One of the many benefits of growing tropical plants is the ability to surround oneself with species that produce a fragrance. With judicious selection, a homeowner can have something sweet-smelling in flower just about year-round and can even satisfy a preference for daytime or nighttime scents. Following is a survey of some of the fragrant…
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To say that Dypsis cabadae has taken a long, tortuous path to discovery would be a major understatement. Superficially, it appeared that the species was first found in the early 1950s in the garden of a Dr. Cabada near Cienfuegos, Cuba, but it could not be identified. After Cabada’s death, the director of Harvard University’s nearby Atkins Garden…
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We last dealt with the trees known as stoppers in an article published on the Richard Lyons’ Nursery website on March 2, 2013. Legend has it that these species got that common name because their constituents were used in concoctions to stop, er, uh, intestinal problems. An alternate, more pleasant explanation is that these plants could be used to create a thicket capable…
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Today may be the official first day of spring, but, in truth, the season popped out early this year, and in no small way. Plants that have lain dormant during the winter months have begun to push new leaves. We’ve even seeing new weeds which weren’t here during the winter. (Who says there’s no winter…
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The last couple of weeks have brought more normal daytime and nighttime temperatures back to South Florida, along with some substantial rainfall. This has brought spring to the region, and with it, many plants have started to come out of their winter dormancy. Looking around the nursery, the Cochlospermum vitifolium(Buttercup Tree), Petrea volubilis var. albiflora…
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