Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Right on Time

It's December...can you believe it?

This month always seems to creep up on me before I know it. I may not be expecting it, but my plants are always tuned in to the changing seasons.

For instance, the poinsettia in the garden is right on time...displaying red for the holiday season.

And, the aptly-named Matchstick bromeliad is right on time, too. I love the fluorescent purple and blue color.

Paired up with impatiens in the same color...it's a good match...no pun intended. :-)

Another bromeliad in similar colors is also right on time. My mother calls this the Christmas bromeliad...because it always blooms around Christmas time. Sorry I don't know the name of it...I should because Steve from Rainforest Gardener...identified it last year for me. Sorry Steve! Perhaps you will be so kind as to I.D. it again for me. It is a real beauty!

I'm sure glad my plants don't rely on me to remind them when to bloom.

As life gets busy this month with all its added demands...don't forget to see what's blooming in your garden.

10 comments:

Floridagirl said...

I grew poinsettias in my very first Florida garden, but they always bloomed AFTER Christmas for some reason. And now here I am with matchstick bromeliads that I planted a few weeks ago, and they are not blooming either. Hope they will soon. Others have told me they are supposed to bloom in November/December.

Your unidentified brom looks like Queen's Tears (Billbergia nutans).

Can you believe the forecast for tonight?!!!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Wow, I love your matchstick blooms, they are wonderful. So are your mystery brom blooms. The colors just do something to me on both of those, plus that impatiens goes so well with them.

Enjoy a lovely Christmas season.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

daisy g said...

Wow! That matchstick plant is amazing! Love how you paired it with the impatiens.
Have a wonderful holiday season!

NanaK said...

Love your Christmas blooms. It is amazing how plants bloom at their appointed times isn't it? I planted some poinsettias last year from the ones I usually just throw into the compost pile and I just went out to look at them - they're turning red!

Susan said...

Hi FloridaGirl...I'm not happy about temps in the 40's. We had to bring our orchids inside, and they were just beginning to bloom. Thanks for the I.D. on the brom. Poinsettias are picky about blooming if they get any light after dark. Fortunately, my backyard is very dark.

Hi Flowerlady...The colors on the brom do something to me, too. They are very soothing. You, also, have a lovely Christmas season. I'm hoping to have a slower-paced holiday this year. At least, that's my goal. :-)

Hi Daisy...Thanks. You have a wonderful holiday, too.

Hi Kay...It's so exciting when they actually bloom for Christmas. Let's hope we don't get a freeze that wipes them out...at least until Christmas has passed.

Dani said...

Susan, pretty, pretty, pretty!

sanddune said...

I am waiting on my matchstick bromeliads to get their bloomspikes. After seeing your's blooming I have new hope mine will bloom sometime soon. But I have learned plants in South Florida bloom when and if they feel like it. They are really neat plants. Nice!

Candice Suter.....Sweetstuff said...

So beautiful! I love that matchstick bromeliad. That bloom is awesome. Everything looks so great. And your poinsettias are getting red and look fantastic!

Antique ART Garden said...

Beautiful pictures, so very pretty, take care, Gina

Susan said...

Dani...Thanks!

Sanddune...Good luck with your matchstick. It really is an unusual brom bloom.

Candy & Gina...Thanks!

Popular Posts


Related Posts with Thumbnails