TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Flora D'oeuvres

Tribune file photo

A summer bloomer, rose of Sharon likes full sun and, once established, doesn't require a lot of moisture.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2008

Updated: 12/26/2008 02:22 pm

Holiday leftovers all gone?

Here's just one more platter to nibble from.

Most of the plants featured in Dig This come from visits to gardens and plant fairs, nurseries and club meetings. I often gather more photographs and information than fit on a page, which is truly self-defeating; it just delays the tough choices about which to share.

And so I find myself at the end of 2008 with a surplus, an irresistible serving of flora d'oeuvres: Janice Vogt's unusual rose of Sharon; Cindy Glover's dramatic Australian tree fern; Susan Gillespie's vivid coral honeysuckle. Wonderful plants all, and wholly worthy of getting dug.

Having cleaned out the Dig This cupboards, I'll be looking for more gardens to visit in 2009. If you've got favorite plants to share or unusual garden features, and ideas that would help other area gardeners, please send me an e-mail at pcarnathan

@tampatrib.com, or give me a call at (813) 259-7612.

In the meantime, enjoy some still-fresh leftovers.

Penny Carnathan ROSE OF SHARON
Hibiscus syriacus

A pale beauty, this hibiscus blends nicely with the traditional roses in Janice Vogt's Seminole Heights garden. Its white blooms are elegant and unusual; pink and purple blossoms are seen here far more often.

"I've never seen a 'single' white in Florida," Janice said.

A summer bloomer, rose of Sharon likes full sun and, once established, doesn't require a lot of moisture. Its upright growth makes it an attractive shrub or small specimen tree. And you'll hear no fussing about the soil from this one.
CORAL HONEYSUCKLE
The towering, flowering bush in the corner of Susan Gillespie's garden is a popular hangout for Riverview's bees. But stinging the hand that feeds them seems the last thing on their besotted little minds.

There are many honeysuckle varieties, bushes and vines, with an array of bloom shapes and colors attractive to hummingbirds as well as bees. Florida native varieties - not sure whether this is one - are especially heat and drought tolerant and happiest when neglected.

AUSTRALIAN TREE FERN

Cyathea cooperi

The little Australian tree fern Cindy Glover planted last spring has doubled in size, and she likes the interest its flowing fronds add to her garden.

Hers is in dappled shade, so water hasn't been a problem. But in the sun, the plant's trunk needs to be watered daily during dry weather or the fronds will emerge brown and withered.

The plants, also called giant scaly tree ferns, can get about 20 feet tall.

BRAZILIAN RED HOTS

Alternanthera "Brazilian Red Hots"

These colorful perennials were repeat summer winners in the University of Florida's 2006 and '07 plant trials. They blaze with a mix of fuscia, burgundy and pale green foliage, and seem immune to disease and pests. I know because they're in my own garden. As the weather cools, they produce small white pom-pom blooms that, with a little imagination, could be snow!

Grow in full sun. Excellent drought tolerance once established.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT