Home And Garden

Description Coral tree is a picturesque, broad and spreading, deciduous tree that can get 60-80 ft (18.3-24.4 m) tall and spread 20-40 ft (6.1-12.2 m). It has many stout branches that are armed with black tiger's claw spines. There are curved spines (really more like prickles) on the long leaf stalks too. The leaves are compound, with three diamond shaped leaflets, each about 6 in (15.2 cm) long. Before the leaves come out in late winter or early spring, coral tree puts on a spectacular show with bright crimson flowers 2-3 in (5.1-7.6 cm) long in dense terminal clusters. It may flower a little during the summer, too. The beanlike pods that follow the flowers are cylindrical, about 15 in (38.1 cm) long, and constricted between the reddish brown seeds. The naturally occurring variety  orientalis  has the veins of its leaflets highlighted with yellow or pale green. 'Parcellii', with yellow variegated leaves, may be just another name for the same variety. 'Alba' has w...

Blue passionflower is a twining vine that can grow to 30 ft (9.1 m). The shiny leaves are usually palmately lobed with five parts, but they can have as few as three lobes or as many as nine. They are evergreen in tropical climates, but deciduous where winters are cool. The white and purple-blue flowers which appear in summer may be as large as 4 in (10.2 cm) across. They are followed by egg-size deep orange fruits from late summer through fall. Of the many cultivars of P. caerulea, the most widely known is 'Constance Elliott', which has fragrant white flowers and bright orange fruits. 'Regnellii' has exceptionally long corona filaments. 'Grandiflora' produces 8 in (20.3 cm) flowers. 'Chinensis' has pale blue flowers. Numerous crosses have been made between P. caerulea and P. racemosa, P. alata, and P. 'Amethyst'. Location Blue passionflower is native to southern Brazil and Argentina. Culture Blue passionflower likes loose sandy or gravelly...

Chamaedorea seifrizii Common Names: bamboo palm, reed palm Family: Arecacea/Palmae (palm Family) Description Have a low light area in your home or office that needs some green? You say you want a low maintenance but graceful looking palm to show off? Well, it doesn't get any better than Chamaedorea seifrizii or The Bamboo Palm. The Bamboo Palm or Reed Palm is a relatively small graceful palm that grows to about 7 feet. Usually plants sold in nurseries or seen in collections are clumping with about 20 or 30 individual plants. Each stem is long and slender with "nodes" very similar in appearance to Bamboo. Although plants are commercially clumped together to form shrub-like specimens, this palm naturally spreads by suckers or offshoots also similar to Bamboo. The stems are tall and have about 10-15 fronds each with about 12 dark green pinnate leaflets. As the old fronds die, these should be trimmed off and the leaf bases or sheath allowed to dry out. Later these shoul...

Botanical name : Beaucarnea Recurvata Plant type : Houseplant Sun exposure: Full Sun, Part Sun Ponytail Palms are a great, long-lived indoor plant. (Despite it’s name and palm-like appearance, it’s not a true “palm.”) This plant has long green leathery stems that develop as the plant ages. Indoors, they can reach up to 3 feet high. The only thing that is difficult about this plant is adapting to its watering needs. Planting Use a fast draining soil, such as cactus potting soil also A soil mix consisting of 2 parts loam to 1 part peat moss to 2 parts sand has been used successfully. To this mix, small gravel may be added to ensure good drainage Normal room temperature is good for most of the year, but keep it cooler in the winter (50 to 55° F). Find a location with bright light. Care Keep soil fairly dry. Water from spring through fall allowing soil to dry on the surface before re-watering. During the winter only water occasionally. Fertilize in the spring and bring...

Crinum L. Family: Amaryllidaceae Crinum is a fascinating genus of the large and equally captivating Amaryllidaceae family. Larger in stature than most other species of Amaryllidaceae, most crinums are suitable as landscape plants in or near water features while most of the smaller species can be successfully cultivated even in a small garden. With due care against their one major pest, crinums are easily cultivated and provide a regular dramatic focus point with their large, bright inflorescences. Description The name Crinum originates from the Greek Krinon, which means white lily. As most species have white or whitish flowers the name seems especially appropriate. Crinum are herbaceous plants with large, tunicated bulbs which produce a neck or a pseudostem made up of the sheathing bases of the old leaves. The leaves are linear to sword-shaped, sheathing at the base, arranged in a rosette or rarely in two opposite rows, often dying back in winter, usually with the previous se...

Sabal mexicana Common Names: Texas palm, Texas sabal palm, Mexican palmetto, Rio Grande palmetto, hat palm, Texas palmetto Family: Arecacea/Palmae (palm Family) Description This stately, robust palm grows up to 50 ft (15 m) tall with a solitary trunk, 8-32 in (20-81 cm) in diameter. The spread of a mature Texas palm may range from 8 ft (2.4 m) to 25 ft (7.6 m). The gray trunk has closely-spaced annular rings. Usually part of the trunk remains covered with old leaf stem "boots", that often split at their base. These persistent boots form a characteristic crosshatch pattern on the trunk. The petioles (stems) of the Texas palm are smooth and completely thornless and may grow up to 15 ft (4.6 m) in length. Texas palm has 10-25 fan-shaped leaves ranging in color from deep emerald green, for palms in shade to part shade, and varying to lighter green in color as leaves receive more sunlight. Each leave has 80-115 leaflets with threads along the margins of the leaflets. The le...

Quisqualis indica is an elegant scandent shrub. It is commonly called Niyog-niyogan, balitadham, tartaraok, Rangoon creeper and Chinese honeysuckle. This large growing vine spends the start of its life as a bush. It is a evergreen (in warmer climates) creeping shrub that can reach as much as 70 feet height. The plant flings out its thousands of sweet-scented flowers, which change their tint from white to red. They are fragrant and grow in pendent racemes, quickly changing to pink then red, making a spectacular show. They are mostly present in summer and fall. Some call it fruity, while others liken it to toasted coconut. The thorns on a Quisqualis are formed when a leaf drops but the petiole remains. In a little time this petiole stiffens, grows stronger, and becomes a very effective climbing hook. While not sharp, like a cactus thorn, these can make pruning a bit tedious, and can draw blood on impatient gardeners. The plant fruit is ellipsoidal, long, with 5 prominent wings le...

In most cases cactus will do well in pots as long as you remember three things. Food, light, water. Food When bringing cactus to home most of the time it is in a small pot and it probably has grown there for a long time, which means it has used up most of all the nutrients in the soil. So think about repotting and setting up feeding program. Most cacti like several small feeding, better than one large feeding. I like a time release type in the spring and this will feed the plant for six or more months. The other way is to give the plants food three time a year (spring, summer, fall) with a dilute solution of plant food like (5-10-5). This should do them well for the year. Light A potted cactus will live and flower in the house if given enough light, place the plant near a bright lighted window, where it will receive light most of the day. On the patio is different place the cactus in a partly shaded area until it become accustom to the sun. Never bring the cactus home and place ...