This blog will focus primarily on warm weather climates, please note that experiences with the plants included here have taken place in SouthWest Florida.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these interesting plants, please use the auction search in the lower portions of this page as it helps support the growth project.

Because of our unique climate, the information here may or may not be typical. Plants I am currently working with fall into 1 of 3 categories.

1) Rare - Plants that are either hard to find for sale or in limited numbers naturally.
2) Exotic - Plants that do not occur naturally in SouthWest Florida, are not often seen in local landscapes, and/or there is little growth data available for this climate.
3) Unusual - Plants that have an unusual or striking appearance. (The plants that even the neighbors keep an eye on)

Current/Near Future Projects & Experiments:

Puya Berteroniana - Turquoise Puya (Chile) - From Seed
Puya Mirabillis - Lime-Green Dwarf Puya (Bolivia) - From Seed
Puya Dyckioides - Salmon/Blue Puya (Argentina) - From Seed
Lachenalia Viridiflora - Turquoise Hyacinth (South Africa) - From Seed
Tacca Chantrieri - Black Bat Flower (Yunnan Province, China) - From Seed
Hylocereus Undatus - Pitaya/ Dragon Fruit (Central America/Mexico) - Small Plants
Chiranthodendron Pentadactylon - Devils Hand Tree (Mexico) - Seed/Small Plants

Aechmea Rubens - Orange/Yellow Bromeliad (Brazil) - Mature Plant
Aechmea (Lilac Cloud?) - Pink/Purple Bromeliad (?) - Mature Plant

Datura Devil's Trumpet - Hemingway House (Key West 2nd generation)- Seeds
Tillandsia ionantha "Rosita" (Mexico/Nicaragua)- Mature Plant
Osteospermum Dimorphoteca -African Daisy Whirligig(South Africa)- Seeds
Eucalyptus gunnii - Cider Gum Eucalyptus (Australia)- Seeds

Sept, 13th 2008

Received a new batch of Puya Berteroniana seeds today, these are an amazing rare bromeliad from Chile. They are one of the largest and most visually stunning Bromeliads. The Puya Berteroniana comes in both a blue and a green variety.These seeds are the "turquoise". Not to be confused with Puya alpestris which is another very similar, also rare, and very beautiful blue puya.

They should produce a blue flowered spike of 6' - 10'.

Sept 14th 2008

I picked up two large Bromeliads at our local hardware store this week. I usually do not take much notice of what they have in the plant department, but these were marked only "full sun bromeliads" and they easily stood out. From looking around I believe they are Aechmea Rubens and Aechmea Del Mar or "Lilac Cloud"? Please correct me if you feel this is incorrect.
They are in full bloom currently. Please forgive the dusty nature of the photo's, they were taken prior to watering which really makes the colors jump out.

Aechmea Rubens



Aechmea Del Mar or Aechmea "Lilac Cloud"?



Sept, 17 2008
The Lachenalia Viridiflora seeds, arrived today, these are a Turquoise Hyacinth, from a small area on the Cape West coast of South Africa where it is "critically endangered" due to development. As Florida was once part of West Africa and has a similar climate I am very optimistic these plants will do well here with a watchful eye. They are also a beautiful color not often seen in the wild. I hope to see them breaking ground in about 3-4 weeks.

Rare Plants Are Fun and Affordable - Start Growing Something Exotic Today

Sept 25th 2008

Chiranthodendron Pentadactylon (Devil's Hand Tree) - Seeds are now germinating, half are in soil only , half are sprinkled with vermiculite, I soaked them for 24 hours before planting. These are the plant I am most excited about at the moment, there is little or no data for growing them in this climate. I anticipate they will need some extra care and careful placement to simulate cloud forest rather than sub-tropics.
I have one growing indoors at the moment and it remains strong and healthy.



Puya Dyckioides - Salmon/Blue Puya (Argentina) - These are going to be plants everyone will want if I can get them going strong. They should start appearing above the soil in about 3-4 weeks.

Ruellia brittoniana - Mexican Petunia (Purple) - These are considered a pest in Florida as they do so well they force out native wetlands species. They grow easily in this area and look very nice as flower hedges when trimmed correctly. They will try to take over, so be careful! I planted some of them this morning to fill in an area around some of my other flowering hedge plants.

Tecoma stans - 'Gold Star Esperanza' - This variety of Tecoma Stans or "Yellow Elder" is growing in popularity here in zone 9, it begins flowering much earlier than than it's cousins so it is a favorite for, landscaping, & nursery trade. I have planted this in my back yard at the tree line to give it some color, from what I hear from others it tries very hard to take over and is not a good plant to have near the house for this reason. I believe the yellow bell like flowers will off set the natural tree line nicely. I have large area of natural pine woods behind my home, so I will have to control the Gold Star once it takes hold.

Sept 28th 2008

Puya Mirabillis - Lime-Green Dwarf Puya - Seeds are now in the ground, I chose to attempt outdoor germination after all with these. They are in a moderately moist part shade area. Details will follow in a few weeks.

Tacca Chantrieri - More Black Bat Flower seeds arrived today, I have one plant going strong on the lanai, I am careful not to mist it as this will cause it to dry out and die. It seems to enjoy the humid weather and afternoon rain we have been getting recently. I plan to grow many of the Tacca, using the same strategy most would use for orchids in this area.

Oct 4th 2008

I try to avoid paying retail prices for botanical items, nursery visits can be expensive. Unless a plant is unique, hard to find, or too large to ship I generally buy them at wholesale prices or grow them from seed. It was a rainy day and I talked myself into exploring one of our local garden centers. As usual I found a few new oddities for the collection.

I've been getting into Tillandsia (Air Plants)recently, they are interesting, easy to grow and attractive.



These are assorted Tillandsia I picked out today & mounted on a piece of sea shell encrusted limestone (The limestone is our natural bedrock in this area).



Euphorbia Lactea Cristata - I don't know much about these yet, other than it has been grafted, needs full sun, little water and is poisonous, it falls easily into the strange category. I will update once I understand more clearly. I've been calling my new poisonous pet "Audrey" after Seymour's plant in "Little Shop of Horrors."

Rare Plants Are Fun and Affordable - Start Growing Something Exotic Today

October 17 2008 - Clianthus puniceus ‘Albus’ - KaKa Beak, Parrot's Beak - White Variety - Growing well in a mixture of sand and potting soil, critically endangered in the wild, only remaining native plants are growing on Moturemu Island in the Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand. Less than 175 wild plants in 2005


Pictures to come

Napenthes Below -




Nepenthes - Tropical Pitcher Plant -

Known to catch lizards, frogs, & even rats in the wild !!