Mexican Bluebell, Ruellisa 'Purple Showers"

This plant, also called Mexican Petunia, comes in Blue, pink and white. Most of my experience is with the purple-blue variety. It grows up to 5' tall and 3' wide but can be kept with pruning at 3' by 2'. This variety has a tendency to spread and send up new plants from the roots, but I have found that it can be controlled with regular pruning. The best place to plant it is in a contained area, such as an island bed which is surrounded by asphalt or an edged bed. Then you can just let it go. Planted in a mass these plants are a gorgeous splash of blue all summer and into the fall. They take to hard pruning so if they get too tall just hack them back to 2'. They will be flowering again shortly after.

Combine them with red canna, shrub allamanda for a beautiful combination. When combined with other plants you may have to keep up the pruning as they are aggressive for their space.

Pinwheel Jasmine

The common name of jasmine is used for a variety of plants that aren't even jasmines. Pinwheel jasmine is one of them. The botanical name is Tabernaemontana divaricata. It is also know as Butterfly Gardenia. You see how common names will get you into trouble? Anyway this is a gorgeous plant with rich green shiny leaves and white fragrant flowers. The flowers look like little pinwheels-hence the common name.

It grows well in partial shade- filtered sun throughout the day or half day of sun. The ideal size for this plant is 4-6 ' tall and 4-6 wide. It does not like to be heavily pruned or constantly hacked back as plants are in Florida. Plant it in a space that allows for this growth. If you try to keep it under 4' it will not bloom. Now, did I say that it is more fragrant at night, so plant it near a patio or deck where you can enjoy it's fragrance. My experience with this plant is that it likes slightly rich soil. I have planted it in manure enriched soil as well as topsoil. In both these cases the plant thrived. I always use an organic fertilizer twice a year.

When you try to find this plant, start by asking for Pinwheel Jasmine but bring the Botanical Name with you and your local nursery will help you.

I wanted to add a few more pictures of this beautiful plant I collected this week.  Watch out for the gnomes living under the plant.  This plant was in late afternoon sun with shade all morning and throughout the midday. You can see that it is large and more compact then the photo above.  It has plenty of room and a bit more sunlight.

Autum Fern

I last wrote about Crotons and said how they blended nicely in a semi-shaded area with Autumn Fern or the botanical name Dryopteris erythrosora. For my friends up North (that's you Elaine) this plant grows from New England all the way to Florida. It is evergreen in the South. It is a beautiful fern that grows to approximately 2' tall. What makes it special is that it has seasonal color. The new fronds emerging in the spring are a coppery color then turn to green and then a rusty brown in the fall. They are quite drought tolerant once established in the landscape. Plant these in the partial to full shade.

Top 20 Shrub Choices in Florida

When I first came to Florida I wanted to get information on what were the best, most reliable plants to use in this harsh environment. If you are from New England, stop complaining about your environment being so tough, Florida is quite a challenge: the heat, the dryness, the downpours and flooding. So, back to my top 20 shrub choices; it is good to know what shrubs will do well without a lot of extra work. These can be used as the backbone of your planting, then you can highlight with other possibly higher maintenance plants because you just like them.

The first plant I want to talk about is the Croton. The Botanical name is Codiaeum variegatum. I will be using the Botanical/Latin names for plants because really this is the only way to accurately identify them. For some reason, you do not see the Latin name used in Florida so it provides a great deal of mystery when buying plants with questions such as, " Is this the variety that grows 10 feet tall or 2 feet tall?" Answer, ummmm, " I think it is the short one." Wow, that really gives me security.

So, the Croton is very common but there are many interesting varieties. I will have more pictures later. The most common variety, Petra Croton, grows to about 6' tall and 4' wide but can be kept at 3'x3'. They will grow in part shade to full sun. The color can fade a bit in the full sun. These plants are subject to frost damage and this past winter with temperatures dipping into the thirty's with regularity, there wasn't a leaf left on any of the plants in my neighborhood. However most came back and on some of my jobs the entire top died and they came back from the base.

These plants, once established , will survive without irrigation, just the natural Florida rains. One of the nice things about these plants is the variety of colors in the leaves. As far as landscape design, you can work off these colors and make a beautiful arrangement. They also brighten up a semi-shaded area that is composed only of green plants. In the partial shade, mix them with Autumn Ferns, Ti Plant, Variegated Ginger and in the sun, use Cannas, Allamandas, Pentas.

More Begonia Photos

Here are some more pictures of my Begonia.

Begonia

Moving to Clearwater, Florida, I read about a begonia that was a perennial. Coming from cold Massachusetts, I couldn't believe there was such a thing. The height of this plant was supposed to reach 7 feet! Again I was found that hard to believe. Well, I found one . The correct name is Begonia flamingo, also known as Begonia coccinea and the common name is Pink Angelwing Begonia. I planted it in a 18" container and it grew 4 feet tall within 4 months. This is such a beautiful plant with clusters of pink drooping flowers that bloom all year. This plant requires light to medium shade and once established will takes low water. It is very easy to propagate, just cut the tips and stick them in water. I have propagated over 20 plants from this one speciman. Try this plant out-in a shady nook in the garden or a container on a shaded patio-you won't regret it.