Jacksonville garden redecoration

Dear Listmates,

I'm running out of room to put my chosen plants. I have extra Nandina if anyone wants it, lots of beautyberry I can share, a pretty grassy, clumping plant I will post pics of- have lots to share. I also have plants to share that perhaps you can help me Identify- even trees. Some of the plants I suspect may attract butterflies but they may be so crowded they can't bloom. Of course there is plenty of spiderplant but I suppose that will just go out to the curb. I'll post pics when there's some daylight. Now back to my Harry Potter book.

Maggie

Volunteer ginger- hasn't bloomed yet. Any ID on this? Or can you not tell until it blooms?

This had some purple flowers on it briefly earlier in the season and late last summer after we bought this house. I know butterflies like it but I forget what it is. It gets huge and I have plently.

Here is a picture of the whole plant.

I have tons of this- quite attractive but there's an awful lot of it.

Photo of the inflorescence

This is Firespike. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1854/index.html
PlantFiles: Detailed information on Firespike, Cardinal Guard, Scarlet Flame (Odontonema strictum)
I have some to share. Any ideas on why it's not blooming? Most of these plants bloomed last year. This year, although they are growing like crazy, there are minimal blooms. We even put some bloom fertilizer on them to no avail. Any suggestions?

Margaran, my firespikes don't bloom until late summer/early fall -- usually around September or so.

Your second photo looks like it could be Philipine Violet (Barleria cristata). Or Princess Flower (Tibouchina spp.) They both bloom with a purple flower. I would need to see it in your garden to see which it might be. The Tibouchina has somewhat hairy leaves while the Barleria is smooth.

The plant with the pleated leaves, I thought might be a Chinese ground orchid (and my heart leapt when you said you have a lot of them because I would fill my yard with them if I could afford them!) But the ground orchids bloom on tall spikes. With the yellow flowers at the base of the plant, it is probably Palm Grass (Curculigo capitulata) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2229/index.html I bought a few of these on sale last year but haven't gotten any blooms from them yet.

The ginger is probably the white flowering Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium) which is common in our area and can be found along ditch banks in the wild. But you are right, it will need to bloom before you can be sure which ginger it might be.

My Firespike grew huge this year, but also hasn't yet flowered. Something to look forward to in the autumn!

Don't throw anything out -- not even the Spider Plants! I am a plant hog with lots of empty space left to fill in my yard and I will take any and all orphans you want to give up for adoption.

Jeremy

Hey Jeremy ,

I only hope the stray gingers are the butterfly kind I'm looking for. It would balance out the scarlet one we talked about. You can most assuredly have the spiderplants. They are healthy to the point of being invasive. Funny, I remember having trouble growing them up north. We won't discuss all the ones I discarded.
The second plant I'm sure is not tibuchina. I saw some at Let it Grow a few days ago and this is not that. I'm sure the third is Palm Grass. If it were an orchid, my FIL would have gone nuts. It has a grassy plume like wheat. Thanks for the photos.

Maggie

Maggie, You are probably anxious to move ahead with your garden plans and I am temporarily tied up with painting til after Aug.7, so don't wait for me to come get the orphans. The spider plants can survive for quite some time out of the dirt, so if you want to go ahead and pull them up and leave them in the shade some place, I'll be by for them in a few weeks.

I broadcast 50 lbs of Milorganite fertilizer on my flower beds during the heavy rains, so I now have rejuvenated growth in my plants -- especially from the weeds! It only takes a few days of neglect and everything returns to jungle and may require a machete to hack my way through and try to reclaim some planting spots.

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

I wouldn't worry about it right now as it is too bloody hot. I'd really like to put some plumbago in but with the heat index @106, 'm too hot to even cycle let alone dig anything. Hey- I just learned I have 2 types of crinum- a pink and a white. They smell very pretty but don't last long. I undewrstand you can grow them from seed so I'll save some.

Maggie

Maggie..

You want any more white crinums? I got about 100 right now in sweater boxes in my back yard.. They are about 6-8 inches in height... They all came from seed!

Chris

I'd love some! I have plants to share but don't know what all of them are yet. Are there any of the plants above you'd like to trade for? I also have some Elephant leaf plants. I dug up and gave away the big ones a month ago but now there are babies. they are blocking my Hydrangeas I put in along the fence. I think i'm going to have to move them because they are not blooming at all. I think they need more sun. I'm open for visitors and input. We have a half acre of stuff we're not sure of what it is.

Maggie

Margaran,

Photos 4 & 5 are definately Palm Grass. I have one I got as a seedling and it just recently bloomed too.

Molly
:^)))

Definately too hot to spend too much time outside.

ack I haven't logged in a while, am I too late or did you compost already? I need some beautyberry if you still have any - pls let me know! Thanks!

Hi Killer,

No, it's still here. i was busy planting more butterfly plants this weekend. Got plenty.

Maggie