Tropical Garden #98

I'm still grieving over the loss of many plants this past winter. Many more than the previous winter.
The 16 degrees that went on for a couple of days was too much for the heaters in the tool shed or the itty bitty greenhouse. Some I had for over 20 years. Am being more realistic this year and replacing with Texas natives.

Live less than 100 miles from the Texas wildfires. Been looking at the pictures and reading the stories of what these poor people have lost. Let's see, tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, wars......

good morning everyone. i have been away for awhile between my mother having open heart surgery(she is doing great) and working 2 jobs i have had no time for the garden. i just went outside to take some pictures.

i couldn't see the fowers but i could smell them. michelia

this ylang ylang is pretty tall so hard to get a good picture of the flowers

this is one of my first royal poinciana flowers that fell in a bromeliad. i can t wait to see it in full bloom. i also have a yellow royal poinciana but it is only 6ft tall i am sure it will be a few years before it flowers

bromeliad.

lots of bromeliads flowering

this one just opening

this one gets beautiful purple and pink

this is a huge oncidium that i had found in a garbage pile. so i cut it up and put it in the poinciana tree

some more that i put on a queen palm

I visited Marie Selby Botanical Garden yesterday and found this bargain in their plant shop. They were clearing these out because of "cold damage". I could not see any damage. My camera is terrible where reds are concerned, they never show the same as in person. This plant is a brilliant cherry red.

This message was edited Apr 23, 2011 1:20 PM

HollyAnn: Wow, Tulips, Daff's, Hyacinths ... such a beautiful photo and setting!

RJ: The Thunbergia sure does look awesome! I'm thinking of planting mine in the ground ... but I'm always saying that and things end up sitting around in pots for years!

Candela: So glad your mom came through the surgery and is doing great. Both of my parents are gone but I know how stressful it can be when they are facing illness or major surgery etc.
You sure have some really beautiful plants down there in South Florida! Michelia is one of my favorite fragrant plants. I know it's called the Banana Shrub but I don't detect the fragrance being that of bananas. My plant is Michelia figo, the bloom is more cream/beige in color. Your plant looks like it might be Michelia x alba? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/73500/ and I love the looks of that bloom too! Ooh, that Royal Poinciana blooms is so gorgeous! I love when I get to visit my sister and family down in Fort Lauderdale when those trees are in bloom! I don't think I've ever seen the yellow one. Very nice Oncidium by the way ... great growing!

Michelia figo:

ardesia: Wow, that is a great looking Brom ... I don't see any cold damage either! It looks like one I had (it may still be around here somewhere) Neoregelia 'Fireball': http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/266139/

Thank you they are a great source of enjoyment this time of year when I can't wait for signs of spring.
I have not made it to the Marie Selby Botanical Garden but I have heard it is beautiful.
Do any of you grow Reticulated Iris?

ardesia that is gorgeous, i don t see any cold damage either great find

this is a croton from armando's

hollyanns those are gorgeous iris. the only iris i have are the walking iris. i tried bringing some down from ny one time but they all died on me.

heaven scent gardenia

happy belated birthday joeswife


my first frangipani flowers

this vanda almost looks like purple velvet

hoya

another of armando's (giancarlos) crotons

sorry i guess i took quite a few pictures. i need to get out in the garden more often.

some type of sanchesia cutting from happy.

candela: Your garden must be stunning with all those wonderful plants!

I miss Armando here in the garden ... I didn't know him well but he was always so helpful to me when I had questions regarding plants. He seemed to be a kind soul and I know he must be missed dearly by his family and friends. He shared photo's with me once of a painted cement patio that he did in his garden ... and encouraged me to try it but alas, I've never gotten up the nerve. I would have loved to have had the chance to visit his garden, I bet it was wonderful. I'm sure he is tending a wonderful garden in heaven with his beloved boxer "Giancarlo".

plantladylin i got alot of plants from his partner philippe before he move out of their house and they are doing great. he was meticulous about naming and labling his plants. sylvain has a couple of his books that he is downloading on his computer so people can use it as a reference. i will be able to finally be able to put a name to the majority of plants.

this guy was hanging out in the garden. i think it is a cuban anole? he is in the very center hard to see

a little closer.

candela: How fortunate that you were able to have some of Armando's plants. Was his partner Philippe not into gardening, or was it just too much of a reminder for him? It's been a couple of years now since Armando passed and I imagine you cherish those plants! I have a couple of plants that were given to me by dear (now departed) friends 30 years ago and they may not be my favorites but they hold so much sentimental value for me.

