Perhaps the best known butterfly in North America is the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). South Florida is very lucky this time of year, and not just for our mild climate. While most of the United States is in the middle of a frigid winter, with its Monarch Butterfly population safely hibernating in the Oyamel Fir…
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No less a publication than Southern Living magazine has long recommended our native Firebush, Hamelia patens, to its readership. And it’s no wonder. The species has many endearing qualities. First, if not foremost, it’s rather cold-tolerant. The Florida Native Plant Society regards it as suitable for planting through Zone 9a, whose northern limit is along…
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If you’re not already familiar with Duranta erecta, now is a good time to get acquainted with this very attractive New World flowering species. Like a lot of plants, it comes with its own little bag of mysteries: Its current specific epithet, erecta, means upright. Yet an older epithet, repens, means creeping. That sounds like…
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Meet Turnera subulata, also known as Yellow Alder, White Alder, Yellow Buttercup, Politician’s Flower and Sage Rose. By whatever name you prefer, you’ll find a reliable, easy-to-grow plant that will provide lots of color in your garden. T. subulata is a perennial herb that reaches about 2 ft. high and can be grown as a nice low…
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The management and staff of Richard Lyons’ Nursery always make a sincere effort to urge customers to use both scientific and common names of plants. But considering how hard it is to say Holmskioldia sanguinea, we’ll forgive you if you favor the common names, Mandarin Hat Plant (the name preferred in southern Florida), Chinese Hat…
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