Monday 21 February 2011

Jade vines and Starbursts

My Jade Vine is flowering. This is an unexpected gift because this vine shares a trellis with my odontadenia macrantha. I bought the jade vine as a sapling about two years ago and never took it out of its bag. I placed it next to the trellis in the cool and promptly forgot about itWe noticed the first flower one week ago and since then we've had three blooms.
The colour is striking. My pictures do not do the flower justice, the colour is truly jade, a blue grey that I have not seen very often in nature. There is a translucence that it difficult to reproduce with the camera. It is an extraordinary hue that is completely different to all the other greens in the garden.
Strongylodon macrobotrys is the jade vine's show name. Each display is at least 18 inches long and, from what I have seen, the inflorescence lasts for approximately a week.
Each day, the flower sheds individual blooms and the ground below is littered with magical offerings that are striking in both colour and shape.
Each flower delicately etched and formed.
I feel very fortunate to be back in the garden. Everything has started to come into flower with the changing of the seasons. Even the cats are coming out to enjoy the scenery!Dry season, with its hot days and cool nights, brings out the best in my garden. I am lucky to have my Clerodendrun Quadriloculare (family Verbenaceae) in bloom as well. Commonly known as starburst or shooting Star or even glorybower, this rather nondescript plant transforms itself into a remarkable thing when in bloom. This is not a plant for the fainthearted. For the rest of the year, it is an aggressive, semi-hostile plant that vigorously walks and jumps. I have tried to control it by pulling out most of the suckers and treeing the existing shrubs.It does look like a starburst but I truly love the other name glorybower. There is something so magical about the name.
I now have a spectacular show of flowers displayed against the vivid mauve of the leaves. The flowers look as if they might be scented but they are not.
The clerodendrons are growing just below my petreas with their purple flowers.The two plants complement each other in a way that I could not have anticipated. This is a reminder that it's not always necessary to have complete control in a garden. Sometimes it's necessary to stand back and let things evolve naturally.
This is the shape that my new garden is taking. It is an entirely new space for me and, while there are very beautiful areas, it has been very daunting to re sculpt the whole space.
But with my jade vine in bloom, my starburst clerodendron jumping off the branches My coffee trees are in flower AND I'm happy to report that I saw the first bloom of my Amherstia nobilis. It's still too early to photograph but it should be ready in a few days.
The chutney garden is back on its way.

15 comments:

wildgirl said...

I love your beautiful garden and dream of cultivating such a space around my own home. The Jade vine is one of my favourites - I tried to germinate a seed but was not successful. Perhaps you'll get seeds (beans) that will grow since your vine seems to be very happy where it is.

Babette said...

Wow. I have a black thumb, so to see your skills, even if that means you step back and let go sometimes, is awesome to me. Gorgeous space.

islandgal246 said...

My Jade vine died a few years ago without ever flowering and am on the lookout for another . Your garden looks awesome Sharon. Those sealing wax palms are just gorgeous. I am trying to propagate some seeds that are taking forever to germinate.

Lorraine Robain said...

Beautiful garden, beautiful photos!

Tira said...

That jade vine looks fab-glad you got to enjoy.

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Anonymous said...

Can I see some pictures of the Jade Vine seed? i dont know how to spot them, theres a jade vine growing at our university garden and its kind of free to pick with permission to the gardener

Barbara said...

Just a little hello, hoping you're fine! I miss your posts from your beautiful exotic garden!
Barbara

Barbara said...

Merry Christmas to you and your family and all the best wishes for 2012!

Anonymous said...

Lovely, lovely pictures. Love the idea of "magical offerings" that each give you, or the seer of these plants. HL

Veronica said...

Hey! Very cool to have found you. We may have much in common. I too will be owned by a jade vine one day as it has been my dream for many years. I have never seen it growing in Trinidad. Thanks for sharing.

Veronica

VeeraMahal Franklin said...

Heavenly garden! I just got my first strawberry & thought of checking in on your garden. Pleasantly rewarded...
VeeraMahal Franklin
www.kaleidoscoopes.blogspot.com

sharon said...

just lovely!! I have a shooting star too