Sizzling Hot In The Garden
Florida tropical gardens are filled with varying shades of lush green palms and unique foliage. They are punctuated with bold, sizzling hot pops of color from bougainvillea, hibiscus, crotons and blooming trees in hot pink, vivid purple, bright red, brilliant orange, and sunny yellow.
The charming little seaside town of Vero Beach located on the Treasure Coast, where my husband and I live, is considered the beginning of the tropics in Florida. The town has a jumble of lush green vegetation with is an unusual mixture of massive oak trees with native palm trees growing between the oak’s huge fern and moss laden branches.
Take a short walk around the town’s resorts or neighborhoods and you will notice that you are surrounded by mostly tropical plants with bright pops of colors that remind you of a hot summer day.
Every tropical garden space is unique and the most appealing thing about the gardens is the low maintenance, easy care plants that are used. There is an emphasis on palm trees and lush layers of interesting tropical companion plants in a wide range of colors, textures, leaf patterns and appearances in most gardens.
Vero’s climate is close enough to the tropics, in zone 10a, that we are able to plant an abundance of species that people living an hour inland from us struggle to grow. Although we get occasional freezes, being close to the Atlantic Ocean keeps them rare and brief. People living in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale in South Florida are able to grow even more exotic tropical plants than we can here in Central Florida.
Our growing season lasts throughout the year and color is provided from plants such as Croton, Ixora, Cordyline Ti, and Bromeliads. Bougainvillea flower in colors of fuchsia, red, orange, yellow, and white periodically throughout most of the year, but especially from October through March, when the bright splashes of color can be stunning. May is usually when flowering trees such as Poincianas, lavender blue Jacaranda and Magnolia are in full bloom. Caladiums are tropical foliage plants with large multicolored leaves that provide beautiful color throughout spring, summer, and fall.
Our Treasure Coast region has a dry season from November through April and a wet season that is from May through October. We are now in our rainy season, with its heat and humidity, and almost daily thunderstorms. During the rainy season, there is a fertilizer ban which starts June 1 and ends on September 30. Skipping fertilizer during the summer helps our waterways and wildlife by not feeding the algae that grows during the hot weather.
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The gardens that I had in New Hampshire and Maine were filled with flowers like roses, hydrangeas and day lilies. I had an orchard with hundreds of apple, pear, peach and cherry trees and grew a vegetable garden each year. However in 2015, we decided to seek a permanent escape from the harsh winters and started a new adventure where it is warm. That change in latitude also changed the plants I could grow in my garden. We normally have very few sizzling temperatures in the summer because of our ocean breezes. August is our hottest month with an average high of 87.4 however we have had 20 days so far this month in the 90’s with one day reaching 98. It has been sizzling hot in the garden,
Those tropical plants are exotic and beautiful. We had a pretty lousy rainy summer..last 3 weeks, almost 4, were just rain, rain and more rain. Yesterday we finally had some sunshine. Summer is back..hope it stays for a little while.
angiesrecipes
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Karen, thanks for the reminder that there is an upside to summer in South Florida – our beautiful foliage! Now, if I can just stand to be outside long enough to enjoy it.
I love all your colorful tropical plants, Bromelaids are my favorite. Vero Beach is beautiful. I know you aren’t missing the winters in the Northeast! This summer has been unusually hot for so many, I know I’m ready for cooler temps!
What beautiful plants, especially those leaves in the top picture!
Love all these gorgeous colorful flowers and foliage! I would love to be able to plant some of these here in coastal Georgia.
It has been unusually hot everywhere it seems. The floral colors in your area are extraordinary and really pop amid the lush green lawns. Very beautiful!!
Karen,
Your photos are beautiful. Thanks for a lovely start to my rainy day.
Lovely post. A reminder that every climate and microclimte is suitable for its own collection of gorgeous and fascinating plants, and when we move, and we reluctantly let go of old garden favorites, there is a treasure trove of new ones to be discovered. That certainly was the (astonishing) case when we moved to the Sonoran Desert. Whenever we travel, we yearn to recreate the gardens we see, but must remind ourselves that the unmatchable localism is the source of the magic. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures.
Sizzling hot, yes. Beautiful, oh, definitely yes! It’s gorgeous!
Definitely some beautiful landscapping.
Wow Karen! The Florida tropical blooms in your area are stunning, lucky you! And I am sure you don’t miss the mountains of snow you enjoyed while living in the north!!!!
The color is so amazing, I need to put on my shades!
We love the foliage in Florida – and marveled at how easily it grew when we visited family there. Oh, but the humidity! 🙂 I miss our New England plants – lily of the valley, lilacs, bleeding heats…. But I love our cacti and the occasional pop of color here. And, yes, it sizzles a lot here, too! 🙂
yes! sizzling here, too. Gardens look great. Looking forward to fall?!
Hi Karen,
Your garden is gorgeous. I miss living in the tropics although Darwin felt more sub equatorial. The colours and the feel of the warm moist air. Canberra is dry and dark in comparison and it always feels cold or desert hot.
Karen, the colors are stunning! I have always loved tropical gardens. You live in a beautiful area!
It is very hot here too Karen. Upper 20s and low 30s Celsius. Hope you get some relief soon!
What beautiful coloursa and plants and flowers ! Thank you. I love the heat, unlike most people I know.
Beautiful and colorful landscapes that are quite different than ours. We’ve had so much rain this summer that plants have been impacted dramatically by the excess moisture. Enjoy your vivid colors.
Beautiful! I couldn’t live in Florida. Houston was bad enough, and it’s pretty terrible here in Oklahoma for about 5 months! But I do love your lush, tropical garden!
Whenever I go to Florida, I marvel at all the plants that are unusual to me as a northerner. Sometimes, I recognize them as “indoor plants” from my perspective, but other times they just seem other worldly. Thanks for the beautiful pics!
What beautiful colors. A true tropical oasis! Coming from a much “browner” world, these lush tropicals are exceptionally lovely. I’m sitting under “Tropical Storm Hilary” at the moment. We don’t typically have much summer humidity…we do today! 😉
Beautiful post, Karen. I hope you’re doing well.
Oh, Karen! What a beautiful, colorful oasis! I still remember reading about your fruit orchard in your previous garden. Gardening year-round in Florida must be so interesting! Our growing season in Illinois is only 180 days. Some of your tropical plants are grown as houseplants here. Enjoy your time in the garden, Karen! Sending warm hugs! 🩷
I’m 76 yo and and a life long back roads explorer. Which means that I avoid Interstate highways and State highways. Even dirt roads are the best. We have been through at least 50 States and take lots of pictures. So that means we are not City folks. You can say we live in the past and better for it. 🇺🇸.
we are having a warm winter here. Imagine oaks with palm trees How unusual. we are sub-tropical here so we see similar plants and trees to you. The flowers are blooming already!
I lived in Florida for a few years, so I definitely know how sweltering it gets in summer. The balmy climate does make for spectacular foliage, that’s for sure.
We’ve been having fun this past year learning about the new types of plants that grow in the NC mountains as compared to upstate NY. I do love the look of those old live oaks that you see in the deeper South! And I hear ya on the heat this summer – we just got back from visiting family in Texas, and the temps were right at 110°F every day. Wowzers!