Purple Showers is becoming the most popular perennial in Florida for good reason. It is very Florida Friendly as it grows in wet or dry sites without irrigation, requires no fertilizer, has no pest problems and it attracts butterflies. Sulfur butterflies are a regular visitor to these plants. Purple Showers has double the number of chromosomes as the wild Mexican Petunia. Currently, sterile Purple Showers only comes in one color but Rosanna Freyre, Ph.D. of the University of Florida has figured out a way to breed other sterile forms and colors. In the coming years we will have more choices. Read the last paragraph of this article Breeding Brilliance.

This is a three year old Purple Showers that receives one day a week watering under the Tampa rules and no fertilizer. It is growing in full sun in a median setting with bark and rock mulches covering plastic. The plant was damaged by the January freezes but recovered quickly. You can see that it is clump forming and many folks point this out as aggressive behavior but that can be a good thing if you are trying to replace turf with larger beds of carefree flowering plants. Want to remove them from and area? Three successive sprayings of roundup at four week intervals will kill the plants. This is the same recommendation for other plants that store a lot of energy in their roots like cattails. More information on Purple Showers. Floridagirl’s blog My Florida Backyard has her take on Mexican Petunias you will enjoy.

Purple Showers are always available at your Florida Home Depot garden centers where you will find a great selection of dependable Florida Friendly plants at a great price that are guaranteed to grow or you get your money back.

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Following the 9 principles of Florida Friendly Landscaping is so rewarding for you and the environment. With a little study you can convert your yard and garden to one that requires less water and fertilizer and is still the nicest on the block. You can let your yard make a statement about who you are and how you feel about protecting the environment and reducing chemical and fertilizer runoff pollution.

Search our Database for many of these plants that can be found at you Florida Home Depot garden center.

University of Florida's Nine Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping:

1) Right Plant, Right Place: Plants selected to suit a specific site will require minimal amounts of water, fertilizers and pesticides.

2) Water Efficiently: Irrigate only when your lawn needs water. Efficient watering is the key to a healthy yard and conservation of limited resources.

3) Fertilize Appropriately: Less is often best. Over-use of fertilizers can be hazardous to your yard and the environment.

4) Mulch: Maintain two to three inches of mulch to help retain soil moisture, prevent erosion and suppress weeds.

5) Attract Wildlife: Plants in your yard that provide food, water and shelter can conserve Florida’s diverse wildlife.

6) Manage Yard Pests Responsibly: Unwise use of pesticides can harm people, pets, beneficial organisms and the environment.

7) Recycle: Grass clippings, leaves and yard trimmings composted and recycled on site provide nutrients to the soil and reduce waste disposal.

8) Reduce Storm water Runoff: Water running off your yard can carry pollutants, such as fertilizer, pesticides, soil and debris that can harm water quality. Reduction of this runoff will help prevent pollution.

9) Protect the Waterfront: Waterfront property, whether on a river, stream, pond, bay or beach, is very fragile and should be carefully protected to maintain freshwater and marine ecosystems.

More details can be found here: http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/homeowners/nine_principles.htm

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The first thing you notice is there is minimal turf to mow, water and fertilize. You need some turf for pets and children but putting all that energy into a lawn can be a waste of time and resources. Mulch is a big time and water saver. Put it on thick and enjoy a lush garden with few weeds. Check out Laura’s video and see if this is an appealing way to decorate your outdoor space.

Pot-in-Pot Landscaping has a place in many Florida gardens. Check out how easy it is to install and maintain the beauty in your garden with this technique.

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“Lawn out front, flowers in the back. It's the landscaping equivalent of a mullet haircut: Business in the front, party out back.

And it's headed the same way.

More homeowners are giving up on staid front-yard lawns and putting gardens front and center instead. Many choose native and Florida-friendly plants that, placed in the right spot, save time and money, water and fertilizer.

But not everyone's doing it just for the savings.”

Read the full article in this link

Penny Carnathan’s article in The Tampa Tribune Getaway on Sunday

Using Florida Friendly Plants as the article suggests has been a theme of ours for 28 years. Check out this post for a great plant that will add beauty and the savings discussed in the article.

Shrink the Size of Your Lawn Today!

Another low growing drought tolerant Florida Friendly Plant that is a perennial is the Ornamental Sweet Potato. It is a spreader that covers a lot of mulched area and requires minimal care.

One-potato-two-potato-three-potato-four!

Something to entertain you as you ponder the subject… Taking out the Grass is a Gas

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Disney has beautiful gardens that amaze visitors for days but for a combination of beauty and diversity of plants, The Harry P. Leu Gardens is the crown jewel of Orlando and Central Florida.

Just as you wouldn’t miss the Chicago Botanical Gardens in the windy city, you shouldn’t miss this Botanical Mecca if you visit our state. Allow plenty of time, wear comfortable shoes and bring extra batteries for your camera.

Robert Bowden is the director and fellow committee member who showed the FNGLA marketing team the highlights and stunning views and garden rooms.

Click this link to our Facebook Album for more Leu Garden Images.

Leu Gardens features many potted specimens and combination planters. They use the Thriller-Filler-Spiller concept to demonstrate how to make a beautiful container garden you would be happy to have on your porch or patio.

