Firespike vegetation:flower ratio way too high to suit me.

Wow you guys have a lot of stuff still blooming. My plants are very confused this winter with the night temperatures go up and down so much but not freezing yet.

Lots of butterflies are still about when normally theywould not be until late Feb/early March.

Some kind of Skipper?

These nanners still need picking grrr

More Princess Charlene de Monaco..such a good bloomer here and the leaves stay green!

Bliss..new last year and very fragrant.

I love all the Christmas cactus photos! I had some in hanging pots but they got too wet one year amd rotted. I have some other types of 'cacti' that I keep under the eaves now so they dont get too wet and rot.

We should do a thread on hanging plants sometime...like hoyas, cacti, succulents etc. :)

Carol, Yes post pics of your billbergia and rose! I have the billbergia nutans someone gave me a start of 10 yrs ago. It got huge and the pot fell over and became neglected. I just divded what was left into a few different pots. Hopefully I can save it lol.

Silvia your Clivia is gorgeous. How long have you had it? Is it easy to care for?

four, Nice firespike. I dont think I've grown that one yet. It looks like something butterflies, bees, & hummers would love.

Confused Night Jasmine..normally would be froze to tge ground in January..now its blooming in the daytime and glorified growing huge in the slanted winter sun.

Those blue Skipper type butterflies are really loving the Daytime blooms of the Night blooming Jasmine lol.

A good spot for butterflies basking.

And Lazy Sunbathing Kitties..until frost finally hits and it freezes back to the ground.

The skipper is a tail-less Longtailed.

Thanks four! I was thinking it was a Long Tailed Skipper when I searched online but since he and a few others here, had no tails, I was confused.

Do they just lose their tails when they get old or did somthing get their tails, or is it a deformity?

It is tattered; most probably as consequence of struggle because small butterflies are not as prone to wear-and-tear as are large ones.

The first butterfly I posted also has a short tail but his doesnt look as ratty as the second one's. I have seen a few around with shorter tails. Its odd.

Yes, the one in the first photo certainly is not tattered. True that these vary in tail lengths, including effectively nonexistent.

Found this in an article by Museum of Science and Industry (Tampa) : "predators will often attack the tails... find themselves with just a mouthful of scales. It's not uncommon to find a Long-Tailed Skipper with one or both tails missing."

Houzz is not letting me *like* anyone's post now but I can still *thank* them. Thats crazy! Anyone else having issues? It wont let me like, anything on the roses forum either :/

Sultry, few years back Wallisadi gave me that Clivia, and it is blooming all these years in the original pot with the same soil. Once in a while I fertilize with either an all purpose or blooming.

Another flower from my garden today

Wow, so you can grow the Clivia kinda like an Amaryllis? I haven't grown Clivia before but I might try one. I've seen them for sale every once in a while.

I'm jealous you are growing Morning Glories right now. They are very pretty and girly!

Its too cold here on some nights, I guess for the MGs because mine all died off the beginning of November. I am missing my moonvines too.

Sultry, I grow Amaryllis in the ground, the Clivia stays in the pot in the shade.

Blooms in my garden

What a beautiful rose! Do you know the name? Also, the pot it is in, is really gorgeous. Reminds me of Italian or Spanish painted tiles.

Thank you Sultry, it is a Nelson Florida roses called Trumpeter. I get my pots from Home Goods, they are really a good value, have to keep checking the store especially around spring.

Another bloom

My Clerodendrum Schmidtii (Chains of Glory) is blooming gloriously!

Beautiful blooms!

Sylvia, I will have to check out the Home Goods store lol. Is that a purple geranium?

jerzeegirl, I am in awe of your Clerodendrum Schmidtii! That plant is on my *must get* list this year.

They are predicting temps in the low 80s F here the next few days. This huge pipe vine never died back this winter and has decided to bloom way way up in the treetop.

Not much.

Sultry, that is one of my indoor violets. I have almost one in every color and they are blooming now.

My Bird of Paradise, bottle brushes, cosmos, zinnias, one water lily and wild salvias are blooming in the beds. I still have cherry tomatoes ripening.

In the GH here's what's blooming (and several other orchids are budding).

Shuffles. Your orchid is a lovely shade of hot pink and yellow. My foot orchid tattoo is the same colors haha :) I love the scented orchids!

I had no clue the Gerbera Daisies would bloom all year. You are probably in a much warmer-winter, part of FL than I am though.

Silvia, I was gonna guess African Violet but then the leaves looked different than the ones I am used to seeing..or it it some other kind of violet? I learn something new on here all the time..its so great!

