March 2022 - some non-native plants in my garden

I am still working out the kinks in getting this blog going - mostly the kinks in my procrastination.  I think I figured out how to upload the photos and type into the blog now, but the formatting is non-existent.  So, for now, I'm just typing in notes and adding photos that are line up in order.  No pretty typesetting or placement of photos or anything fancy, yet.


My goal is to eventually concentrate on providing specific information about several different native plants - but first I will document what I have in my garden. 


Although I concentrate on native plants, I do have some non-native plants that are "Florida-Friendly" as well.  I will include a few of them here in no particular order.  These photos were all taken this month.

  Here is my coconut palm that was grown from a seed that washed up on the bay shore to the west of our house.  A few years ago, I was cleaning up the area along the shore and was picking up the coconut and discovered it had sprouted, so I planted it into a pot and left it  there for a year or so.  I planted it into the ground last year, and it has grown about two feet since I planted it.


Coconut Palm - Cocos nucifera
         









I also have a non-native bleeding heart growing in a couple places in my yard.  I do have to trim it often, and I take care to make sure it doesn't take over the native plants.

Bleeding Heart  -  Clerodendrum thomsoniae


Here are a few photos of my ice plant - I am trying to determine the proper scientific name for this.
It is likely Carpobrotus edulis , but it's possible that it could be elosperma cooperi .
I have a friend who is a specialist in succulents  -  I have asked her if she can let me know which is correct.

    



Update - my friend identified this as Carpobrotus edulis,







This blog is published by Tibby R., who gardens at her home in Melbourne Florida on the Indian River Lagoon.  Tibby became interested in native plants several years ago, and has tried to utilize native plants for the majority of  her residential landscape. Now retired, she has more time to enjoy playing in the dirt.













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sweet Potatoes - a Great Ground Cover

Image
There is an empty lot next to our house that I'm trying to beautify.  My Native Landscape contractor solarized the 75'x10' strip (left it covered with black tarp for about 8 weeks) on the south edge of the property, then took out the dead grass, lined the area with coquina rock, and filled it with about 5 inches of pine bark mulch. Because the soil test came back showing the area was quite alkaline, I had him add some elemental sulfur as well. In May 2025, I planted some trees along the edge of the empty lot next to our house.  I wanted to have a ground cover to protect the mulch  and soil while the trees got established.   The first photo (taken on May 11, 2025) below shows how it looked soon after I planted most of the trees in the ground.   (I often forget to take "before" photos;  the location previously had Bahia grass and St. Augustine grass up to the hedge you can see on the right side of the strip.) I was concerned about leaving the small ...
Read more

What's blooming in my garden in June 2022? PART 1

Image
Rouge Plant   (Rivina humilis)  This one is a volunteer that came up next to the front porch.  The plants that come up as volunteers seem to thrive better than the ones that I planted in the first place!                  Lantana  Involucrata  These lantana are native to Florida  - and both of these are volunteers as well.  I didn't realize that the white flowers fall away and become purple berries - I hadn't really noticed that before.  the small plant shown on the right has small purple berries, that I didn't recognize.  I had to use the google lens app to tell me it was a Lantana Involucrata. Bush Allamanda - very pretty yellow flowers;  non-native;   although currently "not a problem species", it is considered a "high invasive risk".  I transplanted this from a previous house  because I loved the beautiful flowers.  I may decide to take it out, given the focus ...
Read more
Image
 Brazilian Red Cloak - propagation from cuttings A friend gave some cuttings ftom her yard yesterday. I cut off several stems just belkw a leaf node, then dipped in rooting hormone and  Placed into potting mix.  I put three cuttings in each pot. It should take about 4 to 8 weeks to develop roots. I plan to set these outside near my potting bench where they will get watered once a day. I will update this in a month or two.
Read more