“Love”

“Dear”

“Darlin’”

“Sweet Pea”

I love the terms of affection that I have been getting as we worked our way back north into Georgia.  And I love the drawl.

But if Florida is further south, why did no one in that state talk like that?

These are the giant, multiple trunks of a Ficus benjamina tree on Anna Maria Island, off the coast of Florida, just south of St. Petersburg.

There were lizards everywhere.  This one clearly has wanderlust.

This beauty is Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri, colloquially known as the donkey ear plant, but it has many other common names: Giant Kalanchoe, Good Luck Leaf, Leaf of Life, Life Plant, Miracle Leaf, Palm Beachbells, Sprout Leaf Plant, Sprouting Leaf and Tree of Life.  Wow; it is not your little florist’s kalanchoe.  It is a monster that is native to Madagascar but will live practically anywhere, in a tropical climate, that is.

The flower spikes reach upwards to 2 and 3′, making themselves available to hungry hummingbirds.

What a striking partnership; this kalanchoe with Pennisetum setaceum, straw coloured but essentially evergreen by late winter in Florida.

Have you ever seen a bromeliad (Aechmea fasciata) so large?!  I actually looked under its ‘skirt’ of leaves to see if it was in a raised pot, but no, it wasn’t!

A Florida still-life.

And a living still-life.

Some trees just need a helping hand.

Honestly?  Talk about a balancing act… it would help if they had tails!

]]> http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/florida-snapshots/feed/ 4 ailsaf Florida 10 010 Florida 10 012 February 3 023 February 3 003 Florida 6 010 Florida 6 024 Florida 6 004 Florida 6 031 Florida 6 049 Florida 042 http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/phaius-tankervilliae-or-p-hirdii-i-say-we-start-a-petition/ http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/phaius-tankervilliae-or-p-hirdii-i-say-we-start-a-petition/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:49:37 +0000 ailsaf http://hortus2.wordpress.com/?p=2570 ]]> Although we have left Florida and have been battered by high winds, rain and stormy skies on the coast of Georgia, I am not yet ready to leave some of those memories behind.

This is the weirdly elegant nun’s cap orchid, Phaius tankervilliae, a terrestrial orchid that comes to us from the other side of the world (China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, New Guinea and Australia).  It can also be found in the swampy grasslands or forests of Hawaii and is now endangered due to habitat loss and illegal collection by plant hunters!

Like so many exotic orchids that were ‘found’ and kidnapped by European plant hunters, this genus was brought to England from the Far East around 1778.  It was transported to the West under the auspices of the renowned and very wealthy English physician and botanist, John Fothergill, but it was the East India company chaplain/plant hunter, Swede Pehr Osbeck (a disciple of Carl Linnaeus himself), who handed this striking orchid to Fothergill after he returned.  Osbeck brought many species of plants back from the Far East and this particular orchid was known in China as the ‘Crane’s head orchid’.  According to Jane Kilpatrick in her book, Gifts from the Gardens of China, Fothergill didn’t keep it but sent it along (in its original black Chinese pot) to his niece, Sarah Hird, in Yorkshire where it flowered for the first time in Britain in May 1778.

Kilpatrick says that perhaps unfairly this species of orchid was named by the larger than life contemporary English plant hunter, Joseph Banks, in honour of the Countess Emma Tankerville, who was an orchid aficionado and powerhouse plant collector of the same era.

I say, let’s ask for a name change:  Phaius hirdii!  It’s only fair…

]]> http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/phaius-tankervilliae-or-p-hirdii-i-say-we-start-a-petition/feed/ 0 ailsaf February 3 060 February 3 059 http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/valentine-sweet-tooth/ http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/valentine-sweet-tooth/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:10:17 +0000 ailsaf http://hortus2.wordpress.com/?p=2559 ]]> For two weeks now we’ve driven by this place.  I am not a ‘sweets’ person, per se, but I do appreciate good chocolate and  homemade treats.

So in honour of Valentine’s Day, when everyone should get to indulge, I give you the Candy Kitchen.

