperi. I wonder why the nurseries don't try to sell the Australis..it is far more hardy and could be grown in several regions. I accidentally grew two ferns from spores a couple of years ago when I cut the branches and threw them in the garden. The draped over the Arkansas border stones, and a few months later a few were growing on the rock. I tried to transplant the last one as it was 4 inches tall..but...it bit the dust. Note to self, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!. Interesting though how the spores only grew on the rocks.

This is those Texas native bell shaped clematis

This message was edited Apr 22, 2011 2:49 PM

try again

some variegated?? weed grass

grass

okay..not a farmer, so yes I took a picture of my first pumpkin blooms

variegated ummm lilly things

I think DG is having issues...thought may be it was me..but all the other sites are working fine.
This is another...mmm..ummm..don't know thingy

and finally, one I DO know...
Variegated Hydrangea...can't get it to bloom thought

variegated ummm lilly things = peace lily

Woo Hoo ... finally able to get back onto DG. They were apparently having problems all day! The site was real slow this morning and then this afternoon I couldn't log in at all for awhile, then when I was finally able to log in I couldn't see the top of the page, it was just a green blob and no photo's were loading, just boxes with question marks ... I finally gave up.

RJ: Love the fern, really nice ... it will be back to it's glory in no time from the looks of it. I'd love to be able to have a tree fern growing in my yard year round but guess I'd have to live much farther south for that!

That Clematis is so different, I wouldn't have even known it was a Clematis, I thought they all had the same flat type flowers, love those bell shaped blooms!

The variegated weed/grass ... I know I've seen that before but what's the name of it?! My old brain can't remember. I want to say it sounds something like bombax or dondax or something with ax at the end ... or maybe not. ^_^ I found it ... Arundo donax, "Giant Reed Grass": http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1560/

Variegated lily things looks like Peace Lily 'Domino' - Spathiphyllum Domino: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/95592/ and yours is gorgeous! I've had one for many years and it took a huge hit in the cold the past two winters. It looked so ratty I almost threw it out last month but now I'm glad I didn't because it's recovering nicely and beginning to look halfway decent again!

Beautiful plant you posted here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=8513698 It is so familiar, I think I've seen it here in Florida but I can't remember the name of it ... my brain just ain't working so well tonight! I think it's a big hummingbird attractor!

Oh my goodness, you are killing me with the variegated foliage! I love flowers but I really love variegated foliage too and that Hydrangea is so pretty!

I found buds and a bloom on this Mandevilla today.

If someone has another tropical plant photo it might be good to start a new thread ... this one is getting very long.

I don't have another bloom/plant picture right now ... but the baby Carolina Wren's fledged the nest yesterday.We aren't sure how many babies there were ... my husband got on the stepladder yesterday evening and there's one dead baby in the nest ☹ and the one baby I've seen out of the birdhouse isn't flying yet ... he made it to the edge of the yard and has been in the leaves along the fence with the parents feeding him. I thought for sure it wouldn't survive last night but it was still out there in the same area today, climbing up the chain link fence a little ways, sorta flapping to a nearby small shrub but it hasn't gotten a lot of air yet. At one point he was hopping along the ground behind one of the adults ... they keep chirping and flying a little ways up into a tree, I'm assuming trying to coax baby to fly, LOL. A few years ago we had Wrens nest in the same birdhouse and the same thing happened, the babies tried to fly and made it to the fence and hung out there for a couple of days testing their wings and hollering for the parents to feed them. I've been putting dehydrated mealworms in a feeder and the adults have been back and forth feeding the baby. I was able to get a couple of pictures of the little cutie this afternoon:

I got so irratated w/ trying to get on the site today that I just said #$%^ v it ! Hi guys ! I'll check back in later when someone at the helm knows what they are doing...............

alright plantlady! You rock, finding the name of the giant reed grass. I was lazy on the lily.
Ahh..glad it's not my computer...I've been tweakin the browser and stuff wondering if someone in the household changed settings (which happens often)

This is the only other clematis I've been able to grow. The caterpillars are fierce this season. They have been snacking on everything including this clematis.

RJ, Love your native Leather Flower clematis pitcherii.. I have seen them out in the country, planted seeds, still waiting..

I had seen pics of the bell shaped clems and wasn't very impressed with them. Until I saw one on a garden tour. They sure are lovely. Not topical but I thought you might like to see my spring bulbs. I know you more southern folk can't grow these.

Holly, that is beautiful!

That is beautiful Holly-

ah, thanks for the name, I was cruising all through clematis in the plant files. I found the vine a wee finicky to get started. I started it 3 years ago, it languished the first year, the second, I ignored it and let it do it's thing, finally bloomed last spring- this year, it is more robust.

The Thungbergia is really doing well this year. It must have liked that thick layer of mulch.