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Dig This: Garden Notes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 11, 2008

When I drove up to the Pioneer Florida Days Festival over Labor Day weekend, I was surprised (and happy) to find a nice plant sale sandwiched between the square dancers and the Civil War battlefield.

Proprietor George Griepenburg, who lives in Dade City, likes propagating what isn't often found in nurseries. He gets permission to take cuttings at botanical gardens across the state and brings them home to root. Plants that are new to him he grows for about two years to ensure they'll take to local conditions.

"I try whatever looks pretty," he says.

George's plants tend to run about $20, but they're robust, healthy, and often unusual. A lot of his shrubs are 3 to 4 feet tall.

He has no retail location; he sells only at plant shows. The next Tampa area one will be USF Botanical Gardens' Fall Festival on Oct. 11 and 12. He'll be at Munns Park in Lakeland Oct. 25 and at the Mount Dora Plant & Garden Fair on Nov. 1 and 2. (I mention Mount Dora, which is a good hike from Tampa, only because George highly recommends it.)

Sorry, I can't publish George's phone number, so you'll just to have to get out to a plant sale.

Musical Note Plant

Verbenaceae clerodendrum

The name of this Nigerian native comes from its unusual flowers, which resemble musical notes when their long white corolla tubes unfurl. (The buds pictured on this plant are just beginning to open.) The flowers look like a striking cluster of eighth notes. Toward the end of the bloom cycle, the round part of the "note" opens and bright red stamens appear. For all that drama, they're said to be low-maintenance. They like partial shade, especially in the summer, and rich soil. They get 3 to 4 feet tall.

Dwarf bottlebrush

Callistemon viminalis
Bottlebrush trees are common in the Bay area, but not so their miniature cousins. The shrub grows 3 to 4 feet tall, likes full sun and produces the trademark blooms, which emerge from the middle of the branch. They're evergreen with dense foliage, and drought-tolerant.

Evergreen plumeria

Plumeria obtusa

and Plumeria pudica

Plumeria, or frangipani, are beloved for their ability to thrive on neglect and produce stunning fragrant blooms. However, come winter, as big green leaves start dropping, the affair isn't so much fun. Our wintertime plumeria look more like sticks. South Floridians who want plumeria with leaves year-round are opting for one of these varieties, which are becoming very popular. Both produce white blooms and have dark glossy leaves. They require the same basic conditions (full sun, well-draining soil) as their deciduous cousins.

Red Pagoda

Clerodendrum paniculatum

There are a number of clerodendrums commonly referred to as pagodas. They're popular Old Florida-style landscape plants that don't mind sun or sand. Although this pagoda's blooms form a distinctive tower shape, reminiscent of a Chinese pagoda, all the pagodas produce lots of bright blooms and have handsome, tropical-looking foliage - dark green leaves several inches across. They grow quickly, getting 5 to 7 feet tall, are drought-tolerant once established, and may die back in winter but return in spring.

Penny Carnathan

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