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Penny Carnathan
Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
Kim Franke-Folstad
Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.
Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.
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Here’s how it’s done in Riverview
Posted Sep 24, 2010 by Loren Omoto
Updated Sep 24, 2010 at 04:56 PM
FOD Susan Gillespie, with whom I share a special sand-and-glaring-sun bond, sent some photos of her fall garden, which is like seeing a kid I haven’t seen in years: You’ve gotten so big!
Above is dwarf Poinciana, also known as Barbados flower-fence. Susan got the seeds for these several years ago from garden writer Monica Brandies, who lives in the Seffner area. Don’t confuse this with Royal Poinciana, the huge tree that doesn’t fare so well this far north.
“They get knocked back in winter and I prune them in spring,” Susan says. “They bend over and don’t stand upright sometimes and have a thorn or two on them, but they sure are pretty when they bloom.”
I agree! That looks like a great old-fashioned Florida plant. (Yes, you should definitely bring seeds to our next swap!)
Speaking of all grown up, check out Susan’s blue sky vine.
I believe this started as a cutting (right, Susan?) a couple years ago, so you get an idea of how far and how fast it will move. (Warning! Warning!) They’re just starting to bloom – another that’s a bit late this year – but before you know it, all that green will be covered with dramatic lavender flowers.
Below are cosmos sulphureus to the right paired with yellow allamanda. Yes, some of those cosmos blooms are sunny yellow and some a bright copper.
Susan’s morning glory bush, a volunteer that traveled all the way from Pumpkin’s garden in Seminole Heights, is “super tall and pretty,” Susan writes.
Unlike the vine of the same name, morning glory bush is a shrub that grows in a V shape, with long canes. Very old Florida.
And for a very different kind of flower, if you’re a Facebook friend of Susan’s, you may have seen the chrysalises she and her sister discovered on a lanai screen and a drain pipe. They’re monarch butterflies in-the-making.
Susan has been posting blow-by-blow photos of the caterpillars’ progress, which has really been fun to see. I don’t care how many caterpillars turn into butterflies, it remains one of nature’s coolest magic tricks. And when you get to watch? That’s worth every shovel full of cow poop compost.
Susan hit pay dirt because she plants milkweed, a great monarch attractor that provides food for the caterpillars. (It’s also easy to find, inexpensive and easy to grow—well worth a spot in your garden.) She recommends this site if you get your own chrysalis and want to better understand the process and what to watch for.
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Reader Comments
Posted by (kgardens) on September 24, 2010
Lots of pretty stuff in your garden, Susan. Neat chrysalises. Hope you get to see the butterflies emerge.
Posted by (RickBrown) on September 24, 2010
I have not seen a bloom on my Sky Vine yet but it was killed to the ground and is not in as much sun as yours. Same with my black-eyed Susan vine. I bet they are just a few weeks behind you. They sure brighten the winter for us.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 25, 2010
You are right, Penny. That blue sky vine was a cutting from your plant a couple of exchanges ago. My black eyes susan vine and this one both got knocked to the ground last winter and I was afraid it was a goner. They are both back with a vengeance and just now starting to bloom.
Yes,my sister, Cindi, and I are anxiously awaiting the birth of those Monarch’s. We are like two little hens hovering over our eggs. They are still hanging there and should pop out anytime soon. And those milkweed’s are definitely worth planting for all the lovely butterfly’s that show up in your yard.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 25, 2010
It just dawned on me that I did not buy one of those plants. Thanks everyone. Even those milkweed’s are volunteers, especially the yellow one’s How cool are the Dirt exchanges?!!!
Posted by (Chip) on September 25, 2010
Wow Susan your blue sky vine looks like it is trying to take over the world! Lots of blooms. Diane loves her morning glorys but we never seen a morning gloy bush before. Diane fell in love with the blue sky vine at green fest but the where are going to put it question stoped us. If it can take full sun and dry I have a spot now. Very cool garden Susan! I just love big flowering plants….“Chip”
Posted by (Iluvpumpkins) on September 25, 2010
Susan, Wow it the only thing you can say to such a beautiful Fall garden! I am trying to play catch up with you guys.Please keep the photos coming. Pumpkin
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on September 25, 2010
Thanks everyone for the lovely compliments. I couldn’t have done any of it without you. I’m with Penny on how easy that blue sky vine is. I completely ignore it after I cut it back to the ground after those freezes. The only thing I do is throw a little Osmocote around it’s base and give it a little haircut in the beginning. Once it got too hot I truly “let it be” and you see how big it got. It’s crawling over another vine and it may get a trimming this weekend. Sure do wish those 50% rain predictions would come true, though. It’s a little parched out there.
Posted by (Janna) on September 26, 2010
Susan, the bright blooms on your dwarf poinciana are gorgeous! Very fall-like too, I might add. Happy to see the blooms on your blue sky vine - I’ve only had 3-4 on mine but am holding out hope for a sea of lavender in the next few weeks. Thanks for the photos!
I think of my dirt friends every time I admire my pagoda, datura, angel wing begonia, bleeding heart vine, black-eyed Susan, etc… Sharing and swapping with you all is a wonderful thing.