Summer in Florida

The Four Seasons:

Summer in South Florida

South Florida has a sub-tropical climate, and so we have some flowers that bloom all year.
But we also have flowers that appear during just one season or another.  Here are some
of the flowers which will be blooming the next three months.  No orchids for now.
I took these pictures in my neighborhood in previous years.
The Bird of Paradise is a dramatic summer bloomer.

This is a bed of Bird of Paradise plants.  They grow about 4 feet high and produce

a succession of flowers.

The usual Bird of Paradise is orange and blue, but there is also a white variety.

This is the Heliconia flower, which blooms in summer.  It is sometimes called the "False 

Bird of Paradise" because of its similarity.  There are many varieties

Bed of Heliconia.

Heliconia Flowers

This Ginger has very brightly colored flowers and bracts hanging upside down.

Clerodendrons are a large family of flowers, usually vine like.  One of the most popular

for summer time is the Bleeding Heart plant.  This comes in many color combinations.

Some are all white, some all red, some all pink, but this combination of red and white

is one of the prettiest.

Bleeding Heart Flowers

Pink and lavender Bleeding Heart flowers.

There are two plants known as Angel's Trumpet, which bloom in summer.  In one,

Brugmansia above, the flowers hang downward  In the other, Datura, the flowers

stand erect.  Brugmansia are often planted in courtyards, because at night they emit a delicious 

aroma, often likened to baby powder with a touch of almond or citrus.  The odor is 

to attract insects for pollination, but humans are allowed to enjoy it also.

Peach Brugmansia Cluster.  It also comes in white, pink, and more.

Peach Brugmansia

Datura, the other plant known as Angels' Trumpet.  But this is also known as Jimson Weed

and Devils' Trumpet, and it is highly hallucinogenic.  The flowers are large and exotic

Datura comes in many colors and both single and double.

This is a single white.

This is a purple and white Double Datura.  It looks like the multi-layers

of a Can-Can dancer's skirt. 

The Cassia which blooms in the summer is the Cassia (or Senna )Spectabilis.

It starts blooming in mid July just as the Crepe Myrtles are finishing their blooms.

A grammar school which is along my route to the bridge club has four of them along

its fence, and they are always splendid.  The new park built a few blocks from my condo

planted a half dozen of these Cassias around the tennis courts and basketball couts.

Other varieties of cassia bloom in the spring and fall.

Cassia or Senna Spectabilis

This is Desert Rose  /  Adenum, which is a favorite down here.  It comes in many

color combinations of red, pink, and white, and grows on bushes 2-4 feet high.

Another variety of Desert Rose /  Adenum

Justicia or Plume Plant.  These come from Brazil, but have become very popular in Florida.

They come in many colors and bear these crests on 2-3 foot plants.

Pink Justicia

Yellow Justicia Blossom

Yellow Justicia Plant

Lantana likes the heat and sunlight of summer.  They are short bushes with clusters of

tiny flowers in bright colors of many combinations.

Clusters of red, yellow, pink, and orange lantana.

White and yellow lantana

Mandevilla is a large family of blossoming vines.  These are some beautiful

Pink Mandevillas.

Pink and Lavender Mandevillas

White Mandevilla blossoms on a vine.  They are often grown on trellises or the

side of a wall.

The Passion Flower Vine is a very dramatic summer flower.  Vines will often cover an

entire fence from front yard to backyard, and the entire fence will be covered

with these exotic flowers.

There are many kinds of Passion Flowers.  This is a very beautiful purple and white variety.

Purple Passion Flower

Cape Honeysuckle is a popular summer flower which grows on bushes 3-4 feet high.

Cape Honeysuckle comes in light orange as well as dark red-orange.

Cape Honeysuckle Flowers

Allamanda is a bush /vine which is very hardy and may bloom on and off all year, but

summer is the prime time for blossoms.

There are many sizes and varieties of yellow from canary to egg-yolk.

Brunfelsia is also called Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Plant.  The bushes grow to
eight feet high and clusters of blue-violet flowers appear.  They gradually fade out to
pale lavender and pale blue and then white.

Brunfelsia or Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Plant

The Yellow Shrimp Plant blooms prolifically during the summer.

Yellow Shrimp Flowers

This is another variety of Shrimp plant popular today called "Tutti Frutti."

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