Fast Growing Shrubs in South Florida I

     So this is a second attempt at blogging about Fast Growing Shrubs in South Florida since somehow I edited the HTML code & messed it up beyond return.  The real kicker is that I was almost done & it was a long one, and I had so much witty commentary too, drat!!  Oh well, hopefully this one will go smoothly, who knows maybe even a better blog than the last, lol.  :)

     When designing a landscape for any project, it's nice to use fast growing shrubs.  This way we can help save the client money by purchasing a smaller gallon pot since the shrub will sprout up in no time in South Florida's climate.  Like with any project it just depends on what type of landscape the client would like, i.e. tropical, formal, exotic specimens, butterfly garden, etc.  So let's say we have a landscape in need of some great budget conscious fast growing shrubs/bushes.  Depending on the growth habit of the shrub they can even be used as small trees.  Shrubs are typically defined as a multi-stemmed plant averaging between 3-15 feet in height, yeah it's quite vague.  So let's get started by taking a more detailed look at few of my favorite South Florida fast growing shrubs.

     The first to start the show is a truly spectacular native, the American Beautyberry, callicarpa americana, a vertically growing evergreen with super vivid purple berries that are veritable show stoppers against the backdrop of rich green leaves. The once erect branches create graceful arches with the weight of ripe berries. Birds are always stopping by to feast on the berries for a perfect winter's meal.  Bees & butterflies are constantly surrounding the multitude of tiny light pinkish purple flowers.  The soft white fuzz on the newer branches becomes airborne during trimming time; inevitably making me sneeze.  A slight touch of the American beautyberry and it's unusual spicy fragrance will literally linger on me for hours.  I guess that's why Native Americans use this as a natural mosquito & fly repellent.  The American beautyberry definitely needs room to spread as it likes to reach about 15-20 feet high by 6-8 feet wide.  American beautyberry is extremely hardy, drought tolerant, full sun loving, easy growing shrub for any landscape.

Even the ladybugs love American beautyberries

Amazing how many berries were on this branch!

The beautyberry blends in our landscape
This one is about 12 feet high.

American beautyberry shrub

     This thorn in my side is none other than the Wild Lime, zanthoxylum fagara, a wily growing evergreen native born & raised in the tropical hardwood hammocks of Florida.  This shrub grows all kinds of crazy with no rhyme or reason, branches growing over & under themselves.  Wild limes can grow as high as 25 feet by 10-15 feet wide.  Ours completely took over a corner of the yard until I got out there to tame the beast.  Don't let it's dainty bright lemon-lime leaves & tiny lemon flowers fool you, the thorns on this creature are fierce.  "Please don't throw me in 'dem 'dare wild lime patch Briar Bear!" lol, (my portrayal of Briar Rabbit)  Wild limes can be grown for privacy screens and are excellent security thickets.  The giant swallowtail butterflies use the wild lime as a host plant for their caterpillar larvae, as well as the Biscayne Prickly Ash we have in the yard.  Both are part of the citrus family.  Unfortunately the wild lime is also a host for Citrus Greening Disease which has caused millions of citrus trees in Florida to be eradicated due to citrus canker.  The wild lime is extremely resistant to wind, salt, drought, likes full sun and part shade. Yes, the wild lime has an ornery side when it wants but it's also a gentle giant protecting it's broad of baby caterpillars.

Giant swallotail butterfly caterpillar on
our wild lime.  They like to eat the new
growth with doesn't seem to phase the
wild lime one bit.

This is our wild lime before I pruned it way back.
It's about 15-18 feet high here.

