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!

Monday, April 27, 2015

This Week in the Garden

This morning I saw a wonderful thing! Daddy Cardinal brought one of his young uns' to my garden to show him where the food is. After feeding him a safflower seed, the little one followed him to the feeder where they ate breakfast. Dad then flew to the fountain to show him where to get a drink of water. That's the first time I've ever seen that, and I was so in awe of it all that by the time I got my camera they were gone. You can bet that I'll have my camera ready tomorrow!!!!

A new bloom in my garden. This little red hummingbird plant (can't remember the  name) is a shade specimen. It grows to about 3' tall with a loose habit. It very much reminds me of the Firespike plant. What do you think of my purple and red combo? I love using bold colors together that you wouldn't expect. Another favorite color combo is burgundy and apricot.

Finally, caterpillars are taking advantage of two large parsley plants in the garden.

 While I do love having fresh parsley available, I really planted them for the caterpillars to devour.

This red epidendrum orchid is really showing off in the garden these days. They are so easy to grow and once they start blooming, it's non-stop for at least 9 months. They delight in our full summer sun and humidity. 

Here's a close-up view of one of the red balls of fire!


The weatherman promises rain this week. We shall see! Hoping that a healthy dose of it falls on your garden this week!

6 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

I can hear cardinals outside as I type. It is always a treat to see and hear them. How neat that you saw Dad show the young one the ropes.

I 'love' your red epidendrum orchids. I have the orange and they are in bloom all over the property. I've not seen the red ones down here that I know of, not for sale anyway.

Rain is predicted for us too and I hope we get some. By looking at the Doppler radar, it looks like you should be getting some this afternoon.

Enjoy your week ~ FlowerLady

Jean Campbell said...

Your Persian Shield looks really good with the red blossoms.

My parsley is all from last year and going to seed. Good reminder to plant more, thanks.

Susan said...

Hi Lorraine and Jean . . . Thanks for stopping by for a visit. We are getting much needed rain today and tomorrow. Parsley only grows well down here from autumn thru spring, so I'm happy the little cats are devouring it. It makes it easier to remove.

Unknown said...

Hi Susan! I absolutely love your purple and red combo! And your Persian Shield is so gorgeous - as well as everything else! I enjoy seeing what is growing in your garden. I'm having a "computer" day as it has been steadily raining all morning. I'm so happy you're enjoying the cardinals coming in so close for a visit! We have a young buck flying into our windows...he keeps trying to fight his reflection! Hope he calms down soon!

Leslie Kimel said...

Such a neat story about the cardinals. And I love your caterpillar pictures!

I've never seen orchids like that--so pretty. I can't believe they're easy to grow. It's hard not to be jealous of all the cool stuff you can grow farther south!

Susan said...

Hi Lynn ... Glad to hear you're getting much needed rain. We had a little here but not as much as the weatherman promised.

Hi Leslie ... I'm surprised you haven't seen the orchid in your area. They come in all colors ~ red, orange, yellow, purple, pink ~ and they grow in regular dirt and want full sun. Most people put them in a container but I've seen many growing in the ground. They can freeze if it gets too cold. Also, they multiply like crazy!!!!

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