Garden Tour: Succulents, Orchids, Bromeliads and more!
While visiting my grandmother and aunt's house, I took a moment (ok ok, over an hour) to document the state of their garden. For most of her life my aunt was not the gardening type, she always told people it was the rest of the women in the family that got the green thumb, because hers was black! Well, when I fell hardcore in love with succulents and cacti (around the same time I started this blog), I kept urging her to give them a go. Eventually, I inspired her to start gardening a bit with succulents and cacti, that is after making a case for their hearty nature and drought resistance. Let's just say it was a slippery slope, she became obsessed. These days when she gives me advice on how to take care of my plants I can't help but laugh at the irony.
All that is to say that before my aunt fell in love with succulents she had zero interest in her garden - that was my grandmother's territory. Needless to say, these days it's a whole different story! My grandmother always had a few succulents around the yard, especially Kalanchoes, but now they are everywhere. You can definitely see my aunt's touch around the yard, she has filled it with bird houses and beautiful decor scattered amongst the plants. Through both of their efforts, especially my grandmother's regular maintenance, their garden is really really gorgeous these days! Take a look...
Catherine
xoxo
More of my garden posts:
When I first arrived, the sun was high in the sky and shining bright! I assure you, I did not edit these photos in any way, way to go iPhone and sunshine! I'm still pretty amazed at how crazy neon bright these Ground Orchid flowers are! Stunning...
My aunt planted them under her Florida Room window, running alongside the driveway.
Later in the afternoon I photographed the other end of the Ground Orchid planter along the driveway. I couldn't get enough of them...
This beauty and the bright neon one above are of the species Spathoglottis plicata, commonly known as The Philippine Ground Orchid. For more information on this plant you can also check out Dave's Garden.
This potted Orchid was in full bloom as well, multiple stems were spilling out and they each had tons of tiny yellow flowers with red-orange detail. After a lot of research, my best conclusion is that this Orchid is called Oncidium flexuosum, commonly: Golden Shower! HA! I'd say that's accurate! However, there is a lot of confusion out there and it's similar to Tolumnia urophylla, or Oncidium urophyllum.
My sweet girl came over to say hello as I was snapping away, I couldn't get over the beautiful shine of her reverse brindle coat in the sun. This is one of my favorite photos of her, she was sniffing the air and looking up at the sky. Had this been one of my male dogs, I may have had to obstruct their "golden shower" on this Golden Shower Orchid instead! ;)
I don't know the name of this tree, but I was in love with its delicate little leaves and yellow flowers. The branches and leaves remind me of those on a Royal Poinciana tree, one of my favorite trees that I've blogged about before here and here, but the flowers are completely different. If anyone knows the name of this plant please let me know, I'd really appreciate it!
I'm really proud of this photo! As I was admiring this blooming orchid, I heard the plane and noticed it overhead, I immediately thought to crouch down and take this shot. Everything about it makes me smile - the shaded orchid, the vivid palm trees against the blue sky and the bright orb cast by the sun. Of course, the plane was an added bonus!
It's a spectacular bloom, made more dramatic by the long thin stem that it hangs from. Below you can see that the flower's stem shoots out pretty far from the plant, in this case the orchid is living on the trunk of a palm tree...
My grandmother and my mother love orchids, they tie them to trees with stockings and when the roots firmly take hold of the trunk they cut the stocking off. Orchids live really well like that! Both of their backyards are full of them, both on trees and in pots and hanging baskets.
I'm not sure of this one's name, if you know it please comment with the name.
Check out the Hoya plant that my grandmother has growing around the base of a palm tree! I believe this one is called Hoya publicalyx "Pink Silver." It's an awesome plant, the flowers smell delicious and the little bouquet's they form are fascinating! The flowers look so rubbery and perfect that they almost look fake. There are other flower colors too, in fact my mother has a variegated Hoya, but it has yet to bloom - I will share photos with you once it does.
Those other plants that you see hanging on the palm (below right) are succulents growing in some dry Sphagnum Moss...