Scary, yes?

But wait … there’s more!

We’ll take one of everything!

(wink)

Although these homes are small by St. Pete standards (or anywhere else in any other marina/beach/yacht community within Florida, for that matter), they are nonetheless very charming and also very pricey; even cottage-y homes are approaching half a million dollars!

Although I normally dislike homes with garages in front, this would be an exception…

I could also live here :c)

This home was actually on the main street that ran through Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island.  I had to stop the car and turn around to get this picture.  What’s up with the sand dune with sea oats and coral rock in the front yard?   Well I’ll tell you:  it is hiding a swimming pool!   Genius.

This self-seeding evergreen perennial with wispy foliage and slender, cigar shaped blooms not only adds colour but also movement to the garden.  It is called the Firecracker plant (Rusellia equisetiformis) after the tubular shape of the flowers and is a heat-lover, requiring moderate water and lean soil.  It is native to Mexico but will grow in similar climates (Zones 9-11) as long as temperatures don’t dip below 25 degrees fahrenheit.

This plant has a loose, cascading habit and if you neglect to deadhead the almost neon-coloured blooms (honestly, who has that kind of time?!), the plant will vigorously self-seed and form a large colony.  Because of this tendency, it is considered moderately invasive.

I thought I had seen it before!  I took this picture several years ago while we were vacationing in St-Martin and you can see it planted atop a concrete wall on a hillside.  The perfect plant to colonize a difficult space and provide colour and texture.  I also remember that this planting was an incredible lure for hummingbirds!

The landscapes here in Florida are almost schizophrenic:  on the one hand, there are displays like this above, often surrounding grand estates, where plants are massed and treated like hedges or barriers or rigid walls.  To do this they are pruned and clipped into formal shapes and used for the colour and texture of their foliage.

On the other hand,  some plantings are loose, free-wheeling and appear almost naturalized.  I took this shot out of the car as we were travelling down the ocean-side, main street.  These grasses (Pennisetum), grown to maturity with their adult seedheads and straw-coloured foliage, wave languorously in the breeze.  They reflect a much more casual and informal landscape, mimicked by the much more modest, sea-side cottages.

Another tropical that has been new to me here is the variegated Flax lily (Dionella tasmanica ‘Variegata’) and I am smitten.   Upon first viewing this plant I thought it was a variegated form of Liriope, but it has a delicate flower held high on a dangling stem that resembles those in the nightshade family (like a potato).

It generally grows to a height of one foot, double that when you include the flowering wands.  Unlike many flowering tropicals, it will take some shade and makes a grassy but well-behaved clump so is often used as an edger in low-maintenance beds.

In general, the landscapes here in this part of Florida are very highly manicured:  sharp edges, plants clipped and primped, lawns pristine and automatically irrigated, with spaces between plants to show off contrasting mulch.

I must admit, there is something satisfactory to me about this kind of garden.  A feeling of tidiness, control and predictability.  But, on the other hand, it also leaves me feeling a bit uneasy.

Gardens like these (above and below) promise surprise and unpredictability.  Perhaps that is why I love these two featured plants:  neither can be clipped, pruned or trained.  Both move with the breeze and are simply what they are, allowed to be themselves without snipping, shaping or manipulating.

They usually start early.  We open up the sliding door and let her out to stretch her legs while we try to have a leisurely morning cup of tea and some breakfast.

Then its “Well, are you coming?”

Okay.  Let’s start our day.

We drove for close to an hour to Honeymoon Island where there is a portion of beach that is dog-friendly.

Of course, dog-friendly at this beach means that there are plenty of signs saying that dogs must always be kept on a leash, no longer than six feet, and not allowed to be in the water untethered.  Oh well.  Skye had to go in and get that frisbee! (see below)

… and then had to have the salt washed off!  NO!!!!  Please don’t murder me with that hose!

There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?  Let’s celebrate with some more frisbee…

Okay!

Then we had to go and have some refreshment.  Skye chilled.

