Tropical Plants and Gardens #130

Lovely, Sherri and welcome back! Don't forget to go outside as it's getting dark to enjoy the fabulous perfume of your Brug.

We are very lucky here. The Extension service released a parasitic wasp at a nature preserve a few blocks away that has the fire ants on the run in our neighborhood. I have seen very few mounds in the 5 years we've lived in this house, and they only last a few days then disappear!

Howdy folks! Miss me? (yeah right)

I'm glad its just a bit too cold up here for fire ants to survive (at least I hope so!)

Anyways, I've been busy in the garden since the danger of a hard frost has passed, and have planted all the Yuccas I had in pots prior to moving (they were taking up entirely too much space in the garage), and they seem to be doing better now that they're getting plenty of sun and are no longer root bound.

I've also been transplanting stuff from my parents' house, and so far I've managed to move all my trifoliate orange trees, my surprisingly hardy windmill palm (it has survived 6 winters in the ground with no protection) and my entire Fargesia nitida bamboo clump. I've also got my hardy banana (M. basjoo) planted, but probably won't see anything happening until the end of the month.

In addition, I've acquired a few more plants (including another type of Fargesia and some wild-looking autumn crocuses) and ordered two "Mekong Giant" hardy bananas and 3 Zingiber miogas from Plant Delights nursery (but they won't be shipping them to me until May 22). I've also started digging up the vegetable plot and have planted one row of Basil and one row of Itallian Parsely (both for our kitchen and giving to our pet rabbits as a treat), and will see about planting some lettuce soon.

I still have a number of plants to transfer from my parents' house, including all my Rhodeas, my hostas some Wakerobin trilliums, mayapples, surprise lillies and my three dwarf palmettos (which should appreciate being moved to a location that gets more sun).

I also found a gigantonormous heritage rose bush on the property while clearing out some weeds about two weeks ago... The main stems were about 2" in diameter, and it had dried-out cherry-sized rose hips hanging on the ends of the branches. I can't wait to see it bloom!

Finally, for those who might be wondering, no the mystery arum from last year still hasn't made an appearance yet, but I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet. I'll try to post some pics of the yard tonight, but after I mow the lawn: It's got dandelion seed heads all over the place, but it's been raining to much for me to mow this past week, but it looks like the weather might hold out this afternoon....

My wife and I are also going over to my parents' house for dinner tonight, so I'm going to try grabbing as many plants as I can while I'm at it.

Welcome home!!

Thanks! I just realized that I hadn't updated my location yet, so I just did that...

Ditto Kay, Hikaro!

In the process of moving everything out of the GH......still a long way to go.

Mostly begonias

Hoyas

orchids and begonias

various plants

and still more to go

orchid cactus blooming today

basket of bromeliads

Goodness, Paula. I think you may have reached the pinnacle of the gardener's art - Grand Poobah Plant Hoarder! Now, if you don't start yourself a commercial nursery pretty soon . . . even your 100 acres is going to get pretty crowded. Did you ever get your big long flower bed all planted? Can't wait to see that.
- my begonia starts from Paula showing nice new growth
- Dwarf Jewel Alocasia from Mj with a flower!
- Brazilian plume, I went back after I saw the picture and cleaned off the scales on the stem!
- Monarch coccoon on the pool cage wire - see the gold necklace? Guess that's why they're "monarchs".

Thank you Elaine. Hopefully I can get about 1/2 of them in the ground and get rid of about a 1/3 of the others. I just have too many...I admit it!

I have to say I have been very disappointed in the chocolate bonfire. Even though it is pretty, it's obviously a slow grower and does not like to be bushy! I have pinched mine back thinking they would get a little bushier, but so far ...no!

Wow Paula, How in the world do you keep track of all that ! I thought I was bad...LOL

Elaine, Blue Hawaii is just wonderful.....Worm Killer I think is on strike...I have fertilized it...babied it...I thought by now I'd have to move it into a bigger pot. It's still barely 3 in. tall.
We have had some pretty cool nights ( actually went down to 50º one night Yikes !) but that doesn't really seem to have slowed anything else down.

Colocasia Blue Hawaii from Elaine, Hoya imperalis, Hoya latifolia, gloriosa lilys and Coral Porterweed.

GAgirl, next time my husband says I'm bad about having tons of plants, I'm showing him your photos. I do like the poles you have everything hanging on. Nice amount of property you have there. I sure wish I had more room, but then maybe it is good I don't. ☺

mj, what a pretty Colocasia leaf, and Elaine always nice to find Monarch cocoon in the garden, I don't see my huge Monarch cats anymore so guess I have cocoons somewhere, they sure devoured the milkweed.

I found this pink Brazilian plume at Lowe's last week. The undersides of the leaves are purple, only $3.98, so how could I resist? I have an orange plant and always wanted a pink one.

Gorgeous pictures everyone, what a pretty plume plant.

I think we all ought to print out Paula's pictures and just keep them around for those times when the spouse starts complaining. Sorry Paula, you are on your own but you obviously have a wonderful DH who builds such cool structures and a BIG GH for you.

My gloriosa's have not even emerged yet, what a puzzlement.

I was sent some supertunia plugs to trial, I don't anticipate they will withstand any heat but for now they are bright and pretty.

Magnolias are in full bloom, this is my neighbor's Little Gem.

This little guy is shedding his spring coat.

My nemesis!

Thank you everyone...I do have way too many plants. My husband tells me all the time to quit buying them, but he knows how much I enjoy them. The big GH is still a work in progress....they manage to get one panel put on about every two weeks, but at least I don't need it right now. I finally rented a tiller the other day and tried to till some of the flower beds. It didn't work as well as I hoped it would, because there was so many weeds, but at least I can plant a few more.

Does anyone use Preen in their flower beds? Can you tell it actually helps?

Alice, the petunias are so gorgeous. I make them last a little longer by moving them gradually into the shade, then when it gets really hot, spraying them with water during the heat of the day also helps. The deer sure are a headache, but so pretty. A fellow MG here plants borders of Society Garlic around her flower beds, and she says it helps a lot. They don't like the smell.

I don't use Preen here, Paula but we did use it at my daughter's house in Salt Lake and it helps her out a lot. She has a neighbor that lets their garden go to weeds every summer, and of course sends weed seeds flying next door like crazy. They also have a type of tree that seeds itself everywhere in the springtime. So the Preen prevents a lot of seeds from germinating.

We did find that you don't want to use the Preen that has fertilizer along with it. If any weeds had already germinated, we were fertilizing them! We now use the straight Preen, and then fertilize directly around the perennial plants with Osmocote ( I know nothing gets fertilized when I'm not there so the Osmo keeps her garden growing between my visits).

I'm harvesting my gourmet Mountain Magic tomatoes, and some bird has developed a taste for them! I guess I may have to resort to the netting for a while . . . arg.

That's a good idea about moving the petunias to shade. We are going to the mountains this summer but not until August. If I see my son from Asheville before that I'll send them home with him.

I am trying Preen under my bird feeder this year, I just bought it yesterday. I may have tried it before but have forgotten how it worked out. ;-(
I have about a million sunflowers and millet plants under there, once these are pulled I don't want any more. Hope it works for us.

Your tomatoes are beautiful Elaine, we have to net ours too because the baby cardinals love them and make a mess of things. Mine are weeks away from being red yet.

Interestingly, that doe has not gotten any of my plants - YET. She seems to have taken a liking to my dog (have you ever????) we think she lost a fawn and is hoping Boolie is her lost baby. She is constantly in the yard and has trashed my neighbors flowers so I am spraying mine like crazy before she is too tempted. I would love to get rid of her and any ticks she might carry. Shoo and tossing pine cones at her have had little deterrent. I set up a Scarecrow sprayer yesterday. I just learned there is a systemic tablet you put in the ground around tasty plants and they take up a nasty scent that discourages deer and rabbits - while fertilizing at the same time. Sounds too good to be true.
www.naturaproducts.ca

Set up motion-activated sprinklers to deter the animals:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=scarecrow+water+sprinkler&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=7959925299&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=671362296859186732&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_6ge8s9hj69_b

Opps wrong pic...

I've had the Scarecrow going and in windy conditions swaying branches can set it off. It has gotten my dog several times and he gives it the dirtiest look.

Yep, me too. Every time I set it up to scare off the raccoons, the cat comes in damp and very annoyed. It's good for open areas, and I originally bought it to keep my neighbor's dogs off my lawn which it worked beautifully for.

But now, I have no lawn, and very little area that doesn't have moving leaves and branches. Out front, facing the lychee tree is the only place it works properly. This year I have no lychees, sadly.

- Heliconia Lady Di is starting to bloom, but will do much better once we get a good rain.
- orange Snapdragons are nearly on their last legs.
- Salvia Indigo Spires is going strong
- purple Vinca survived through the winter, and is doing better, but the flowers fade in the sun and look sort of like old blue jeans.
- coral Barleria

Oh, ELAINE!!!! My Baleria came back and IS BLOOMING - THANKS so much - I LOVE it!!!!

Good to hear, Kay. Keep an eye on it, it will seed itself and spread if it likes where you planted it. Not aggressive, but definitely . . ah . . assertive.

The seedlings transplant easily if you want to spread it around.

Went to the Gulf for a week....Verrrrrrry relaxing!

