It is Saturday again. Time to peruse the garden for six items of interest. Today it occurred to me the Shrimp Plants look their best in summer heat and the plants set fruit earlier here than in my former garden. The beautyberries are already turning purple; further north this happens in late September or October.
It is hot here, 92F or 33C, but nothing like what Europe is experiencing and fortunately we have had a lovely breeze off the ocean and rain showers all week so the garden is hydrated. The weeds are taking control – I noted them as I walked through the garden taking pictures but failed to take any action. I should pull weeds…blogging about them instead.
The Shrimp:
This is a Red Shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeana), they grow in the sugar sand without irrigation or much of anything else. It crossed my mind I should propagate more of these, they are easily rooted in water.
The fruit:
The incredibly prolific Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana). This one never fails to amaze me. It grows on a wall facing due north. Full shade in winter and full sun in summer. And thrives.
The very pretty but inedible Muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundafolia). These must be the hardy rootstock other tastier varieties are crossed with or grafted to. These have two large seeds and are very bitter tasting. The raccoons and local wildlife love them and spread them far and wide.
Bromeliads love the mid summer heat and are showing off.
One of my garage sale finds – no clue what variety this is. The flower looks like it might be purple.
Aechmea rubens in full bloom. I have enjoyed these this summer and wonder how much longer they will last.
Aechmea blanchetiana in bud. These will flower and last for months. A little photo bomb by Johnson’s grass, my least favorite weed. It is still out there, waiting to produce a hundred thousand seeds while I recline in air conditioned comfort. I will decapitate it before the seed disperses. Hopefully.
My Six for Saturday. To see more, visit http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com.
Happy Gardening and stay cool..
The Shrub Queen 
I was trying to imagine what a red shrimp plant would look like before I scrolled down the page. I failed! My image was more like the size of jumbo Langoustines! Thank you for introducing me to these new, to me plants once more.
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You certainly have some different plants to us. It’s great seeing them all.
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Seeing the title “Shrimp and fruit”, I was dreaming of a recipe and I imagined pineapple, shrimps, rice …. Jokes aside always pretty things and I’m surprised that the callicarpa resists your summers but seeing the heat these past few days here, no worries for mine. I thought it needed a bit of a mild weather for the summer, I was wrong
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That sounds like a good dish! The calliocarpa always surprises me. I had one much further north that did not do nearly as well.
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Ah, beautyberry and muscadine! I intend to get muscadine cultivars eventually. For most North American species, I prefer what grows in the wild. However, for the muscadines, I will prefer cultivars that produce fruit of better quality. However, I may get unknown cultivars from my Pa’s farm, only because they might already be there. (Neighbors tell me that they are muscadines, but I do not know.)
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The last Aechmea is nice. Some people have started growing Beautyberry here in the lasr few years. It just doesn’t look right in German gardens though and doesn’t always thrive. Yours looks very healthy and happy!
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Thanks, I think the Beautyberry suffer when the weather is too cold.
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The grapes look really pretty – is there anything you can do with them?
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No, the native Floridians eat them, but I like sweet grapes.
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