UF/IFAS
Okeechobee County Extension Service
458 Highway 98 North
Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578
Phone: (863) 763-6469
E- mail: dfculbert@ifas.ufl.edu
December 22, 2005
Quick Links: Cast-Iron Plant Golden Treasure Phalaenopsis orchid African Blue Basil Yellow African Bulbine References
Dan
Culbert, Extension Horticulture Agent
For Release week of December 25, 2005
Plants for 2006
With Christmas just past, and a brand new year staring at us just around the corner, many folks may be considering a new year’s resolution for a landscape makeover. The effects of the 2004 & 2005 storms have cleaned off our patios and opened up places in many Florida Yards that are ready for something new.
If you are considering landscape changes in your 2006 resolutions, the Florida Nursery Growers & Landscapers Association has offered up eight suggestions for Florida Yards. This week’s column will offer some information on four of these under-used and under-appreciated plants.
Sponsored by FNGLA, the Florida Plants of the Year program promotes the use of superior and proven Florida plants. Plants are nominated by the nursery and landscape industry, and winners are selected by a committee of growers, horticulturists, retailers, landscape professionals and University of Florida faculty.
Benefiting consumers, growers and garden centers alike, look for promotional displays at many garden centers highlighting these selected plant varieties. The Florida Plants of the Year program makes flyers, aisle markers, banners and a plant resource list available by request – we have a few of them available at our office.
And now for the winners! This first group of plants includes those that I would describe as “house plants” even though some are used in containers and in the landscape.
The Cast-Iron Plant, Aspidistra ‘Milky Way’ is very appropriately named. Many have heard people say, “I can’t buy plants, I will kill them”. This is one that will make plant-killers finally believe that the can keep plants alive in a home with little care. Introduced in 1824, Aspidistra was placed in smoky barrooms and Victorian parlors. It remains a popular choice as because of its “hard as iron” constitution.
The speckled appearance
of Milky-Way Cast Iron Plant will be a great
addition to both home and landscapes. Photo
courtesy of Plant
Delights Nursery, Raleigh, NC |
Cast Iron
plants can be used in the landscape under low
light conditions. They do not need much
moisture. Photo
by Stephen Pategas-Hortus Oasis; courtesy of
FNGLA |
Leaves from the Cast
Iron Plant can be used in flower arrangements.
This FDACS
photo shows striped, normal, and Milky-Way
types" |
The plant forms a slowly spreading clump of dark-green leaves two to three feet high and six to eight inches wide. And beyond the container, the Cast Iron plant can also be used in in shady spots in landscapes. Throughout the South it is a long-lived, tough perennial that loves shady spots.
The FNGLA selection is known as “Milky Way” because the leaves are covered with many small random spots of yellow to white spots, and thus imitate our starry skies. One writer compaired its looks to what would happen if a painter left it inside the room. This cultivar is a bit shorter that the other kinds of Cast Iron plants, with leaf height only a foot and a half tall.
Botanists will call this plant is called Aspidistra lurida 'Ginga', but is sold in the US as ‘Milky Way'. (The true 'Milky Way' is not grown in the US, and has leaves with both stripes and spots. Florists also grow this plant for its cut foliage, which can be used in arrangements for several weeks.
In the landscape, the Cast-Iron plant can produce inconspicuous purple flowers spikes during the early spring at the base of the foliage. Plant care is simple: keep them on the dry side, and keep them in low light conditions. After landscape establishment, water them only when the soil dries to avoid root rots and insects. Clumps of cast iron plants may be divided, but look out for nests of paper wasps that sometimes take up housekeeping on the underside of the broad leaves.
The Baldan’s Kaleidoscope ‘Golden Treasure’, a Phalaenopsis orchid, is another 2006 Plant of the Year. These orchids are sometimes called the moth orchids because their broad flowers look a bit like colorful moths. The flowers have red lips, reddish purple striping, and a strong yellow background that lightens to pale yellow. It has also received the American Orchid Society's Award of Merit because of its colorful prolific blooms.
This Phalaenopsis orchid
is named Baldan's Kaleidoscope "Golden
Treasure', and was selected because it produces
lots of colorful flowers. Photo
by Altria Labs -Plants LLC, courtesy FNGLA |
|
This Phalaenopsis orchid has plenty of flowers on
each spike. Photo courtesy of
Parkside
orchids |
Another photo of 'Golden
Treasure'. Photo courtesy of Like other Phalaenopsis, Kaleidoscope Golden Treasure grows well in bright light but not in direct sun. An east window is ideal, but they also thrive in shaded south- or west-facing windows. Plants do best at day temperatures of 70-80° F. and 60-65° at night. They also prefer a high relative humidity, of 50-80%. Don’t mist these orchids, as it may cause the growing point to rot. When the root ball is dry, water the container in a sink and return the plant to the window sill after the pot has drained.
