Here are some pictures that I took during the month of January, of color in the garden.
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| Violet |
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| Alstroemeria |
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| Coleus |
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| Succulent bloom |
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| Bromeliad bloom |
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| Aloe bloom |
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| Faucaria bloom |
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| Aloinopsis schooneesi bloom |
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| Lobelia bloom |
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| Rosemary bloom |
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| Aloe bloom |
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| A winter sunset |
I like the round shape and the dark and light green horizontal stripes of this Euphorbia Obesa. Right now it's about the size of my thumb, but if all goes well it will grow to be 8" tall and 4" wide.
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| Euphorbia Obesa |
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| Euphorbia Obesa |
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| Euphorbia Obesa and my thumb! |
Four months ago, I bought this b. darthvaderiana at a begonia show & Sale from Al Palacio. He also sells on Etsy, at ShadyPlaces | Etsy This begonia was discovered in Borneo Malaysia in 2013, growing in the deep shade of wet forested cliffs mixed among other shade-dwelling vegetation. This plant requires a terrarium because it requires warmth and humidity. Because of the dark leaves, it's name referrers to the Darth Vader character in the movie 'Star Wars'.
B. darthvaderiana
My plant has been doing really well, adding new leaves and getting taller. I was trimming a couple of bad leaves and was happy to see that it was blooming. I need to get it into a proper terrarium!
I like just about everything on cyclamens. How the blooms shoot up from the foliage, the colors in the blooms and the patterns on the leaves. A cheery plant for a winter day!
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| Cyclemen |
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| Cyclamen |
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| Cyclamen Leaves |
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| Cyclamen |
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| Cyclamen |
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| Cyclamen |
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| Cyclamen |
These mushrooms have come up in the garden. I'm not sure what types these are and if they are edible or poisonous? They won't be on the dinner plate, but I will enjoy looking at them.
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| The cap on this mushroom is about the size of the palm of my hand. |
I grow a passionflower vine in a pot on the balcony and because it's in a pot, it never grows into a huge plant. Since it's not a big plant, it can easily be devoured by it’s predator the Fritillary caterpillar. The passionflower vine is a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly. They lay little yellow/orange eggs that develop into colorful caterpillars. I've experienced the caterpillars eating all the leaves on previous vines and they can do it rather quickly.
Passionflowers also have a symbiotic relationship with ants. They provide ants a nutritious nectar via extrafloral nectaries located at the base of each leaf and on the eaten leaf edge. In return, the ants protect the leaves from predators, including the fritillary caterpillars. The battle rages!
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| Ants and a Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar come face to face. |
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| Ants and a Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar come face to face. |
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| Ants and a Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar on a passion vine. |
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| Here you can see the ants eating nutritious nectar from the tip of the leaf. |
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| Nutritious nectar produced by the passionflower vine. |
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| Nutritious nectar produced by the passionflower vine. |
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| Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar |
