A dieffenbachia and poinsettia graced Patti’s porch during the Christmas season.
What could be lovelier than a row of vibrant red poinsettias lining the staircase entrance to Patti’s home?
Patti Poshek shows off a gorgeous Canna lily. Cannas grow well in containers.
Orange Jasmind in Pattis yard attracts birds and bees, and, of course, butterflies.
Patti Poshek’s porch caladiums are thriving after Ian. Caladiums work well in pots and hanging baskets.
Patti’s White Bird of Paradise is thriving with a multitude of “birds” nesting in her front yard.
Patti Poshek’s Christmas Cacti collection was on festive display during the holidays.
Patti Poshek’s “Snow on the Mountain” is in full bloom. Ian couldn’t keep this plant down!
MAGGIE BUTCHER LOST HER HIBISCUS VASE IN THE HURRICANE. SHE RECEIVED THIS GIFT FROM HER SISTER. . .PERFECT FOR DISPLAYING SEVERAL BLOOMS. VERY DRAMATIC AND PRETTY PRESENTATION!
Mystery Plant Revealed: It’s Scarlet Sage. Shortly after the hurricane, Carol Zell noticed a “weed” sprouting in her Royal Ti pot on the front porch. Curious, she decided to see what it was and was soon rewarded when pretty red flowers bloomed. Using the Picture This app, she identified the plant as Scarlet Sage. It is found in tropical and semi-tropical climates and has spread across the southern United States. Another gift from Ian!
Mimie DiRico enjoyed the holidays at home, surrounded by a beautiful Christmas Amaryllis with12 buds and another stock on the way . . .a Wreath arrangement made of Spanish moss. . .Christmas dinner herbs...and an array of decorated Christmas shells.
SIGC Receives Grant to Help SCCF with Hurricane Recovery
Shell Islands Garden Club has been awarded $5,000.00 from the National Garden Clubs, Inc. National Disasters USA Grants program.
Gwenda learned of the opportunity for the grant from an email sent out by our Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council. SIGC officers voted to seek the grant with the goal of helping to restore the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Bailey Homestead Preserve.
Nancy DeBenedictis and a beautiful array of raffle plants for the holidays.
SIGC Members gathered in November, 2023 to present a wooden bench to the Sanibel Community House in commemoration of the garden club’s 30th Anniversary on the islands.
Frances Tutt captured a butterfly larva on a host plant at the Butterfly Gardens in Fort Myers. March’s garden club meeting was held at the Gardens where members learned about growing butterfly friendly native plants to help restore the butterfly population on Sanibel.
This pretty specimen is an Atala Hairstreak which prefers to lay its eggs on the native Coontie plant. Photo by Frances Tutt.
I purchased these two Vandas at a local nursery after they bloomed this winter. The tags indicated purple blooms. Thanks to the perfect weather and summer location in
some morning sun and indirect sun with good air circulation, they have rebloomed.
One of them has two blooming stems! The other hanging beside it is in bloom as well.
The color is somewhat unusual and not as expected, but very nice. Gardening brings
such pleasure—Patti Poshek
Still blooming after all these years. . .Patti Poshek’s 30-year-old Yucca plant just keeps on growing!
Still blooming after all these months. . .Sandra Dalbec’s lovely white canna graces her deck in The Dunes.
Dotty Mount’s garden in Colorado is in bloom with wildflowers and perennials. Her potted rose in beautiful!
Patti’s garden is showing off this summer. Admire the caladiums, her canna lily bloom and Crown of Thorns. A true paradise of color!
Patti Poshek is nuts about her Schomburgkia and writes: This incredible orchid has brought us much pleasure. Irene Nolan gave me a healthy clump two years ago. I planted it in a 20" diameter pot in coarse orchid chip planting material and placed it on the pool deck where it increased threefold in size.
It gets plenty of sun but not direct afternoon sun. I fertilized it with about a teaspoon of slow release granules. It is happy with watering twice a week in the summer and
half that in cooler weather. In February, a few long woody spikes appeared. After about a month, there were four long spikes, up to 5' tall. Finally, buds appeared on the long bare stems. The buds opened into beautiful blooms with a light,heavenly fragrance. The blooms lasted nearly two months. They are beautiful in arrangements. We easily divided and repotted the plant. I look forward to sharing some cuttings in our next SIGC raffle.
Patti's Schomburgkia
Patti Poshek’s Frangipani is in full tropical bloom. A little bit of Hawaii on Sanibel!
