On My Walk This Morning 3j

What a surprise this morning!  There, alongside the canal, was a "Golden Showers" Tree 

coming into full bloom.  This is a "Cassia Fistula," one of many cassias to bloom down here,

but this one is in spring and looks like it is covered in showers of gold.  This is before the

leaves come out, so the gold really shows.  The clusters are gorgeous.

"Pinwheel Jasmine" are blooming again.

This group of "Yellow Crown of Thorns" is very bright.

Purple "Ground Orchids," which grow in the ground rather than hang on a tree.

Look carefully at the clusters, because I shall show you a new discovery later.

"Hot Pink Periwinkle"

"Raspberry Tarte Dianthus"

"Snows of Kilimanjaro Madagascar Periwinkle"

Look at these clusters!  I just met the new head gardener at this condo, and he showed

showed me some new ground orchids they just got which have huge clusters of flowers;

at first I though they were doubles.  They are beautiful.

"Ashley's Apron"  Phalaenopsis Orchids

"Crinum Lily"

Several years ago, this condo association planted eight big magnolia trees in front of

four buildings.  The trees are now four stories high. and they bear flowers over a month's time.  But these flowers are so big and heavy, this one is more than 12" across and thick, that the tree

cannot bear all of its flowers at once, but it must spread them out.  They each last for two days.

Two more gorgeous dinner platter "Magnolia Grandiflora."

"A Penny for Your Thoughts" Periwinkle

"Bismarck Palms."  If you want some variety from green palms, these make a nice change.

They usually are kept small, 10-12 feet, but they let this one get tall.  (Actually I could say

more, but I will hold my tongue for now.)

"Alocasia / Elephant Ears."  They come in many sizes and shades of green, but all large.

Here is a beautiful bed of the new "Purple  Empress Farah Diba Ground Orchids."  I really like them.

"Purple Empress Farah Diba Ground Orchids"

"Creme de Menthe" Stromache.   I like them.

 

"Blue Walking Iris."  They keep blooming and coming back and blooming some more.

They are small, and I have heard them called other names, but this one seems right.

Very nice morning walk.

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On My Walk This Morning 3i

The German lady with the nice flower beds keeps getting more new colorful plants.

These are "White Ruellia," or "Mexican Petunia."  They are much rarer than the usual

purple Ruellia below.

These are the "Purple Ruellia / Mexican Petunias" which make nice, colorful beds.

They make prolific bloomers and go all year long.

These are "Callibrachoa" or "Million Bells."  I first met them in the Jean Talon

Farmer's Market in Montreal.  They are also called "Mini-Petunias" and have lots

of flowers for a long time.  They are nice in a hanging basket.

"Persian Stars" or "Persian Onions."  These are members of the onion family, but they

are only for flowers.

"Calendula" or "Field Marigold"

Suddenly my iphone offers to identify any plant whose picture I take.  I can't remember

whether I downloaded a program or Apple is just offering.  But it is totally free and

very accurate. I am enjoying it very much.

We have hundreds of kinds of palms in South Florida; this is one of the

most common because it works well in so many places.  It is a

"Cabbage Palm" or "Sabal Palm" or "Sabal Palmetto."

"Coral Barleria."  I had not seen one of these in a long time.  I first met them when

I lived by the ocean.    These may have started on their own, underneath this hedge,

gradually grew up, and now they have taken over the top of the hedge.

"Dracaena Marginata / Dragon Tree."

These are extremely common and come in hundreds of varieties

from household plants to large outdoor trees.  They ae

extremely hardy.  Three months before this picture, the

landscapers had gone through and cut all the branches off; there was just 

bare wooden sticks.  It is all filling out now.  I will show you more

attractive versions later.

"Delft Blue Plumbago"  This beautiful pale blue is so different from every other

flower, that they always stand out

A nice bush of "Delft Blue Plumbago."

These are a couple of "Foxtail Palms" by our swimming pool, called that for obvious reasons.

They are very attractive.   On the left are more "Dracaena Marginata" and on the right are

"Robellini Palms / Pygmy Date Palms."

