The joy of growing bromeliads in South Florida is that there is always a species in bloom year round. The vast array of color, size and texture of the bloom adds distinction to any landscape design in South Florida.
A large group of bromeliads utilized as a ground cover produces stunning blooms. Alas, this gorgeous display is short lived. Some bromeliads last months while others last just a week or two.
Sometimes a large bromeliad has great impact if utilized as an accent plant among greenery. The gray color of the leaves below also add a contrast to the surrounding plants.
Broward county has a bromeliad society that meets monthly. Click on the hyperlink above for more information. Years ago I was a regular member. I really want to go back to a meeting now and then. They used to have great raffles and you can win wonderful plants. Members would donate plants each month for the raffle.
For northerners bromeliads make wonderful houseplants as well. Check your local nurseries for the best selection. I recommend Aechmeas, Guzmanias, and Cryptanthus to start your collection. Happy gardening and see you again soon!
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Exotic tropical philodendrons that are grown as houseplants up north are utilized as ground covers in South Florida. They provide a super tropical look to a garden and are very easy to grow. Here is the common pothos philodendron, growing up a tree. Philodendrons are one of a select group of plants that have juvenile leaves and adult leaves. The juvenile leaves are the more common ones you see growing up north indoors. The adult leaves form in Florida on established philodendrons. The leaves get much larger and often develops swiss cheese like holes in the leaves. Botanists are perplexed as to why the leaves change this way, some hypothesize that in the jungles it allows water to flow through the immense leaves.
This is a swiss cheese philodendron growing up a palm tree.
However the vining philodendrons can become challenging to manage if left unchecked. In the photo below, a vine is growing up a window screen. It is
blocking light causing the room to be unusually dark. If left unchecked, it will climb up over the window up the wall to the roof. In the photo below, you will see some common philodendrons climbing up a wall of my house.
In the lower left corner, these clumping philodendrons from Brazil, are spreaders so make a wonderful ground cover.
Roberto Burle Marx discovered this philodendron in a rainforest in Brazil and named it after himself. It flourishes in a vase filed with water indoors.
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Miami Beach Botanical Garden is a spectacular garden located within the heart of South Beach a block away from Lincoln Road and Washington Avenue. When you want to get away from the broiling heat of the beach or have done enough shopping, the garden offers shaded tranquility for spending time with Mother Nature. For both tourists and locals it offers a fascinating experience to explore exotic tropical plants from all around the world.
The garden is under three acres but seems much larger. Within this tiny space you can explore a Japanese garden, fountains, meandering paths, sculptures, a social hall, gorgeous tropical trees shrubs and ground covers. There is always something in bloom at the garden as well. I have visited the garden often over the years and always felt rejuvenated and energized afterward.
In 1962 the park was created on vacant land in back of the Miami Beach Convention Center. In 1996 a group of garden visionaries created a nonprofit conservatory and the garden has blossomed into an cultural and educational center for both locals and tourists. A magical transformation occurred in 2011 when well known landscape architect Raymond Jungles elevated the garden to new heights. The new design added more plants, fountains, sculptures, paths and vistas.
The foundation created a wonderful place for educational and cultural programing all year round. Check the Miami Beach Botanical Garden website for upcoming events.
Due to the proximity to the convention center and hotels, the Miami Beach Botanical Garden offers a wonderful venue for corporate events, weddings, receptions and special occasions. There is an ample sized room overlooking the garden for indoor affairs, as well as a multitude of areas within the outdoor garden for events.
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Its time to celebrate when it is mango time in South Florida. We eat them morning, noon and night. We eat them over the sink, sliced up in oatmeal, yogurt and cottage cheese. We chop them up for salads, salsas and baked with fish or chicken. We bake mango bread, mango pies, mango cake and mango upside down cake.
This year there is a bumper crop of mangoes and homeowners are challenged as to what to do with such an over abundance. Many people bring bags of mangoes to work every day. Some people set up fruit stands in front of their house and sell them. Other people bring them to food banks, churches and give them to neighbors who do not have trees.
Squirrels, tree rats, birds, insects love mangoes as well. So do landscapers working nearby, mailmen, school children. My seniors at work told me stories of how they would go to work during the day and return home at night to find their trees stripped of fruit. Below is a short video on how to pick fruit early from the tree. Normally when they are ripe they fall down to the ground.
Many of us like to slice them up and freeze them for enjoyment after mango season. The consistency is never the same as a fresh mango, but they are still great in smoothies. Here is a short video on how to cut mangoes like a chef.
Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami always has a spectacular mango festival in July, the height of mango season. Mango season is from May to October. Here are a few reviews of past festivals. The festival is a three day event with non stop activities. There are tastings, fruit sales, chef demonstrations, displays, outside vendors, tree sales and so much more. The Sunday mango brunch always sells out early to purchase your tickets in advance. Mango Festival Information
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In the USA foodies delight eating out in Peruvian restaurants. It is customary to start a meal with a pisco sour, a delicious alcoholic beverage. Ceviche can be served a multitude of ways and the flavorful combinations always are intriguing. Flavorful soups abound. Dishes of chicken, fish and steak prepared to perfection with garlic, cilantro, pepper and more are simply delightful.
Lets take a tour of Peru and check out their amazing agriculture. The first stop is an agricultural research area created by the Incas about five hundred years ago. Each terraced area represents a different altitude. Peru goes from sea level in Lima, the capital all the way up 14 thousand feet at Lake Titicaca. Their research enabled farmers to learn what crops thrive at each elevation.
They grow over four thousand kinds of potatoes and over two thousand kinds of corn! Many colorful variations exist.
After corn is harvested it is not preserved by canning or freezing like here. It is more often dried and bagged.
Bags of potatoes at a local market show the tremendous diversity of colors, shapes and sizes available.
Amazing gigantic breads are a specialty of certain towns.
Chef and restaurateur Gaston Acurio of Peru has over forty restaurants worldwide. I will have to try one out, since there are two in Miami.
Peru is an amazing country rich in history, culture, beautiful countryside and wonderful people.
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I have attended many orchid classes and orchid over the years. I have purchased many orchids in as many years and many have died. As a hobby orchid grower with marginal results for many years. I would like to share with you a success story.
For every expert orchid grower, there is another technique they recommend. Water with ice cubes, water only in the morning, spray the leaves, fertilize with epsom salts, fertilize with orchid food only, fertilize with only liquid, powder, granules, etc. Some homeowners get amazing results by hanging their orchids in trees and forgetting about them. Others put them on a strictly times regimen. Lighting is another confusing variable. Too little light and the orchids do not grow or flower. Too much light and they get burned and or dry out and die. Its confusing.
After reading up I discovered my vandas needed the most light, and mine get some early morning and late afternoon direct sun, with filtered sun mid day. Next come the oncidiums. The dendrobiums and cattleyas require a bit less light. The easiest to flower and to take care of are phalaenopsis orchids, which require the least light.
In terms of feeding, I have the best results with regular weekly dilute feedings, or at least feeding most waterings. I try to water once or twice a week in the winter since its the dry season. During this time I only feed once a week. In the summer when its the wet season water only once and feed only once.
This last photo is from an orchid show, not my mine. So beautiful! Here is a video I did about the orchids.
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Aloe vera is an amazing plant to grow, and its so easy as well. Inside give it a sunny window and water when the soil is dry to the touch, its that easy. Within no time the plant will start to produce baby plants and you will need to step up or repot the plant in a larger container.
Outdoors in Florida we are able to grow it year round in the garden. Aloe can be successfully grown as a ground cover. This year I planted a clump at the edge of my property line. Every time a baby grew to be a third of the size of the mother, I carefully dug it up and replanted it in a bare spot in the garden bed.
Last week the mature plants started blooming profusely. I had seen them bloom like this often through the years. I had never had planted an entire bed of them and am amazed at the beauty of the blooms en mass. Gorgeous.
I utilize aloe medicinally many ways. When I cut my skin I cut off part of a leaf and take it inside. I peel away part of the leaf to expose the gooey center, and apply that to the cut. I try to do it morning and night. Sometimes I apply it to my face before bedtime as a healthy skin treatment. Other times I take a teaspoon of the gel, add it in the blender with some juice and drink it as a tonic.
Aloe should be a plant in everyone's house or garden. In my horticultural therapy classes we grow it at every facility I work at.
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Here in Florida there are several native pine trees. All are long needled pines and provide us with nice pine cones for craft projects. We have the elliotii or slash pine, palstrus or long leaf pine, clausa or sand pine and taeda or loblolly. None make good Christmas trees since they have long needles and do not grow compact. The largest is the loblolly which can grow up to 150 feet!
