Time for Ti!

This is a snapshot of a flowerbed in my neighbor's backyard. He is quite good at using colorful foliage plants for adding color. In fact, he has a minimum amount of flowers. Most of the color comes from this hot pink stand of ti (pronounced like "tea") plants and crotons around his yard. He creates huge displays of one type of plant (such as this one), which definitely makes a statement in the garden. When the late afternoon sun hits these plants, the color is outstanding.

One FIERY Bromeliad!

This bromeliad is one of my favorites. With a couple of pups from my mother's garden, I planted it right off the back deck. At this time of year the center flares up into a fiery red/orange color whch is striking against the crisp green apple-colored leaves. You can't walk down the garden path and miss this hot tamale - she refuses to be ignored!

The Flamingos are Back....

I just mentioned in a post or two ago, that it just isn't proper to have a garden in Florida that doesn't include a "flamingo sp. plastic" or two, and how I had forgotten that the two I had, faded and cracked some time ago. Well, what do you know, "ask and you shall receive."

I was eager to attend today's annual plant show in the park downtown so that I could purchase a rain barrel and 'lo and behold, the first one I laid my eyes on was this one. I knew it was a message from above. So the decision of which one to purchase was an easy one!

A Vanilla Surprise!

This beautiful fuschia-color flower is dangling from - believe it or not - an orchid plant. This Malaysian orchid, Medinilla sp., is a member of the vanilla family.
It is growing in a pot in my mom's garden and is quite large. I didn't think about it at the time, but I should have smelled the flower or the large leaves (you can see them pictured above the flower) to see if they have a scent of vanilla.
Hey mom, Smell them for me and post the results on my blog. Thanks!!!

Little Backyard Oasis

This little oasis is in my mom's backyard. It's a small pond surrounded by bromeliads, cast-iron plants, orchids, irises and, of course, a couple of plastic pink flamingos. You can't live in Florida without having a couple of pink flamingos in your garden. It just wouldn't be proper!! Now that I think about it, I lost my pink flamingos a couple of years back - guess I better head to the store and buy some new ones!