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What is the most excusive tropical Christmas flower?

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

Ruellia colorata, Colorama

🎄 What is the most excusive tropical Christmas flower?
  • 🎅 A festive showstopper, Ruellia colorata, known as Colorama, is a rare and vibrant addition to exotic container plant collection. Its brilliant scarlet bracts color up for Christmas and stay bright carmine for several months.
  • 🎅 Native to Brazil, this small plant grows 2-4 feet tall, displaying brilliant scarlet bracts and crimson flowers that stay bright for months, adding a touch of holiday cheer.
  • 🎅 One of Colorama's most striking features is its photoperiodic response: the top leaves turn crimson red around Christmas time due to changes in daylight length, much like the beloved Poinsettia. After winter, these leaves return to green, keeping the plant lively and versatile year-round.

    • Photoperiodism is the process where plants respond to the length of day and night, triggering changes such as leaf coloration or flowering.
  • 🎅 Its blooms are a magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds, making it a favorite for wildlife enthusiasts.
  • 🎅 Colorama thrives in shady to semi-shady spots and requires regular watering to stay lush and healthy. It's perfect for USDA zones 9-11 but can also be grown in colder regions if protected from frost. For winter care in cooler climates, move it indoors or to a warm area to keep this stunning beauty happy and blooming.
  • 🎅 When grown in pots, ensure good drainage, use rich organic soil, and place the plant in a bright location.
  • 🎅 Prune twice a year to maintain its compact, bushy shape, and fertilize with a flowering fertilizer once established.


🛒 Get your own Exclusive Christmas Colorama

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Date:

Why is it called Blood Feather?

Sanchezia stenomacra - Blood Red Feather

Sanchezia stenomacra - Blood Red Feather

🪶 Why is it called Blood Feather?
  • 🩸A true gem for tropical plant enthusiasts, Sanchezia stenomacra - Blood Red Feather - is a rare and stunning perennial.
  • 🩸Native to the jungles of Peru, it thrives in humid environments with filtered light, making it perfect for lush, shaded spots in your garden, greenhouse or indoor plant collection.
  • 🩸Its striking blood-red flowers, shaped like delicate feathers, add a bold splash of color and are irresistible to hummingbirds. Feathery burgundy-red plumes rise above the deep green foliage and last for weeks. The true flowers are orange-red and tubular, emerging from the wispy flower heads day after day.
  • 🩸Upright, vigorous grower. When plants become too large, they can take a hard pruning and quickly recover and re-flower. Flowering continuously throughout the year, it even does well under partial sun.
  • 🩸A rare find for private collections, this showy plant is sure to become a centerpiece of your tropical paradise.


🛒 Order Blood Red Feather Sanchezia

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When Butterfly Bush is in bloom

Butterfly Bush - Odontonema

🦋 When Butterfly Bush is in bloom
  • 🦋 Butterfly Bush - Odontonema is in full bloom again this time of the year! Spectacular Winter bloomer and butterfly attractor.
  • 🦋 Takes both sun and shade, and tolerates light frost. Very easy plant!


📚 From previous posts:

🛒 OrderButterfly Bush

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Baby-pink fluffy flower for butterflies

Calliandra selloi (brevipes) - Pink Powderpuff, Pink Lilian

🦋 Baby-pink fluffy flower for butterflies
  • 🐾 Calliandra selloi (brevipes) - The Pink Powderpuff, also known as Pink Lilian, is a spectacular bloomer that adds charm and grace to your butterfly garden.
  • 🐾 Native to southeastern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina, this shrub stands out with its finely divided leaves with teeny-tiny leaflets and dazzling clusters of baby pink, silky, powder-puff flowers.
  • 🐾 This medium-to-large shrub has a graceful growth habit, making it a stunning centerpiece or a lush addition to garden borders.
  • 🐾 Its delicate flowers bloom during the summer, looking like nature's fireworks and attracting pollinators with their fluffy appeal.


📚 More Calliandras from previous posts:

🛒 Shop Calliandras - Powderpuffs

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Date:

What is an easy growing butterfly bush for a low maintenance landscape?

Cassia bahamensis (Senna mexicana) - Bahama Senna

Cassia bahamensis (Senna mexicana) - Bahama Senna

🏖 What is an easy growing butterfly bush for a low maintenance landscape?
  • ☀️ Cassia bahamensis (Senna mexicana) - Bahama Senna is a fantastic addition to low-maintenance landscapes, especially in Southern gardens.
  • ☀️ This hardy, compact shrub is beloved for its dense, lush green foliage and abundant clusters of vibrant golden-yellow flowers that bloom from fall to early spring.
  • ☀️ The blooms are not only visually striking but also serve as an essential nectar source for butterflies, particularly the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly, making it a pollinator magnet.
  • ☀️ What makes Bahama Senna a landscaper's favorite is its remarkable resilience. It's highly drought-tolerant, thrives in full sun, and requires little water once established - perfect for areas with water restrictions or hot climates.
  • ☀️ Its low-growing, compact habit (typically under 5 feet) makes it ideal for small gardens, borders, or containers, where it adds a splash of color without overwhelming other plants.
  • ☀️ Additionally, its evergreen foliage provides year-round interest, and it requires minimal pruning to maintain its shape, making it truly low-maintenance.
  • ☀️ For those looking for a beautiful, easy-care shrub that attracts pollinators and brightens the garden with golden hues, Bahama Senna is an outstanding choice.


