Tallahassee Gardens

Though it has been extremely hot and dry lately, one plant in my landscape just shrugs it off and gets better looking every day, the oleander. http://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/trees-and-shrubs/shrubs/oleander.html

Bauhinia galpinii (red orchid bush) was always very attractive to butterflies in the demonstration garden at the UF-IFAS Leon County Extension Center where we planted it years ago. It is still in the garden, though it has been moved and set back a little. The bottom photo shows it in bloom this year already. https://www.almostedenplants.com/shopping/products/11012-red-orchid-tree-pride-of-de-kaap-red-bauhinia-african-plume/ I haven't seen this plant at local nurseries and it seems to be out-of-stock at all the online vendors. But I'm looking for it. I want one for my home garden. I always enjoyed the flurry of activity around it from butterflies and hummingbirds.

Flowers of the coral cockspur tree, Erythrina crista galli , coming into bloom. The tree is just starting to bloom this year. It blooms every year about this time. It is related to the native coral bean. The garden is located on the grounds of the UF-IFAS Leon County Extension Center, 615 Paul Russell Road, and is open to the public.

A number of years ago I was visiting a Master Gardener's garden when I noticed a red-flowering groundcover. I knew the plant as chenille plant and had always thought of it as a container plant that couldn't survive our winters. But the Master Gardener assured me that it was hardy here and gave me a clump of it. I planted the small clump in a spot in my yard, and now, probably fifteen years later, I feel I need to share the news.  The plant, Acalypha pendula , going by the common name firetail chenille plant or dwarf chenille, outperforms my St. Augustine grass lawn. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. My main interest is just having a green cover on the ground. It doesn't have to be pure St. Augustine grass. So, if the firetail chenille holds up better in some areas than the St. Augustine grass, so be it. If, however, you wanted to have a defined line between the two, then, just as with most spreading groundcovers, you would hav...

I saw this container planting the other day in one of the garden centers and had to take a photo. The orange New Guinea impatiens or Sunpatiens are showy, but much of the color depends on the colorful foliage of the chartreuse sweet potato vine and the aucuba shrub. A good choice of plants for easy color! Sunshine ligustrum, with its chartreuse to yellow foliage, has become very popular in the last couple of years. It is a small to medium sized shrub, very adaptable to pruning, good for adding color to the landscape in a sunny area. For shaded sites, there's the Sunshine anise. It is supposed to only achieve a height of about four feet with an equal spread.  If you want a similar color without using a shrub, there's Elena Colocasia or elephant ear. It just stays in a clump that gradually widens. But I have never found it to be overly aggressive like the large, dark green elephant ears. 

Erythrina bidwillii, Bidwill's hybrid coral bean, is in bloom now. This variation of the native coral bean, crossed with another Erythrina, the cockspur coral tree, is showier than the native. Firecracker plant, Russelia equisetiformis, in bloom now in full sun. Bush allamanda has been in bloom for quite a while now and is still going strong! Angel's trumpet, Brugmansia , keeps going through cycles of flowers. They are very fragrant, especially in the evening. Caribbean copper plant, Euphorbia cotinifolia , adds color with its foliage. Variegated shell ginger is great for adding colorful foliage too, and it works well in shaded areas. Confederate jasmine perfumes the air, especially in the evening. A simple but attractive color planting of Gold Mound Duranta and blue daze.   This is a good time to repair damaged areas of the lawn using plugs which come in trays like this from the garden center.   Just be sure to keep the plug...