The Jungle

In my jungle, my mighty little jungle, the plants have soared this summer. As I walk down the pathway I, sometimes, have to duck down or push back a leaf in order to proceed forward. It's wonderful, and I always feel like I'm on an expedition out here in search of the latest new bloom or wild creature.

This Robellini palm is going to have to fight for its space next to the giant elephant ear. It was so tiny when I planted it 1 1/2 years ago, but it is finally about 4 ft tall. Hopefully, next year it will be large enough - or almost - to cover the fence. There's another one on the other side of the elephant ears, so this space should be nice and tropical.

This is the first time the elephant ears have bloomed, and what a giant bloom it is, and long-lasting, too.

The crinum lilies have exploded in size and have bloomed throughout the summer, along with the yellow cestrum which the butterflies and hummers love.

I once read an article that said when working with a small garden space, do not shy away from large-leafed plants. It stated that "giant" plants will make the space feel larger.

I don't know if that's true or not, but I do love LARGE-LEAFED plants, including this super-sized bromeliad that has been blooming all summer.

This corner of the garden has all melded together creating a wall of greenery and summer-long blooms of mostly crape myrtles, red heirloom pentas, milkweed, blackberry lilies, agastache, black-eyed Susans and several varieties of savlia.  Everytime I look out my family room window, this colorful little corner has brought me much enjoyment because it's filled with butterflies all day long.

 I've been trying to identify this Swallowtail without much success. There are several Swallowtail varieties that are present daily, and I think this one might be a Spicebush Swallowtail. Not sure, so if anyone can I.D. it for me, please let me know. Looks like this little beauty has weathered some tough times, losing part of its lower left side.

I added a shelf to the top of my fence for this Pipevine to grow, in the hopes of attracting the Pipevine Swallowtail. I've heard they're very difficult to identify, so I'm not sure if the one in the photo above might be one. Anyway, I noticed that something has been eating on the leaves of the Pipevine, so that is good news. None of those odd looking flowers yet.

One day I caught this little fella perched on top of a milkweed leaf. My daughter said it's some kind of Skipper - not sure, but she usually knows her butterflies. He's cute, whatever he is!

I don't have too many flowers in the shady part of the jungle, but there is plenty of colorful foliage to keep it interesting.

 The other corner of the garden is a sunny spot, too and is also filled with butterflies all day. This corner is filled with firespike, tropical salvia, passion vines and firecracker plants with a few red and green variegated banana trees tossed into the mix (for me). The Gulf Fritillary, and Zebra Longwings love this corner - and, I love watching them. The hummers also love this side of the garden!!! 

Rain was hit and miss for us this summer. It seemed as though everyone around us got rain but not our area. We had a steady supply for about 3 to 4 weeks in August which was great during the hottest time. 

The bridal bouquet plumeria is sporting its usual crisp white blossoms which are so cooling to look at in the middle of a long, hot summer.

The volunteer Black-eyeds Susans have slowly dried up, and have given way to a ton of volunteer milkweed in its place. I'm slow to pull up seedlings that sprout in the walkway. I don't mind tolerating them for a brief period of time if it brings more butterflies to my little jungle. I'm sad to say for the second year in a row, I did not see that many Monarch butterflies in my garden despite the presence of a plentiful supply of milkweed. I'll keep planting it and hoping they will come. How about you - have you seen many Monarchs in your garden this summer?

 One last towering giant in my jungle - and one of my summer favorites - is the candlestick plant. I love this plant as much as the Cloudless Sulphur butterflies. It is a bright and cheerful addition to my cozy little jungle!!!

The Best Things about Summer - June

Even though a Florida summer is long and never short on heat and humidity, there are lots of good things about our summer and here are a few of them ~ ~

Eastern Black Swallowtail on heirloom red pentas

Monarch on heirloom red pentas 

You can't beat the old fashioned red pentas as a nectar source in the garden. Plus, it seems to LOVE the heat!!

Zebra Longwings on Passion vine.

I believe this is Horace's Duskywing on the native Tropical Salvia. This is an exciting discovery because I don't think I've ever seen this butterfly in my yard before. Love new discoveries like this!

 The  little mosquito-eating machines are back in full force these days. Dragonflies are one of the best insects in a Florida garden, especially if you have bromeliads in the garden.  

Sometimes when I catch a dragonfly in a certain position such as this one, it looks like a little fairy. Perhaps that is how stories of fairies in the garden originated.  

I do not know the names of these dashing fellows, but I love the color variations and their paper thin wings. I can't imagine that the wind doesn't obliterate those fragile-looking, cellophane wings.

Now that I've photographed a few dragonflies and noticed how beautiful they are, I'm really smitten with them. I always thought a dragonfly was a dragonfly, but these little guys are just stunning! I had no idea that I had so many different species of dragonflies in the garden. How awesome is that! This one looks like another fairy, although I have to say they also look like stained-glass helicopters hovering in the air.

A young Red Cardinal hanging out in the trees. His parents must have shown him where the feeder is because I catch him there many times during the day. 

Plenty of pollinators taking advantage of all the wonderful summer blooms - like this purple pentas (my second favorite pentas) - in my garden.

Bees are lovin' the Agastache

Here's a close up of the chubby little bugger!

This little guy is loaded down with pollen on his feet and underbelly

And, I am thankful for Swallowtail butterflies in the making as they devour my parsley.

Now, this little guy - - definitely not thankful for him!!! He is probably one of the worst things about summer, with the exception of a devastating hurricane or having your house struck by lightning! He creates his own kind of devastation.

Don Juan roses still in bloom are a definite plus, especially when they're mingled with palm fronds.

The 'Kwanso' daylily is one from my late aunt and a real beauty on its super tall and super beefy stalks.

Love, love an abundance of blooms in the June garden.

And, last but not least, is the return of the crape myrtle. This one is 'Dynamite' and I would agree that that is the perfect name for it. What would a Florida summer be like without crape myrtles? I, for one, can't even imagine!

Purple Passion

My latest passion in the garden is the purple passion flower vine also known as Maypop! 

Everyday it's loaded with the promise of many new flowers to come.

The large buds open quickly each morning to reveal a quirky, other-worldly, exotic and downright funky looking purple flower. I read that the bloom contains a lot of religious symbolism. 

I weave some of the vine through the fence, while some of it dangles loosely.

It attaches itself with these curly tendrils to the Beautyberry that's planted beneath it.

  I've never seen any flower like it. Each flower is an intricate piece of art. Look at all the detail in that flower. If I were an artist, I wouldn't know where to start to capture all the amazing detail of this passion flower.

Each flower lasts only one day, and then slowly a small round fruit develops. I read that they will ripen later this summer, and I look forward to tasting it and perhaps making some tea with it.

I resisted planting this vine in my yard because I know it can have a somewhat invasive habit, but I relented because of one reason - Butterflies. The Gulf Fritillary and Zebra Longwing (our state butterfly) is also passionate about the passion vine. It is a host plant for their young. I caught a blurry photo of a Zebra Longwing in the lower left corner, as she and her friends flutter around this vine from sun up to sun down.  

They lay their tiny little yellow eggs on top of the leaves,

 and when they hatch they chew on the leaves until they get big and transform into more Zebra Longwings.

 I was lucky to catch these two newly emerged butterflies drying in the sun one morning. 

I don't know why it took me so long to plant this vine, but I'm sure glad I did because I love seeing the gorgeous flowers and the fluttering butterflies through the French door. It's a real summer treat!

I find this flower so mesmerizing! I can't help but admire its bizarre, yet amazing bloom. 

The rock star Prince might have his 'purple rain' but I have my 'purple passion!'

Organized Chaos!!!

As I was strolling through the "sunny butterfly corner" of my backyard the other day, two words came to mind - Organized Chaos! 

Yes, I have become very good at packing the plants into my small space!

So good, that even the walkways are narrowing. All I can say is it's been a GOOD year for Black-eyed Susan's, as they have reseeded prolifically throughout the garden. I did relocate a few into the garden beds, but I love the look of random clumps of flowers taking up space in the walkway.

And, then there's the discovery of a plant that I had forgotten I bought (the lavender Agastache) until its blooms sprung up between the Tropical Salvia and more Blackeyed-Susan's. Uhm, I might be a little out of control!!

 I love it when the blooms of plants intermingle together in one beautiful blooming feast for the eyes. 

Red Pentas, Black & Blue Salvia take front stage with, of course, more Black-eyed Susan's in the background. Pure Joy!

More heirloom red Pentas and Wendy's Wish Salvia are blending together on the south side of this area, while MORE Black-eyed Susan's have jumped the border and planted themselves between the border grass and the walkway.  I will tame these prolific little beasts back later this year, but for now they are a welcome addition and the butterflies and bees are lovin' them!

After seeing the photos above of what I call 'Organized Chaos' - you might be thinking that a better description would be 'Utter Chaos!' But, I beg to differ! 

According to the Collins Dictionary, the definition of 'organized chaos' is "a complex situation or process that appears chaotic while having enough order to achieve its goals." 

My goal for this space is to have plenty of nectar plants to keep as many butterflies, as possible, happy - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

 Miss Makayla loves our 'wild little jungle!' Sometimes she's hidden away beneath the plants, and other times she oversees her blooming kingdom from up high.