Here’s a real treat. . .Sandra Dalbec’s Adenium Desert Roses are potted and in full bloom on her deck. Gorgeous!
Patti Poshek’s caladiums are blooming in pots on her porch landing. They contrast beautifully with red flowers.
Linda Uhler arranged this lovely centerpiece for an Easter centerpiece. She picked over 200 gardenias this year from the two gardenia bushes growing in her front yard.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SUCCESSFUL GARDENING IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
From Miss Potter’s Place
1. What are your goals?
2. Remember to manage your expectations!
3. We live in Zone 10. . .we are in the subtropics.
4. Don’t look at the calender
5. Think about Sunshine, Soil, Water and Air
6. Plant what wants to grow here. . .not what YOU want to grow here
7. Native plants will always do best in their natural environment.
Sandra Dalbec designed this unique succulent arrangement (above). It prefers sun and light watering. She placed rocks beneath the soil for aeration. The little seedlings will begin to climb over the edges as they grow. She used about eight plantings of several varieties which have tiny flower like blossoms. It was a fun project for Sandra and Patti is enjoying watching it grow.
Carol Zell’s alpaca vase has been reunited with a phalaenopsis orchid that blooms twice a year and graces her lanai. A perfect match!
Patti Poshek’s Phal is blooming again. . .two spikes of flowers this time! So pretty!
This is how Harriet Pattison’s garden is growing (and thriving!)
Kathy Dubuque’s Cattleya is a real beauty. It’s part of her collection and has bloomed many times before.
Wow! Patti Poshek has 12 flowers on her orchid. Last year at this time, it was only four. Beautiful bloomer!
Nancy Hilger sent photos of two prized orchids, both blooming in her Naples garden. Mother Nature at her finest!
Nancy’s Traveler’s Palm is happily growing in her lush garden, surrounded by a healthy stand of bromeliads.
SIGC members visited the Naples Botanical Gardens in late November to view the fantastic STICKWORK Exhibit. STICKWORK is the signature sculpture of environmental artist, Patrick Dougherty, who has created site-specific, interactive community art installations all over the world. They are instantly recognizable by their organic, twisting forms made of sticks and whimsical silhouettes. Dougherty uses native plants woven into his artistic designs. Willows were used in the Naples Botanical Gardens.
Click on the arrows in the gallery below to see some of the photos our members snapped on the tour. An interesting note regarding the Botanical Gardens is that most of the flora featured at the Gardens comes from cuttings and plantings in the yards of Naples’ residents. Over the years, the Gardens have been able to establish a myriad of tropical plantings, many of them unusual and rare.
The Scarlet Milkweed will make the butterflies happy in Patti Poshek’s yard. Patti says the milkweed grows wild in her yard and is related to our native Lantana.
Patti Poshek’s Bromeliad has been blooming for a long time, she reports. Setting off this beautiful bloom is Tractor Seat which grows in the background.
Our Caladium Queen, Patti Poshek, shows off part of her stunning collection of beauties. Absolutely Fabulous!
Maggi Butcher’s Bird of Paradise produces multiple flowers. She fills three Ikebana vases with the blooms. This one has three flowers.
Maggi Butcher’s cannas are lovely also. One is planted in a festive pot and the other is flourishing in the ground. Love that red!
Carol Bytnar’s Orchid is producing quite a display this summer! Beautiful colors!
Harriet Pattison’s summer garden is looking pretty. Her yellow Allamanda has bunches of blossoms and the assortment of calediums is bursting with color. Gorgeous!
Gerri Perkins took these photos of her splashy red canna, purchased this year in our fundraiser sale. It looks like this canna likes its life in the pool cage!
Patti’s Phals, happy and in full bloom, get the royal treatment on her lanai. They are served up on a cart. What a gorgeous display!
Patti’s Poshek’s Vanilla Bean Orchid is in full bloom this Spring. Patti has trained her plant to attach to a Sabal Palm. It has a heavenly scent. What do you think it smells like?
Jeannine Brinkerhoff has Monarch butterfly larvae in her yard. They are dining on Milkweed, which they consume veraciously. In researching butterflies, Jeannine came across this chart which might serve as a handy reference for planting a butterfly friendly garden.
HAPPY EASTER! Patti Poshek’s cattleya orchid welcomes Spring to her Sanibel home off Rabbit Road!
OUCH!! If you can get past the sharp thorns, Patti Poshek says this is the perfect plant for color and “no bother” upkeep. The Crown of Thorns can be a showstopper when grown in a pot and a nonstop bloomer year-round.