The African Blue Basil (Ocimum sp. Hybrid) is another variation on a houseplant that can be moved outdoors. It has been around since 1982. While it can be used as a seasoning herb, its value is more ornamental than culinary. The flowers are sterile and never make seed. They produce flower stems up to 18 inches long. Blue Basil can bloom year round, but will not handle hard freezes. To keep it looking tidy and lush, cut off the dead flower stalks.
|
African Blue Basil is an ornamental herb, grown more for its colorful flower stalks and leaves than for its use as a seasoning. Photo by Dr Rick Schoellhorn - UF/IFAS, courtesy of FNGLA |
A close-up look at the leaves of the African Blue Basil shows off its purple colored veins and gray-green foliage. Photo courtesy of Mountain Valley Growers, Inc. |
Blue Basil plants form clumps up to 3 feet tall. They have a purplish-blue cast, and show a strong growth habit. Leaf veins, flower spikes and stems are purple while the rest is green. A sweet camphor aroma is noticed with this plant. Individual flowers can be plucked from the stem or whole stem segments can be used for a dramatic addition to a culinary bouquet. If left outdoors, it will attract bees and butterflies. And since it doesn’t produce seed, cuttings will need to be taken and rooted to keep the plant over wintered, as it will not survive the colder climes.
Yellow African Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens) is another 2006 FNGLA plant. It is a South African native, but is well adapted as a drought tolerant flowering groundcover. It is a fast growing perennial, with branched, succulent with fleshy, linear green leaves. The fresh leaf produces a jelly-like juice that is sometimes suggested as a treatment for burns, much like aloe is used.
Yellow African Bulbine is a flowering groundcover that grows in clumps. Photo by Leu Gardens, courtesy of FNGLA |
|
Normally the flowers are lemon yellow, but an orange
flowered variety, named Hallmark, may be available.
Photo courtesy of Toni
Moore, Arizona Master Gardener |
A divided clump of Bulbine, showing the leaves
that grow across form each other on a shortened
stem. Photo courtesy of 
Flower stalks with spikes of star-shaped yellow with orange flowers are seen in the summer months. The foliage grows in opposite rows and clasps the stems at the base. It will grow into a two foot tall spreading clump with grayish stems and adventitious roots. To encourage further flowering, dead flower heads should be removed. These plants prefer full sun, but they will also grow in semi-shade for part of the day. Although it will grow in containers indoors, it requires maximum light. And watch the watering – they can take it dry.
Next
week I’ll give you the lowdown on the other 2006 Plants
of the Year in my first column for the New Year. I’ve
placed more information on our Okeechobee web page, http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu.
If you need additional information on these 2006 plants of
the year, please email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu
or call us at 863-763-6469. Local residents can stop
by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee, and visit
our Okeechobee
County Master Gardeners on Tuesday afternoons from 1 to 5
PM. Merry
Christmas from YOUR County
Extension office!
-30-
 |
Trade
names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific
information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products
named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida
Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to
provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals
and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age,
handicap, or national origin. Florida
Cooperative
Extension Service / IFAS /
University
of
Florida.
Larry
A. Arrington, Dean Last update: 12/22/2005
. This page is maintained
by Dan Culbert
|
 |
African Blue Basil. Squaw Valley, CA: Mountain Valley Growers, 12/2005. http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/ocikilimanscharium.htm
Backyardgardener.com. Growing Guide for Phalaenopsis Orchids. 12/2005. http://www.backyardgardener.com/store/wff/affiliate/growguide-333.html
Harrison, Marie Cast Iron Plant Excels in Shady Gardens. Timely Gardening Articles]. Tallahassee: UF/IFAS Leon County Extension Service, 12/05. http://leon.ifas.ufl.edu/cast_iron_plant_excels_in_shady_.htm
Marek, John A. Orange African Bulbine. Magnolia, Texas: Magnolia Gardens Nursery, 12/2005. htttp://www.plantsfortexas.com/plants/Bulbine_Orange1.html
Moore,
Toni (Master Gardener) Bulbine
frutescens - Bulbine.
Tucson: University
of Arizona Pima County Cooperative Extension,
Morgan, David. Thursday's Plant: Aspidistra elatior. Fort Worth: Green Beam website, 1998. http://www.greenbeam.com/features/plant090798.stm
Whitinger, Dave. Detailed information on Ornamental Basil 'African Blue' Bryan, TX: Dave's Garden website, 12/05. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/114