BLOOMING SHRUBS

Butterfly flower, Red cestrum. An winter blooming butterfly attractor! Beautiful deep red flower clusters. Low water need once establish.

Rare in collections! Chiococca alba - David's Milkberry, West Indian Milkberry, West Indian Snowberry - is from Gardenia family - Rubiaceae - and sure it has fragrant flowers! A rare Florida native vine or shrub with clusters of tiny, fragrant flowers like lily-of-the-valley, followed by bright white berries that glow against the leaves. Birds eat the fruit and butterflies love the blooms. Tough and adaptable, it grows in sun or shade, tolerates salty breezes, and can sprawl, climb, or be trimmed as a shrub. A graceful, unusual plant with a long history of traditional use.

Fiddlewood, Boo-nge Saaree. Beautiful small tree with long tassels of richly scented white flowers. Flowers are pendant and cover the tree from spring to fall. Great butterfly and bee attractor.

Clerodendrum Musical Note, Morning Kiss - very unusual and showy flowers, blooms year round, takes sun or shade.

Pagoda Flower, Orange Tower Flower. The flowers within the pyramid shaped cluster are tiered, like a Japanese pagoda. Very showy landscape shrub.

Winter Starburst, Fireworks. Large bush or small tree with showy dark green leaves with purple underneath; spectacular winter blooms. Flowers are slightly fragrant. Fast growing.

Chains of Glory, Light Bulb Flower. This elegant plant is a rare species in plant collections. The white fragrant flowers are held in loose pendulous panicles, similar to Bridal Veil (Clerodendrum wallichii). The white flowers are very showy against dark green foliage. Flowering racemes hang down a foot and a half or more. Winter bloomer. It often has two flowering periods during the winter season.

Java Glorybower, Mary Jane. Large velvety leaves and the large quantity of red-flower clusters. It is an important medicinal plant in China. Beautiful red flowers, a marvelous ornamental plant for the garden.

This graceful shrub grows up to 7 ft and has pointed narrow leaves. The white fragrant flowers are held in loose panicles. Cascades of flowers appear around Thanksgiving. Keep it out of the wind, and avoid putting it where it in hot afternoon sun. Blooming in fall-spring.

Small leathery, pear shaped leaves on compact, rounded shrub, with small light pink flowers. The leaves have a special effect: you may write with a sharp stick on the surface, and the writing will stay forever. Thus the common name of this plant!

Wooly Shower Orchid Bush. The actual flowers are tiny and inconspicuous, but they are borne in the center of three showy white 1in long bracts that look like velvety propellers. The bracts gradually change through pink, lavender, and finally gray over the course of several weeks.
Stunning Bracts: showy, silver-pink "wooly" bracts that surround small, inconspicuous flowers, creating a cascading effect.
A fast-growing, woody vine that can quickly cover trellises, arbors, or fences with its dense foliage.
Prefers full sun to partial shade and thrives in warm, humid climates, adding a touch of the tropics to any garden.

Cordyline fruticosa Red Sister, or the Ti Plant, is a popular tropical shrub known for its vibrant, strap-like leaves in shades of pink, burgundy, and deep red, thriving as an easy-care houseplant or outdoor accent in warm climates. Red Sister offers tropical flair, air purification, and deer resistance, making it great for containers, borders, or as a striking indoor focal point. Easy to grow, tolerates poor soils, has low water needs. Sun or shade.

Cordyline fruticosa Sherbert is a vibrant tropical plant, also known as the Ti Plant, prized for its sword-like leaves featuring streaks of green, pink, magenta, and cream, adding bright color indoors or outdoors, and offering air-purifying qualities and good luck symbolism. Easy to grow, tolerates poor soils, has low water needs. Sun or shade.

Cordyline terminalis 'Show Girl' (Singapore Twist), New Guinea Fan Ti Leaf. An unusual form with a head that grows in a flat fan that actually twists as it grows! It has olive green foliage with reddish bases, very compact internodes, the foliage heads 30" across. This is a great conversation piece for the garden or patio. The leaves form an elegant fan as it grows. This plant appreciates well draining soil, and accepts a wide variety of lighting conditions from bright light to complete shade. The color is much more intense in good light.

African lilac, Jamaican lilac - Fast growing shrub with astonishing fragrant velvet leaves. Tall stalks shoot out multiple lavender blue flowers. Both foliage and inflorescence makes an outstanding display. Attracts butterflies. Leaves have pleasant tobacco-like scent.