     Our next contender is "THE go to plant of South Florida" (why I don't know as there are so many other plants to use) the infamous Cocoplum, chrysobalanus icaco heralding from Florida's coastal swamps, scrub land & wet woodlands.  This native has two forms of itself, a sprawling/crawling beach dune variety and the more upright variety.  It's a great all around plant for hedges, focal points & privacy screens with its glossy bright green & red flared-tip oval leaves.  Cocoplum's can grow as high as it is wide.  Florida's native Indian's as well as Florida's coastal animals rely on the cocoplum fruit as a staple part of their diet.  The pioneering women made cocoplum jellies with the small ping-pong size fruits.  If you are lucky enough you can still find a few retailers still selling the delicious sweets on your travels through Florida.  The cocoplum has stood the test of time and is a fast growing, sun lover that prefers moist well drained soil.

Cocoplum natural upright form

Cocoplum hedge

     My sweet, sweet, Sweet Almond Verbena, aloysia virgata, oh how I miss thee in our landscape.  Our's did not survive the transplant and now I have no room for this erect growing shrub.  The shape of sweet almonds make me think someone plugged it in an electrical socket & it's limbs are standing on edge.  They almost grow straight out in the full sun.  Tiny white flowers grow in clusters to form a cat tail shape that wiggles in the wind.  Not much information is out there about this hearty drought tolerant full sun loving insanely sweet smelling shrub except from experience.  The sweet almond's popularity is catching on & they are becoming more readily available at local nurseries.  Make sure you give them plenty of room to do their thing because they grow fast and does not like nor does well to harsh pruning.  Sweet almond verbena's get up to about 6-10 feet high by wide.  You will definitely smell one before you see one.  Don't resist if you find one, buy it, plant it and pull up a chair to enjoy nature's aromatherapy plus it is spectacular to look at.

Sweet Almond Verbena close up

Since I didn't have any pics of the sweet almond I
had in our garden I looked for some online & found this
picture from Jeanni's blog, Roses & Gargoyles, which is a
very accurate example of how big they can get.  Thanks Jeanni!

     The firebush, hamelia patens, is another all time favorite used by landscapers, home owners and park planners alike.  It has beautiful green foliage with red blushing & veining.  Firebush's flowers are how it got it's name with their bright yellow, orange & red colors looking like flame bursts.  This shrub is another extremely hardy, drought resistant, full sun & part shade loving plant from Florida's hardwood hammocks. The birds love to eat it's black berries, the bees, hummingbirds & butterflies love their flowers and we love to use it in landscapes for its bright & sassy nature.  Firebush's grow to be 15-20 feet high by 6-10 feet wide. These are very easy to grow and easy to find at local nurseries.

Firebush in our backyard

Our two firebush's about 12 feet high

Firebush with zebra butterflies

     Another understated evergreen shrub although increasing in popularity due to it's soft velvety silver foliage and beautiful violet-purple flowers is the Texas Sage, leucophyllum frutescens.  It's a great contrast to any green landscape, can be a stand alone or an excellent container plant with some trimming.  Texas sage can be grown in part shade but really thrives in full sun.  They can be trimmed to be a shapely small shrub or you can let it grow it's natural soft yet dense conical shape.  Texas sage can grow from 5-8 feet high by 3-5 feet wide.  I use this plant quite a bit in my landscapes since it has so many great attributes to offer.

Texas Sage close up

Texas sage in the landscape, natural form

   One of my favorites shrubs is this super easy & very forgiving evergreen, the Wild Coffee, psychotria nervosa, from Florida's rockland hammocks.  It's favorite place is as an understory plant with dappled sun & shade amidst the firebush's and wild lime's but can be in full sun for part of the day.  Can be drought tolerant though likes to be watered in well drained soil.  Wild coffee has big bright green glossy leaves that reflect the sun & shimmer in the shade.  The butterflies & bees love the small white flower clusters which turn into the small red juicy berries the birds gobble up as soon as they are ripe.  Wild coffee's grow about 4-10 feet high by 4-8 feet wide.  You can't go wrong with this fast growing shrub in your landscape as it will adapt to many situations if need be.

