Tropical Garden #122

Debra, hugs back - I tried to call you yesterday, but Diane couldn't locate you.

Jeri, are you saying that siam tulip is a Ginger?

Elaine, you are SO GENEROUS with your plants - everything you sent me is going gang-busters! Thanks again and a million hugs! I am editing this post because it was CASSIE that sent me the nice box of plants - sorry for the brain fart!

Does anyone here keep a log of what you send to others? If so, it would be cool and helpful to send a dmail reminding those folks WHAT you sent them. I have so many plants that I can't remember who the wonderful person was, who sent it. I am going to start my OWN journal!

This message was edited Jul 13, 2012 6:37 PM

This is the banana grove behind our above ground pool for the last 16 years.

Debra, Jeri just showed what YOUR Banana will look like when it grows up! The one I sent home with you is Musa orinoco.

Kay it is actually Curcuma alismatifolia but I call it ginger.

This is some of my burgs and weeping willow. I was working in this bed this morning and see I left by tug.

I just call this red ginger but I'm sorry I don't remember the latin name.

Split leaf philo

This is the stairwell behind the waterfall. When I bought this ginger it was just call Tri-colored ginger but they have since changed it's name.

Debra, how many cardinals do you want? I must have 3 dozen if I have one, they are beautiful pests. There is nothing prettier than seeing the cardinals, bluebirds and the yellow finches together at the bird baths in late spring before the finches take off for cooler climes.

Kay the Siam tulips are curcumas, a type of ginger. Mine have not bloomed yet, I get so anxious when I see others are having better luck.

Alice, thanks, I have two pairs of cardinals here.. and two pairs of bluejays, a host of finches all colors, mourning doves and woodpeckers and well .. a lot. LOL Favorite is the baltimore oriole. jeri, you are lucky, I have had Gingers for three years now, and never seen blooms. I gave one to my sis in law, she got it to blom. I just don't know what is up.
KayJones, I am home sick. I am not surprised they didn't tell Diane.

Deb, so sorry you are sick! Drink lots of herbal tea with honey, honey. That MG is just a thrilling color.

KayJones, I keep track of my trades by my D-mail log. Whenever I do a trade with anybody, I send a D-mail when the package goes in the mail, and inventory what's in there. So I have an automatic record of every trade.

When I get plants, I make new labels for them, and write on the back side of the label who sent it (or where I bought it) and the date. This is the blue ginger Alice sent me in June. On the other side it says "Blue ginger" and on this side "from Alice 6/2012"

Next two pics, Brug 'Charles Grimaldi' still making small, very pale flowers. They will get more yellow then orange before they drop, but I can't figure it out.

Last pic, more gloriosas coming along on top of a very tall 7ft. vine. They've never been this tall or bloomed this long before.

pretty gloriosas.. I can't seem to locate mine, if they are out there, they havn't shown
yet, the dayflower keeps making me think it is one, but then I see it bloom:P~

Elaine,
Gloriosa's are still going strong here too...mine have gotten really big this year also...I'm thinking it's just that the tubers are probably getting to be softball size by now. I don't dig mine up
gonna be another hot one today...hopefully the west coast of FL shares some rain with those of us on the east...

Here's the yellow

and Evergreen Wisteria ...

That wisteria is a great color! My gloriosas stay in-ground all year, too. Only time I've dug in there was to find some tubers to trade. They even survived the cold winters with a heap of mulch. They've spread out 2ft. into the bed, and this year I found them trying to come up under a pot I had sitting near there!

We've had rain every day this week, and nearly 2in. yesterday - yay! Some of my border plants were looking a bit chlorotic from all the high pH well water they've been getting, but now the rainwater is correcting all that. The great blessing is that the afternoon rain keeps the temps down nicely. We've only hit 90 one day this week! Last night we went out to Siesta Key for dinner, and walking on the beach beforehand, there was a heavenly cool breeze. Saying the word "cool" in July here is a luxury.

Dyzzy & MJ - your gloriosas are awesome. I just bought some bulbs myself, hopefully I will have the same luck.

MJ - I also like your evergreen wisteria! I will have to look for one of those.

Elaine, yes wasn't last evening just beautiful, took DH out for his birthday and we left in the rain and it stopped while we got out to go in and then on our way home returned again, then we drove out of it by the time we reached home, then later went out to AMI to walk the pier. The pier could make money if they put swinging hammock up on the boardwalk and you pay (like a parking meter) for say a half hour. I would be their first customer.... I love laying out and watching the clouds move by and love seeing the stars at night. DH loves the fact that we are in the flight path of the plans coming to S/B airport. At the other house we were in the direct path, here at this house just 2 miles north/east we are just off a smig, but he still loves seeing them coming in and especially at night, he gets his scanner out to listen to them talk to the tower.

