I never thought og Squirrel as an animal that makes harm to plant, a pity, they are so cute. But bugs, yack, get rid of them! Sad with your flowers but what has to be done.. Seems like you can enjoy plenty of colourfull blooming anyhow, warming and beautiful pictures ( today there is snow outside here..)
Enjoy :)

Sometimes in the summer when all the bad insects comes i can think that i will give up. But it´s just a thougt.
So nice plants you have in your garden.
Hope that the squirrel is far from your plants.
Have a nice time.

Hi Stephanie; you have certainly "green fingers".
Plants in pots need special care, which is not always easy to achieve. The Gloxinia looks formidable and I think it is not an easy plant,for me it is always temperamental. Mealy bugs are such an nuisance. I had a succulent, I think it is called black knight, it was always full and I could not get rid of them. I put the whole pot into the full, hot sun, and presto they did not like it and took off, the plant did not mind it, as it is a succulent. Some plants could be burned by this harsh process, you would have to monitor it. Crypanthus are so pretty, I call them earthstars and they are tough plants, good for us! cheers T.

I hate the mealy bugs too! Yuks! Just found some on my Torenia! You have lovely blooms. Can the Gloxinia strive under direct sunlight?

I hate mealy bugs too!
Squirrel attack on plants? Hope it does not find your ground orchid! I have trouble with monkeys here.....

Your flowering plants look so lush!

Don't you just hate it when bugs or animals attack your plants! But that is the nature for us...

I absolutely LOVE cyclamens :) That is the best colour, too.

kitchen flavours, no, gloxinia will be burnt in direct sunlight. Mine are placed in the porch. Although in the late afternoon, they get a little sunlight, they seems to be fine with it.

Malar, I hate them too... they keep coming back!

Mia, Gudrun, wild squirrels are mischievous!

Titania, thanks for that tip! I agree about earthstars... they are indeed pretty ;-)

everything looks great but those ground orchids are something else!

Stephanie, You are really great! These are more suited to the highlands and not everyone can get them to flower like that here under the hot weather. Do you do anything special like watering them with ice water? I am not joking.

Everyone seem to detest mealy bugs! I wonder if we love them a bit more, would they be less nasty? :)

Greetings,

Do you guys eat turkey in Thanksgiving? Do you celebrate that originally meaningful activity?

At any rate. I am glad you liked the iron grills, seventy/sixty years ago when the house were built, this style was in fashion.

Now, most are just parallel vertical metal bars.

I agree with you, they look nice, much better with vines, flowers around. If you like the subject, check under Andalusian gardens/patios...
You will love them...

You have so many beautiful blooms even with the pesky bugs. I especially like your pretty pink mosaic.

Ooh, I love that ground orchid. What pretty colors! Too bad about the mealy bugs and ground squirrels. It seems I'm always battling some nemesis or another in my garden too. Fortunately, the good always outweighs the bad.

I love a tough plant! I like my Rosemary because it keeps on growing, despite my neglect.
Your Gloxinia is fabulous!

Rita, cyclamen petals grow backwards in a rather strange way but definitely fabulous :-D

Aaron, Floridagirl, Diane, endless battle... yes good always prevails!

One, no need for ice water. Tap water will do. Gloxinia is a tough cookie :-)

Wendy, these blooms are small if compared with normal size ground orchids.

Antigonum, thanks for that info. Andalusian gardens/patios are beautiful. I learnt something new today!

Rosey, I like rosemary also!

you know something-now I know a lot about flower and their names.

I've just looked aty cyclamen in exhibits and thought they are only temperate or semi-temperated crops, but now you said you are growing them. So it can be grown in hot climate too! That's good. Do you place them in slightly shaded areas?

Love all your blooms. My yellow gazania is still not blooming for me because the poppies are blocking the light from reaching sun loving gazania. Thank you for introducing me to gloxinia. Like to grow one as well.

Mealy bug does more damage compared to white flies. You have to be vigilant with these pest.
They too invade my garden time to time especially during the rainy season and often tend to kill my Wishbone flower plant.

Do whatever it takes to kill them as they will not infest other garden plants. Whiteflies tend to carry virus with them that causes the leaves to shrivel (happens a lot on roses, chilli plant & spicy jathrophas)

foodbin, I love to know more flower names also ;-)

Andrea, yes the plant is placed at a shaded area. I bought this cyclamen a few weeks ago. The plant has been sending out new flower quite frequently :-D

Malay-Kadazan girl, hope you will find one gloxinia soon.

James, thanks for your advice!

Steph, sorry I'm late in coming here. Mealy bugs are an issue with my plants too. But we never see any squirrels in my area.
Good to know that your Cryptanthus survived the attack. Your potted plants look absolutely fabulous! I like them all!

Beautiful Gloxinia. I used to have one just like that.
Suzanne

Hi Steph, encouraging post. We won't give up, but unfortunately neither will the bugs. So it's a fight to the death (theirs). cheers, catmint

kanak7, now I know squirrel has really strong teeth ;-)

Suzanne, it's amazing to know Gloxinia could be planted here and in your part of the world as well.

catmint, that's right he he... :-D