I'd love to know more about the books for download availability when they become available!

Hm, I thought the cuban anoles were the brown ones that you see everywhere. Pretty sure the green ones like your guy there are the native Florida anoles that are pretty rare because they crossed with those lusty cubans! Also, the cubans have better protective coloring . . . He's a pretty one, anyway.

I have had bird drama in my yard the last few days. Trying my best to get the first shots of the baby cardinals trying out the birdfeeder, but so far mostly the parents fetch the seeds from the feeder and take them to the babies waiting in the bamboo thicket. Today a couple of the young ones did land on the feeder for a few minutes, but they never sit still long enough for my slow camera to catch a decent picture.

Here is my pair of tufted titmice who patiently wait out the cardinals to get their share.

Best shot so far of the dad and young cardinal.

dyzzy: Very cool pic's of the Tufted Titmouse and Cardinal's. Yep, this is the time of year ... lots of baby birds about. We have Cardinal's nesting all over too but no babies coming to the feeders at all. They wait in the shrubs or trees for the parents to feed them.

My little Unknown Mini Phal is still blooming ... a month now!

Linda, I have this (or similar mini) Orchid, too - it is indeed a long bloomer. Mine came from the floral dept. at Winn Dixie.

KJ: I'm pretty sure my noid Orchid came from Home Depot or Lowes. It had a label/tag at one time but a couple of years ago I had all of my orchids hanging in a backyard tree and the squirrels got to them. Some of them were chewed up, tags and pieces of plants were scattered about the ground and a couple of orchids went missing entirely. I figured there must be a squirrel nest somewhere with a pretty orchid as decoration. ^_^ I picked up all the labels I found around under the tree and I've been trying to match them to the plants as they bloom but haven't had luck with this one yet. I used to have a file on my laptop with all of my orchids names but when my old laptop crashed a couple of years ago I lost everything, thousands of photo's and all of my files. I've finally listened to my husband and do regular backups now. For the time being that pretty little orchid will have to remain a NO ID.

"Butterfly Bush" - Buddleia davidii lochinch is beginning to bloom. It's a small plant that I've had a couple of years and still haven't gotten it into the ground ... I am so bad.

"Red Dragon Flower Huernia" - Huernia schneideriana (the bloom is not from this plant though, it's from a half dead orchid sitting on the deck.) ☹

Pretty Oxalis violacea growing amongst the weeds by the fence in my neighbors yard. I'm going to ask her if I can have a bit of it:

Buds on the Ric Rac Orchid Cactus are getting bigger ... can't wait for those fragrant blooms next month!

Beautiful Photos and Gardens and Birds.. God is Good to Us.
Happy Easter..
American Eagle Rose Last Year

Happy Easter to you Deb!

Good Morning, the turkey is done, now for the ham.. had a great time celebrating Mike's one year anniversary of life after his quadruple surgery
( and his 51st birthday) last night, it was fun being around all that extended family. Laughter and Love were abundant.Mike and Paula have been good family how ever extended to us.
Here is a picture for this Easter, A beautiful bird..
Hugs to you all, and Where is Rita>? I am worried..

Hi Everyone,
Those were all very great, interesting posts and pictures. It's good to see everyone enjoying spring.

Joeswife I apologize for worrying you, I have recovered from my fall and am back to my old self again. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my camera. There is not much I can contribute without it. DH thinks that he has it fixed, I tried it out today and it seems to be ok.
If no one starts a new thread soon, I will get it done tomorrow.
I hope that everyone had a great Easter Sunday!

Rita, glad to hear you are Ok !!
New Thread
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/tropicals/all/

New to the list, and for the most part, I lurk. But I wanted to say that I had a car accident last Thursday and although I'm OK, I've been a bit down. All of these lovely pictures have cheered me up immensely -- but they've made me want to move south, too!

Thanks!

Sharon

Hi Sharon:

Welcome to Dave's Garden and the Tropical Plants forum! So sorry to hear of your accident, I'm glad that you are okay. I agree, looking at all the beautiful photo's can sure cheer one up!

Join us over on the new thread here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1175809/ and feel free to jump in and comment and post any pictures you might have!

Lin