Bea, Wow you have a lots of blooms going on at your house! How do you get your Orange BOPs to bloom so well in a pot? Do they like to be crowded? Do you have to put them in the gh when it freezes here or could they be planted in the yard?

I have 2 white BOPs in pots. I am afraid to leave them in the ground in case they freeze back to the ground, they may never bloom.

You have so many fabulous orchids now!

I was just thinking about your Bat Plant the other day, wondering how its doing? I

decided to not let my baby one go dormant this winter and have kept it watered better. Its looking a lot better now.

Sultry from what I read BOP don't much like temps below 50 so planting in the ground is not an option in NE FL So as soon as we get our first 45-47 degree nights we wheel it in the GH. As luck would have it they like to be underpotted - crowded in their pot. My shrub is in a 20 (or so) gallon container. When we bought it it only had maybe 5-7 leaves but now the pot is pretty full.. I fertilize it regularly every summer and give it compost tea a few times a year.

The bat plant doesn't like temps below 50 either but the container in which it lives is cast iron so we can't move it. It's such a large plant - about 4'x4' - and doing so well we couldn't chance it freezing to the ground. We built a tent for it and put a small heater in it. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it.

here is the 'cage we built for the bat plant. It's 4x4x4 and all the sides come apart for storage. When it's warm…as in now…we leave the door open. I drape a quilt on the roof to keep the heat from escaping.

That is a neat little set up for the Bat Plant!

It must feel really special lol. What do you fertilize it with?

Thanks Sultry! I use plain ole Miracle-Gro and hubby's compost for everything except my orchids.

I'm sure the bat plant feels special. It lives in a 20 or so gallon cast iron "cauldron" type thing. When my son was a teenager we were out walking and saw it by the side of a road where someone left it to go out with the trash. My son thought we could repurpose it as my family is big on repurposing. We took it home (we lived up north then) and planted annuals in it for years. He died in 2000 and when we moved to FL 6 years ago we brought it with us in his memory And continued with annuals.

When the bat plant had outgrown its nursery pot 2 years ago we decided the cauldron was the perfect place for it.

I had never heard of a Bat plant and so I looked it up. It's amazing! I can't wait to see its next bloom!

Bea, so sorry to hear about your son. That is very sad. Anything you use the cauldron for will certainly be special.

I have grabbed a few pots and plants from the roadside here and there as well lol.

Jerzeegirl, there are black bat plants (Tacca chantrieri), white bat plants (Tacca integrifolia), & green ones (Tacca plantaginea). Top Tropicals lists other varieties but they are probably really rare here.

I had a large black bat plant (Tacca chantrieri) awhile until it died suddenly one winter in the gh. I also had bought 2 little starter bat plants from well spring. One white, one black. I only have one left and I don't know which one it is lol.

I have this urn I was thinking of putting my bat plant in. I did have bowl lotus in it, but the lotus didnt like this urn for some reason. Im not sure if its deep enough to leave the bat plant in permanently though?

It looks like this..Its deep enough for these 2 crazy characters to get into to play lol.

After I repainted it.

Before..showing depth..full grown, standard Orpington roos lol.

If the bat plant can't go in it, I need to think of something else that can. I think it is too shallow for roses. I dont want something real common. I want something interesting and pretty.

I have two other taller pots that kinda match it too. They have a removeable cork in the bottom for drainage, just like the urn.

Also trying to figure out what to put in these. I previously has water lilies but they all have way bigger pots now so these are empty.

Visually the pot above this post is absolutely perfect because it has a batlike figure on it!

What gorgeous flowers you all have growing this winter. I am in Zone 10 and wondering what to do with my Christmas Cactus that I received this year. Will it last outdoors through the rainy summer when we are gone?

Jerseegirl here is a photo from last summer

Silvia, I love your clivia. I have one that I grew from a start 17 years ago that has only bloomed once. I heard that if you leave them outside in the cold, they'll bloom, so that's what I'm doing this year. I doubt it will help. It was gorgeous until I stayed at one place where snails almost killed it. It's o.k. now, but still never blooms. I have two small ones still in 1 gallon pots. I'm going to find someone to give them to when I leave here. Maybe they can get them to bloom.

Jerzeegirl, Oh what a good eye you have! I hadnt even thought of that. It does look a little bat-ish. Maybe I should just get a white Bat and use the black one for two taller matching 'bat' looking pots. Then maybe get something else for the other Urn pot.

Bea, that photo is goals! So many blooms! Do you have you Bat in part shade or full sun or what? Mine might get too much shade. It was getting early morning sun and then kinda filtered light/shade the rest of the day.

My Medinilla myriantha turned out to like morning shade then slanted straight on afternoon sun. It hated everything else but did fantastic with afternoon sun. I moved it around for awhile till we got it just right.