This Ground Orchid below is called Epidendrum fulgens, it is abundant throughout both of our gardens! It's an easy grower, you just pull out a stem and replant wherever your heart desires, int he ground or in a planter. Recently I have started to add a piece to my succulent planters, it does great!
Not sure what this flower and plant is called...
This funky palm is called Pachypodium lamerei, it's a stem succulent that comes from Madagascar, hence the common name of "Madagascar Palm."
The succulent you see here is called Graptopetalum paraguayense, commonly known as the Ghost Plant. I know I've shown you and discussed this plant several times, it's one of my favorites and it's also one of the original succulents that my grandmother had spread all over this yard for many many years. Here it had precious little flowers growing from its purple-grey rosettes.
You can read more about Graptoletalums here and here, they are in the same family (Crassulaceae) as Echeveria succulents and are often confused due to similar appearance and leaf formations.
This flowering plant above is called Trachelospermum jasminoides, commonly known as Star Jasmine, Confederate Jasmine, or Trader's Compass. It's one of my grandmother's favorite plants and she has had it in her yard for a very long time. The blooms are abundant and give off a sweet aroma! Read ore about this Jasmine plant here.
Various potted orchids were blooming on the steps too!
That cute little cactus you see peeking in below is Rhipsalis mesembryanthemoides, commonly known as the Clumpy Mistletoe Cactus.
I decided to go up to the balcony off of my aunt's bedroom and check out her succulent and cacti collection...
She has them lining the balcony wall in all sorts of unique planters. Below is a healthy Burro's Tail Succulent (Sedum morganianum)...
I believe these succulents are a type of Hen and Chicks Echeveria, though I can't find (or recall) the name at the moment... I'm sure I know the name of the fuzzy green ones with the red tips, but I can't remember it.
Quite a few McCoy planters...
This guy with the cactus growing out of his head is a planter by Stoneface Creations. I've blogged about similar stone head planters in this post. When I discovered these and showed my aunt, she went nuts and ordered a bunch of them. She gave my mom and I three, they look really cool in our yard with cacti and succulents spilling out of them.
Kalanchoes...
More Kalanchoes...
I do not know the name of this succulent surrounded by the Kalanchoes, but I have a feeling it is a type of Haworthia due to the flower it has (similar to that of my Haworthias). Ok, I have to look it up now... Yes, it is, it's likely Haworthia cymbiformis.
Spilling out from the same planter is Rhipsalis salicornioides (also called Hatiora salicornioides, Dancing Bones Cactus, Drunkard's Dream, and Spice Cactus). More on this beautiful cactus here and here.
Oh, and check out the massive Rosemary bush my grandmother has! It's out of control and smells oh so yummy...
And then there were the Bromeliads! They were everywhere and, like the Orchids, most had impressive flowers...
There was a female Peacock hanging out on the corner of her street. I thought it was awesome, but apparently these beautiful creatures poop everywhere and make obnoxious sounds in the dead of night. Hehehehe, I still love Peacocks, especially those attractive males...bwahahaha, you know what I mean... ;)
If you follow me on Instagram you may remember when I posted the image of this adorable little terra cotta house I found at Goodwill a few months back. People, it was only a dollar, a dollar! It was love at first sight for me, somehow I felt compelled to give it to my aunt and grandmother for their garden. My aunt placed it in the middle of a succulent planter that she has on an old stone garden table. Apart from the two little windows it also has a hole in the roof, so I have deduced that it is meant to house a little tea light candle - pun intended!
By the end of the day I was getting the look...
If you're a dog owner you know what I'm talking about! The look that says "When are we going home and why are you taking so long? The look that says "I wanted to come with you but I got bored hours ago and I miss my two other buddies at home, and I'm HUNGRY." Hahahaha.... That face melts me! :)
(All images in this post are my personal photographs and property of Inspire Bohemia, please do not use them without my written permission - InspireBohemia(at)gmail(dot)com - thank you!)