Wild Coffee

Wild Coffee

Some additional fast growing shrubs in which I will add more detail to later are:
Dwarf Mussaenda
Jamaican Caper
Stoppers
Crotons - see my earlier blog Oct 30
Wax Myrtle
Fire Spike
Chenille Plant
Cat Whiskers
Necklace Pod
Acalypha
Golden Dewdrop
Thryallis
Dwarf Mussaenda
Clerodendrum quadriloculare
Hibiscus

In Memory of my brother Daniel

Seven years ago to the day, our family lost one of world's most unique & amazing person, my brother Daniel.  It was a complete surprise & shock to everyone of his passing at 31 years young.  To know my brother is to know an intricately complex yet compassionate person who's personal struggle with manic depression & bipolar disorders only continued to expound upon his geniusness.  We grew up in Miami when still had open land to run & play and forested areas to pretend & explore.  Now it's just a huge overbuilt concrete megatropolis, which has it's own special awesomeness but nothing like how it was when we were young.  This is a poem he wrote to me in the mid 90's which totally touched my heart since our relationship at that time was far from perfect but we were working on getting back to being close again.  It captures a brief moment in our childhood and wonderful memories of growing up in classic old school Florida & an homage to my brother.

In our house, we had cockroaches instead of demons.

We had butterflies instead of angels.

Literature took the place of scripture

and science carefully muted out creation.

Death was taught as a necessity in the face of suffering

and the consequences were left to the imagination.

Our childhoods were filled with sunburns & fresh aloe.

The smell of hot pavement and dried fish scales.

overpowered the rich stink of mangrove estuaries

as we poked curiously at salty, drying fish eyes.

We were raised amongst fruit groves

and rock piles and progress.

The blades of our grass were thick and strong

and smelled sweet when pulled apart by small fingers.

Naked feet scrapped on pinecones and dried needles,

melted in carefully chlorinated water.

Constellations of fireflies dotted the nightscape in myriad numbers.

Toads and stray cats scampered from the porch

as we ventured in to the yard with our mason jars,

equipped with freshly pierced lids.

Deep morning came with the scent of placenta and damp fur

Daughters became mothers and life was precious and close – and sad.

Do you remember???

Daniel Earl Burg

Our new backyard patio

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving with family and friends to give thanks for life's simple pleasures especially for the ones we take for granted everyday.  A few of my many thanks: I am grateful & thankful for my family, my little house & garden, my right-hand men Joe (my bf) & Cyrus (my dog), our clients for the work they bring us, for good health & for all of you following my blog, Gardening in South Florida!

Now on to our latest project in our garden.  We started what was supposed to be a weekend project which turned into a two month long project.  A good friend of ours offered us a huge stack of pavers he wasn't using & suggested what a great idea to put a little patio in one section of our backyard.  "YES, I love it! Let's do it!" I exclaimed, especially cause he offered to help.

Here's what the area looked like before the grass killing...yeah no more grass!!!
"I'm going to plant sunshine mimosa or ornamental peanut or creeping thyme or mint, oh my! 
Something fun & low maintenance, anything but grass!"  
Well, that's what I thought at the time, lol...tbc...

So I sprayed grass killer in the newly designated area & we were to wait a week for it to be nice & crispy, "easier to take out that way" he says.  Well....a week turned into three weeks as we got pummeled with a tropical storm for a full week, then we had to work one weekend (at our real job) & the weather was awful another weekend.  Finally the day to work on the patio had arrived.  So we raked & shoveled and moved some serious dirt to make way for three & a half yards of leveling sand.

Grass is gone & a dirt pit now exists
aka the zippy hole

The winds were whipping this week so there
was dust everywhere for a couple weeks, ugh

Before we could even think about the next step of getting the sand, as all projects go, we ran into a few unexpected issues...namely the sprinkler system.  Since the design of the patio had changed a few times so too the sprinkler system layout had to change.  Turns out we had to reroute the sprinkler system around the patio.   I rarely use our sprinklers but who wants a busted water pipe under a paver patio, lol, "not I said the cat!"

You can see the new sprinkler trench we are
digging around the "zippy hole", boy howdy,
we were knee high in dirt for days, ugh!