Yes I've been really surprised at how nice the events have been at this time of the year, so I hope we can share the rain with our eastern neighbors as it makes for the most incredible evenings. When we lived up north, when the evenings started getting nice, I would always be reminded that time was running out for summer and that the cold winter was starting to know at the door....LOL Don't have to worry about that anymore.

Jan

Meadow -

Your husband and mine would probably get along well. Mine is into planes too. We will be somehwere and he'll rattle off what type of plane it is. We're going to St. Martin in September. He has always wanted to go see the planes fly in right over the beach. LOL, I guess sometimes the boy in them never grows up :)

FLbunnie that is so right on "the boy never does grow up" when we use to vacation a lot there was always a day built in for us to go to the airport and sit out on the hood of the car (later we brought chairs) and him listen to his scanner and watch over head. We have seen some pretty close calls on plans either on track for the wrong runway or plans taking off into on coming traffic.... scary, as to think of the folks who are inside the planes and they will never know it....

Jan

Hmmm, your spouses might love it here where we have 9 squadrons of F/A 18 Hornets flying out of the local Marine base. They do not generally come over my house unless they are practicing touchdowns on a carrier off the coast but we can still hear them. It is locally known as "the sound of freedom." I love watching them fly in formation, it is an impressive sight, sort of like seeing the blue angels every day. The main (and only) road to the mainland goes right past the base and sometimes they literally skim right over the top of your car as you drive by.

Love that evergreen wisteria, there are few plants that are such a true purple.

Seedling Ti with curly leaves.

ardesia

I went to USMC boot camp in Parris SC and love the air wing, my first duty station was Andrews Air Force base and EL Toro CA,Yuma AZ was a little hard to take cause I was use to green being around....LOL I have never had a problem (like lots of folks who hate being near airports) being near plans, as having dogs it kinda cover their barks on occassion.LOL

I knew lots of the Blue Angel pilots many years ago. Honestly the air wing groups are almost like their own service within a service.

Jan

I live just down the road from Joint Base McGuire, Lakehurst and Dix.....planes in and out all day. I sit on my deck and love watching all coming in. Since they have combined the three bases we have Air Force, Navy, Marines and Army and I am a USMC Widow. I am so happy when I see those transports coming in with our troopsreturning from overseas. They do a lot of training here and we have an old silo here on the farm that some of them use when they practice landings as the place to make the turn. They use a certain runway when they do that and you can always tell what they are doing because they all take the same pattern. It is such fun watching. I am so proud to be an American.

sorry, off topic here...but I came on to show you my babies. They just turned a year old and this is all that is left of 105 cuttings that I took last July. I lost them all in the greenhouse over the winter. It was a very difficult winter for me to try and keep the humidity and heat levels just right because it was such a warm winter. Things just got too hot and dry and that was the end of that. They are beginning to bloom and will continue until the day they die. These little guys never seem to quit blooming. Jasmine Sambac 'Maid of Orleans'...easiest plant to grow for containers or gardens.

You guys and gals, who love planes, should come to PCB - those planes from Eglin Air Force base are flying over the beach and my house about 20 times a day! The noise is deafening!

JBerger -

I love jasemine. We had a round in our backyard where a palm tree was planted and the previous owner had filled with rocks (and weeds). We removed 20 wheelbarrow loads of rock from there. I planted several different kinds of jasemine and blue plumbago and mulched. The palm tree shot right up and has grown several feet since removing these rocks. Sometimes when you go outside in the evening the scent is almost overwhelming. The neighbors daughter even commented that she had smelled something sweet during her entire visit but could not figure out what it was. I'm sure you will be rewarded with these plants and their scent.

Ah, so you know our sand gnats, mosquitoes, snakes and alligators GI Jan. :-)

FLbunnie, on your gloriosa tubers, you might want to start them indoors, just until they sprout. Keep them on a windowsill in the a/c and not too wet. Last time I got tubers late-ish in the season like this, they all rotted before they could sprout. Too warm and wet in the ground outside now.

Little purple dendrobium from the bargain table at Lowe's.

Dyzzy - thanks for the tip, I didn't have much luck growing them from seed, so I am trying the tubers this time. I love hitting the sale table! Your dendrobium is beautiful.