🛒 Plant Bahama Senna

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Colorful varieties of Chinese Hat Flower

Holmskioldia sanguinea - Chinese Hat Flower, Red

Holmskioldia sanguinea - Chinese Hat Flower, Red

Holmskioldia cintrina - Chinese Hat Flower, Yellow

Holmskioldia cintrina - Chinese Hat Flower, Yellow

Holmskioldia sanguinea - Chinese Hat Flower, Bronze

Holmskioldia sanguinea - Chinese Hat Flower, Bronze

💕 Colorful varieties of Holmskioldia sanguinea - Chinese Hat Flower

#Butterfly_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

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Why is it called Chinese Hat Flower? Winter bloomer is here!

Holmskioldia sanguinea, or Chinese Hat Flower

💍 Why is it called Chinese Hat Flower? Winter bloomer is here!
  • 👒 The Holmskioldia sanguinea, or Chinese Hat Flower, gets its charming nickname from the shape of its blooms. Each flower resembles a tiny, colorful hat or parasol, with a narrow tubular structure backed by a broad, circular calyx, giving it a "hat-like" appearance!
  • 👒 This unique form has also inspired other playful names like Cup and Saucer, Parasol Flower, and Mandarin's Hat.
  • 👒 One of the most amazing features of the Chinese Hat Flower is that it's a vibrant winter bloomer. Just when many plants are dormant, it bursts into color, brightening up gardens with its eye-catching hues.
  • 👒 The classic variety produces red blooms, but there are also rare types, including Holmskioldia citrina, which has bright yellow flowers, and a bronze variety with orange-bronze blooms. These vibrant colors make it a fantastic choice for adding a splash of color to any garden during the cooler months.
  • 👒 This scrambling shrub is not only beautiful but also hardy and fast-growing, perfect for training along trellises, fences, or arbors, where its cascading blooms can shine.
  • 👒 Besides being visually striking, the Chinese Hat Flower is a magnet for pollinators, drawing in butterflies and hummingbirds.
  • 👒 For gardeners seeking a low-maintenance, colorful plant with a tropical vibe, the Chinese Hat Flower is an ideal choice!


📸 More photos of varieties in the next post ⬇️⬇️⬇️

🛒 Shop Chinese Hat Plants

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Date:

Why some cassias are called Rainbow?

Rainbow cassia - Cassia Marginata

🌈 Why some cassias are called "Rainbow"?

Cassias, besides yellow, can be pink, red, or with a multi-color flower combination.

Rainbow cassias are hybrids between yellow and pink or red cassias.

Some of the most showy cassias are:
Cassia grandis - Red Cassia
Cassia javanica - Apple Blossom Tree
Cassia marginata - Rainbow Shower Tree
Cassia roxburghii - Ceylon Senna
Cassia x nodosa - Pink Shower, Appleblossom.

♦️ Cassia trees are compact, fast growing, tolerant to drought and poor soils, free-flowering and relatively cold hardy. Always a great choice!

❓ What cassias do you have in your garden?
Share photos in comments👇

📚 More about cassias from previous posts:
How to add color to your yard
Rainbow Cassias

🎥 Rainbow cassia - Cassia Marginata.

🛒 Shop showy Cassia trees

#Butterfly_Plants #Trees

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Date:

The plant you didnt know you needed!

Caesalpinia mexicana - Mexican Bird of Paradise

Caesalpinia mexicana - Mexican Bird of Paradise

Caesalpinia mexicana - Mexican Bird of Paradise

Caesalpinia mexicana - Mexican Bird of Paradise

🧙‍♀️ The plant you didn’t know you needed!
  • 🟨 Many gardeners love and want Caesalpinia pulcherrima, the common Bird of Paradise, but Caesalpinia mexicana - Mexican Bird of Paradise - is a rare treasure with a delightful twist - fragrant flowers! This hardy, drought-tolerant shrub thrives in intense heat and is perfect for small yards or patios.
  • 🟨 During the warm months, it bursts with butter-yellow blooms that pop against feathery green foliage, attracting hummingbirds. As the flowers fade, woody pods form and snap open dramatically. It grows quickly to 10 feet and can be shaped into a small tree or kept as a compact shrub.
  • 🟨 Native to northern Mexico, it thrives in full sun and well-drained soil with very little water. If you're looking for a low-maintenance beauty that adds both fragrance and charm, this plant is a must-have!


🛒 Plant Mexican Bird of Paradise

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Date:

How a fast-growing screen becomes a honey-fragrant wildlife attractor

Acacia farnesiana - Sweet Mimosa

Acacia farnesiana - Sweet Mimosa

😊 How a fast-growing screen becomes a honey-fragrant wildlife attractor
  • 🐝 Acacia farnesiana - Sweet Mimosa - is a delightful evergreen shrub that's as tough as it is charming!
  • 🐝 This large, multi-stem shrub can reach 15 feet tall and wide and sports thorny branches - a real character with a wild streak! But don't let the thorns scare you off; it offers rewards aplenty.
  • 🐝 Its canary-yellow, powder-puff flowers bloom all winter through spring, filling the air with a honey-like fragrance that attracts butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.
  • 🐝 This plant doesn't just survive - it thrives in poor soils, tolerates drought and alkaline conditions, and grows incredibly fast!
  • 🐝 Whether you're planting it as a privacy screen or just looking for a pop of cheerful color during chilly months, this hardy shrub keeps its evergreen leaves even through cold snaps when other plants throw in the towel.
  • 🐝 Native to Mexico and Central America, Sweet Mimosa has spread its charm far and wide, becoming popular in southern U.S. landscapes like Florida, Texas, and Arizona. It even finds use in perfume production with its flowers contributing to the fragrance known as "cassie" in Europe.
  • 🐝 Every gardener should have this resilient plant ready to brighten the garden and attract wildlife year-round!


🛒 Plant Sweet Mimosa

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