September Favorites: Blue Ginger

Gingers, ornamental tropical perennials, are just one of the many advantages to gardening in Florida.

There are several varieties growing in this garden but in September it is the butterfly gingers and the (false) blue gingers Dichorisandra thyrsiflora that have my attention. They aren't fast growers but I've been digging them to divide them each year. Won't it be nice to see them in more locations.

Hurricane Lily Lycoris radiata var. radiata, members of the Amaryllis Family, and a favorite food of the Eastern Lubber grasshopper. That means, out of 50 bulbs, there are only 2 or 3 that make it to bloom each year. It is a shame. Each one a work of art and detail. The lubbers chew the stalks and the buds.

Golden rod Solidago sempervirens

Crinum angustifolium 'Queen Emmas' a favorite scented bloom and remarkable foliage.

Crinum angustifolium 'Queen Emmas'

White Queen caladiums, continuing to perk up the September garden.

Miss Muffet caladium

White Christmas (I think) Caladiums on the edge of the tropical pathway.

Jatropha podragrica, Buddha Belly's large foliage leaves are always a favorite.

The bloom is sort-of insignificant albeit unique~~ making it a favorite autumn bloomer.

In the northside berm, alocasia, coleus, and caladiums combine for a lush display we've been enjoying for months.

Dragon wing begonia (or is it an angel wing?) in a container on the front walkway echos the shades of the Ti plants behind it. A VERY favorite foliage, easily rooted from cuttings.

Cassia alata or candlestick plant begins blooming in August and carries on through September/October. A favorite of so many buzzing critters and a host plant for cloudless sulphur butterflies. Candlestick is an easy carefree perennial. It will self-seed prolifically but seedlings are easy to pull or transplant.

Tiger Swallowtails are a favorite on one of their favorite nectar plants, Red Pentas lanceolata, making it a favorite for the gardener, too.

Amazing bloomers in sun or partial shade they are a must-have perennial for Florida gardens.

Bulbine frutescens ‘Yellow Rocket’ didn't bloom great until the last few weeks. It is a bright spot street-side although kind of hard to notice with the purple muhly grass sending up its clouds of purple in September.

Oh, yes, purple muhly grass Muhlenbergia capillaris a Florida native, is by far the star of the front gardens in September. More on this plant later. Don't you think it deserves a post of its own!

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All plants listed are considered Florida-Friendly.

Thanks to Susan at Simply Susan for her creation of "My Favorites This Month". Be sure to visit her for more varieties of Florida-Friendly plants.

A Stroll Down the Tropical Pathway

Stepping stones trail from the open patio into the grassy area of the back garden. Veering right takes you to the circle garden. Named as such simply because of its circular shape. Using ground cover of Trachelospermum asiaticum minima jasmine or asiatic jasmine as the floor covering the circle becomes pronounced.

The perimeter beyond the jasmine a 4 foot wide pine-needle ladened walk way. An extra large container garden centered directly in the middle as a focal point.

The circle garden serves as a central hub of-sorts connecting several other pathways. Curving natural pine needle and stone foot-paths wind you further through more garden areas growing in the southeast portion of the back garden.

Just around this planting the circle path leads to the tropical pathway. It was carved out last September (09) displacing a large grassy area. Diminishing lawn areas to replace with plantlife is a very gradual process. It's a good idea to store up lots of energy, time, and have a workable plan in mind before embarking on such projects.

Turning this corner one can choose to trail around through the butterfly garden and the (quasi)wildflower garden by steering more to the south ... OR for today let's stick to the route that strolls us through the tropical pathway more eastward.

It was designed to curve in and out of lush plantings that line its borders. A seating area for two with naturally-aged cedar chairs was included for a restful stop under the canopy of the shady oaks.

The pathway is also a favorite hang-out for wildlife. The birds especially making use of two birdbaths along the way and several bird feeders stationed close by.

No matter what the original plan for such a project looks like on paper or in one's mind (or however we individually approach these gardening ventures) you can be sure it will be adjusted along the way.

The choices are many and in a tropical understory there is almost always a way to make room for more plants. After all tightly planted lushness is what tropical is all about.

On the right side of the path is a large, curving raised bed made of man-made stones stacked 4 high. Many varieties of shade loving foliage have been planted in front.

The 'wall' of stones previously stood out more prominently when the green grass followed its edge all the way around. The softer look of the foliage provides a more soothing appeal in this cool, shaded setting.

Miss Muffet caladiums pop out year after year in springtime. Mixed with agapanthus and sitting at the feet of blue plumbago it now overlooks the newest foliage.

Pass-along Belamcanda Chinensis candy lilies are still blooming. Their lengthy stalks towering almost as tall high as the Crinum augustum 'Queen Emma' at the curve of the raised bed.

This spring several Alocasia x amazonica 'Polly' were added at the feet of taller, larger-leaved specimens for their favored size, shape, and uniquely veining foliage. Not to mention they are oh, so tropical and begged for a home in this area of the garden.

Filling in a previously grassy inlet holly ferns, bromeliads, birds nest fern, buddha-belly Jatropha podagrica, Hardy star begonia heracleifolia and volunteer impatiens all added as mixed levels of ground covers.

Over-sized leaves of different shapes and colors mixed together and repeated in nooks and crannies along the way are a must when designing to achieve a lush, tropical environment.

Two red (false) banana plants, Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' were placed strategically to increase the volume and interest of the middle story. Siting extra large-leaved lotus begonias at the base makes a good combination. A large stag horn fern hangs from an oak limb further down.

It was fairly easy to transition the pathway in this area increasing the sense of tropical habitat in this part of the garden.

In the established backdrop tropical elements were already in place. Repeat plantings of numerous Florida-Friendly foliage shrubs mixed with Florida natives create impact and serve as the foundation to continue to expand on. The towering, shady live oak trees surprisingly keep everything mostly protected through the winter.

Another seating arrangement ~this time a cement bench ~ offers another place to stop along the way if so desired. A stone path begins on the other side of it that winds around through the furthest parts of the back garden.

Or making a turn to the right is the second red banana Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' and my personal favorites, the Black Taro Alocasia plumbea with lots of bromeliads and caladiums filling in the ground underneath. Lemon lime dracaenas make a wonderful chartruese contrast against any darker shades of green in the shade.

The entire length of the tropical pathway is approximately 35-40 feet and about 6' across at its widest point.

It was left that wide to be used as the main passageway to the compost piles with a fully loaded wheelbarrow.

As with any project that diminishes the lawn area consideration for easy access to all points in and around the new plantings is a must.

After almost a year of growth and many more plants added this spring I have to admit I don't miss the grass at all.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer, Meems
*********************************Side note: some of these photos were taken at sun down creating the yellowish cast of the setting sun. Many were taken in the morning as the sun dapples through the oak trees. All photos are copyrighted. None of the photos have been altered in any way... except for cropping in some cases.

How to Create a Tropicalesque Pathway

The inspiration first came a couple of months ago when 2 red (false) banana plants, Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' were purchased. On a whim I should add. They were 'end of summer' leftovers at my favorite local nursery and cost a mere $5 each. My resolve to stick with only Florida-friendly and native plants melted away under the pressure of hot, steamy weather conditions.

It's kind of hard for me to believe there weren't already some of these magenta veined beauties around here. But since there wasn't, some contemplation ensued deciding where they would be planted.


Considering the partial sun exposure they prefer one of them was placed in a curvy nook at the feet of some Schefflera arboricola 'Variegata' shrubs. So close in fact that the red banana appears to be growing out of the clump of them from certain angles. This gives the appearance that it is well established and has been there longer than it really has.
To finish off that vignette some lotus begonias were split up and layered in front of the banana and then the variegated liriope was dug up and a new boundary was established curving around all of it after the bird bath was moved there also.

The second red banana was placed just down the way and at the edge of the farthest back planting bed. Both can be seen from almost every angle in the back garden. One draws the eye to the other.
The swirl of continuous new leaves shooting up from the center of them convinces me they are happy where sited.

