OOOOooo-weeee we got cold here in South Florida this week! If we're cold then ya'll gotta be freezing, eek...too cold for my SoFla blood. Oh who am I kidding, I love this weather! It's been in the low 40's and some places high 30's at night and day temps range in the 60's depending on which county you live in. Believe it or not, Dade county is 2-3 degrees warmer than us here in Broward and Broward is 2-3 degrees warmer than our northern county of Palm Beach. Of course that's the same for the cooler temps with Palm Beach being the coolest, er I mean coldest. Because Broward is the 'coolest', yeah we rock! Just kidding, all of the tri-counties are pretty awesome and have their own unique elements that make them pretty rad to visit.
Wait whaaaattt!?! Did somebody say hedge plants? Yes, so true, wouldn't lie...we're talking plant for your hedges today! Perfect timing especially since we have experienced some serious tropical storms and hurricanes. We are super lucky to still have our homes in tact though our landscapes have suffered somewhat. Unfortunately Homestead, Florida, where so many of our amazing nurseries reside, have suffered so much damage from hurricane Irma. The good thing is were are ready to plant some plants...am I right!?! Let's support our local agriculture nurserymen and women so we can keep them in business.
Most people want privacy around their homes especially when these builders are putting houses literally right next to each other with zero lot lines. The most important thing when thinking about putting hedges and/or landscaping along the property perimeter, is making sure you're planting the right plant in the right place. Think about how big the plants will get, are there powerlines above the area where they will grow, are there gas lines under ground, are there sprinklers in that area, are they going to grow into my neighbors yard...so you get the idea. Hopefully this post will give you some more information to help you in your quest for a beautiful landscape.
Let's start with
graptophyllum pictum tricolor, Jamaican croton tricolor, for a really unique look, this is the plant for you. It's really caught many people's attention so the nurseries are growing alot more of it but having a hard time to keep up demand. There are four varieties:
'chocolate queen', 'lemon-lime', 'pink lemonade' and 'snowfall'. Each one has a different color variation but they all have the same gorgeous deep magenta color flower clusters. They all can grow in part sun/part shade and in sun but they seem to do their best with a bit of shade. They grow to about 6-8 feet high and about 4-5 feet wide. Likes an organic soil so it retains a bit of moisture, they don't well in sandy soils due to how hot and dry it can get in the summer. If planted in a sandier soil then they do require regular watering in full sun.
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| Graptophyllum 'Pink lemonade' |
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| Graptophyllum 'Pink lemonade' with magenta flowers |
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| Graptophyllum 'Lemon-lime' |
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| Graptophyllum 'Chocolate queen' |
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| Graptophyllum 'Snow fall' |
Next up is the
golden false aralia,
euodia hortensis, which I think is a confusing name since it isn't even an aralia, go figure. So I shall rename it to 'secret sunglow', yes, much better don't you think? I thought so too. This shrub is a secret so shhhhh...you want to be the only one on the block with this gorgeousness! It grows in full sun to part shade, can grow in a variety of soils but prefers something less sandy for watering purposes. It grows up to about 15 ft but is very manageable at any height. I love using the lemon-lime colors as a juxtaposition in order for darker colors to stand out better. Luckily this shrub is full all the way down to the ground.
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| Euodia hortensis or what I like to call 'secret sunglow' |
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| Euodia hortensis in the landscape |
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| Euodia hortensis at the nursery |
This next one may seem unusual for a hedge plant but it's such a great hearty native tree that it works double time as a hedge plant...the beautiful
dahoon holly,
illex cassine. Yes, yes, I know what your thinking, "is she off her rocker"....yesterday yes, but today no. The dahoon holly is a native to Florida which can grow in a variety of soils but not drought tolerant, grows in full sun. The small white flowers attract pollinators then turn into striking red berries the birds love. Usually showing up right around the holidays; such a festive plant. Can get up to a max of 30 ft high but is easily kept at lower heights due to it's slow to semi-moderate growth. It has another relative, the east palatka holly which is very similar to the dahoon but grows in counties north of Broward and does well in drought conditions.
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| These dahoon holly trees were planted at our local Chick-fil-a drive through |
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| The dahoon holly trees here are a single trunk tree but imagine them full to the ground...gorgeous! |
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| Dahoon holly berries...so festive! |
Here are two awh-some ones for you in the same family, bay rum,
pimenta racemosa, and it's sister allspice,
pimenta dioica. Yes, these two can be trees but they totally rule the shrub world. In full sun they will be full all the way to the ground. If they get too much shade, they will start growing more like a tree by dropping the bottom layers of leaves. If that happens just add another layer of plants and whoa watch out...talk about landscape envy. Bay rum and allspice are columnar growers, meaning upright, so they are perfect for tight spaces. They can grow up to 30-40 ft but here they tend to max out at about 15-20 feet high, how perfect is that!?!
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| Bay rum |
Next on our list of awesomeness is the
Japanese blueberry,
elaeocarpus decipiens, which is not an actual blueberry bush if that's what your thinking, but it does have a nondescript little berry. Though it's got nothing on
Sal's blueberries, wink wink, my fav book as a kid. Many professionals use this as a trimmed tree or topiary, but helloooo, they make gorgeous hedges! Super green gorgeous hedges, a no-brainer! Easy to keep at a trimmed height even though they can get to be about 30 ft high overall. These evergreens grow in full sun and can grow in a variety of soils.
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| Japanese blueberry |
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| Japanese blueberry at ProGardens in Delray Beach, FL. |
So this is a plant you might not have suspected if you know it and if you don't then now you know. It's called
ligustrum or Japanese privet,
ligustrum japonicum, I know what's up with the Asian stuff but many plants we grow here originated in Asian countries. Best of both worlds right!?! This beauty can be a multi-branched small tree, a single trunk small tree or how I like them, a shrub. They have a yummy smelling cluster of small white flowers that pollinators love. The leaves are a beautiful oblong shape with a shiny dark green color. It's a perfect small shrub or tree which only grows to about 15-20 ft high.
So that's it for today lovely ladies and gent's...hope this gives you another level of hedge envy...so go get your hedge on!
Wishing you to most happiest of holidays and happy gardening ya'll!
Sheri B
xoxo
