What's Blooming In Your Backyard?

Love this time of year in the garden. Flowers still blooming with summer's last heat while you can almost feel autumn approaching.

At my neighbors, blue vines are uplifting color with the polite 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory vine and the impressive Sky vine.



'Heavenly Blue' Morning Glory, Ipomoea violata



Blooms open every morning in the full sun and last several days.




Flowers open up deep blue, then deepen until purple in the afternoon.

Sky vine, 'Thunbergia laurelfolia'



Sky vines bloom in sun or partial shade.

While morning glories are subdued by the winter cold, Sky vines can get out of control so be careful where you plant them or keep them under a watchful eye. I have seen them cover a house roof in very little time.  Glad it's at the neighbor's house so I can enjoy their beautiful blue flowers.

I have periwinkles, roses, dancing ladies are just popping up, and this striking Ixora  'Maui' which loves the sun and shade under our oak tree.

 Ixoras love acidic soils, full sun to partial shade, and really do thrive on neglect. No pest problems to speak of, so easy maintenance.  Ixoras can grow to ten feet tall but doesn't need to be pruned often.  Ixoras provides the perfect tropical look to your backyard.  Ask your local garden nursery for this beautiful flowering shrub.

If you love the  jewel tones of fuschia purple, add the Florida native, Beautyberry to your yard. Callicarpa americana, is an ornamental shrub that reaches six to ten feet naturally, has small white flowers and delivers on excitement with the edible purple berries in the fall. Low maintenance, loves sun or shade.



Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana

Burpee has the heirloom 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory seeds, Top Tropical nursery has the Sky vine, and check out the Florida Association of Native Nurseries,  or on Twitter: @FANN, for nurseries that sell beautyberries.

Teresa Watkins is a garden expert, landscape designer, and the host of her own gardening radio show, In Your Backyard, heard every week at 1pm EST on Tuesdays at www.My790am.com.  

Cordylines and Crotons Galore

Scouting for awesome plants at the booths at the Leu Gardens plant sale, I met Mark Peter, grower-owner of Peters Croton Nursery in Fort Pierce, Florida.  He had a magnificent display of cordylines and crotons.

Colorful foliage is a great way to bring light to a shady corner. Cordylines and crotons cover the color spectrum with splashes of whites, creams, and pinks, to red, yellow, orange, and black frilly, elliptical, or piecrusted foliage.  Used in the Florida landscape frequently, both types of plants are often seen painfully in full sun conditions during the harsh hot summers, but cordylines and crotons thrive better and need less water when they get bright morning light but afternoon shade.

Do you know your cordyline or croton's cultivar name?  Their botanical names are cordyline fruticosa and codiaeum variegatum. When I worked in nurseries, I was just used to seeing and hearing Mamay crotons on labels or from the box store order sheet.  But there are several hundred named cultivars of crotons and cordylines.

My favorite cultivars out of Mark Peter's available product?  The creamy white and yellow or pink foliage varieties. I have never seen them for sale in the garden centers.  I do love to use the Picasso's Paintbrush and Zanzibars planted in chimeras representing a blazing fire.  Very nice accent for warm Spanish-themed outdoor rooms.

Both ornamental shrubs need partial sun or shade, moist, rich soils - do not let them dry out, even in winter - and can be fertilized on a monthly (or as fertilizer label recommends)  basis with slow release fertilizer.  They are tropical plants suited best for Zone 10 - 11 but can be grown in Zone 9A and 9B if protected in temperatures below 50 degrees.  Above Zone 9, plants should be grown indoors or in a greenhouse.

Take a look at these fancy plants:



Cordylines and Crotons

More links:

Croton Production and Use - UF/IFAS

The Croton Society

Floridata - Codiaeum variegatum

Southern Beauties - Camellias

Camellia japonicas and camellia sasanquas are popular flowers in the Southeast. There are over 3,000 named varieties of these lovely native Asian shrubs.  Sited correctly, camellias are hardy and easy care flowers for your landscape.

Blooming from early December through spring, camellias thrive in shade and partial sun locations. Plant camellias in moist, acidic soils.  Lakefront properties with cypresses, large oaks, and pine trees are ideal sites.  A yard with years of organic material from leaf litter is also a good location. Feed every three months with acidic fertilizer. Mature height of camellias depends on the variety.  They can grow four to fifteen feet in height and width, so make sure your camellia selection will not be crowded too close to other shrubs or too close to your house so that it has to be pruned often.  If you do need to cut back your camellia, prune after they bloom to prevent cutting off forming buds in late summer.

We're fortunate in Central Florida to have the third largest camellia collection in America at  Leu Gardens in Winter Park.  This is a great time to visit Leu Gardens and see the beautiful flowers in bloom.

University of Florida/IFAS Camellia Publication

Camellia Disease and Pest Problems:

• Clemson University
• Virginia Camellia Society
• Dr. Lakshmi Sridharan
• Gainesville Camellia Society