Date: 24 Mar 2019
Featured plant. Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw
Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw
Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak... Tropical flowers never fail to astound and amaze with their forms and colors. Lobster Claw plant (Heliconia rostrata) is no exception, with large, brightly hued bracts that cluster up a stem. It is also called Parrot Beak and has inconsequential tiny flowers covered by the showy bracts. It is native to Central to South America and is one of the most recognized and widely grown species of showy heliconias, and one of the most beautiful! The inflorescence it produces is one of the most colorful you will ever encounter. Pendulous blooms of striking red and yellow bracts often reach 3' in length! The flowers last a long time and make an excellent cut flower. It is an easy grower in tropical areas but some room is required because the stalks can reach 7 feet in height. It can withstand temperatures in the high 20s. Can be grown in large pots, it starts blooming once the plant reaches 4-5' tall and the amazing inflorescences will appear one after another creating a spectacular show to enjoy. Grow in full to partial sun and rich soil with lots of water and fertilizer.
Date: 24 Mar 2019
Spectacular Evergreen Wisteria
Q: When I was a child growing up in Virginia, my mother always had Wisteria growing around the house. It became one of my favorite plants growing up. I loved the beautiful cascading purple flowers. The highly fragrant and colorful flowers provided a feast for the senses. I have now re-located to Florida and understand the the Wisteria I knew as a child will not flower here in the warmer climate. Is there a vine similar to the wisteria that I can grow here in Florida?
A: There is a great alternative to the Wisteria sinensis you knew and loved as a child! Millettia reticulata - Evergreen Wisteria is a beautiful and highly fragrant vine. Unlike Wisteria sinensis, Millettia is not an invasive plant and can be maintained much more easily. The royal purple flowers completely cover the plant throughout the Spring and Summer.
Date: 18 Mar 2019
Featured plant. Sauromatum (Typhonium) venosum - Voodoo Lily
Sauromatum (Typhonium) venosum - Voodoo Lily
Rare Amorphophallus ralative, Typhonium venosum (Sauromatum venosum), is
a common shade-loving house or garden plant from temperate and tropical
Africa and Asia. This plant is also known as the Voodoo Bulb because of its
ability to flower from a corm without soil and water. Tuberous perennial with
solitary, segmented round leaf and strange, arum-like flower. Rare collectable,
it is a showy exotic container plant.
Typhonium grows to around 20 inches tall from an underground corm. A
large corm can spawn multiple new corms. Inflorescences emerge before the
leaves. An inflorescence has a purplish-brown-spotted, yellowish spathe and a
purplish-brown spadix which emit a strong odor perceived as similar to cow
manure, rotting flesh, or a dirty wet dog, depending on who smells the
inflorescence ;) The odor lasts only a day and attracts carrion-feeding insects which can
pollinate this plant.
Plants we have in stock, have tubers 1-2"in diameter. The plant goes
dormant in winter and starts sprouting in March-April. Keep soil slightly
moist but not wet, and wait for the magic leaf to pop up... The plant should
flower within a year or two.
Date: 18 Mar 2019
Date: 15 Mar 2019
Save Coffee from extinct!
The most popular kind of coffee for commercial production, Coffea arabica, is already on the endangered species list. According to research, Coffea arabica plant could become extinct in as little as 60 years.
Coffee requires a forest habitat for its survival. With so much deforestation going on around the world, wild coffee species are being impacted at an alarming rate. Coffee plants grow in very specific natural habitats, so rising temperatures and increased rainfall brought by climate change can make coffee impossible to grow in places the plants once thrived.
Read the whole article
See video: Top Tropicals Showcase: Coffee plant
To reserve a cup of coffee for yourself and your children, plant the Coffee tree now!
