Week of June 7, 2020

The summer rains have finally arrived in the Florida garden, initially with regular 4pm showers but now with 4-5 inches of rain over 2-3 days as Tropical Storm Cristobel passes by.  One immediate change is the accumulation of water in the retention pond across the street and  a crescendo of the chorus of hundreds of frogs celebrating the end of the dry season.  The other change is the blooming of the late spring flowers.  Passionflower vines draping over everything in the beds along our north fence now have an abundance of large, dark blue, intricate flowers.  Signs of the Zebra Longwing caterpillars that eat them pare just beginning, so the vines can support lots of flowers.  The Vitex bush/tree is also full of blue flowers and bees.  The canna lilies love the hot weather and bloom in the bed of milkweed plants.  The palmettos in the Palm Row have sent up some large blossoms over 6 feet tall.  In the back fern bed, one of the colorful foliage’s tropical plants begins with some tender pink and white flowers without leaves.  Finally, we have planted a few Buddleia bushes on the far side of the island for our pollinators and they are now producing blue and purple flowers.  So, there is plenty to look at in the Florida garden if you are willing to get wet!