Hello Everyone!!
I am thoroughly enjoying everyone's pictures and comments, thanks!!

mjsponies, the Philo. grazalie, is a goner, from too much water. I lost quite a few plants earlier this spring due to neglect. I would like to see how your's is prospering.
The red porterweed bloomed earlier this spring and is fixing to bloom again soon.

GAgirl1066, that is the biggest collection of Begonias I have ever seen, and they all seem to be doing great! I bet everyone's favorite is the Listata. I would like to have a few of your aroids if they are not all gone.

floridabunnie, nice pictures!! the Giant milkweed is a new plant for me to research, love it.

Yellow Allamanda
noid hibiscus
Rangoon Creeper

ardesia, that is a cool looking Ti plant , love the curly leaves. Great Find!!

Jerii11, whenever I open one of your pictures, I hear myself say "WOW". That is my dream to have a garden in which I can get plants to grow to their full potential. btw, I love that red ginger!

homer1958, Fabulous!! That is a nice inviting entrance. I wish my dh would weed eat more often.

Philo Evansii
noid Philo
noid Anthurium

dyzzy, I hope that blue ginger blooms for you soon, it has been 3 years since I saw a bloom on mine.
Joeswife, I think of you every morning while walking around my garden, your MG has brought me such enjoyment. My gd would say lets go see joeswife flowers.

JBerger, thanks for introducing us to another great plant. I hope that they continue to thrive for you. I like that they bloom that size, I will have to get one.

This South African Jasmine is another with a great fragrance.
Morning glory from joeswife

Thanks Rita! We seem to love the foliage huh? Yours are looking wonderful!!!

Calla 'Herculese'



This message was edited Jul 15, 2012 4:51 PM

This message was edited Jul 15, 2012 4:55 PM

Hi Prita -

your hibiscus are beautiful! I recently purchased a rangoon creeper and hope that mine does as well as yours.

In your second posting is the morning glory in the middle? It is so unusual - I love it!

floridabunnie, that is a beautiful shot.
Drew never saw a calla that big before!

that is a hige morning glory.. a cross from Emma . She has created a lot of beautiful crosses/morning glorys.

Debra, are you IGNORING me?!!!

huh? oh dear, did u call the house? cell phone is out of power atm. will call you in the am.

Thank you Rita. I am getting ready to trim a few limbs of that red ginger if you would like me to try rooting you some Rita.

Rita has your Dynamite crepe myrtle bloomed for you this year? The reason I'm asking is b/c mine is kinda a pink & white this year when just last year it was the vibrant red of the Dynamite.

Rita, i love the noid hibiscus, to.
jeri,crepes are all a bloom around here, but the ones I just put in havn't bloomed yet.

Deb, Leaves to 3'. Height; approx. 6-7' with flower spike. flower can be a foot long.


Alocasia Red Portora. Latest leaf to unfurl is facing you at 52''.

No Debra, I gave Rita a cutting from my Dynamite tree a few years ago and I wondered if it was doing as weird as mine is doing.

Also that Philodendron you asked me about Rita, is Melanochrysum. I got it from Logee.

Drew

How do I go about separating these pups?

They are in desperate need of being divided and the original potted to the next larger size pot.

thanks for any help.

Jan

What's up with this brug? This one is Super Spot, my Monster White still appears to be fine. Anybody have any ideas on what is going on and what I should do for it?

I also have a question about this Culculata, it lost all the large leaves and appears to be forming lots of littles ones in the crown. Do I just leave them crowded like they are?

How about trying some out in your garden areas?

Water well and wait a half an hour before doing anything.

First, take a long knife and go around the perimeter of the inside of the pot (if it does not slide out of the pot easily). It is probably fairly root bound. You should be able to take the entire root system mass out without loosing much dirt in the process. The largest of the smaller ones is probably a large offset of the big trunk. I would just cut it off where it attaches to the main trunk. It should have a good root system of its own. There appear to be three offsets off the small trunk you just cut off. They should have large enough roots also to cut them off and start each in a small pot of their own, or you could plant that entire mass (the second biggest plant with the smaller offsets) in your garden. Those very small ones closest to us by the large trunk you might very well loose if you try to cut them off, but, nothing ventured nothing gained! When you repot the big one, sink it another 4-5 inches down into the soil so it will develop more roots on the trunk.

I am quite sure some other folks will have good Ideas also. This system works well for me.