Happy Yuletide

 Snow on the mountain (euphorbia leucocephala) and golden crinums

 Christmas palms

 Mangoes giving me a second crop for the year

Ham just out of the oven, I couldn't resist and stole a few slices of pineapple so I apologize for the missing pieces. Ha!

Wishing all my blogger friends and those following my blog a peaceful and joy filled Yuletide.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day Dec 2012

 Begonias enjoying the cooler temperatures.

 Bougainvillaea

 These dwarf browallias with their pretty blue flowers make a great border and ground cover.

 My snow on the mountain right (euphorbia leucocephala) on target for Christmas, she is on her last legs  but not giving up the fight.

 Yellow ground orchids still putting on a show

 Purple ground orchids not wanting to be left out of the party

Galphima glauca (thyrallis or showers of gold)

Hello and welcome to Garden Blogger's Bloom Day where gardeners form around the world show what is blooming in their gardens. Last night the temperatures dipped to 70 degrees F or 20 degrees C so  it was very pleasant out in the garden in the early hours this morning. 

To see what is blooming in other gardens around the world please visit Carol at May dreams gardens.

My deepest condolences to the people of Newtown Connecticut who have lost their babies and loved ones. It is very hard to fathom out why someone would do something like this except that there are many mentally sick individuals amongst us with very easy access to guns. May you find comfort in these difficult times.

Orion is back

 Video of Orion feeding

 We recently harvested some bananas and of course all ripened at the same time. What we couldn't give away we gave to the birds and butterflies. We were hoping that the Orion (historis odious)butterfly will make its annual appearance.

 In fact two made an appearance today, one was so busy feeding from underneath the table  that he took no notice of me.

 The other one was also busy feeding on the table top that it totally ignored me.

Here I am trying to get its wings open and it didn't even budge.

Dry days are here again

We are now into our dry season. Last month was the driest November I have ever experienced.

This lemon ginger is drought tolerant and seems to be growing effortlessly under my lime tree.

This area is where my natural pond occurs during the rainy season and since it remains damp I decided to try a bog garden here. I planted some gingers on the perimeter and am undecided whether to place a lipstick palm in the middle or plant some lotus.

The heron looked rather surprised as I took this shot.

I planted this creeper between my frangipani trees about  ten years or more ago. It has found its way to the top and this is the second time it has flowered and just recently I found out its name. It is called the red hot poker vine (norantea guianensis) thank you Sharon.  The flower spike is more like an orange colour and of course it only blooms at the very top.

The island now is very busy preparing for Christmas and this year I decided to scale down things and just observe others (I hope). I am hoping for some rain, just enough to green the grass and feed the plants.  Wishing all a great weekend!

Annual Garden Ramble and Plant sale

This weekend  on November 30th Barbados  will celebrate 46 years of Independence from Britain. I will be celebrating it by having an annual Garden Ramble and plant sale. I extend this invitation to all gardeners and photographers on the island to come on over to meet and mingle. Fresh fruit juices will be on sale, mango smoothies, chutneys and snacks.

Starts at 9.00am until 5.00pm 

Bloomday November 2012

 

Can you imagine that I have forgotten the name of this plant? So I am asking any of you who might know to please enlighten me. Whoopee ...it is known as the lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus radicans). Thank you Dawn Barrow!

 Passion fruits are in season and I am having to fight off the rats and monkeys.

 A rat damaged passion fruit, enjoy for now Mr Rat you have a date with the exterminator!

 Passion vine growing on an A frame trellis

 Young white ginger lilies waiting to be picked off and planted

One of my byra ebenus saplings or Jamaican rain tree blooming inside my shade house.

 Hello and welcome to garden bloggers bloom day where gardeners from around the globe post what is blooming in their gardens.  It has been a very hot November so far with no signs of cooling down.

