Aloe
Soap aloe grows in a stemless rosette, and produces little offset rosettes around its margin. The main rosette gets up to about a foot and a half tall and just as wide. The lance-shaped leaves are thick and succulent, pale green with white speckles, and 10-12 in. long. The leaf margins are armed with sharp, dark brown teeth. Throughout much of the summer, soap aloe sends up a purplish branched stalk about 2 ft. tall, bearing showy tubular yellow, orange or red flowers. Culture Soap aloe is very easy to grow in sandy...
Read MoreOyster Plant
Oysterplant is a rather succulent herb with a dense cluster of sturdy 6-12 in (15.2-30.5 cm) long sword-shaped leaves arising from a trunklike stem up to 8 in (20.3 cm) tall. The leaves are a dark teal-tinged forest green on top and vivid violet underneath. The small white three-petaled flowers are hidden in boat-shaped purple bracts nestled in the leaf axils. Flowers and seed are produced all year. Culture Although it likes soil with substantial organic matter, oysterplant will grow in sand or even coral rock. It transplants easily and...
Read MoreSilver Saw Palmetto
Saw palmetto is a small hardy fan palm whose stem usually remains below ground or runs just along the surface. In some cases, it develops an erect or arching trunk that may lift the whorl of leaves 2-8 ft above ground. The palmate leaves are 2-3 ft across. The cluster of leaves gets about 4-6 ft high with a similar spread. Culture Once established, saw palmetto is virtually maintenance-free. Light: Prefers full sun, but can tolerate partial sun. Moisture: Tolerates drought but can also tolerate moist soils. Hardiness: Hardy in Zones...
Read MoreAzalea
Azaleas are woody stemmed shrubs, prized for their characteristic, usually prolific, often fragrant, trumpet shaped flowers. These may be only 1/2″, or more than 4″ across. They come usually in shades of pink, white, purple, orange and red, and may be freckled, variegated, single or double. Many azalea varieties cultivated for landscape use are evergreen, but there are plenty of deciduous ones too. Culture Azaleas must have acidic soil with lots of organic matter. They are shallow rooted so they should be mulched...
Read MoreCreeping Fig
This agressive but beautiful evergreen vine is a relative of the edible fig, but bears little resemblance to it’s close cousin. Creeping fig is an enthusiastic climber able to scramble up vertical surfaces 3 and 4 stories tall with the aid of a powerful adhesive. This vine coats surfaces with a tracery of fine stems that are densely covered with small heart shaped leaves that are 1 inch long by about .75 in wide, they are held closely to the surface creating a mat of foliage that extends barely 1 in from the surface. These are the juvenile leaves. Once the vine has reach the top of its...
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