Profusion Zinnias are a disease resistant type on display throughout many sunny spots in the garden. The butterflies were plentiful and highly attracted to these zinnias.

Weddings are a big thing at Leu Gardens. They are booked over a year out. They have excellent facilities for multiple weddings and are located near downtown and near I-4 for easy access.

The largest formal rose garden in the south is a central feature of Leu Gardens.

Photographers flock to this garden to take images of plants and flowers that are used in magazines and books published all over the world. Fashion photographers find many beautiful settings at this garden.

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Milkweed, Scarlet - Asclepias curassavica is a Caribbean and tropical native that is widely found in Florida. The flowers are attractive to all butterflies and the Monarch and Queen larvae depend on the leaves of these plants to feed their voracious appetites. We often deliver them to your Home Depot with live eggs or small monarch caterpillars as we do not spray milkweed with harmful chemicals that would kill them. These are available nearly year round especially in central and south Florida stores. Milkweed will grow in sandy soils and will reseed readily in your garden.

Optimal Light:
Sun
Mature Height:
3ft-4ft

Light Range:
Full/Part Sun
Mature Spread:
1ft-2ft

Soil Moisture:
Well-drained to Wet
Soil Texture:
Any

Wildlife:

Salt Tolerance:
Low

Florida Native:
No
Florida Region:
N,C,S

Drought Tolerance:
Medium
Hardiness Zone:
9b-11

Season of Color:
Year-round

Monarch and Queen butterflies feed on the nectar of milkweed flowers. They lay their eggs on these milkweeds and as the larvae eat the leaves they acquire the plants toxins which in turn makes them distasteful to predator birds.

Milkweed Aphids exist on every continent and there are Lady Bug predators everywhere there are aphids. If you just wait a few days the Lady Bugs will show up and clean up the aphids. If you must spray them use nothing harsher than soapy water to wash them off.

In a story from Cornell University scientists explain how plants control the food chain through evolutionary changes.

In this image from the Cornell article we see a predatory ladybug feeds upon a milkweed aphid (Aphis nerii)

A hard spray from the hose can be used to knock aphids of the stems of plants. You can also gently smash their very soft bodies between your fingers as you slide them along the stems.

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This group of butterfly photographers have captured Florida butterflies exceptionally well. See if you agree with me. 

At EPCOT this week we visited the popular butterfly garden and butterfly pavilion where visitors walk among hundreds of butterflies and learn about their life cycles and the Florida Friendly Plants that attract them with their nectar, pollen and tasty leaves for their larvae to consume.

These topiaries are better than signs to direct you to the butterfly garden.

Florida Friendly Perennials are the main draw for the butterflies.

Children enjoy the Fairy Garden adjacent to the butterflies and call the names of each of the fairies that are well positioned in floral displays for photographing memories.

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Melampodium paludosum is one of the most resilient warm season annuals you can grow that will last through the summer. If we have a very wet year, slugs can be a problem for some annuals that you need to treat with a safe organic slug bait containing iron phosphate (Sluggo Snail & Slug Bait). It works! You can also use stale beer in a saucer that attracts them and then they fall in and drown…or something. Melampodiums are one of the Top 20 Florida Friendly Annuals and can reseed so you may be able to keep a crop of them going for years. They grow in varying amounts of sun to partial shade and flower continuously.

Florida Home Depot Garden Centers are having an incredible sale right now on beautiful gallon annuals. Check them out now for the best value on color of the season. You won’t be disappointed by their performance.

Melampodiums and other gallon size warm season color plants and perennials are on sale at an unbelievable price. The Home Depot is making them available to you at values never before seen. These are all top quality items and quality you won’t find at Wal-Mart or Lowes. See it for yourself.

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In the words from the city’s website …Discover the Beauty

Sunken Gardens is a botanical paradise in the midst of a bustling city. As St. Petersburg's oldest living museum, this 100 year old garden is home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region.

Unwind as you stroll through meandering paths, lush with exotic plants from around the world. Explore cascading waterfalls, beautiful demonstration gardens, more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers.

Sunken Gardens provides garden tours, horticultural programs, special events, field trips, weddings, private and corporate rentals. Call 727.551.3102.

Just a stroll through these images gives you ideas of how to add Florida Friendly tropical color to your home garden. Extensive use of butterfly attractive plants make this a haven for the flying flowers. I highly recommend a visit and you ca refuel at one of our favorite restaurants just up the street, Red Mesa.

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There is always something special happening at Fairchild. Last spring I took these images. I always get ideas of how to use Florida Friendly Plants when I visit the gardens. New species and hybrids on display in unique combinations get my design mind in gear. They display plants in colorful arrangements that are interesting to the viewer at all levels. Groundcovers and foreground plants draw your eyes forward and down the path. There is a picture of a new vignette with every few steps you take so don’t go without your camera. I wonder what new plants I will find on my visit at the end of March? Look for them here or plan your own trip.

Go through these Power Points to see some flowering trees at Fairchild Gardens and some new and interesting plants that will be coming to a Florida nursery near you soon.

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