Coastal Breeze News

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] May is here and what does that mean? Summer time in Florida is upon us. But it is also the start of the full blown butterfly season. In Southwest Florida we have a year-round butterfly season, while numbers of butterflies like Monarchs and Yellow Sulfurs will migrate, many of the same and others stay in South Florida and prosper year round, much to the delight of all those crazed butterfly enthusiasts living here. In spring, summer and fall the numbers of these little flying flowers rise dramatically because the temperatures are warm – just like ... Read More »

Years ago, when I began my quest to attract butterflies to my garden, little did I know that butterfly gardening came with a bonus! After years of removing turf grass from my yard and replacing it with colorful flowering plants to attract wildlife, particularly butterflies, I now no longer have any grass left to mow. During the past couple of fall seasons, I’ve been seeing numerous hummingbirds competing for nectar with our year-round friends, the butterflies. This is such a great thrill! It started a few years ago, with one or two hummingbirds arriving every once in a while. Today, ... Read More »

Native to Brazil, Bougainvillea is truly one of the showiest shrubs we have during the fall and winter months here in South Florida. Its spectacular color comes from its heart-shaped papery bracts. The tiny flower itself is usually white and located in the center of the colorful bract. A sprawling shrub with long thorny branches, Bougainvillea is commonly mistaken as a vine. Unfortunately, it lacks the tendrils that allow it to attach itself onto fixed objects. Bougainvilleas come in myriad colors including orange, pink, purple, red and white. Bougainvilleas begin blooming after the rainy season; when the length of days ... Read More »

Themed gardens are very popular these days. Zen, Butterfly, Herb… you get the idea. Adding a Zen garden to my yard seemed like a great idea. I found the perfect spot for my new garden – a small courtyard area comprised of three fenced-in sides. My Zen garden would have clean lines, well-thought-out plantings, and plenty of open space to relax and explore my inner thoughts. A Zen garden would be a huge departure from the rest of my yard, which resembles a backyard wildlife habitat, as specified by the National Wildlife Federation – or in my mind, controlled chaos ... Read More »

With the water situation in Florida getting worse each year and the water rates going up almost as fast as gas prices, the general public – not only serious gardeners and those involved in the green industry here in Florida – need to take into consideration the water needs of all new landscaping plantings. I don’t think we will ever run out of water, but it may get so expensive that many people will not be able to afford to irrigate their landscape at all. I suggest we all consider moving towards Florida Friendly Landscaping. Developed by the University of ... Read More »

In Florida, there are many homes that are built around small courtyards having a view of the courtyard from all rooms in the house. Small areas, which can be a challenge to landscape, can be the true focal point of your home – if done right. Keeping plants neat and organized and watching their size will ensure the area will not be overwhelming. Creating your own tropical paradise can be fun and rewarding even if you live in a condo with a small lanai. PLANTS AND TREES Planting a small tree in your courtyard can really bring the outdoors in. ... Read More »

By Mike Malloy [email protected] In Florida, Ornamental Grass is a category of grass that is very eye catching that does not have to be mowed. It is not turf grass. With its large number of species it’s easy to find ground covers, shrub plants and also tall plants to fit almost any landscape need. Grasses usually can make any landscape more interesting and give it a very tropical look. There are many varieties to choose: from low growing to shrubs to very tall. Ornamental grasses include true grasses but also bamboos, flax and sedges. Like most plants here in Florida ... Read More »

Succulents and agaves are water-retaining plants that are well adapted to arid (dry), hot, sunny locations with poor soil conditions. This is because they store water in their leaves, stems or roots and require little or no water. The interest in these plants has been on the rise in the past few years as the cost of water for irrigation has risen and more water restrictions have been implemented. Don’t let our average yearly rainfall of 60 inches, which occurs mostly during the rainy season from June through September, deter you from creating your own succulent garden right here in ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] South Florida gardens are ablaze with color during winter months by two particularly spectacular vines. First, the Florida flame vine (Pyrostegia venusta) which is native to Brazil. This vine is well known in Naples for its brilliant show of color in the winter months along about a one mile stretch of Goodlette Frank Road in front of the Wilderness community just north of Golden Gate Parkway. To have a vine known by so many people, not so much by its name but by put its presence along the road, speaks to its showiness. The Florida ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] For all of us who want to have one of the showiest trees in town in our gardens (Royal Poinciana) and just don’t have the room because of their size, here are some of my favorite small trees that can be grown in courtyards, containers and small yards here in southwest Florida that can also be as special as the big boys. Dwarf Poinciana (Caesalpinina pulcherrima) is the little brother to the Royal Poinciana but a much smaller size. This evergreen shrub that can be pruned and trained into a specimen small tree, usually about 10 ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] ummer heat is beginning to subside and we actually have temperatures in the mornings in the 50’s and 60’s. The first thing to do is open all the windows and doors. The next step is to start enjoying all the cassias, or sennas, that begin to bloom this time of the year. Cassias are generally known for their fast growth. Let me get this over with now before we all get confused: Cassias and sennas are the same group of plants, but some people with too much time on their hands decided to change the name ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] Bromeliads are finally getting the attention they deserve. Until recently, they were only popular with a small segment of house-plant enthusiasts. Today, bromeliads are prized tropical treasures in many Southwest Florida landscapes and public and private gardens. Featuring a wide range of color, leaf shapes and textures, bromeliads are as beautiful as they are hardy. If you’re looking for beautiful, exotic-looking tropical plants that are easy to care for and drought tolerant, look no further than bromeliads. Bromeliads are in the Bromeliaceae family, which is native to the tropical Americas. The pineapple plant is the ... Read More »

