Author: Steve Turner

Rare & Unusual Tropical Trees & Plants, Flowering, Fruit, Native, Palm, Bamboo, Heliconia, Hummingbird, Butterfly

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Brunfelsia grandiflora is in peek flowering season and is one of the most colorful shrubs in the South Florida landscape. While it starts blooming in late September or early October, and continues into the springtime, mid-November thru December really is at its most spectacular. It has an unusual common name of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow…
Read more


November 12, 2023 0

Nodding Glorybower Shrub

Clerodendrum wallichii, also known as the Nodding Glorybower shrub or Bridal Veil, is a unique member of the genus Clerodendrum. It can be grown in partial shade and can attain a height of 7 feet. It is a fall/winter bloomer with fragrant white flowers on a 1 to 2 foot pendulous flower spike. The flowers…
Read more


November 5, 2023 0

Peanut Butter Tree

Bunchosia glandulifera is a novelty fruit tree native to northern South America and Central America. It does in fact have the taste and texture of peanut butter. The fruits are small, elliptical in shape, and about 1″ in length and ripen to an orangy-red color. The tree is somewhat shrubby, but can attain a height…
Read more


October 29, 2023 0

Confederate Rose

Hibiscus mutabilis gets its common name from the fact that Thomas Jefferson’s daughter brought this plant back from China and established it in Virginia and then throughout the southern U.S. The flowers resemble roses much more than a hibiscus. This large shrub is a late summer, early fall bloomer in South Florida. It has large…
Read more


October 22, 2023 0

King’s Mantle

Thunbergia erecta is a woody shrub from tropical Africa. It grows to about 4-6′ in height and width. The most common flower color is purple. A little less common are the white (Thunbergia erecta ‘Alba’), and the pale blue with white stripes (Thunbergia erecta ‘Fairy Moon’). The flowers on all varieties are tubular with yellow…
Read more


October 15, 2023 0