When the ginormous gift of Giant Spider Lily Crinum augustum 'Queen Emma' was offered my design inspiration shifted into high gear for an entirely new transformation of another grassy area begging to be renovated.

Between the new red banana and the newly planted crinum was a wide grassy pathway that swerved in and out along the edges of some large planting beds.
A (before) photo from May 2009 gives you a good idea of how the grassy swath made its way to the back of the property where the compost piles are hidden to the right or to the left a flagstone path that winds through more planting beds.
Let's Back Up and Have a Look at the How-to's

~The first thing to do to create the pathway is to determine the shape and lines of the new path.
~In this case the left edge was my starting point. Measure out from the edge of the existing planting bed to mark off the width desired. For my path the considerations included leaving safe passage for the width of my wheelbarrow which makes many trips to that back corner on any gardening day. And then the passage width of the riding mower which is driven to the back to dump grass clippings onto the compost pile.
~ Using PVC pipe I hammered in some stakes along the edge in a design shape that made a nicely curved pathway. I never like to copy the exact line of the curve from the opposite side. Creating curves a little shorter or longer on the new side keeps the pathway from being too predictable.
~I started this project digging the grass up. At some point it dawned on me to try the lasagna method of smothering the existing grass with newspapers. This made the project go much faster.

You can see here the crinum has not been transplanted from my neighbor's yet. But, all the while my pathway is being formed, I'm scheming about the best place for it.

~As I don't ever use cypress mulch, it was decided to use pine needles layered over the newspaper. Pine needles (purchased by the bundle) have a nice warm, peaceful appearance to me reminding me of nature's woodsy pathways seen so often in parks and conservation areas.
Changing the grassy path into a more narrow and cozy path meant that plants were dug up from other places and added along the length of it to close in the borders of the pathway. The next previously-grassy inlet beyond the curve from the red banana was filled out with plants like the one above. My neighbor passed this wonderful, deeply colored foliage plant along to me last year. I have no idea the name of it but it likes lots of shade. It blooms a spiking red bloom in the winter. How fun is that! Edit: Name of plant is Stromanthe

The back side of the leaves are very deep magenta. With several of them already planted behind the variegated liriope border bringing one out in front of the border gives a sense of continuity and yet doesn't exactly mimic any other niche on the pathway.

Looking toward the center of the above photo is a view of how buddha-belly plant, Jatropha podagrica and Hardy star begonia, heracleifolia and holly ferns were brought out even further still working to slenderize the new pathway.

What says tropical more than bromeliads! Walking around my garden I picked out the lighter colored foliage to transplant in scalloped curves inward continuing to taper the width of the new trail. The chartreuse hues of this foliage picks up the sunlight that sneaks in between the oak tree branches towering high above.
Even though most of the plants were dug up and divided from existing places at Hoe and Shovel there was a need for a few purchases. The Black Taro Alocasia plumbea I adore and use in another place in the front garden was found at a nursery in north Florida and packed in the car with traveling luggage one weekend.

Lots of Flax Lily Dianella tasmanica 'Variegata' divided, that will fill out over time, fashions the new inside boundary and wraps around the crinum lily. You may remember it was sited about 4 feet out in front of an existing retaining wall that serves as the edge for trailing purple queen and chartreuse potato vine.

Here's another view to compare with almost the same angle below for a pretty good idea of the "before" and "after" changes.

There are more ideas swirling around in my head for removal of the remaining grass visible in this photo. We'll see. Maybe in the spring.

Let's see... there were also transplants of Spathiphyllum floribundum , walking irises and Candy Lily, Pardancanda norrisii.

The concrete sitting bench at the left center marks the end of the trail. It was brought forward about 3 feet along with the two container plants sitting not exactly symmetrical on either side. They are each home to lemon-lime dracaena, holly ferns, caladiums, and coleus.

A view from the side angle reveals how this path now melds right into the flagstone path that makes its way winding through the center planting bed.