My sincerest condolences to the families on the North East coast of the USA who have suffered loss of life and property from hurricane Sandy,  I wish them a speedy recovery and to be strong. I follow some blogs in that region and I cannot begin to imagine what they must be going through.

To see more blooming gardens please go over to Carol at may dreams gardens.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day October 2012

 Lipstick pink ixora in full bloom in the back garden and outside the wall.

 Lisianthus in bud

Lisianthus in bloom

Hello and welcome to Garden Blogger's bloom day where gardeners around the world show what is blooming in their gardens. There has been lots of rain generated from tropical storm Rafael around the islands. Barbados got its share as well as some high winds. My garden fared well with just several potted palms falling over and creating a domino effect. 

I have been attempting to grow lisianthus  and it has been an interesting journey. Earlier this year I was browsing through some online seed sources and fell in love with lisianthus. I thought I might be able to grow them here so why not give them a shot? I got the seeds and sowed them around the end of April. They took about  six weeks to emerge and I almost gave up hope.  They were slow to start off.

 At the end of June some were large enough for transplanting. I then put them into larger pots and as they grew I transplanted them into larger and permanent pots.

 As I read up on their culture I noticed that many were bushy and not getting tall. Two grew tall and finally a flower bud appeared on the taller of the two. As I read up on their cultivation I read that very hot weather over 25C  at night will put them into a state of dormancy and they will not get tall. I figured that they have gone into dormancy and I will have to get them out of it. I have also learnt that there are some Florida species that are tolerant to high temperatures over 25C. I have also learnt  that applying gibberellic acid a natural plant hormone will encourage them to grow taller. I have found a fertilizer that is calcium based and contains gibberellins that I will try in another week or so. Another thing  I learnt  is that they do not like overhead watering when they have reached the transplanting stage; with the heavy rains we've been getting I have been uneasy watching for any signs of disease. So far so good.  
To see more of what is blooming around the world please go over to Carol at may dreams gardens.

Have a pleasant week my friends!

Another hummer

The female Antillean crested humming bird is quite plain looking when compared to the male who wears his crest like a king with his crown.

The eggs were the size of a lizard's egg.

The nest measures about 4cms in diameter with a depth around 3.5cms.

Yesterday I was walking by one of my mango trees when something caught my eye. I stopped and back peddled.  At first glance it looked like  a tree gall and on closer inspection I realized that it was a humming bird's nest with one tiny egg in it.  Hummers always lay two eggs so I looked around and saw a tiny female of the Antillean crested humming bird nearby.  The nest looked a bit different from the others I had seen before. It was so well camouflaged  that it looked like part of the tree.  I figured that she was not finished laying and I left. So today I went out to look for the nest and found the mother hummer sitting on the nest. She flew off as I got closer so I took a peek inside and there was another egg laid. A few years ago I did a post on another humming bird's nest I found in another mango tree. I will keep tabs on this nest and will keep you informed.

Garden blogger's bloom day September 2012

White Debdrobium flanked by busy lizzies add some colour  to this rack.

 Freshly cut ginger lilies welcome visitors to the house.

 Pink Pride of Barbados amongst the golden crinums

 Pink pride of Barbados (caesalpinia pulcherrima)

Plumbago

 Monarchs are back in the garden and this one just entered the world.

The evening sun through the trees.

Hello and welcome to Garden Blogger's blooms day for September. This month has been  hot and on the dryish side with a few scattered showers over the island. My water bill for last month was $123.00 ($62.00USD)  the lowest I have seen for some time. The month before was $530.00 ($265.00 USD). I dread seeing it if it continues to be dry. There is still lots of moisture in the air as I can see heavy dew on the grass in the early morning, that has put a damper on cutting the grass in the morning. September is still an official hurricane month for us and we are still watching systems developing in the Atlantic. I have roof repairs to do and will probably start in another week or so, something I am not looking forward to.

To see more blooming gardens around the globe please go over to Carol at may dreams gardens. Have a great weekend my friends.