Well, I am shocked to admit it has been almost a year since I have blogged here. I have been busy with work and also school (Accounting Degree). I wanted to share with you on how Dancing With Nature's gardens are doing. Our epiphyllum collection is reaching astronomical numbers. We are hopelessly addicted and pushing the 100 mark in our collection. Bromeliads have also become more abundant. As of right now, I am in the process of making a "bromeliad table." I know it sounds strange but  I think the finished process will be beautiful. I have converted a glassless nice wood coffee table into a bright red urethaned holder for several bromeliad varieties. It is still a work in progress. Will share photos when it is ready!

So, are you wondering what is really showing off in our gardens right now? Well, our pencil cactus stock plant got so large that it had to be potted up and I have brought it indoors for now. The Mexican Flame Vine is growing insanely and is covered with bright orange blooms! Our 'Blue Boutique' Passiflora is creeping from under the sidewalk and is covered with sweet smelling blooms. 'Belotti' Passiflora has grown bored with growing along the picket fences...it is now trailing up our Austrailian Tea Tree-which is also growing very well. Our rootbeer plant continues to put off new babies all underneath it as do the Aloe Vera plants and 'Belotti.' Our Vicks Plant hanging basket is a real sight to see! It is doing great in full sun. Our 'Foetida' Passiflora is growing up our Blue Java Ice Cream Bananas (of which are producing heavily this year). The plant that seems to be the main attractor of our hummingbirds (and even some butterflies) is the Flaming Glory Bower. It has self-seeded in a few spots in the garden. Dancing With Nature has a jungle feel to it as I am a vine lover. I asked my daughter to help with the watering one day. She told me, "Mom, I was afraid I would see a snake. But what happened was...an orange butterfly landed on my shoulder and I looked down and saw a huge frog." Our gardens are home to the occasional grass snake and many lizards. With all the passiflora, butterflies are not in short supply. The other day, I saw the most magnificent butterfly. It was black with red, yellow and blue markings! Well, that's all for now. Dancing With Nature has seemed to focus more on epiphyllum and bromeliads here lately but we love all of our plants! Please comment us back on how your plants are doing!

Hi!  We have a fairly large assortment of epiphyllum hybrids...63 last count.  For all the other epie growers out there, I wanted to start a blog on epie bloom tips.  Anything as far as lighting, fertilizing, etc. would be wonderful!  This season, we are mixing Osmocote slow release fertilizer into our soil and planning to also fertilize with bone meal or another light fertilizer.  Let's talk about it!

By the way, we have now made our blogs "commentable".  We are new to this...thanks for the tip we got on turning it on so that you guys can respond.

Dancing With Nature is located in a suburb of Houston, Texas.  I was just wondering if any of you had experienced less than normal blooming of your plants.  We certainly did, and it was a great disappointment.  Only one variety of our plumeria produced blooms, and it was very late in the season.  Actually, it is blooming as we speak.  I won't complain...it's still beautiful but it really seems the weather might have played tricks on the horticulture!  I planted many varieties of morning glories that are just now blooming.  I will have to get pictures posted soon.  We grew our morning glories up the trunks of our plumerias and they mixed beautifully!  I also just noticed our Mexican Flame Vine has finally set flowers.  We grow unusual aloes that have continued to put off beautiful, tall, scarlet flower spikes.  The Flaming Glory Bower has done well for several months now.  Our 'Belotti', 'Foetida', 'Amethyst' and 'Blue Boutique' passifloras put on quite a show this year.  The Golden Dew Drops were lovely as well.  Very sad to report that our bouganivilleas, epies, and hybrid hibiscus did not perform for us. We can not forget the lovely 'Coral Insignis' brugmansia that stayed covered with scented pendalums.  While we are on scent, our white butterfly ginger and peach ginger did awesome!  Well, I guess results were mixed but I do feel the weather...too much rain...played a part in our late blooms.  Please post your thoughts and experiences this season.  We'd love to hear.

Hi, gang!  I wanted to post some news about the Dancing With Nature gardens as I know all of you are working hard to get yours in order.  Every winter, we dig up our plumerias and bring them indoors in pots.  They go pretty dormant during the winter and aren't much to look at.  Their leaves fall and they don't bloom.  So, spring is an exciting time.  We planted our plumerias back into the landscape once frost was no longer a threat.  We are only growing three varieties at the moment but look to greatly expand our collection this season.  We are watching daily as new leaves are starting to appear.  By summer, our plumerias will be in full force with many leaves and branches boasting gorgeous, scented flowers.  Plumeria blossoms are famous for making leis in Hawaii.  Growing plumeria is very easy.  They enjoy sun and adequate water but be careful not to overwater especially if they are in pots as they can rot.  Proper drainage is important.  Planted in the landscape they grow much larger and you will find, they turn into beautiful blooming trees!  Of course, you can prune your plumeria to your taste.  Watch our auctions as we will soon be offering gallon sized plants of  'Loretta' and also a white variety with yellow center.  We will be propagating 'Nebel's Rainbow' this year.  If you have any requests before that time, please let us know.  We also have limited quantities of 'Hi Lo Rainbow' seedlings.  You may not know but plumeria grown from seedlings do not always represent their parent.  You may wind up with a brand new unclaimed Plumeria!  How exciting is that???