Fern Adoration

I adore ferns! It started with a small start of an Elkhorn fern back when we lived in South Florida. I quickly added Boston fern and a stag horn to the garden (soon regretting planting the invasive Boston fern) and from then on, I can not resist adding new ferns to Myrtle Glen.

Elkhorn Fern

Pink Flamingo

I always wished for a flamingo, finally got one for my birthday :-)

Everglades Tomatoes - Wild and Tiny and Tasty

OMG, they have such a cute name: Solanum Pimpinellifolium. Say it, and say it again and again :-)

Just meandering through Myrtle Glen

So I am meandering through Myrtle Glen, and I keep hearing the coaxing cheep-cheep (or peep-peep?) of the Red Cardinals. I know their kids are out and about, and since they are known to be curious and not at all shy, I keep looking around to find them.

This Passionvine is a volunteer. Where I had planted it originally, on the opposite side of the yard, it did not want to grow. I guess the roots just keep wandering, looking for that perfect spot.

Passiflora Incense

So now it grows where it not really should grow. There is a Bougainvillea planted to grow over the back porch, and a Dutchman's Pipe vine covers the pergola supplying much-needed shade for the orchids, but who am I to tell the plants where they can or cannot grow.

Bromeliads

My bromeliads sure make me happy. 

This Billbergia clump could not look prettier. It grows between gingers and ferns in light shade. 

Billbergia windii

The garden is waking up

One year ago in February the bananas started to flower, my azalea was in full bloom, I had roses.... This year, not so much.
But in the midst of raking and cleaning up and cutting back the frost damage, I do find my garden is waking up

Pinkball

My favorite Winter flower, the huge pink and very fragrant flowers of the Dombeya wallichii

Also known as Pinkball or tropical Hydrangea 

December in Orlando

I love living in Florida, I do not miss the snow, not one bit! 

Farfugium giganteum, Gloxinia sylvatica, Aechmea 'Little Harv', Scorpion's Tail, Toad Lily 'Sinonome'

Summer in Myrtle Glen

It's a jungle out there!

Summer morning in Myrtle Glen 

The front yard

Florida summer days are oh so hot! I do not go out much, but the front yard needed some attention, a bit weeding, cutting back long branches and dead leaves, pulling out old bromeliads...

Lots of different colored caladiums in this flower bed brighten the shady front yard.

After the rain

Plumeria 'Aztec Gold' with Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Snow Queen'

Finally, we had a thunderstorm, not enough rain by far, but at least the plants got a much-needed shower. All are sparkly clean :-)

Stapelia Leendertziae

Stapelia Leendertziae

I love stapelias, and this one especially. It is just as showy as the Stapelia gigantea, flowering on and off throughout the year, but thankfully it is not as stinky.

My one and only Azalea

My one and only!
I love Azaleas, but my garden is not right for them. Azaleas want partial shade, well-drained and slightly acidic soil, I have the shade but not the soil.

Sunday Morning

I love Florida! February, sunshine, blue sky, snowbirds singing, flowers here and there sprinkled throughout the 'winter garden', what more should I want ;-)

A sunny Sunday Morning in February

Nong Nooch Vine

Looking through my photos from 2016 I came across the ones from this vine with glossy dark green leaves and over a foot long bright sunny yellow flowers.  The long sprays of yellow flowers are actually the bracts while the flowers are small and white. They start at the tips of the branches and grow longer and longer throughout the summer.

Snowballs in Florida

Ok, not really snowballs, but the flowers of the white powder puff remind me of snowballs. 

This evergreen shrub flowers here in Central Florida during the winter months and every time I look out the window snowballs come to mind.

Bridal Veil Clerodendrum in bloom

Just a quick stop in my garden again, the Clerodendrum wallachii, Bridal Veil, is flowering.  This Clerodendum does sucker, make no mistake, but by far not as vigorous as other Cleros.

This plant here is from an escaped root piece, I did not catch it early enough and by now it is an established plant. I figure I let it fend for itself in my jungle.

Beautiful clusters of white flowers, light green buds, and redish sepals

Rhipsalis - an itsy bitsy flower gem

Before I keep on posting pictures from my trip, I want to show you one of my smallest flowers in Myrtle Glen.
One needs perfect eyesight for the tiny Rhipsalis flowers. I have to rely on my camera's macro setting ;-) 

This Rhipsalis has yellow flowers. I received a cutting way back when and over time I lost its tag. It may be elliptica, occidentalis, oblonga, robusta or some other variety. No matter, I love it all the same.

Delicate lemon butter colored petals are topped with a snow-white tuft of numerous stamens.

Miracle berries

You can see a flower bud to the left of the red berry

A few years ago a south Florida gardener brought a few handfuls of red berries to a garden forum get-together, telling us to eat one and then bite into a lemon wedge. The lemon was not sour but tasted sweet like lemonade. So, of course, the Miracle fruit was all the rage in the local (Florida) gardening forum and we all scrambled to get our hands on this, back then, rare plant.