"Queen Palms" grow much taller and look like the graceful flowing sleeves of a queen.

"Persian Stars" or "Persian Onions"    Allium.

"Sunny Days Calendula" or "Field Marigolds"

"Yellow Alder"

"Roebellini Palms / Pygmy Dates Palms.  They are usually kept small and decorative like this,

but some of them are allowed to grow taller.

"Red-Eyed Pink Madagascar Periwinkle"  Hardy and prolific.

"Blue Porterweed."  In the building next to mine, Victoria grows these because

they are highly desirable to butterflies.

"White and Magenta Madagascar Periwinkle / Vincas."  These came

originally from Madagascar and Mauritius and those islands off the coast of Africa.

"Blue Bird Vetch."  The German lady claims they have an awful smell and keep the

iguanas away.  Last week, groundskeepers were issued airguns and told to go out and

shoot iguanas; they have become a real plague in Florida.

On My Walk This Morning 3h

 

"Sunburst Yellow Polygala Nana."

This morning I discovered two flower beds nearly concealed by bushes and also the

lady who planted them.  She goes to the nursery, buys bunch of plants which are

bright and colorful, plants them, and throws away the name tags.  Several were

unusual, and I had to go look for names.

"Sunburst Yellow Polygala Nanas."  These brightly colored yellow balls gave

a feeling of excitement and fun to the flower beds.

Nearby, she had a couple of patches of "Orange Gazania," a relatively new

plant in South Florida.

The "Gazanias" were planted alongside "Blue Burst Polygala Nanas."

The orange pepper, the lady told me, was an actual hot pepper, and there were a number

of them amongst the flowers, and they drove away pesky iguanas, which like to eat

colorful flowers.  She replaced the peppers every week or so and claimed they really worked.

At the back of the flowerbeds, against the wall, she had planted several of these

"Red Riding Hood Mandevilla Vines."  They grow fast and produce a number of

intensely colored flowers.

"Red Riding Hood Mandevilla Vine"

" Gaiety Coreopsis" is a bright cheerful flower which blooms profusely and

spreads rapidly.  It has a feathery leaf.

"Aloe" plant in bloom.  There are many varieties of aloe, and everyone

has at least one plant around, because they are so helpful with  cuts

and sunburn.

"Tripping Lightly Yellow Walking Iris"

This is a plant from the West Indies which has become very popular in South

Florida.  It is very prolific, spreads rapidly, and seems quite hardy.

"Fiona Red Ixora"

The lady also had two bushes of these red ixora at the ends of the flower beds.

A bush of "Fiona Red Ixora" flowers.

There are late blooming orchids just opening up now on trees.  The orchids

started blooming at the end of January and more keep appearing.

This is "Breath of Spring" Phalaenopsis Orchids.

"White Candles / Whitfieldia Elongata" are splendid this year.

Partly it is because the gardeners did not prune them severely at the wrong time.

There are four bushes of them like this along one stretch of buildings.

"Wicked Witch of the North" Phalaenopsis Orchids

"Golden Shower" Oncidium Orchids

This was one of the orchids which someone recently tied to a tree.

"Northern Curly Tailed Lizard."  He can escape an enemy who grabs him by the tail

by snapping his tail off and then growing another one.  Our smallest lizard is the Anole, then 

this one, then the Basilisk (the Jesus Lizard), called that because he can walk on

water.  Actually they run on their hind legs and they can run all the way across a lake.

Largest of the lizards ae the Iguanas, which come in all sizes and colors.

This is one of 35 fiberglass fish statues which are all over Pompano.

Each one was decorated by a different artist in a different style.  Two of them

happen to be along my path.  This fellow is in Brummer Park.

Another of the fiberglass fish.  They are similar to the Cows of Chicago and

the Charlie Brown Figures in the Twin Cities.

"Chinese Fan Palm."  This is a very nice palm, which never needs trimming, and

provides a green wall or screen in a short time.  This one is beside the

swimming pool.

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