The backyard was a complete wreck while we
were working on the patio.  Though I couldn't help
myself but to go around cleaning up every so often, lol.

So with three trips to the store for right sprinkler parts, we finally finished that step of the process & had the system up & running.  Though Mother Nature never fails, as we were running the sprinklers to make sure they were working properly, it starts to rain.  The only reason why I mention this is because I kid you not it happens every time!  Get me out of the dirt and into the sand! Bushel Stop here we come!

With our first yard of sand down, the leveling begins.
Now how many 57yr old men do you know that can
actually bend down & touch the ground!?! I do! :)

Joe working on the second truck load of
sand.  Boy I tell you, these guys worked all
day nonstop!

The leveling & stamping part is almost done!
At this point I am so excited I can't help myself
but to start taking pictures.

So with the day coming to and end, the cerveza's are
in hand & the paver's have hit the sand.  The look on Jim's face is priceless, lol, he is glad the day is over!

With two more days of the fit & finish of the patio, all the cutting of the perimeter pavers and paver laying is coming to a close.  Talk about "back breaking" labor, when you don't do this kind of physical labor everyday, then jump into a project like this, boy your body tells you how it is!

    

These are three pictures to see the entire area...wish I knew how to do panorama pics in photoshop :) 

This is looking back the towards the house

What an absolute mess the backyard has become, whaaa!

Our work station for the wet saw & all the tools

Our completed "weekend" project, lol

And so with our "two month-weekend" project at it's final stage of completion we tip our hats to the overzealous backyard enthusiasts like myself who have good intentions of finishing a project in a weekend but rarely ever do. ;)  Now all we have to do is put some sod down...WHAT!?!...did I just say sod?!? OMG I sure did....ugh!  There is one area next to the house in the picture below you will see new sod there.  All of my best pleading, manipulating & educating of how natives like sunshine mimosa, peanut, etc are way better than grass had failed me.  Joe understood my passion but thought it prudent to put grass there so our dog wouldn't track in dirt.  My plan is to sneak some native plants in there to grow in meantime...."oh my goodness, how did that get there!?!" LOL  "Pretty sneaky sis!"

Finally, our completed patio...ok not actually truly
finished as we still have some little things to do 
but we can now enjoy our hard work just in
time for this absolutely gorgeous cool fall
weather.  We transplanted our little Meyer
Lemon tree (in left of pic)

and our Nam Doc Mai Mango (right of pic) from the big blue glazed pots we had in the front yard.
Yes, the grass is a little spotty but it will grow in or
even better yet, replace with ornamental peanut! With their beautiful green soft oval leaves & bright butttercup yellow flowers, who wouldn't love it!

Close up of the seating area where I will be adding
the big blue glazed planter pots with gorgeous
colorful plants in them...tbc... :)

A view of the walkway

So there we have it, our new backyard patio!  I will most definitely be posting more pictures along the way since we are renovating the front & backyard.  I transplanted a handful of plants already but that's kind of a boring story so I will wait till the grand finale, lol.  Until the next time, I bid you all adieu!  To continue the quote theme in this blog, hee hee, I modified the fantastic Paula Dean's mantra to...."until next time, from our garden to yours, I wish you happy planting!"  xoxo

Check out what's blooming & growing in our November garden

This year's November vegetable garden is a much better site than last year's, thank goodness.  Our vegetables are doing well and I have had many wonderful surprises.  Remember the post in September of how only 50% of the vegetable seeds actually sprouted?  Ok, well I literally threw the soil from the cups that didn't sprout into an open spot in the vegetable bed.  We had a few days of solid rain & voila.....they sprouted!!!  Go figure?!?  Now I have a mixed bunch of tomatoes, so should be exciting to see which one is which.  I think I even saw a few carrot tops popping up too, lol.  So here is what the garden looks like now with the addition of the new seedling sprouts I transplanted this weekend.