I divided a large Cattleya a few years ago. This is one of the results. It has a delightful fragrance. I accidentally broke off another stem while watering a hanging plant above it. — Patti Poshek
Here is a pineapple that I grew from the top of another pineapple that I grew from a top. They are surprisingly easy to grow, albeit slow to grow! 🍍 — Sandra Dalbec
Wow! Carol Bytnar’s orchid bloomed in time for the holidays. Patti Poshek says it looks like a lion. What do you think?
Mimie DiRico, Barbara Wilgus, Gloria Krekel, Lisa Cochrane and Nancy DiBenedictis — (Click on the Galley above)
Maggie Butcher’s phal has been “in the pink” for quite a while. Her bathroom mirror reflects double the pleasure.
Christmas 2020 — Shell Islands Garden Club decorated the Christmas tree at Sanibel Public Library.
Kathy Dubuque’s yellow cattleya bloomed on Thanksgiving bringing some sunshine to her “orchid wall.”
Jeannine Brinkerhoff came across an illustration that will help you to identify a flowering holiday cactus when it is not in bloom.
Kathy Dubuque has sent photos of her beautiful Northern garden in Ladue, Missouri. In one shaded section, Kathy has created a FAIRY GARDEN filled with beautiful trees, plants and little nooks and crannies. . .perfect for a Fairyland. Add some garden accessories, a fountain, bench and yes, a Fairy or two, and you too can enjoy a lovely fantasy.
Maggie Butcher has some surprises in her garden this season. . .a gorgeous hibiscus flower and a shower of dendrobium orchid spikes. Summer beauty on Sanibel.
Anita Smith grows her orchids on palm trees. They love the location and are in full bloom this Spring.
Look at Gerri Perkins’ Purple Datura! What colors! Patti Polshek writes: “Purple Datura has a striking double blossom. The plant is Tropical and enjoys full morning sun and afternoon shade. It is in the same SOLANACEAE family as the Brugmansia (Angel’s Trumpets). The large fragranced flowers grow upwards. Angel’s Trumpets have pendulous large flowers that dip downwards. The SOLANACEAE family are in the Nightshade class. Every part of them is poisonous and can be fatal if ingested by humans or animals.
The Datura genus produces a round seed pod about 1 1/2” in circumference. They have a light pleasant fragrance.
Carolyn DeCoster’s Phalaenopsisis blooming beautifully at her home in Shell Point.
Gwenda Hiett-Clements is proud of the prolific blooms on her Hawaiian Frangipani. Lovely!
A basket full of Caladiums in Gwenda’s yard, compliments of Patti Poshek. And check out the orchid on the right.
Carol Bytnar’s garden is showcasing this variety of night-blooming cereus. Patti Poshek reports there are many varieties of this tropical favorite in bloom all over Sanibel.
This beautiful orchid was attached to a Hong Kong Orchid tree branch. Several months ago, the branch fell off the tree. The roots of the Orchid were thickly entwined on the branch. I securely attached the orchid branch and all to a tall Frangipani tree without disturbing the Orchid’s roots. It likes its new location. Frangipani leaves protect it from direct summer sun. The lack of leaves in the winter allows plenty of sun. — Patti Poshek
These bloomers greeted Jeannine Brinkerhoff upon her return to Sanibel recently. “I don’t have these flowers hanging in my Connecticut trees!” Jeannine remarked.
Nancy DiBenedictis’ crimson Vanda orchid is flowering again! This marks the third time in a year! It obviously loves its location!
Diane Hay sent this photo of
their “Christmas in June Ixora Christmas Tree”. Patti Poshek writes, “I am flabbergasted at this incredible Ixora. Ixoras are some of the best plants grown on Sanibel. They are great for floral arrangements too. The blossoms stay beautiful and fresh for a long time. This is the pinkish Nora Grant variety.
Submitted by Patti Poshek
This beautiful Apple Bloosom Cassia tree in Margie Lee’s garden has been totally engulfed in beautiful blossoms. Margie was inspired by the tall tree at the Moorings in bloom. They specially ordered a starter tree which has been a wonderful addition to their garden.
This is what grew from a stump in our yard. It is in full sun and has bloomed continuously all summer with a slight fragrance. No one seems to know for sure what it is. One person guessed it might be a kind of jasmine??? Help! — Submitted by Gerri Perkins
The Fuchsia Dendrobium Orchid I had mounted on wood was not looking good. It had one questionable stem and another that was a little better. I decided to remove the orchid and attach it to a tree. I attached this one to a young Frangipani tree. There wasn’t much left of the orchid after removing all plant matter from the roots.