PLANT TALK  Mike Malloy  [email protected]  Leave it up to the mad gardener to find new ways and places to display more of his collection of plants. This is the ultimate in my horticulture addiction. In the past years, like most people with a plant “problem,” I have run out of room to plant one more plant in my garden. Most of us live in communities where the building lots are not that big (or they can never be big enough). I have been finding less and less open ground to install new plants I find on expeditions to the east ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] I’d like to introduce you to one of South Florida’s most magnificent landscape plants… Crape Myrtle. Originally grown in Japan, China and parts of Southeast Asia, it’s the supermodel of the plant world. It’s beautiful and a real head turner, of course, but crape myrtle is versatile, too. You can have it in either shrub or tree form and in myriad colors, including purple, white, pink, red, or a combination of colors. Even the bark on this plant is attractive! The lovely crape myrtle blooms all summer long and into the fall, with long-lasting, crepe-like ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] Crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) were used years ago to decorate East Coast Florida hotel lobbies as if they were flower arrangements and were planted extensively in Florida landscapes for their tropical color. They come in a kaleidoscope of colors: yellows, pinks, reds, greens, and rusts and occasional purple or black. Crotons also come in a multitude of leaf shapes and sizes. Flowers are small in size and are secondary to the more ornate colorful leaves. Crotons make wonderful year round colorful container plants or landscape plants without a lot of work. Like everything else, plants also ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] With August winding down, it’s time in Florida to set our sights on– fall? Most of us have been trapped for months, scurrying from our air-conditioned cars to our air-conditioned homes, trying not to be overcome by heat exhaustion or dehydration and working in our gardens only in the wee hours of the morning to escape the burning rays of the hot Florida afternoon summer sun. Never mind the increasing number of mosquitoes that take up residence in the rainy season. The only good thing about working in the garden in the midday heat is ... Read More »

PLANT TALK  Mike Malloy  [email protected] When most of the flowering plants and shrubs are struggling to thrive in the hot summer sun and waiting for the “cooling” afternoon showers, there is a group of plants that might be a little bit smarter. They thrive in the shade. Not only are these shade plants doing just fine, they are blooming. In Florida, shade takes on a different meaning than the shade “up north.” I don’t think we have the same deep shade areas in Florida as they do up north because the sun is so intense here. It’s lower in the ... Read More »

PLANT TALK  Mike Malloy  [email protected] Native to Fiji in the South Pacific, the Acalypha – better known as copperleaf- group of plants has the most colorful foliage I’ve ever seen. They can turn your garden into a spectacular, unending kaleidoscope of color. Under perfect conditions they will grow to ten feet and just as wide, but they can be kept to any desired height with just a little trimming. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, mostly hidden by the colorful foliage. Copperleaf comes in a large variety of leaf shapes, ranging from large and oblong to round and fringed to ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] Shrimp plants are becoming very popular in South Florida gardens. I don’t know if it is because of their colorful bracts with tubular white flowers that seem to explode out of the top and sides, or if it’s that the flowers look like the pink crustaceans so many of us Floridians consume by the pound every year. Whatever the fascination, they are great plants, unique and wildlife friendly. For those gardeners who are not familiar with these little beauties, let me tell you they are drought tolerant and can take the summer heat and humidity. ... Read More »

Plant Talk by Mike Malloy [email protected] Passion vines are some of the most beautiful plants you can have in your garden, not only for yourself, but for three of Florida’s most abundant butterflies. The Zebra, Gulf Fritillary and Julia, which use Passion vines as their host plant (plants that female butterflies seek out to deposit their eggs on). The females of these species can detect their host plants from quite a distance and will seek them out wherever they are grow­ing. There are four to five hundred differ­ent species of passion vines, so there are plenty to choose from. The flower ... Read More »