Yep, getting pretty summery down here. We were out on the Bay all day Saturday running sailboat races, and it was just gorgeous. More stormy today, but we sure need the rain!

I think we missed a birthday yesterday, folks. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to Mj!!

- Love the foliage on this ginger, and I sure hope it blooms this year. A start from Rita, can't recall the name.
- red Canna with a big nice flower head going. They look good at this time of year when they don't get rained on.
- white Canna is more subdued
- just have to show off this Encyclia. It's perfuming the whole pool cage.
- RicRac orchid from Mj - it's doing great.

Ric Rac cactus or is it really an Orchid? Your flowers are beautiful!

Hi everyone, I was looking for a forum to ask my question regarding 'ric rac orchid cactus'. I am so glad I found your thread. May I please come in and admire your tropical plants as well as ask some question regarding Ric rac's blooms?

I've this Selenicereis anthonyanus for several years now. This is its first time to set out flower buds. I initially discovered over a dozen buds, but I made a mistake moving it to a full sun location, and most of the young flowers bud aborted, leaving me with roughly 4 viable buds. This is one of the four healthy looking buds at present.

My question is, it's classified as "night blooming cereus" does anyone know roughly what time in the night will these beauty open? I don't want to miss the very first bloom. I may have to camp out in the garden, over night, to watch this flower unfurls, lol

Lol, it really is a cactus, Kay. Lily, I don't know when it blooms, but most night-blooming flowers will open as soon as it gets dark. They depend upon night-flying pollenators like moths, and I think they tend to maximize the dark time by opening as soon as they can.

Do you have a cell phone that will remind you to go outside before you go to bed? The perfume is supposed to be lovely, too.

From Yahoo.com:

It rarely, if ever, blooms and when it does, flowers only appear on old, root-bound plants - usually a few years old. These blooms will pop up in spring and only at night, where in the wild, their fragrance attracts nighttime pollinators. Furthermore, each bloom lasts only one night so unless you're at the right place at the right time, I wouldn't stake too much on the flowering.

As Kay has shared that "It rarely, if ever, blooms ....." that's the more reason why I don't want to miss the blooms. The photo above was taken 3 days ago. As of tonite, it looks to be about ready to 'pop'.
dyzzypyxxy, thanks for the great suggestion. I'll try to set my alarm to go outside just before bed to make sure I won't miss this beauty. Once I do, I'll share more photos. Thanks to both of you having taking the time out to respond. Happy gardening all.

Here goes; just minutes before sunset where I'm. I captured a few photos to share. I'll return out side once it's dark to investigate further. I noticed that the buds when newly formed, they appear 'hairy' and green, then gradually turn red. I'm so excited that this may happen tonight--when my 1st flower opens.

Homer I am jealous. I know how nice it is to be in the gulf at this time of year. Beautiful flowers and plants, everyone. I hope my ric rac blooms some day.

Well folks, it didn't happen last night! The flower remains as it this early morning. I'll share more pics. later when I return. Debra, I'll discuss more regarding how I came about having these flowers forming by accident....as I've more time to share my experience this evening. Have a good day everyone.

We needed it Deb. If you ever get a chance; it's called Gulf Shores/ Orange Beach, Between Mobile and Pensacola.

Homer, Deb can't go to Gulf Shores - she can only come to Panama City!

my ricrac is inside, should i move it outside then?

Deb, mine are hanging outside under a tree.

Here is my story; accidentally, after having been indoor over the winter. I took most of my succulent and vines back outdoor. I left my ric rac hanging basket on the ground, in a semi-shade area facing north, northwest which has lot of large trees/shade. We've had an unusual cool, and long spring period (for our zone), the prolonged cool spring must have triggered the ric rac to produce flower buds. Whereas in years past, we promptly went from winter and seemingly directly to summer (hot and humid) as a result I did not get any flower then? Well at least that's my theory.

The mistake that I made was when I discovered the basket with many buds, I then moved it into a more sunnier spot, where it's now. As a result, the plant went to a transition from a shadier spot into a 'warmer' area, many of the young buds got stunned and dropped off. Luckily, I still have 4-5 buds that are healthy looking as of now. Hopefully they will give me some joy of seeing them fully open --soon.

Deb, try to give your ric rac outdoor condition, like Kay has hers. Here are a few photos of mine this evening. The last one is another promising bud just begun to turn reddish. The first bud looks so ready, I guess I'll hang out again this evening to spy on the bloom. Wish me luck everyone.

Good luck catching the open bloom! I have night-blooming Cerus in the greenhouse with buds, but I'm not going to stay up to watch them open. I get up at 5 a.m. most mornings and have caught them then.

Roll Tide, LL!