Hey dirty! How have you been? How are all your plants and critters? I have confused butterflies laying eggs all over the place here stripping out my pasaiflora and ither plants. Good info on the cold stimulating the Clivia to bloom.

frankginakay, Is there any way tou can take you Christmas Catus with you? I have started keeping some of my cactus and succulents under the eaves to prevent them from getting too wet and rotting in the summer. They still need some water occasionally though. I hope someone in your zone has better advice for you.

I am home sick today. Horrible cold, cough, & zero energy. Debating trying to make homemade chicken soup lol. My dh and youngest son are sick too booo.

Frankginakay, I keep my Christmas cactus outside all year round in the shade. I only move them from the front to the back porch when blooming. They were all gifts many years ago and still alive.

Hi D, I am glad to see your comments and know that you are all right. I have 2 clivias, one is blooming and the other one just started to bloom. They are always kept outside in the shade.

Sultry, I hope that you and your family get well soon!

Sultry, my plants and critters are fine, TYVM for asking. My milkweed was stripped for the FOURTH time by a rogue monarch who came to lay eggs. I really believe this place has so many monarch pheromones on it now, that they just come from everywhere to lay eggs here. I'd really like to have some flowers at least once a year, and are a few seeds too much to ask for? I guess so.

Sylvia - I'm good. Just had to take a break, but I peek my head in every now and then. You're a bit warmer than I am up here in 9a, but I'm trying to keep my clivias outside as much as possible. I only bring them inside if we're scheduled to go below freezing for several hours. Otherwise, I just have them stuck back in a shady corner and cover them during cold snaps. They usually bloom around March up here, or so I hear. I've never seen it. If they don't boom this year, they're going to new homes, because they evidently hate me.

Well I'm certainly not a prolific FL gardener like all of you, but I'm starting to learn. I'm thankful I've found a wonderful horticulturist who is helping me. I'm in 9B. Like many of you, we've got tons of monarchs right now and from what you're saying, that's unusual. Yes they're having a field day on the milkweed.

Here are photos of what's growing right now (not including the annuals) although I'm so bad at remembering names.

On my patio we had tried almost everything but with the west and south sun hitting this area, have found only the desert roses seem happy here. At first I wasn't sure I loved them, but they sure are unusual and have gorgeous flowers. Don't recall what the middle pot is:

A few more.

Gallardia

cp artist, Those pots are all gorgeous! What beautiful colors, they make everything look classy. I love your adeniums and ginger. If I moved further south, I would be growing so many heliconias! I could here, I guess, but that's one more thing to lug in the greenhouse lol. Yours is beautiful.

Thank you sultry. I have the most amazing horticulturist.

I thought we had picked all the starfruit months ago. I found a few stragglers underneath on the side of the tree that gets the least sun lol.

Two weeks ago I thought that the first flowers on the mango tree, two branches only, were a sign that other branches would flower. None did (yet?). I do not know what is normal flowering behavior of edible fruit trees. Anyone here know?

bea, that is genius!

the biggest thing blooming is the Silver Maple, poor this has not even lost all its leaves and is already in full bloom!

Wow lots of blooms on that tree! I need to go out and check my mulberry. I noticed my largest Buddah's Hand has a bunch of flower buds already. Its way to early for that.

Well the news is predicting the first freeze for NE FL this year for the next couple nights. So I guess alot of my plants will be stuck in the gh for awhile. Maybe this cold snap will delay the mulberry buds here for a little longer.

Beautiful and inspiring photos, everyone!

Four, I'm curious... why did you write, "Firespike vegetation: flower ratio way too high to suit me."? (or were you joking?!)

cpartist, where do you live? Your plants are gorgeous. I rarely see pebbles used throughout a garden. How long have you planted (mulched) in this way?

Today: My first Epidendrum radicans bloom in 2020. (Expecting a field effect in my yard in a month ... they rooted a few years ago in shade, then the shading junk trees were removed providing lots of sun.)

> why did you write, "Firespike vegetation: flower ratio way too high

I planted them for a source of nectar in winter; purpose fulfilled. But most of these monsters do one spike, like a xmas tree decorated with only the star at top. I would want them either to be more generous, or to remain small as the way of improving the ratio.

cpartist, where do you live? Your plants are gorgeous. I rarely see pebbles used throughout a garden. How long have you planted (mulched) in this way?

Thank you.

I'm in SW Florida. My gardens are only a little over 1 year old, both front and back. This was suggested by my horticulturist. She put down weed mat first and then covered with the stones. In my neighborhood, lots of folks garden this way.

Sennae way out-of-season.

Wow my senna is just a bunch of seed pods 10ft up in the air lol