I set it in a V of a branch where I thought it would get ample sunshine which Dendrobiums like, but not direct sun which in a Florida summer would kill it. The Frangipani leaves will protect it from direct sun in the summer. When the frangipani leaves drop in the autumn; the sun will not be harmful to the orchid.
I held the plant very firmly while wrapping it tightly with a piece of nylon stocking. After a few weeks, the questionable stem had turned brown and succumbed. I had watered it faithfully a few times a day to get it acclimated, but that was not sufficient. The feeble remaining stem was about to follow suit when Sanibel began to get late afternoon summer downpours. The “feeble”stem began to perk up and even sprouted a blossom stem. I was so excited that it survived!
About a month after that blossom stem was gone, two very healthy blossom stems appeared. The plant had grown about three feet in height and appeared a “pictureof health”. These spikes have about fifty blossoms on them and are still bloomingafter about six weeks. They have brought much pleasure as they are located where we can view them from our deck. It is too high from the ground to fertilize it. I placed one of those fertilizer balls wrapped in netting in with the roots.
“Never throw away an Orchid!”
Many of our club members had especially great orchid blooms this summer into fall. Several have commented on having second stems of blooms on their orchids.
Patti’s Chocolate Allamandas blooming in her yard
This Night Blooming Cereus was among the October blooms. Many flowers bloomed each month for five months this season rather than the usual four.
This is the flat Night Blooming Cereus flower.
I was so thrilled after 4 years of having this Schomburgkia/myrmecophilia orchid. It finally bloomed, and boy did it have tons of flowers that lasted from June thru August. — Submitted by Carol Bytnar
Mimie DiRico’s hanging Cactus exploded while she was away for two months this summer.
These beautiful white roses are freshly cut from Irene Nolan’s garden. With a “green thumb”, persistence and a love of roses, it is possible to raise beautiful roses on Sanibel even in the summer.
Dotty Mount’s beautiful Dendrobium Orchid bloomed this summer.
Dotty Mount’s blooming Bromeliads are brimming over with beauty!
And look at Dotty’s Beauty Berry!
My little herb box has given me lots of basil, parsley, thyme and the most prolific oregano. Full sun and lots of rain water kept it going. There is a pineapple start in there too. — Submitted by Gerri Perkins
This Banana palm photo is from Gerri Perkins. It is a very healthy specimen. It has produced three crops of bananas this year alone! What fun to raise your fruit in your own garden.
Gerri Perkins said she has had this Hoya Carnosa (Wax Plant) for two years and it finally bloomed. Tiny blooms only about 1”! Heavenly scent!
Patti’s orchid is still blooming and thriving in its Frangipani home!
Mimie DiRico has a gorgeous orchid blooming inside her pool cage. Look at the colors! It’s a beauty, that’s for sure.
Patti Poshek’s Anthurium is blooming. . . again! She writes, “This Anthurium is an excellent plant. It is in a shaded area of our deck and gets indirect sun due to the roof overhang. It blooms well all year and needs consistent watering.
When it’s not raining, my desert rose blooms like crazy. It’s a relative of the plumeria.
Also all my succulents are doing great on the pool deck. They get rain but drain really fast in the hypertufa pots we made a few years ago at Forever Green. — Submitted by Gwenda Hiett-Clements
From Patti—
This Vanda was thriving and blooming while becoming entwined in Night Blooming Jasmine. I have moved it about three feet away while retaining indirect afternoon sun.
Vandas require a lot of water. Spray the roots well. The vellum coating on the roots turns green. Spray it a while longer. The greener, the better!
Shell Islands Garden Club participated in Floral Artistry’s annual ”Christmas in October” event. Several members designed a a festive table set for Christmas dinner. The blue, white and silver motif resulted in a stunning presentation. Harriet Pattison led the team.
From Patti Poshek—
This Dendrobium Orchid continues to bloom. The first blooms of the season opened about ten weeks ago. I counted 13 stems of buds. These stems bloomed consistently. Just as the first stems of blooms were nearly finished, ten more appeared. This is a photo of the recent blooms. Dendrobians perform very well when firmly attached to a tree getting some sunlight.
Nancy Hilger returned to Southwest Florida to find these two orchids in bloom and a healthy crop of Meyer lemons (see below).
