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Dig This: Garden Notes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 31, 2008

Tropical dogwood (Mussaenda)

Butterflies and hummingbirds love this small shrub, which produces pretty little star-shaped flowers year-round. To add to the color interest, the leaf on the end of the stem turns white when a future bloom is in the offing. Plant in sun to partial shade. It likes moist, well-drained soil. (Others in the Mussaenda family produce various color blooms and grow to large shrubs or small trees.)

Ground orchid (Spathoglottis sp)

Unlike other types of orchids, ground orchids have a reputation for being low maintenance, though some varieties do better than others. Plant in light shade to full sun, or in containers with regular potting mix. They'll bloom summer through fall.
Cherries Jubilee and Chocolate Swirl Allamanda

Most Bay area gardeners are familiar with tropical yellow allamanda, a hardy performer that produces bright trumpet-shaped blooms nearly year-round. But what of its cousins?
Cherries Jubilee and Chocolate Swirl allamanda are fairly new cultivars that seem to have all the good qualities of our old favorite plus unusual blooms. (They're also just as poisonous as the yellow, despite their tasty names, so don't even think about taking a bite.) They're vines, but not aggressive ones, and can be cut back to shrubby growth. Once established, they're sun lovers that will do well in slightly sandy soil. Plant against a fence, trellis or mailbox for support.

Bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus)

With leaves that grow up to 4 feet long, this shade-lover provides lush foliage. In its native rainforests, it's one of the biggest epiphytes, growing high in the crowns of trees. It won't tolerate direct sun so needs a home perpetually in at least light shade. If the fronds become very pale, it's either getting too much light or is in need of a fish emulsion snack or liquid 8-8-8 fertilizer. Plant in a soil mix that drains well, with peat and even bark chips.

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