My Florida Tropical Garden

eBay is a good source for just about anything, even live tropical plants shipped to your door. I wanted to find something rare and unusual, and the Dwarf Red Powder Puff plant fit the bill. I've never seen anything like it. It's a drought tolerant flowering shrub that can be maintained in a container or directly planted on landscape. The prolific buds look like clusters of small red berries and they seem to pop the next day into puffy balls. It's a unique flower that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. I've only had the plant for about a week and it's already blooming like crazy so I think it's a real winner for our garden. It's fun, interesting, and easy to grow!

Another first bloom, and this is now my 3rd hibiscus hybrid bloom from seed.

The top side-by-side pictures show the parent plants of Sweet Bippee (left) and Dragonsbreath (right).



This one is full of colors. It has a pink/white interior that fades out to orange tips, with a slight yellow speckle on the edges. Here it is!

Today I was rewarded with an impressive first bloom on one of my hibiscus from seed. This plant is over 2 years old and finially blooming. It's another hybrid seed crossing from Australia.
The top side-by-side pictures show the parent plants where the seed came from.
Rosalind (left) and Dragon's Breath (right)



And here's the first new flower :)

August is typically the hottest month of the year in Florida. You can definitly feel the heat and humidity as soon as you step outside. Here's a few pictures from around the garden.

The first picture below is a Passion Flower, passiflora caerulea. This is a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly (second picture). I have a couple Gulf Frit caterpillars that I'm rearing inside, so I'll have to post another update soon with pictures of them.




Below is my Golden Shrimp plant, Pachystachys lutea.



I started this Ornamental Pepper from seed in March 2010. It's very easy to grow and it's neat watching the little peppers change colors as they mature.



And finially, here's an updated photo of my Plumeria I started from seed in August 2009. It hasn't bloomed yet, and probably won't for another year or two. It take 2-3 years from seed to bloom I believe. The Plumeria are native to Mexico and Central America. It is commonly seen in Hawaii for it's beautiful flower landscape.

Alot of photos to share today! Enjoy =)

New blooms from the Pansies I started from seed...


Alyssum 'Snow Crystals' and Petunia 'Celebrity Red Morn' started from seed..


New landscape statue purchased last weekend at Lowe's. Cute!


At Lowe's Build & Grow, Cody made this See It Grow planter for Earth Day. Planted a couple nasturtium seeds to watch them grow from top to bottom.


Newly planted Hibiscus (purchased at Lowe's) bloomed today.


PROCEED WITH CAUTION: BEE'S AT WORK


Newly planted Squash Contender zucchini...


Tropical Hibiscus and Plumeria started from seed last year...


Datura metel 'Purple Trumpet'


Over-wintered potted Hibiscus recovering and growing new leaves

Quick update on some flowers/veggies I'm growing from seed.
Dates are when I sowed seeds for germinating. Used my Burpee Ultimate Seed Starting system for the Marigold, Vinca, Zinnia, Coleus, and Aster Hulk. Everything has germinated so far except for the sunflowers, but they were planted only 3 days ago.

3/08/10 Ornamental Pepper 'Sangria Hybrid'
4/02/10 Squash Contender Hybrid (zucchini) in a large container
4/05/10 Marigold 'Snowball Hybrid'
4/05/10 Vinca 'Pacifica Burgundy Halo'
4/05/10 Zinnia 'Zahara Starlight Rose'
4/05/10 Coleus Wizard Mix
4/05/10 Aster Hulk
4/15/10 Sunflower Large Flowered Mix from ParkSeed Co.

Received a new email from Park Seed today with a limited time promotion. They are offering Free Standard Shipping on all seed orders this weekend (3 days only). Promotion code is: SAVEGREEN

I couldn't resist so I purchased the following seed for this year. The pinstriped fruit on the Gourd Zebra grow only 4" wide, which should make a nice compact ornamental gourd. Impressive color varieties shown on the Large Sunflower mix which grow from 6-10 feet tall. And I'm a huge fan of fried zucchini, so I purchased the Squash Contender which is high yielding and has rich flavor. These spineless zukes grow 8-9 inches long too!

Gourd Zebra
Aster Hulk
Sunflower Large Flowered Mix
Squash Contender Hybrid

The photos below are not actual pictures I took, just examples.

Ordered some spring time flower seeds from Park Seed Co. This year I selected heat and drought resistant varieties. Also interested in growing the Ornamental Pepper for the first time. I went with the Marigold Golden Guardian because it's advertised to be the best for nematode control when interplanted with vegetables, plus I get 600 seeds in one packet. :)

Zinnia Zahara Starlight Rose
Nasturtium Hawaiian Mix™
Vinca Pacifica Burgundy Halo
Marigold Golden Guardian
Ornamental Pepper 'Sangria Hybrid'

The photos below are not actual pictures I took, just examples.

I setup my Burpee Ultimate Growing System again today, and sowed some flower seeds for the cooler weather. This system has a self-watering mat and makes germinating seed very easy. Just fill with water once and watch your seeds grow! I used 30 Burpee super growing cubes with the following seed in 30 tray cells. The Burpee growing system I have has up to 72-cells! =)

6 cells of Alyssum, Mountain Gold
9 cells of Pansy, Swiss Giant mixed colors
9 cells of Petunia Celebrity Red Morn
6 cells of Sweet Alyssum, Snow Crystals

For very small flower seed, just sprinkle the seed on top of the growing medium and lightly push down just enough so the seed gets good contact with the moist soil. I did not cover the seed with soil since they need LIGHT to germinate. (Update on 11-22-09: within 5-7 days, all varieties have germinated, GREAT STARTER SYSTEM BY BURPEE!)