Viewing comments posted by skylark

There are 3 varieties of Murraya koenigii: the regular size plant; the dwarf variety and a mini variety 'Gamthi'.
M. koenigii 'Gamthi' is the only one that can be grown in a container as it remains small : 2-3 feet in size, but dense and well branched.
It is also reported to have more pungent and smaller leaves then regular/dwarf varieties.
The full grown trees in-ground at Mounts Botanical Gardens are regularly topped in spring and look like bonsai trees: very attractive.

I have 2 pots of this plant: one was much smaller then the other, both sitting on a table in the middle of a very bright corner room (windows west/north/north-east).
after I put the smaller one closer to the west window - in the dappled shade under my Ficus lyrata - it quickly outgrew the bigger plant, the leaves are also larger.
so even though it can do just fine (maintaining variegation) without sunlight, in partial sun it grows much bigger and faster.
so if you want it growing slow - keep it in bright light, no sun. If you want a bigger plant growing much faster - put it in dappled moving sun light : west or east window, about 2 feet from the window, so it won't get hot.

Excellent habit - plant remains compact, maintains variegation in the middle of a very bright room (10' away from window) with an hour or so of late and low western light.
After 1 year from purchase of a small 3" pot , grew to about 16" tall and 16" wide with oldest leaves reaching 7-8" in length and 3" wide.
Very attractive White stems and white central vein.
Many offsets growing at the base, clump forming.
Plant is pest free and grows very slowly, taking up very little water - very easy to grow.

Very long lasting inflorescence. After 5 months Inflorescence still looks good, no drying up at the edges or color change of the bracts.

I bought this variety by chance 2 years ago and it worked out very well - held the bracts for several months. I later read that it was developed to hold the bracts longer than other cultivars, so I bought a larger plant again this past Christmas and it is holding most of its bracts (90% maybe) after 4 months.

Mature leaves are very white with green margins and are more pointed than usual. It's a very full, suckering (non-vining) plant.

This stand of Umbrella pines in the Bronx Botanical garden was planted in 1908. It is called Tanyosho pine in Japanese.

The Italian salad that utilizes the MOST amount of parsley is roasted parsnip with pecorino cheese and as much parsley as you can handle (tip: pretend it's arugula ;).
The Mediterranean salad that utilizes the MOST parsley is Lebanese tabbouleh, which uses a small amount of bulgur and gargantuan amounts of parsley.
Both are favorites of mine.

Most often the plant has 8 ribs, and sometimes the ribs spiral.
Areoles have 5-11 spines. It is cold resistant to low to mid 20F.
It is found in limited area in Mexico, in semi-desert, only in 10 locations - so is considered vulnerable, due to diminishing area of habitat and illegal collection of plants.

It is found often growing on rocks in canyons and can reach a height of 3'-4' in the wild.

I found a very informative article about this plant on IAS site:
http://www.aroid.org/gallery/l...

This small tree/shrub is a relative of the familiar Christmas poinsettia. It sets flowers when days get shorter in late fall. It can be pruned by 1/3 after flowering is over, in spring, but it dislikes being sheared. Best to prune selectively over a period of time, as it bleeds sap profusely.
It is an evergreen, but it might lose most of its leaves by spring if kept too dry over winter.
It should not be pruned after late August because it will be getting ready to start setting flowers then. It is very fragrant and holds its blooms for several months. Care should be taken to give it some supplemental water during flowering as it can lose flowers if kept too dry. Otherwise, it's quite drought tolerant.
The branches are brittle, so it should not be planted where it is exposed to high wind.
It is widespread in Mexico and Jamaica.

This plant comes from Brazil. It is highly prized there for its fruit: very sweet and about 3"x5" in size. That is quite large compared to regular passion fruit available in US markets. It is mostly eaten raw: seeds and all! The Portuguese name for it is "Maracuja Doce."
Apparently, it could be grown in south FL, but it needs to be hand pollinated (you'll need two vines for that). It seems that mason bees might pollinate it too. The fruit forms 70-90 days after pollination. It needs to turn yellow to be ripe for eating.
Here's a post with nice pictures of the fruit in comparison with other varieties of passion fruit.
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/...
The vine can withstand mild frost (to 28F) for short periods and will defoliate, but it grows back.
The seeds are fairly hard to germinate, but it also can be propagated by hard-wood cuttings and air-layering.
Both flowers and fruit are highly fragrant, so it's no surprise that another common name for it is "Fragrant Granadilla."

Zululand cycad can have multiple cones at once when mature. It is very showy, with leaflets resembling holly leaves. It grows much faster than other cycads and is sought after but not easy to find. It grows best in part sun/part shade in south Florida. It likes sandy fast-draining soil. The female cones are oval, while male cones are long and much thinner. It can fruit within 12 years from seed and can be grown in containers. It is best in frost-free areas, but with protection it will tolerate short drops below freezing.

Found a great link about this plant, which I saw growing 10' tall on the streets of Miami, Fl.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/cac...
I of course have tasted nopales paddles - it's a staple in Mexican cuisine, but this was the first time I saw the plant itself.

Color varies due to temperature/fertilizer variations. Pink is more pronounced in sun with cooler temps.

Does well indoors in filtered light in east/west/south window. Needs to be evenly moist. Water when the surface is slightly dry.
Leaves are 10" long by 7" wide on short petioles. Suckers well. Makes a bushy plant.

Rare native Florida fern, found mostly in south Florida Miami-Dade county. Grows on limestone rock walls of sinkholes in tropical hardwood hammocks.
Native to Puerto-Rico, Mexico (Oaxaca), Latin America (Columbia, Venezuela), etc.
Reintroduced by Fairchild Gardens in the old "Orchid Jungle" preserve in Homestead, FL
http://www.fairchildgarden.org...
Not to be confused with invasive incised halberd fern (Tectaria incisa).
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/nod...