In South Florida, most of the native pineland areas have been bulldozed for development. They are not protected. I found these trees growing in back of a nursing home and senior living facility.
The trick to getting nice pine cones is to hunt before landscapers come and cut the grass. The mowers shred the cones beyond recognition. The next obstacle are squirrels. They enjoy feasting on the pinecones.
The squirrels just leave the core. It looks like an ear of corn after we eat them. Just the corn cob remains. When I go pine cone picking, I need hundreds of them. I have to go to a couple of areas to get all I need for the holidays. Often areas are picked clean before I get there from other crafty people.
I take a small cloth bag and fill it up. Then I walk back to the car and fill up a big garbage back up with the booty.
To make your very own pine cone turkeys, you will need a glue gun, feathers, felt and pipe cleaners. Cut the pipe cleaner into three pieces. This creates the head and neck. Make a fish hook out of one end, about 1/4 an inch long. Bend it into the pipe cleaner and roll it a bit down. Bend the neck a bit and place the end into the pointed part of the pinecone. Keep the pine cone horizontal. Cut two small triangle shapes for the bird beak. Place a few feathers at the flat end of the pine cone. Make sure you do not place the turkey head into its bottom. (That always gets a chuckle from one of my alert seniors.) I let the seniors do all the work, and then I use the glue gun to finish it all off.
They love being creative and enjoy taking something back to their rooms after class. They enjoy sharing their crafts with family. Many take pride in telling me their turkey was a decoration at their Thanksgiving dinner.
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Confession time. I thought for years I did not care for Oncidium orchids. I would buy them and then after a while they would simply decline and die. Oh and worse, never flower. I much rather preferred Phalaenopsis, Dendrobiums, Cattleyas and Vanda orchids. They seemed to be more hearty and likely to re flower every year. Well the times have changed and now they are beloved as the group above. I purchased some Oncidiums from someone who was moving and downsizing this spring. They were not in flower at the time. Now in August they both bloomed. Their cascading flowers are simply spectacular.
The above and below photographs are the more unusual chocolate orchid, also known as Sharry Baby Oncidium. To me their scent is very mild, so mild I do not detect a chocolate scent. However, the blooms are breathtaking enough for me even without the added scent.
This Oncidium below is the more common of the two, this yellow flowering species is spectacular due to the brilliance of the profuse yellow blossoms.
Now the reality has set in that yes indeed I can have success with Oncidiums, I wonder what genus will be the next to have success with? Only time will tell my dear readers, only time will tell.
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Every year the Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society hosts an amazing show and sale. The displays are absolutely spectacular. Orchid growers and orchid societies haul in a vast array of accoutrements to present their orchids. Gigantic foliage plants, huge berms, lights, music, mulch, rock and so much more are artistically arranged to create mini paradises. There are throngs of photographers taking selfies, their friends, or just the displays. The show is judged and there are many awarded orchids to view.
Having been going on and off for over thirty years, and feeling a bit under the weather, I was not planning on attending this year. A receptionist and orchid enthusiast at one of the nursing homes I practice Horticultural Therapy at asked me if I was going this year. I told her no, and she said, "It is going to be great and you are buying a ticket now."
None of my friends were interested in going for a multitude of reasons, so I attended myself. I went to Holiday Park, where it was held and was surprised not not see crowds leaving the auditorium with shopping bags full of orchids. At every show, no one leaves empty handed. People walking in did not look happy or as well dressed as the orchid enthusiasts of years past. There was a negative energy flowing. As I walked there was a sign stating it said if you buy a ticket to get in you get a free pass for another gun show. Something seemed weird and sure enough, I had the wrong week, and it was a gun show. No wonder no one was smiling.
I went back the next weekend and sure enough there was excitement in the air. People were smiling, carrying their beautiful orchids and looking refreshed and invigorated as they left the hall. The show did not disappoint and I naturally had to buy some orchids. I walked around, toured the show, chatted here and there with strangers, met a few acquaintances. The president and board members of the show came up to me and said hello. I hate going to events alone so it was nice to see some familiar faces.
I had a marvelous time at the show and was happy to attend as always. I felt happy and refreshed leaving the event. That day I came home and shot a video of the baby bare root orchids I bought and how to plant them in a container. After the video a few weeks later I added some lava rocks to keep them in place so they would not fall out.
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