The rare red-flowered variety of Desmos is one of the most sought-after perfume plants of Southeast Asia, Ylang Ylang shrub. Not everybody can grow Cananga odorata, Ylang-Ylang Tree - fast growing and pretty big. With the Desmos chinensis, a small relative you get that intense fragrance but in a plant that can be kept around 3 to 6 feet. It is a better choice for those with limited space.
Ylang Ylang Shrub - is a rare treasure for fragrance lovers. It's a compact, bushy, vining cousin of the famous Ylang Ylang tree, but with an even more intense perfume. The scent is often compared to sweet lemon candy.
This shrub shows off graceful, arching branches and pendant flowers that come in golden yellow or the even rarer bright red form. It thrives in warm, humid conditions and becomes vigorous once established.
Perfect for smaller gardens or containers, while still delivering that unforgettable fragrance.

One of the showiest landscape plants! It is a real showstopper, and a bonus of this already great shrub is that it will also do well in a container. And a happy surprise - it also serves as nectar plant to a large number of butterflies.
This winter bloomer puts on one of the best flower shows of any shrub here in Florida. It is sometimes called the tropical hydrangea because its flowers are similar to the hydrangeas we know from up North. The flowers are pink to rose color and bloom from fall to spring. That means it's blooming all winter in Naples during season, when the most color is desired and appreciated. Dombeya Seminole is a large shrub that grows 7 feet tall and about the same in width. It can be kept to about 5 feet tall with pruning.
This shrub will grow in full sun to partial shade and will tolerate poor soil. The more sun, the fuller the shrub, and that also encourages the maximum number of flowers. It is also fairly drought-tolerant once established.

Tropical Hydrangea - very fast growing winter bloomer with fragrant pink hydrangea-like flowers. Large size multistem bush with large heart-shape lush foliage. Flowers of this spectacular winter bloomer attract lots of bees and butterflies. Great landscape solution for a quick covering / screening of unwanted views!

Also called "First Love" (sometimes misspelled as YAshioka), this cultivar is one of the darkest green of all gardenias, it has a 3 to 5 inch bloom so perfect, it looks artificial. It was developed by Tadaoki Yoshioka while he lived in Hawaii, and he later brought it to Florida when he moved to Ft. Lauderdale with his family in 1954. The gardenia was named after his daughter, Aimee (Aimee Hironaka), who died in a plane crash in Dallas on August 2, 1985 (Delta Flight 191).
Aimee gardenia grows openly and upright and blooms twice a year and slightly later than others. Flower Size 3 - 5".
See picture of flower,
page about gardenias, their cultivation and varieties.
See picture of actual plant for sale (1-2013).

One of the most desired plants. It is a good grower with large leaves. Very large flowers, 3 to 5 inches in diameter, March thru June. Has a tendency to have yellow-green foliage. Flower Size 3 - 5". Large bushy grafted plant, with buds or/and flowers, can be planted in ground.
See picture of flower,
page about gardenias, their cultivation and varieties.
See picture of actual plant for sale (1-2013).

Rare gardenia from Africa with blooms sporadically year round. Covered with flowers when in bloom. Strong fragrance, unusually shaped leaves. Rare gardenia with star-like tubular flowers. It is a slow growing, round shrub and has large leaves of unusual diamond shape and delicate to touch unlike most of gardenias with waxy leaves. The plant blooms sporadically several times a year - year round. Fragrance is very strong and sweet. One day the whole plant is covered with blooms that stay a few days and then drop all together. A must for rare plant collection.

Star of Tahiti. National flower of French Polynesia. The intoxicating sweet fragrant blossoms are creamy white works of art. Large flowers 3" in diameter, large glossy oval leaves.

Golden Gardenia Kula - very rare tropical gardenia. Medium size slow growing shrub with leathery leaves and fragrant flowers that change color from ivory through yellow to orange.
It is a rare, collectible item!

Vietnamese Gardenia - large fragrant flowers. Easy to grow to compare with other gardenias, not so sensitive to overwatering and the most cold hardy of all tropical gardenias. Flowers are very beautiful unusual shape, extremely fragrant. Perfect for container, very bushy. Can be also planted in the ground. This pretty plant has been called "Gardenia" for long time. However, analysis shows that it is a horticultural form of Kailarsenia.
See article about this plant.