By Ralph E. Mitchell Almost everyone is familiar with the plant known as coleus. Generally, the coleus has colorful foliage in shades of green, red, pink, yellow, red and maroon. The leaf shape is also very variable as… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell The roof is fine, you have fixed the leaning fence and the floods have receded. Your landscape is in a relative mess, but your trees are giving you some real concerns. Can you make… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell The Golden Dewdrop or Duranta is a versatile woody plant and an attractive addition to your landscape. The Golden Dewdrop is native to Tropical America and ranges from the Florida Keys through Mexico and… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell Florida is home to several native palms of interest including the paurotis palm aka Everglades palm and/or silver saw palm. Multiple canes emerge to make a dramatic landscape feature adorned with fan-like fronds atop… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchel l When you imagine the perfect small palm, you might think of one around ten feet tall, with deep-green, feather-like arching fronds about five feet long emerging from a bright green crownshaft on a… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell Crocosmia is one plant that I have always wanted to try. While I like to “Plan Before I Plant”, I am sometimes impulsive in my plant purchases. So, when I saw a bag of… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell The rains have finally returned to the relief of many including our plants. Rain often triggers growth and flowering as well. If you have seen rain lilies, you will know what I mean. Rain… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell I often wander through our Demonstration Garden at the East Port Environmental Campus on Harbor View Road in Port Charlotte to see what is blooming, producing fruit, or has a pest infestation. Our Natal… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell The plumeria are starting to bloom around Charlotte County, and in spite of our drought, they are thriving. I noticed the one in our Demonstration garden was producing a cluster of red and orange… Read More
By Ralph E. Mitchell While many palms are more or less tubular and rounded in structure, the triangle palm offers an angular three-sided shape unlike any other palms in our local landscapes. The fronds grow in three distinct… Read More
