December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from all of us at Floridata! Have a safe and fun holiday season and be good and grow. Jack

New Plant Profile

Our newest plant profile is of the purple yam (Dioscorea alata), also called ube among other common names. This fast-growing vine has attractive heart-shaped foliage and produces edible tubers with purple flesh. This tender perennial is cultivated as an important food source across the Caribbean and South America as well as southeast Asia and Africa. Unfortunately this rampant grower has escaped cultivation and is considered a noxious weed in many tropical and sub-tropical areas such as Florida and Louisiana. Purple yam is hardy in USDA Zones 8 - 11 (but we don't recommend planting it!). A jelly-like Filipino dessert called Ube halaya, in which purple yam is an ingredient, is trending in US restaurants Read more »

Mistletoe

There's a beautiful infestation of mistletoe Phoradendron leucarpum growing on a laurel oak (Quercus hemisphaerica) out by the road at my place in North Florida. The host tree is stunted but the mistletoe has grown into spectacular spheres 3 feet in diameter that look like Christmas ornaments artfully arranged among the bare branches. Click here for more on this pretty parasite

Bromeliads

Although the queen's tears bromeliad (Billbergia nutans) has one of the showiest floral displays you can imagine it is also one of the easiest plants to grow inside or out (Zones 8-11). One this species' common names is friendship plant due to its habit of forming many baby plants (offsets) that can be shared with fellow gardeners. Click here for more on the queen's tears bromeliad which is hardy in USDA Zones 8 - 11 but that can easily be grown indoors everywhere. Use these links to see more members of the Bromeliaceae (pineapple or bromeliad family) to appreciate the diversity of these species:

• ball moss (Tillandsia recurvata)
• bloody bromeliad (Neoregelia cruenta)
• Brazilian vaseplant (Aechmea distichantha)
• pineapple (Ananas comosus)
• Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides)

Holiday Plants

Decorate with holiday-hued amaryllis like white 'Moonlight' and 'Red Lion' ( Hippeastrum hybrids). The huge bulbs are easily forced into bloom and make great gifts. When the plants are finished blooming, gardeners in warmer areas can plant the bulbs outdoors where they will produce flowers in spring of the following year. Those of us in frosty climates can grow the plants in containers over the summer, then clean and "rest" the bulbs in a cool, dry place indoors (the vegetable keeper in your refrigerator works well, but non-gardening household members tend to object...) You can view and download dozens of images from the amaryllis profile's Image Gallery.

Poinsettias

Steve sends his best wishes for a Merry Christmas and this picture of his giant poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)! He obtained a start to this especially cold hardy individual from an old timer in Blountstown in Florida's panhandle. It always gets huge but this year looks like it set a record for height and Christmas spirit! click to download a large version (800x600) of this image or visit the poinsettia profile's Image Gallery to see more pretty poinsettia plant pictures.

See more varieties in the poinsettia profile's Image Gallery: Euphorbia pulcherrima and in Ginny's article Poinsettias are Not Poisonous.

Flowering Plants of Hawaii

The Hawaiian Islands are home to an array of native plant species that has attracted the attention of botanists, naturalists, horticulturists and world travelers ever since Europeans first visited the islands near the end of the 18th century. Read more »

Welcome to our New Site!

All of our articles and resource pages can be accessed from the Articles and Resources link is in the Site Menu at the upper right hand corner of each page. Some of the pages in our archive will be temporarily unavailable until they are reformatted and re-posted here on the new site. Sorry for the inconvenience.