From back left to right: Stowell's Corn, Basil, Purple tomatillo's, Hillbilly Leaf Tomatoes, Black From Tula Tomatoes & Collard Greens
From front left to right: Purple Romaine, Green Romaine, Purple Curly-leaf lettuce, then the mix-n-match tomato patch, basil, cilantro, tarragon.  
In front of the collards are Purple Peruvian Peppers & Detroit Red Beets. 
All the yellow flowered plants are Marigolds for pest control...so far so good! :)

This is to the east of the vegetable garden showing
our Papaya, Dragon fruit (white flesh) & Osmanthus Fragrans or Sweet Tea Olive shrub.

Our first ear of Stowell's Corn, yippee!!!  Hopefully we can eat before the bugs do, lol

My cattleya orchids are blooming like crazy right now with the combination of the cool weather and all the rain we have been getting within the past few months.

Ctna. Florida Sunset Nov 2011
Ctna. =  Cattleytonia orchid
The newer blooms have light yellowish, pinky,
orangey colors to them. The older the bloom the
darker the colors become hence the name.  They
usually have small clusters of flowers all over
with different color hues but this is the only one left.

Ctna. Florida Sunset Nov 2011
The leaves of this compact orchid are narrow, perky, stout and upright so they can handle very bright light.

Lc. Phra Nakhon Khiri x
C. Netrasiri Beauty 'lake view'
Lc. =  Laeliocattleya orchid
C. = Cattleya orchid

Lc. Phra Nakhon Khiri x C. Netrasiri Beauty 'lake view'
A gorgeous little orchid with super intense but light & sweet smelling fragrance.  The colors of pale yellow & bold magenta create neat
mixed colors with orange & pink tones.  Flowers are 3 1/2"-4"
& grow in tight clusters of 5-7 flowers. A real show piece!
One of my all time favorite orchids ;)

Mtssa. Shelob 'tolkien' AM/AOS
Mtssa. = Miltassia orchid
Flowers are 5"-6" w x h,  a very large spread
on the flower and almost look like Banana spiders.
No scent to these but their dramatic color & pattern
make up for the lack of smell. Compact size orchid.

Mtssa. Shelob 'tolkien' AM/AOS
Super easy to grow, a great beginner's orchid or even a great gift to someone.  Mine is a little ratty recovering from last year's cold spell.

Pot. Ikuko Akatsuko 'shining'
Pot. = Potinara orchid
Super sweet & heavy scent to this super large
flower which is 7"diameter.  The flowers bloom
two to a cluster though those two are impressive!

Pot. Ikuko Akatsuko 'shining'
A very large leafed & wide spreading orchid which needs space to grow.  I have had this orchid for
almost 6 years now that I bought on an orchid ramble with the Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society.

This is a "no name" orchid I adopted from a
foreclosed home.  Unfortunately whoever lost
their house lost their orchid collection too, sad.

I am guessing could be a Laeliocattleya or Brassavola???  Brassolaelia??? Anyone know???

Side view

Top view

The light pick Cattleya on the left lost it's tag so
unfortunately its a "no name" as well but by no
means lost it's luster. Amazing bloomer!

Super large blooms of 6"-7" diameter with two flowers to a cluster.  Frilly edges to the soft flower petals.
Very sweet perfumey scent to this flower 

You can see how big the flowers are in relation to
my hand.  The mouth of the flower is just spectacular
with all the colors of magenta, yellow & pink in it.

The plant is small in stature compared to the size of the blooms. Likes bright light but will get burned easily with direct sun like in the Pot. Ikuko Akatsuko 'shining' pic above.  These usually bloom twice a year.

So that's a little of what's blooming in our neck of the woods this week...would love to hear what's blooming in yours!  Happy Gardening! 

Merci beaucoup!

xoxo

Hummingbirds

Today we saw our first hummingbird of the season!  YEA!  A beautiful female Ruby Throated Hummingbird zipping along through the cardinal flowers then she always likes to take a moment to sit in the Tahitian Hat shrub.  I believe this is the same one that keeps coming back every year, but not sure how to tell.  Either way I sure glad to see them every year!