Skye has been mesmerized by the tiny lizards that scramble out of the way no matter where you’re walking.

“What was that thing?”

And what is that cat doing?  Strangely, the cat and cormorant are trying to pretend each other is not there.

The end of the day brought high winds and much rain.  Skye doesn’t like wind.  She curled up on the couch and pretended it wasn’t happening, while shivering under her protective towel …

* Through the magic of editing, not to mention some creative license, these pictures were actually taken at DeSoto Beach, one that *does* allow dogs to be off-leash.  Skye would never break the law….

There are plants growing on other plants

(like these ferns growing on what I believe is a Canary Island date palm – Phoenix canariensis).

Or these bromeliads growing on this tree above.

Or the staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum) perched on this smooth-trunked crepe myrtle tree (Lagerstroemia).

There are plants that are monstrous and deadly, like this Agave americana (I actually found this growing in the front yard of a neighbourhood house near where we’re staying)…

… and then there are delicate beauties, like these Bulbine frutescens, used as a massed groundcover, with foliage that looks to me like green onion.  This unassuming plant is reported to have powerhouse medicinal properties, primarily  useful for skin conditions (much like Aloe).

There is everything from the shockingly beautiful blooms on this Aechmea cultivar (either Aechmea ‘Blue Tango’ or Aechmea Del Mar), both patented varieties of bromeliad….

…. to this weird topiary of Mickey being boosted over a wall — all covered in creeping fig (Ficus pumila)!

Most of these plants were being showcased at the Florida Botanical Garden, a delightful and free public garden located in St. Petersburg, Florida.  We liked it especially because it was the only public garden we found that allowed well-behaved, leashed dogs!

In this garden, one can find views that showed the garden designer’s artifice, like the one below (what do you think about these trees for your Brooklyn garden, James?):

…. to the naturally beautiful, with this water view below:

This garden was first open to the public in December 2000, with a portion of the gardens being completed in ten months at the cost of $6 million dollars.  This original money came from a voluntary sales tax fund imposed by Pinellas County.  Of the 160 acres that is under the direction the FBG, only 25 of these have been (or are being) developed.   The majority of the land had been privately owned, including 30 acres that had been a landfill site.  Amazingly, the county has committed to providing maintenance to the garden while the Foundation’s mandate is to secure funding for further expansion.

Since 2000, much of the infrastructure including hardscape, buildings (this includes an art museum), walls, seating areas, a wedding garden with a gazebo, etc. has been completed at the cost of $18 million dollars.

The people who work for the Parks and Recreation Department of Pinellas County take care of this garden but they receive important help from the Pinellas County Master Gardeners, which is an extension program at the University of Florida.

The mission of this Botanical Garden includes providing a space that educates, delights, inspires through its practice of sustainability and conservation, relates to the community and their needs, as well as maintains the integrity of the natural environment.  I think it is well on the way to becoming a world-class garden.

Now, I prefer to believe that this luscious, creamy, rich and nutty cuppa was made with skim milk, even though I neglected to ask for it that way.   This will allow me to believe it was a ‘low-cal’ indulgence.  A girl can dream, can’t she?

This amazing coffee originates from the Metropolis Coffee Company in Chicago, but you can also buy it by the bag here in this independent and friendly cafe in Indian Shores, Florida.  I might just have to bring some home…

And in the same spirit, I believe that this jackpot — that is, this incredibly moist, flavourful, gigantic and scrumptuous muffin was also calorie free.  It was the orange cranberry one and they make them all here, in house.   I say you should have one flavour every day and then start over again.

This foodie interlude was brought to you by the Indian Shores Coffee Company, my kind of place.

]]> http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/a-foodie-interlude/feed/ 2 ailsaf February 3 073 http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/lap-dog/ http://hortus2.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/lap-dog/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:44:11 +0000 ailsaf http://hortus2.wordpress.com/?p=2445 ]]> Florida is home to the very small dog.  Hence the following sign:

To which Skye-dog asks:

“Do I get my own stroller?”