Best Wednesday Wishes Eveyone!
xoxo

Oh what a glorious day here in paradise!

Ok not to rub it in to all of our Northern folk in snow laden landscapes, but today is true paradise here in South Florida!  Not a cloud in the sky, nice soft breeze blowing through from the NW, currently 73 degrees, sunny & absolutely gorgeous!  Welcome to all the winter birds that have made their appearance in our yard this week.  The hawks are back to hunting the doves & pigeons in the neighborhood.  Seasonal farmers market have opened their doors again.  So with that said, my boyfriend & I are going outside to do some yard work before the college football games start this afternoon.
  Sending you all love & best wishes from our landscape to yours!
    Merci beaucoup!
      xoxo

Dragon Fruit

The latest addition to our plant family here in Pompano Beach is a small 'Halley's Comet' Dragon Fruit, red pitaya. I just happened to be walking by a large home improvement store where they had a huge plant display outside the garden center.  Sticking up amidst the cacti were a handful of dragon fruit plants.  (The only reason I saw them is because I know what they look like since I have a white pitaya.)   It's a shame they were thrown in with the rest of the succulents & cacti as this is a great plant for backyard gardner's to have.  They are low maintenance, easy to grow & produce some of the most delicious healthy tropical fruit around, plus they are incredibly interesting looking & always a great conversation piece.

'Halley's Comet' variety of Red Dragon fruit
The plants are about 12-14 inches high
 in a 1 gallon pot

This is the tag that was on the red dragon fruit
only $6.99!?! What a deal!
Yes, I ended up purchasing it, I couldn't help it, lol

There are actually three single plants in the pot called cuttings.  The nursery will cut limbs off a large mother plant, get them to root then pot them up & put them for sale.  Pretty inexpensive & effective nursery tool of the trade.  So for $7.00 I bought three plants, what a "Boca bah-gin" lol!!!  So I could keep one & give the others to friends or I could keep the three together to make a stronger larger single vining plant.  Hmmmm decisions, decisions... ;)

The dragon fruit is actually part of the cactus family originally from South America, though Asian countries have really embraced this plant as their own.  This plant loves growing in hot & humid weather with well drained organic rich soil.  It is vining/climbing by nature so it needs room to grow and a support structure to grow on as they can reach 6-8 feet high & wide.  The dragon fruit is a self pollinating plant which basically means it does not need a pollinator source like bees, butterflies, moths, etc.  The starburst shaped sweet scented flowers open at night which at our house attracts the large luna moth as the pollinator.

This is my white fleshed dragon fruit
flower blooming on a rainy night

My white fleshed dragon fruit flowers showing their stuff

Dragon fruit flower just starting to close up
shop for the daytime

'Vietnamese Jaina' var. dragon fruit

This is a dragon fruit "tree" that's about 8 feet high
at it's highest point growing on a 6 foot high wood post
down at Pine Island Nursery in Miami.  One of South
Florida's best resource for tropical trees.

Once the dragon fruit flowers are pollinated they will then turn into the actual dragon fruit.  Pretty amazing right?!?  The fruit can be picked about 35-40 days after its been fruited on the vine.  They are ripe when the fruit is slightly soft like picking a ripe kiwi.  Once you pick the fruit from the vine it should be eaten within a few days to enjoy it's best flavor & texture.  When people ask me, "what does a dragon fruit taste like?", I can only say, everyone has a different flavor palate but many dragon fruit varieties have a combination of subtle flavors like melon, pear, apple & grape.  The texture is similar to a combination of a kiwi & a pear.  Dragon fruit are an unsuspected but excellent source of antioxidants and vitamin C.  If you are lucky enough to find dragon fruit at your local farmers market or fruit stand, pick one up & try it.  You just may like it "Sam I am"...heee heee Dr. Suess reference.  So go get "dragoned"!!  ;))